Atlantis Found (A Dirk Pitt Adventure)

FROM OUR EDITORS

How does an author maintain a successful career for more than a quarter century? By making each book better than the one before. Dubbed the grandmaster of adventure fiction by fans and critics alike, Clive Cussler continues to produce action-packed thrillers unlike anyone writing today. Rightly, he is the benchmark by which other genre novels are measured; to say that he's done it again with his latest blockbuster, Atlantis Found, would be a gross understatement. Whether raising the Titanic or foiling the schemes of countless villains, Dirk Pitt, Cussler's hero of 15 previous bestsellers, has become a legend to millions of readers. And who but Pitt could go after the greatest legend of them all -- Atlantis. As in his previous books, Cussler's Atlantis Found has a plot that's impossible to top, action that is bloody and frequent, and stakes as high as they can be. The cliched "roller coaster" analogy that we reviewers often tag a thriller just doesn't do this novel justice since Cussler's latest accelerates the whole way through.

With his typical sardonic wit and the aid of his NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) coworkers, Dirk Pitt faces the biggest challenge of his life. It starts for Pitt during an exploratory dive in an abandoned Colorado mine that turns into the daring rescue of archeologist Patricia O'Connell -- daring not only because the mine is about to collapse, but also because there are killers in the subterranean passages who will stop at nothing to ensure that O'Connell's discovery of some ancient runes is not made public. From this white-knuckle episode the story evolves into the twin search to understand the writing's message and uncover the identity of the killers.

In order to learn the meaning of the ancient writing, Pitt must first duel with an antique submarine in frigid southern waters, discover the secret behind a massive landlocked shipyard in the Argentine fjords, and travel to a tiny island between Africa and Australia where another piece of the puzzle has lain hidden for 10,000 years. Only when he learns the truth behind these mysteries does Pitt discover that the answers may also be the death knell of civilzation. If that's not enough to keep your eyes glued to the pages, there's also a powerful industrialist with neo-Nazi ties whose machinations aim to make him and his family rulers of a truly new World Order. Hurtling toward a literal earth-shattering climax on the Antartic coast, it again becomes clear that the fate of billions rests on Pitt's shoulders. And the final twist? Well, it's something I've rarely seen in a thriller; it will leave long-time fans of Dirk Pitt gasping.

As in any great epic, Pitt's new quest involves a number of labors, both physical and mental, where each answer reveals more questions. With a seamless blend of discovery and adventure, this is where Cussler shines -- catapulting readers from scene to scene. His imaginative set pieces are among the best in fiction. If you want globetrotting action with a heavy dose of humor, then Atlantis Found is Cussler -- and Pitt -- at their very best.

And now my excruciating wait to see how Cussler's going to top this begins.

--Jack Du Brul

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dirk Pitt discovers Atlantis, in a breathtaking novel from the grand master of adventure fiction.

Clive Cussler has long since proven himself one of America's most popular authors--a master of intricate, audacious plotting and "vibrant, rollicking narrative" (Chicago Tribune). But Atlantis Found may be his most audacious novel of all.

September l858: An Antarctic whaler stumbles upon an aged wreck, its grisly frozen crew guarding crates of odd antiquities--and a skull carved from black obsidian.

March 200l: A team of anthropologists gazes in awe at a wall of strange inscriptions, moments before a blast seals them deep within the Colorado rock.

April 200l: A research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is set upon and nearly sunk by an impossibility--a vessel that should have died fifty-six years before.

Pitt knows that somehow all these incidents are connected, and his investigations soon land him deep into an ancient mystery with very modern consequences, up against a diabolical enemy unlike any he has ever known, and racing to save not only his own life but the future of the world itself.

The trap is set. The clock is ticking. And only one man stands between earth and Armageddon. . . .

Filled with dazzling suspense and astonishing set pieces, this is Clive Cussler's greatest adventure novel yet.

"I've always had tremendous fun with Dirk Pitt, but nothing has given me more pleasure than the opportunity to send him to that most fabled of lost lands, Atlantis, and to virtually reinvent aspects of its civilization. I hope you have as good a time reading Atlantis Found as I did writing it!"—Clive Cussler

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Dirk Pitt, Cussler's larger-than-life hero, butts heads with an army of elite killers seeking to destroy the world in another wickedly engrossing yet predictably scripted tale of bravery against all odds. As the story begins, artifacts from a previously undiscovered civilization, ancient but highly advanced, are popping up all over the globe. Pitt himself is on site in a Colorado mine when archeologists come across strange carvings and mysterious inscriptions. But then an explosion traps the party below ground, and a band of black-suited terrorists arrive at the scene with guns blazing. Though Pitt saves the day, the incident points toward a wider network of evil schemes. Working for the National Underwater & Marine Agency, Pitt finally identifies the terrorists as members of the Fourth Empire, an organization headed by the diabolical Wolf family, a secret clan of genetically engineered people who worship the Nazi Third Reich. But it's only after Pitt and his able sidekick, Al Giordino, battle old German U-boats, dodge surface-to-air missiles and narrowly escape death on a remote island off Australia that they find out what the Fourth Empire is up to. The neo-Nazis aim to prevent the world from discovering the artifacts of this previously unknown seafaring culture because they tell of a catastrophic event that wiped out civilization 9000 years ago and reveal when the next cataclysm will hit. The Wolfs plan to accelerate the date through their own scheme to destroy Earth, meanwhile sheltering themselves and their thousands of followers on enormous, disaster-proof ships. Pitt knows his assignment: save the world--a tall order, but one he's filled many times before. Cussler's 15th Pitt adventure (after Flood Tide) is a rampaging story of history, technology and heroism, written with Cussler's typical make-no-apologies enthusiasm. For muscle-flexing, flag-waving, belief-suspending fare, he has no equal. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A highly advanced civilization is destroyed by a comet . An ancient British ship is found frozen in Antarctica . A Nazi submarine prowls beneath the seas . If all of this sounds a bit fantastic, it's just another sign of a Cussler novel featuring his Bond-ish hero, Dirk Pitt, who has previously raised the Titanic and found the body of Abraham Lincoln in the middle of the Sahara Desert; saving the world is all in a day's work. Following the discovery of a strange obsidian skull that seems to have geographic markings on it that represent Earth's continents in strange locations, Pitt and his companions find themselves tracking down the strangest mystery in history: Was Atlantis real or a fable? The answer is hinted at in the title, but even with the discovery of the secret to the ancient civilization, Pitt's travails are just beginning. He must locate and destroy a family that traces its roots back to the dark days of Hitler and who have known for years that the world is about to come to an end, based on predictions by the highly advanced civilization. Will Dirk and the rest of the NUMA crew be able to prevent this disaster? Michael Prichard has read Pitt books before and gives them the right mix of incredulity, humor, and suspense. Cussler knows how to tell a compelling tale, and his work is always in demand. This will be a highly popular title for all public libraries.--Joseph L. Carlson, Lompac P.L., CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

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