Clive Cussler & Dirk Pitt

"Don't judge a book by its cover," as the saying goes.  Yet, that's exactly what I chose to do, circa 1996, when I laid eyes on the Clive Cussler shelf at the book store.  There were about a dozen of his books at the time, all with the same style covers (like the one shown below).  I was intrigued, bought one, and it was the start of a (literary) love affair.

Each Cussler adventure features a similar pattern- one I'd instantly love.  A story is told of the past- generally involving a sinking ship, lost vessel, or treasure- to set the background.  Then, we're instantly transported to present day, where that opening scene will play a pivotal role at some point.  Cussler stories always revolve around water, and his (originally) fictional National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA)* always plays a large role.

Clive Cussler's hero, Dirk Pitt, is a mixture of James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Jacques Cousteau.  Each work is a story of Pitt and NUMA trying to do something- salvage a ship, conserve the ocean, etc- and then getting tangled up in something else that is generally of enough importance to have world-wide consequences.  Pitt, a collector of antique cars, always involves one of his beauties in the story (Cussler, like Pitt, is an avid car collector- he once said he writes to afford this hobby).  It's straight-up suspense and adventure every time around.

After my first Cussler work, I gobbled them up at an astonishing pace- I once read two Pitt novels in one day.  In every case, they were either an "A" or "A+"- you really couldn't go wrong.  At least, until latter day.  Right around Atlantis Found, the 15th work in the series, I started noticing a decline in quality.  Still good, but not as good.  I stopped reading after number 16- Valhalla Rising- as I sensed Clive's best days were behind him (I'd even read an interview where Cussler acknowledged as much).  Several more Dirk Pitt adventure novels have been released, the most recent of which have been co-written with Cussler's son Dirk.  The complete list, according to wikipedia, is as follows:

1. Pacific Vortex! (1983) (Though released at a later date, this is the first book.)
2. The Mediterranean Caper (a.k.a. Mayday, 1973)
3. Iceberg (1975)
4. Raise the Titanic! (1976)
5. Vixen 03 (1978)
6. Night Probe! (1981)
7. Deep Six (1984)
8. Cyclops (1986)
9. Treasure (1988)
10. Dragon (1990)
11. Sahara (1992)
12. Inca Gold (1994)
13. Shock Wave (1996)
14. Flood Tide (1997)
15. Atlantis Found (1999)
16. Valhalla Rising (2001)
17. Trojan Odyssey (2003)
18. Black Wind (2004) - Written with son Dirk Cussler
19. Treasure of Khan (2006) - Written with son Dirk Cussler
20. Arctic Drift (2008) - Written with son Dirk Cussler
21. Crescent Dawn (2010) - Written with son Dirk Cussler
22. Poseidon's Arrow (2012) - Written with son Dirk Cussler

In the end, I'll always look back on those books fondly, and re-read them from time to time when I'm in the mood for rollicking, gratuitous adventure.  As a final thought, I once emailed Clive thanking him for his books.  I got a prompt, courteous reply, which is nice from someone who likely gets bombarded with such things.  Thanks for writing, Clive!  You occupied many hours of this teenage boy's time.

*Cussler actually started an organization by the same name.  Active today, they've found many shipwrecks of importance, to include the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.