White Death: A Novel From The Numa Files

Hailed as a hero for the new millennium, Austin is the leader of NUMA Special Assignments Team--and the threat before him now is definitely special. A confrontation between a radical environmentalist group and a Danish cruiser has forced Austin and colleague Joe Zavala to come to the rescue of a shipful of trapped men; but when the two of them investigate further, they discover that something far more sinister is at work. A shadowy multinational corporation is attempting to wrest control of the very seas themselves-no matter what havoc results--and is killing anyone who attempts to stop them. When Austin's boat blows up and he just barely survives, it seems certain he is the next in line to die--but he cannot stop now. For the environmental disaster has already begun, and only he and NUMA stand in the way...

Rich with all the hair-raising adventure and endless imagination unique to Cussler, White Death is an exceptional thriller from the grand master of adventure fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Cussler's multitude of fans arrive at the table expecting a roiling stew of seafaring adventure, exotic travel destinations, cutting-edge science, a splash of romance and insider tips on food and drink. In this latest starring series hero Kurt Austin (Fire Ice; Blue Gold), readers will find all their expectations extravagantly fulfilled. The bronzed, rugged Austin, leader of the NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) Special Assignments Team, and his partner, Joe Zavala, are called in to free survivors trapped inside a Danish warship sunk after a collision with the flagship of the radical environmentalist group Sentinels of the Sea. After a successful rescue, Austin's investigations lead him from the haughty environmentalists to the Oceanus Corporation, a shadowy fish farming organization: "A miasma of pure evil seemed to hang over the Oceanus operation." Austin sneaks into one of the fish farms on a solo recon and is nearly killed by the swarthy, black-clad, facially tattooed Eskimos of the evil Kiolya tribe who guard the company's many operations. The Kiolyas are led by albino madman Toonook, a genius fish geneticist who has engineered members of the harmless salmon family into a breed of 10-foot, piranha-like Frankenfish. All the villains have satanic smiles and pitiless eyes, and snarl their dialogue. If it all sounds highly preposterous, it is, but Cussler manages with his usual aplomb, impressively juggling his plots and bringing everyone home in an action-fueled, rip-roaring finale in which evil doers are soundly defeated and swashbuckling heroes reign supreme. Who would have guessed that the world of high-stakes fish farming could be so thrilling? Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

About The Author:

About The Author:

Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.

Cussler is an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.

In September, 1998, NUMA - which turns over all artifacts to state and Federal authorities, or donates them to museums and universities - launched its own web site for those wishing more information about maritime history or wishing to make donations to the organization. (www.numa.net).

In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. The author lives in Arizona.

Biography courtesy of Penguin Group (USA)

Good To Know

Cussler worked for many years in advertising and was responsible for coming up with Ajax's "White Knight" commercial catchphrase, "It's stronger than dirt."

The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered Cussler's 1996 nonfiction book, The Sea Hunters, equivalent to a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in 1997.

Cussler is a fellow in the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London, and has been granted the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Feature Interviews

In the spring of 2003, Clive Cussler took some time out to answer some of our questions.

What was the book that most influenced your life -- and why?
None in particular; but I was an avid reader of adventure books as a kid.

What are your ten favorite books of all time?

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

HMS Ulysses

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Sea-Wolf by Jack London

The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

Favorite films?

Stagecoach

Union Pacific

Gone with the Wind

Casablanca

The Maltese Falcon

Lawrence of Arabia

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Cool Hand Luke

The Sand Pebbles

Favorite music?
Progressive jazz, Dixieland, classical, and big band.

What are your favorite books to give -- and get -- as gifts?
The only books I give as gifts are my own. The books I enjoy receiving are nonfiction.

Who are your favorite writers, and what makes their writing special?
Wilbur Smith, Nelson DeMille, Hammond Innes, and John Steinbeck. They have such a way with words.

What are you working on now?
Putting the finishing touches on my next Dirk Pitt adventure, Trojan Odyssey, to be released in December 2003, and some last-minute editing to Golden Buddha, to be released in October. I am also working on the screenplay for the movie version of Sahara.

How did your career as a writer get started?
I started writing when my wife, Barbara, got a night job for the local police station as a clerk. At night after putting the kids to bed, I had hardly anything to do and no one to talk to. So out of solitude I decided to write a book. I thought it would be fun to produce a little paperback series. The thought of a bestseller never crossed my mind.

Thanks to my advertising and marketing experience, I began researching and analyzing all the series heroes, beginning with Edgar Allan Poe's Inspector Dumas. Next came Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and all the other fiction detectives and spies: Bulldog Drummond, Sam Spade, Phillip Marlow, Mike Hammer, Matt Helm, and James Bond. I studied them all. I didn't want to compete with already-famous authors and was determined not to write about a detective, secret agent, or undercover investigator or deal in murder mysteries.

Since I enjoyed scuba diving, I decided my hero's adventure would be based on and under water. And thus, the basic concept for Dirk Pitt -- the marine engineer with the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) -- was born. I thought it interesting that almost no authors were writing pure, old-fashioned adventure; it seemed a lost genre. The first book introduced Pitt and most all the characters who appeared in the upcoming novels to follow. The book was Pacific Vortex.

What are some of your favorite pastimes?

Searching for ships. I have found more than 60 missing ships and planes throughout the world, including the CSS Hunley -- the first submarine to sink a ship in battle -- which disappeared on February 17, 1864, and was not seen again until we discovered her on May 3, 1995; the Mary Celeste, the first of the so-called "ghost" ships that was found floating off the coast of the Azores with no one on board; the General Slocum, whose sinking caused the worst loss of life in New York City history prior to September 11th; and the Carpathia, the valiant ship that rescued the survivors of the Titanic and then was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I.

Collecting classic cars. I have 87 examples of the coachman's art in a garage outside Denver. Next year I hope to publish a coffee-table book about my car collection.

Collecting antique pistols. I am through with my car collection. Now I am enjoying collecting small, rare firearms.

Slapping Hollywood producers upside the head when necessary.