Author of the Month - July 2009

CLIVE CUSSLER

He is called the Grandmaster of Adventure and it is a well earned, well deserved title. Cussler has written over 40 books, both fiction and non-fiction, 17 of which have made the New York Times Best Sellers List.

His most memorable and favored character is Dirk Pitt for whom he has penned 20 adventures, the most recent released this past November. Pitt and his loyal crew are members of NUMA, The National Underwater Marine Agency. The Pitt series is wildly popular. Two of these novels were made into movies, that Mr. Cussler has had super-major problems with. Raise the Titanic, was made in 1980 with our fave actor (R.I.P. Richard Jordan) as Dirk Pitt. Cussler condemned the re-writes and completely disavowed himself from the entire production saying he was sorry he ever sold the rights and would never do it again. Twenty-plus years later, Sahara was made with sexy Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt. This also was a disaster with lawsuits on either side derailing the movie and its potential franchise. It's a shame really - with a great cast assigned to all of Cussler's favorite characters, it would've been a blast to see some of the other books adapted to the big screen. William Macy's portrayal of Admiral Sandecker, Director of NUMA, was spot on.

Cussler's other series of nautical adventures include the eight books written for a new character, Kurt Austin, in the NUMA Adventure Files. Another series, up to six books already, is called The Oregon Files and is about a deceptively decrepit freighter whose high-tech abilities and crew fight - who else? - The Bad Guys. Additionally, his Isaac Bell tales are cleverly written detective stories.

Cussler's non-fiction books have earned him a prestigious degree called The Doctor of Letters, of which he was the first recipient since 1874!

His autobiography rivals his best creation - Dirk Pitt. Adventurous in his real life, Cussler has founded NUMA for real and is credited with discovering over 60 shipwreck sites, including:

The Carpathian (the Titanic rescue ship), The Mary Celeste and The Manassas (the first iron-clad used in the civil war). His claim to finding The Hunley is disputed, however NUMA was at least involved in its rediscovery.

Cussler is also a member of several well known groups including The Royal Geographic Society of London and The American Society of Oceanographers.

Dirk Cussler, Clive's son, has become a writer as well, co-authoring a few of his namesakes series.

We recommend anything he has ever written.

Learn more:

http://www.clive-cussler-books.com/