Cussler, Clive 1931- (Clive Eric Cussler)

PERSONAL:

Born July 15, 1931, in Aurora, IL; son of Eric E. and Amy Cussler; married Barbara Knight, August 28, 1955 (died, 2003); children: Teri, Dirk, Dayna. Education: Attended Pasadena City College, 1949-50, and Orange Coast College. Politics: "Nonpartisan." Hobbies and other interests: Collecting automobiles, searching for historic shipwrecks.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Telluride, CO, and Paradise Valley, AZ. Office—National Underwater and Marine Agency, P.O. Box 5059, Scottsdale, AZ 85258. Agent—Peter Lampack Agency Inc., 551 5th Ave., Ste. 1613, New York, NY 10176-0187. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Bestgen and Cussler Advertising, Newport Beach, CA, owner, 1961-65; Darcy Advertising, Hollywood, CA, creative director, 1965-68; Mefford, Wolff and Weir Advertising, Denver, CO, vice president and creative director of broadcast, 1970-75; Aquatic Marine Dive Equipment, Newport Beach, CA, member of sales staff; National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), founder and chair. Discoverer of more than sixty shipwrecks. Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1950-54; served as aircraft mechanic, became sergeant.

MEMBER:

National Society of Oceanographers (fellow), American Society of Oceanographers, Classic Car Club of America, Royal Geographic Society (London, England; fellow), Explorers Club of New York (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Ford Foundation Consumer Award, 1965-66, for best promotional campaign; first prize, Chicago Film Festival, 1966, for best thirty-second live action commercial; International Broadcasting Awards, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, and 1973, for year's best radio and TV commercials; first place award, Venice Film Festival, 1972, for sixty-second live commercial; Clio Awards, 1972, 1973, and 1974, for TV and radio commercials; Lowell Thomas Award, Explorers Club of New York, for underwater exploration; numerous honors for work in shipwreck discoveries and marine archaeology, including NUMA's receiving a Lightspan Academic Excellence Award for outstanding contribution to education in the field of marine archaeology and historic preservation.

WRITINGS:

"DIRK PITT" ADVENTURE NOVELS

The Mediterranean Caper, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1973, also published as May Day.

Iceberg, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1975.

Raise the Titanic!, Viking (New York, NY), 1976.

Vixen 03, Viking (New York, NY), 1978.

Night Probe!, illustrations by Errol Beauchamp, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Pacific Vortex!, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Deep Six, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1984, premium edition, Pocket Star Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Cyclops (also see below), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1986.

Treasure, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1988.

Dragon, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1990.

Sahara, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1992.

Inca Gold, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1994.

Shock Wave, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996.

Flood Tide (also see below), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997.

Atlantis Found, Putnam (New York, NY), 1999.

Valhalla Rising, Putnam (New York, NY), 2001.

Two Complete Novels (contains Cyclops and Flood Tide), Wings Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Trojan Odyssey, Putnam (New York, NY), 2003.

(With son, Dirk Cussler) Black Wind, Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Dirk Cussler) Treasure of Khan, Putnam (New York, NY), 2006.

"KURT AUSTIN" SERIES; NOVELS; WITH PAUL KEMPRECOS

Serpent: A Novel from the NUMA Files, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Blue Gold: A Novel from the NUMA Files, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Fire Ice, Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

White Death, Putnam (New York, NY), 2003.

Lost City, Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

Polar Shift, Putnam (New York, NY), 2005.

The Navigator, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

"OREGON FILES" SERIES; NOVELS

(With Craig Dirgo) Golden Buddha, Putnam (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Craig Dirgo) Sacred Stone, Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Jack DuBrul) Dark Watch, Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

OTHER

(With Craig Dirgo) The Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Craig Dirgo) Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Craig Dirgo) The Sea Hunters II: Diving the World's Seas for Famous Shipwrecks, Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

The Adventures of Vin Fiz (children's book), illustrated by William Farnsworth, Philomel Books (New York, NY), 2006.

The Chase, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

Some of Cussler's novels have been adapted for young adult audiences.

ADAPTATIONS:

Raise the Titanic!, based on Cussler's novel and starring Jason Robards and Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt, was released by Associated Film Distribution in 1980; Eco-Nova (Halifax, Canada) and National Geographic documentary series, "Clive Cussler's ‘The Sea Hunters’"; Cussler's novel Sahara was adapted for film by screenwriter Thomas Dean Donnelly and director Breck Eisner. The film starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, and was released by Paramount Pictures in 2005. Many of Cussler's titles are available as audiobooks.

SIDELIGHTS:

Clive Cussler began writing novels to while away the time when his wife took a nighttime job, but he earned his living writing award-winning advertising copy until the success of his underwater adventure novels featuring hero Dirk Pitt enabled him to leave the business world and write full-time. According to an article posted at Cussler.net, his adventure tales have appeared in more than forty languages and a hundred countries, and they have earned him 125 million fans. His book signings draw many attendees who ask for his "personalized inscription," wrote Daisy Maryles in a 1999 Publishers Weekly article recognizing the remarkable initial demand for Cussler's fifteenth Dirk Pitt novel, Atlantis Found. Cussler has been a favorite with readers far more than critics, although some critics have recognized his appeal. In a People review of Atlantis Found, J.D. Reed Smith commented that Cussler's writing has two-dimensional characters, predictable story lines, and "dialogue as sticky as Mississippi mud." "Still," Reed added, "we can't put down a Cussler Opus." A Publishers Weekly reviewer, noting that Cussler "typically [exerts a] make-no-apologies enthusiasm," also reported that "for muscle-flexing, flag-waving, belief-suspending fare, [Cussler] has no equal." The Publishers Weekly critic's review specifically referred to Atlantis Found as "another wickedly engrossing yet predictably scripted tale of bravery against all odds."

"There are many things I'd rather be doing than writing a book," Cussler once said, according to Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, who wrote about him for Entertainment Weekly in 1997. Acquiring cars and discovering shipwrecks are among his passions. Cussler has built a premier collection of over eighty-five classic and vintage automobiles. From European classic body styles to American town cars to 1950s convertibles, they are all carefully restored by Cussler and his crew of experts to concours d'elegance condition.

Cussler lives almost the same sort of adventurous life as his best-selling protagonist, Dirk Pitt: tramping the Southwest deserts and mountains in search of lost gold mines and ghost towns, as well as funding and leading more than thirty expeditions in search of lost ships and aircraft. He and his team of NUMA scientists and engineers (his fictional National Underwater and Marine Agency became a reality) have discovered and surveyed nearly seventy historically significant shipwrecks around the world, including the long-lost Confederate submarine Hunley; the German submarine U-20, which sank the Lusitania; the famous Confederate raider Florida; the Navy dirigible Akron, which crashed at sea during a storm in 1933; the troop transport Leopoldville, which was torpedoed on Christmas Eve of 1944 off the coast of Cherbourg, France, killing more than 800 American soldiers; and the Carpathia, which braved icebergs to rescue passengers of the Titanic. Cussler has donated all of his recovered artifacts from the archaeological sites to museums and universities.

Cussler's chosen genre, his avocations, and even his entry into publishing reveal his willingness to take risks. After his first manuscript received numerous rejections, the author created a clever ploy to promote his second work: he printed up stationery with the name of a fabricated West Coast literary agent and used it to send recommendations for his books to major New York agencies. Within a month he had a contract, and he has remained with the same (real) agent, Peter Lampack, ever since. After Flood Tide, his fourteenth Dirk Pitt adventure, however, he split with his longtime publisher Simon & Schuster. Some media outlets reported that he left his former publisher in hopes of getting more respect through his new contract with G.P. Putnam and Sons.

Cussler's widely read "Dirk Pitt" novels relate the adventures of a handsome, witty, courageous, devil-may-care character who, like his creator, collects classic cars and searches for lost ships. Some reviewers have described Pitt as possessing characteristics of such fictional heroes as Indiana Jones and James Bond and such real-life figures as Jacques Cousteau and Chuck Yeager. Yet Pitt is far from superhuman, Chicago Tribune Books contributor David E. Jones observed in a review of Inca Gold: "Cussler has created a caring, cared-about, flesh and blood human being" who takes wrong turns and suffers from lapses in judgment, but who "also thinks faster on his feet than most and has an uncanny ability to turn negative situations into positive ones." This combination has proved to be tremendously appealing to readers, even though reviewers have often faulted Cussler's writing style and his improbable story lines. New York Times Book Review critic Newgate Callendar cited Cussler as "the cliche expert nonpareil" in a review of Raise the Titanic! and remarked that "Cussler has revived the cliche and batters his reader with choice specimens: ‘the cold touch of fear’; ‘a set look of determination in the deep green eyes’; ‘before death swept over him’; ‘narrow brush with death.’"

Cussler has shrugged off negative responses to his work. "Because I was locked in for eighteen years writing the short, snappy ad copy, I could never sit down and write a Fitzgerald-Hemingway-Bellow-type Great American Novel," he once told CA. "But [that experience] did prepare me to write easy, understandable prose, and also to look at writing and publishing from a marketing angle."

Cussler once recalled to CA that at the beginning of his writing career, "blood and guts adventure" was not universally accepted among publishers. Initially he was told that his adventures would never sell and that critical opinion was against him, but these views have softened with the growth of the author's popular appeal. When Cussler complained to his agent, Peter Lampack, about negative reviews, Lampack, Cussler said, "came back with a classic statement: ‘Listen, when we start getting good literary reviews, we're in big trouble.’"

While early reviews of Cussler may have been dismissive, reviews of his later works have recognized his stories as full of action, fun to read, and extremely popular, while nonetheless pointing out the incredibility of his plots. Discussing Dragon, the author's 1990 release, Publishers Weekly critic Sybil Steinberg admitted that although the story line was "improbable," Cussler had still come up with "a page-turning romp that achieves a level of fast-paced action and derring-do that … practitioners of modern pulp fiction might well envy." Peter L. Robertson, in his Tribune Books review of Treasure, placed Cussler's stories "in the tradition of Ian Fleming's James Bond" and added: "Cussler has developed and patented a vibrant, rollicking narrative style that seldom shows signs of relenting." Inca Gold, which finds Pitt in the Amazonian jungles on a quest to thwart a group of smugglers, is "pure escapist adventure, with a wry touch of humor and a certain self-referential glee (Cussler himself makes a cameo appearance)," a Publishers Weekly reviewer noted, "but the entertainment value meets the gold standard." (He has made those cameo appearances in many of his books.) Booklist reviewer Joe Collins observed that the author's fans "are already familiar with his gift for hyperbole" and recommended that new readers take Cussler's "breathless approach with a grain of salt and just relax and enjoy the adventures of Pitt and company" in Inca Gold.

In 1997's Flood Tide Pitt's vacation plans go by the wayside as he uncovers a Chinese immigrant smuggling ring in waters near Seattle—an operation that is linked, through its leader, Qin Shang, to an attempt to cause "ecological and economic destruction from New Orleans to eastern Texas," related a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who also thought Cussler was tapping into "right-wing fears of a flood tide of nonwhite immigrants." The Publishers Weekly reviewer, as well as several other critics, determined that Flood Tide will please Cussler's fans. As Gilbert Taylor concluded in Booklist: "This bombastically scripted tale will satisfy Cussler faithfuls." The story is "packed with meticulous research and wonderfully quirky characters," remarked People contributor Cynthia Sanz, judging Flood Tide to be "as fun as it is formulaic." "Cussler's story is entertaining, but suspending disbelief may be a problem," commented Ray Vignovich in a Library Journal assessment of an audiobook edition of the novel.

Cussler has said he sees his purpose as entertaining readers, and he also considers the impact of his books on young adults. "I have quite a large following of young people," he once told CA. "That's why I don't believe in using four-letter words, and any sex is simply alluded to, never detailed. I've had letters from kids as young as eight who enjoy Pitt and his adventures. And because I try to write my stories in a simple, forward manner, I'm especially pleased by letters from mothers and school teachers, who tell me their children and students had refused to read before they were given one of my books. Now they read everything in sight and are hooked on reading."

Cussler found that his readers enjoy the pictures of Pitt's cars that are included on the books' jackets. Clive Cus-sler and Dirk Pitt Revealed provides a guide to the world of Pitt, including summaries of each novel of the Dirk Pitt series as well as details on weapons, vehicles, and locations from the writings. Cussler also once told CA that he has great fun with his cameo appearances. He and Pitt always meet up, with Cussler often supplying his hero with vital information before sending him on his way to subdue the villains.

Asked how he comes up with his intricate plots, the author once told CA: "First comes the overall concept. This is, of course, the old cut-and-dried, time-tested What-if. What if, for example, they raise the Titanic? In Night Probe!, what if Canada and the United States became one country? I also use a prologue that describes something in the past that sets up the plots in the present. Then I end with an epilogue that sews all the corners together. My plots are pretty convoluted; I usually juggle one main plot and as many as four subplots. Then the trick is to thread the needle in the end and give the readers a satisfying conclusion." Cussler has continually succeeded in giving readers a plot to escape in—even with his fifteenth "Dirk Pitt" adventure, published in 1999, twenty-three years after the series debut. In Library Journal, Ronnie H. Terpening proclaimed Atlantis Found "brilliantly conceived and boldly plotted … his most imaginative yet … a fascinating story … backed by meticulous research."

In 2005 Cussler penned another "Dirk Pitt" novel, this time in partnership with his son Dirk Cussler. In the story, two Japanese submarines carrying the deadly chimera virus intended for biological warfare are sunk off the coast of the United States. Decades later, the virus falls into the dangerous hands of Korean sleeper agent and industrialist Kang. Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk Pitt, Jr., and Summer, are called on to prevent Kang from unleashing the virus. Pam Johnson, writing for the School Library Journal, commented: "Featuring plenty of intense action, the plot fairly runs across the pages, with even the quieter moments full of intrigue." She also pointed out that the science and history integrated into the novel give it "a sense of realism." "There are the usual harrowing encounters, close calls," and "daring exploits," noted George Cohen in Booklist.

Father and son collaborated again on Treasure of Khan, which pits Pitt and his entourage against a descendant of Genghis Khan who is causing natural disasters as he attempts to monopolize world oil resources and restore his family's power. Critical responses included complaints about characterization and believability along with praise for the authors' storytelling power. Entertainment Weekly contributor Paul Katz thought Pitt's adversary "wafer-thin," but allowed that the novel "keeps the action zipping along." A Publishers Weekly reviewer found the protagonists' adventures "larger-than-life" but "nicely balanced by down-to-earth explanations" of various geological and oceanographic occurrences. Jeff Ayers, writing in the Library Journal, related that "the quality fans expect" of a Cussler work "is in abundance," and he predicted best-seller status for the novel.

Even while Cussler continued to write novels in the Dirk Pitt series, he decided to add a couple of younger figures in a spinoff series planned by Cussler, written by Paul Kemprecos, and revised by Cussler: the "Kurt Austin" series, which began publication in 1999. Mark Graham explained in the Rocky Mountain News: "Clive Cussler's James Bondesque undersea hero Dirk Pitt has starred in sixteen novels over the last four decades. And although Pitt is still capable of amazing feats, his bones are starting to creak, and he isn't quite as quick as he once was. If Pitt's National Underwater Marine Agency is going to keep up with the times, it obviously needs new blood. Recognizing this, the prolific Colorado author has not only taken on a partner (Paul Kemprecos, a Shamus Award-winning author of undersea thrillers in his own right), but created a new protagonist. Kurt Austin takes over as the 21st century Dirk Pitt clone." Graham was disappointed that "the only differences between Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin are their names and ages" but acknowledged that "the key word here is fun. Like most of Dirk Pitt novels, what happens in Fire Ice is almost ludicrous in its improbability. Yet watching Cussler and Kemprecos maneuver around possible pitfalls (pun intended) in plot, action and setting makes for enjoyable light reading."

Serpent: A Novel from the NUMA Files, another book in the "Kurt Austin" series, tells of the adventures of Kurt Austin and his NUMA colleague Joe Zavala. A Publishers Weekly reviewer described the duo as "two young bucks without the seasoning and panache of Pitt but worthy successors, nonetheless." The coauthors used "the 1956 sinking of the Andrea Doria as the springboard for [this] thriller," stated Roland Green in Booklist. In Serpent, Austin and Zavala "are trying to find out why top archeologists are being killed, some of them butchered, at dig sites," recounted the writer for Publishers Weekly, who judged the novel to be "great fun, if not a little top-heavy at times from flabby subplots and excessive detail." In the fourth adventure, White Death, as a Publishers Weekly reviewer stated: "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."

Some reviewers have described Cussler's productions as somewhat xenophobic. A Publishers Weekly reviewer of White Death noted the way in which some of the villains are described, such as "swarthy, black-clad, facially tattooed Eskimos of the evil Kiolya tribe who guard the company's many operations." A.D. Sullivan in the Scrap Paper Review remarked of Flood Tide that "Cussler waves the American flag so often one questions whether this is a novel or a bullfight. His facts—inserted to raise the peril of Japanese sovereignty over America—are often wrong or distorted, and his villains simplistic and cruel without attempt at understanding the complexity of America's addiction to foreign money."

In Lost City, Cussler and Kemprecos's fifth novel about Kurt Austin's National Underwater Marine Agency, an enzyme that can prolong human life is discovered in the Lost City, a half mile beneath the North Atlantic Ocean. Austin battles numerous forces bent on destruction, murder, and world domination in order to save the day. The plot ranges from a mountainous glacier, where the body of a frozen pilot is found, to an island populated by cannibals, and involves the fetching archaeologist Skye Labelle and the murderous mother-son team of Racine and Emil Fauchard, who put up quite a fight on their quest to take over the world. Along the way, Austin battles environmental disaster caused by monstrous seaweed and a lumbering submarine that is up to no good. It's all good fun, according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, who called the novel "vintage Cussler." Cohen, again writing for Booklist, deemed it "a page-turning adventure."

In the next novel featuring Kurt Austin and NUMA, Polar Shift, an anti-globalization group plans to engineer the shift of the title, which will result in massive geological destruction. A Kirkus Reviews critic noted of this book: "What matters most to Cussler/Kemprecos is the big bang, the monstrous cause-and-effect." Cohen concluded that "the plot is inconceivable, but Cussler's loyal fans won't care."

The 2007 entry in this series, The Navigator, has the NUMA team delving into a historical mystery involving the ancient Phoenicians, expert sailors who are said to have stolen a statue called the Navigator from Baghdad about 900 B.C. and brought it to the Western Hemisphere. A criminal is trying to obtain the statue, which also has associations with the Ark of the Covenant—the container believed to house the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. U.S. historical figures such as President Thomas Jefferson and explorer Meriwether Lewis may have been involved with the statue as well. Some critics found this tale ridiculous, others entertaining. "The writing … is often less than Cussler's best," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer, while a Kirkus Reviews contributor deemed the novel "a small—very small—step up from Saturday morning adventure cartoons." George Cohen, however, once more writing in Booklist, thought the book had a "compelling, well-organized plot" that would appeal to Cussler's "multitude of fans." Mary Purucker, critiquing the audiobook edition for Kliatt, praised the story's "historical spin" and described the action as "a ride wilder than Mr. Toad's."

Finding—with four novels in the series at the top of the best-seller charts immediately on publication—that this formula for success worked well, in 2003 Cussler added another series, the "Oregon Files." The first two books in the series, Golden Buddha and Sacred Stone, were written with the man who coauthored the two volumes of The Sea Hunters with him, Craig Dirgo. The series protagonist, Juan Cabrillo, is the "cool, brainy Chairman" of "the Corporation," as Graham described him. A Publishers Weekly review of Golden Buddha quotes Cabrillo: "We [the Corporation] were formed to make a profit, that's for sure, but as much as we like the money, we are also cognizant of the chances that arise for us to somehow right the wrongs of others." In this case, righting the wrongs means ending Chinese control of Tibet and installing the Dalai Lama as the nation's leader after Cabrillo and his team recover an ancient statue, the Golden Buddha, stolen from him by China. "Cabrillo and crew are adept at high finance and diplomacy, playing the Russians off against the Chinese and winning over the United Nations," the Publishers Weekly writer noted.

Cussler continued the "Oregon Files," series with 2004's Sacred Stone and 2005's Dark Watch. Of Sacred Stone, Cohen remarked: "As always, the plot covers many locales around the world, and the dialogue contains lots of military jargon." Steve Dobosz, a reviewer for Kliatt, noted that in the novel "the graphic nature of the violence is held to a minimum, and in solving the dilemmas the authors display the morality and humanity of the Corporation." Dark Watch, coauthored with Jack DuBrul, contains "a few trite lines," according to Cohen, and the end "doesn't come as a surprise, but Cussler's countless fans won't care."

Cussler took his writing to another level in 2006 when he penned his first children's book, The Adventures of Vin Fiz. The story is about Casey and Lacey Nicefolk, twins who are given a device from a stranger that allows them to make their toys life-sized. They create a replica of a Wright brothers' plane and name it Vin Fiz. The siblings have many adventures flying across the country and aiding those in danger. "Unfortunately, the book suffers from a lack of characterization as well as problems with gender stereotypes," wrote Tasha Saecker in the School Library Journal. However, a Publishers Weekly reviewer pointed out that "Cussler sprinkles his folksy narrative with instructional notes … and facts … and characters' names [that] emphasize the text's tall-tale quality."

While his stories may seem tailor-made for Hollywood, Cussler has emphasized that he refuses to sell them for adaptation until he can be assured of a quality production. For many years Cussler held off on selling movie rights to his books after, as he described it to Bookreporter.com's interviewer Ann Bruns, "they made such a botch of [Raise the Titanic!]." He sold the movie rights to the Dirk Pitt novels in 2001 once Hollywood "finally … gave me script and casting approval," he said. "So that's why I'm reading the script the screenwriter came up with. If it fails this time, it's my fault." The first movie be produced under the agreement was 2005's Sahara, a commercial failure that led Cussler to sue the production company, Crusader Entertainment, in 2006, saying he did not have sufficient control of the project. Crusader in turn sued Cussler, claiming he had misrepresented the number of copies the Dirk Pitt books had sold. In May 2007, a Los Angeles jury found Cussler liable for the misrepresentation claim and ordered him to pay Crusader five million dollars. The jury also, however, ordered Crusader to pay Cussler eight and a half million dollars for the film rights to a second book.

Also in 2007, Cussler published a nonseries novel, The Chase, set in the American West in 1906. Detective Isaac Bell is pursuing a criminal known as "The Butcher Bandit," a bank robber who kills any witnesses to his misdeeds and then drops out of sight until the next robbery. Critical opinion included some disparagement of Cussler's dialogue and characterizations; a Publishers Weekly reviewer described them as "clunky" and "improbable," respectively. There was also, however, praise for the novel's action. The Publishers Weekly critic noted the novel offers "high-speed thrills" involving train chases and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Jeff Ayers, again critiquing for the Library Journal, complimented the book's historical background and "thrill-a-minute pace." Ayers predicted that The Chase will bring Cussler new fans while satisfying those familiar with his work.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Valero, Wayne, The Collector's Guide to Clive Cussler, Wayne Valero, 2000.

PERIODICALS

Armchair Detective, fall, 1994, Anthony Lane, review of Inca Gold, p. 496.

Booklist, April 1, 1992, Kathryn LaBarbera, review of Sahara, p. 1411; April 1, 1994, Joe Collins, review of Inca Gold, p. 1404; December 15, 1995, George Cohen, review of Shock Wave, p. 667; August, 1997, Gilbert Taylor, review of Flood Tide, p. 1846; June 1, 1999, Roland Green, review of Serpent: A Novel from the NUMA Files, p. 1741; November 15, 1999, Eric Robbins, review of Atlantis Found, p. 579; June 1, 2001, Eric Robbins, review of Valhalla Rising, p. 1796; April 1, 2002, George Cohen, review of Fire Ice, p. 1282; June 1, 2003, George Cohen, review of White Death, p. 1710; September 1, 2003, George Cohen, review of Golden Buddha, p. 53; November 1, 2003, David Pitt, review of Trojan Odyssey, p. 458; September 1, 2004, George Cohen, review of Lost City, p. 60; October 15, 2004, George Cohen, review of Sacred Stone, p. 392; November 15, 2004, September 1, 2005, George Cohen, review of Polar Shift, p. 62; October 15, 2005, George Cohen, review of Dark Watch, p. 29; November 15, 2006, David Pitt, review of Treasure of Khan, p. 35; April 15, 2007, George Cohen, review of The Navigator, p. 4.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March, 2006, Elizabeth Bush, review of The Adventures of Vin Fiz, p. 307.

Christian Science Monitor, November 9, 2007, "Moonlighting: Clive Cussler," p. 14.

Daily Variety, February 5, 2007, "Accusations Traded in ‘Sahara’ Film Trial," p. 5.

Entertainment Weekly, October 17, 1997, Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, "Yearning to Trawl: Seafaring Author Clive Cussler," p. 66; November 28, 2003, Jennifer Reese, review of Trojan Odyssey, p. 128; December 8, 2006, Paul Katz, review of Treasure of Khan, p. 101.

Hollywood Reporter, February 14, 2007, "Rights On, Off," p. 6.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2003, review of Trojan Odyssey, p. 1239; August 1, 2005, review of Polar Shift, p. 804; May 1, 2007, review of The Navigator; September 1, 2007, review of The Chase.

Kliatt, January, 2005, review of Sacred Stone, p. 12; May, 2007, Mary Purucker, review of Treasure of Khan, p. 46; November, 2007, Mary Purucker, review of The Navigator, p. 42.

Library Journal, July, 1981, Barbara A. Bannon, review of Night Probe!, p. 1442; June 1, 1984, review of Deep Six, p. 1144; April 15, 1994, Grant A. Fredericksen, review of Inca Gold, p. 111; April 1, 1995, review of Inca Gold, p. 142; February 1, 1996, Barbara Conaty, review of Shock Wave, p. 97; September 1, 1996, p. 229; November 1, 1997, review of Flood Tide, p. 130; November 15, 1999, Ronnie H. Terpening, review of Atlantis Found, p. 97; July, 2001, Robert Conroy, review of Valhalla Rising, p. 121; March 1, 2002, Joseph L. Carlson, review of Valhalla Rising, p. 127; May 1, 2002, Robert Conroy, review of Fire Ice, p. 132; September 15, 2003, Jeff Ayers, review of Golden Buddha, p. 90; November 15, 2006, Jeff Ayers, review of Treasure of Khan, p. 54; September 1, 2007, Jeff Ayers, review of The Chase, p. 126.

Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2006, Glenn F. Bunting, "Don't Give Him Rewrite: Clive Cussler Had Wide Discretion over the Script for His Novel ‘Sahara,’ Now, after Many Costly Revisions, He's Suing over What Did Hit the Screen," p. A1; February 2, 2007, Glenn F. Bunting and Josh Getlin, "Billionaire Claims that Novelist Duped Him in Selling Film Rights," p. C2.

Maclean's, June 4, 2007, "Clive Cussler: An Exaggerated Adventure Story," p. 52.

New York Times, May 16, 2007, "Both Sides Claim Victory in Long Case of Failed Film," p. 14.

New York Times Book Review, June 17, 1990, Newgate Callendar, review of Dragon, p. 19; May 22, 1994, Newgate Callendar, review of Inca Gold, p. 39; January 21, 1996, p. 21.

People, November 10, 1997, Cynthia Sanz, review of Flood Tide, p. 41; March 20, 2000, J.D. Reed Smith, Atlantis Found, p. 47.

Publishers Weekly, August 23, 1976, review of Raise the Titanic!, p. 59; February 26, 1982, review of Raise the Titanic!, p. 46; November 12, 1982, review of Pacific Vortex!, p. 64; April 13, 1984, review of Night Probe!, p. 146; April 13, 1992, review of Sahara, p. 40; August 3, 1992, review of Sahara, p. 35; March 28, 1994, review of Inca Gold, p. 80; July 11, 1994; September 19, 1994; October 9, 1995; December 18, 1995, review of Shock Wave, p. 42; August 26, 1996, review of The Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, p. 87; August 25, 1997, review of Flood Tide, p. 46; May 31, 1999, review of Serpent, p. 51; November 22, 1999, review of Atlantis Found, p. 44; December 20, 1999; August 21, 2000; July 30, 2001, review of Valhalla Rising, p. 61; August 27, 2001; May 13, 2002, review of Fire Ice, p. 50; May 12, 2003, review of White Death, p. 40; June 30, 2003; August 25, 2003, review of Golden Buddha, p. 37; October 9, 2006, review of Treasure of Khan, p. 38; April 16, 2007, review of The Navigator, p. 31; September 3, 2007, review of The Chase, p. 38.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), August 17, 2001, Mark Graham, "Cussler's Presence Taints New Pitt Adventure," p. 25D; July 12, 2002, "Undersea Hero Rides Wave of Predictable Fun," p. 30D.

School Library Journal, May, 2005, Pam Johnson, review of Black Wind, p. 168; February, 2006, Tasha Saecker, review of The Adventures of Vin Fiz, p. 94.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), March 20, 1988, Peter L. Robertson, "Back on the High Wire with Daring Dirk Pitt," p. 8; May 22, 1994, David E. Jones, "Clive Cussler Goes for the Gold," p. 6.

Variety, May 21, 2007, "‘Sahara’ Trial Does Splits," p. 4.

ONLINE

AllReaders.com,http://www.allreaders.com/ (January 8, 2008), Harriet Klausner, reviews of Trojan Odyssey, Valhalla Rising, and Black Wind.

Best Reviews,http://thebestreviews.com/ (November 10, 2002), Harriet Klausner, review of The Sea Hunters II: Diving the World's Seas for Famous Shipwrecks; (October 15, 2005), Harriet Klausner, review of Dark Watch.

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (September 11, 2001), interview with Cussler.

Clive Cussler Car Museum,http://cusslermuseum.com/ (January 8, 2008).

Clive Cussler Collector's Society,http://www.cusslersociety.com/ (January 8, 2008), information about Cussler's collections.

Clive Cussler Fan Site,http://www.cusslermen.com/ (January 8, 2008).

Clive Cussler Forum,http://www.clivecusslerforum.com/ (January 8, 2008).

Cussler.net,http://www.cussler.net (January 8, 2008).

National Underwater and Marine Agency,http://www.numa.net/ (January 8, 2008).