In het jaar 367 na Christus ontsnapt een Romeinse galei met een bijzondere vracht op het nippertje aan piraten. In 1916 explodeert een Engels oorlogsschip op mysterieuze wijze midden op de Noordzee. En nu worden belangrijke moskeeën in Turkije en Egypte opgeblazen. NUMA-directeur Dirk Pitt en zijn team onderzoeken het verband tussen Romeinse voorwerpen die in Turkije en Israël zijn opgegraven en een fundamentalistische beweging die vastbesloten is de glorie van het Ottomaanse rijk in ere te herstellen. Maar het gevaarlijkste van alles is een mysterieus manuscript dat wel eens cruciaal zou kunnen zijn voor de geschiedenis van de wereld zoals wij die kennen…

Clive Cussler schreef ruim dertig bestsellers, waaronder de Dirk Pitt-avonturen Duivelsadem en De schat van Khan, de Kurt Austin-avonturen Medusa en De Navigator, en in de reeks Dossier Oregon verschenen o.a. Heilige steen, Het oog van de orkaan en Dodenschip. Clive Cussler woont in Arizona. www.cusslerbooks.com



Tijdens een vakantie in Turkije raken Dirk Pitt en zijn vrouw betrokken bij de diefstal van kostbare Romeinse voorwerpen uit het Topkapimuseum in Istanbul. Als Dirks vrouw dan ook nog wordt gekidnapt, zitten Pitt en zijn kinderen, alle drie werkzaam bij het NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), al gauw tot over hun oren in een duister complot rond een poging om het Ottomaanse Rijk in ere te herstellen. Hierbij spelen een drie eeuwen voor Christus gezonken schip, aanslagen op moskeeen in Turkije en Israel en een geheimzinnig manuscript dat de wereldgeschiedenis zou kunnen veranderen een rol. Deel uit de nu 21 delen tellende Dirk Pitt-serie en het vierde dat Cussler samen met zijn zoon schreef. Een volgens de bekende formule vervaardigde snelle en spannende maritieme avonturenthriller, met veel actie in en onder water, wat technische en historische weetjes, een wat onwaarschijnlijke plot, dappere helden en inslechte boeven. Ongecompliceerde ontspanning geserveerd in lekker weglezende, hapklare hoofdstukjes van zo'n bladzijde of vier met steeds een cliffhanger tot slot. Voorin een kaart van Turkije. www.numa.net. Normale druk.

Redactie
(source: Bol.com)

Kurt Austin is de leider van de Speciale Eenheid van de NUMA (Nationale Underwater & Marine Agency). Een confrontatie tussen een radicale milieugroepering en een Deense kruiser dwingt Austin en zijn collega Joe Zavala ertoe een schip vol in de val zittende zeelieden te hulp te schieten. Een louche multinationale probeert de alleenheerschappij over de zeeën naar zich toe te trekken. Als Austins boot wordt opgeblazen, overleeft hij ternauwernood. Intussen escaleert de milieuramp...
Clive Cussler heeft al vele bestsellers op zijn naam staan, zoals Inferno op zee, Jacht in de diepte en Sahara. Samen met Paul Kemprecos schreef Clive Cussler Serpent, Het blauwe goud en Vuurijs.

Recensie(s)
NBD|Biblion recensie

Kurt Austin, leider van de NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), en zijn partner Joe Zavala schieten een groep Deense zeelieden te hulp die opgesloten zitten in hun gezonken schip. De Deense kruiser die een konvooi walvisvaarders beschermde, is gezonken na een aanvaring met het vlaggenschip van de radicale milieugroepering Sentinels of the Sea. Na de geslaagde reddingsoperatie komen Austin en de zijnen in contact met Oceanus, een louche multinational met aan het hoofd een boosaardige, pokdalige reuzeneskimo die genetisch gemanipuleerde vraatzuchtige monstervissen heeft gekweekt en zo heerschappij over de wereldzeeen en visindustrie wil krijgen. Een milieuramp dreigt. Het wordt een harde strijd waarbij Austins boot wordt opgeblazen en hijzelf bijna het leven laat. Spannende avonturenthriller met een prachtig onwaarschijnlijk plot, waarin de vaart erin wordt gehouden door de wisselende locaties, de vele (maritieme) actie en allerlei subplots. De helden zijn dapper en stoer, de schilderachtige schurken in- en inslecht, maar voor de liefhebber is het heerlijk leesvoer. Cussler (1931) is oprichter van de NUMA en schreef zo'n twintig maritieme avonturenbestsellers, de meeste met Dirk Pitt in de hoofdrol. Normale druk.

(Biblion recensie, Redactie)
(source: Bol.com)

Vol adembenemende spanning en buitengewoon fantasierijk Dzjengis Khan - de grootste veroveraar aller tijden, die op het hoogtepunt van zijn macht over een rijk heerste dat zich uitstrekte van de Stille Oceaan tot aan de Kaspische Zee. Zijn veroveringen mogen legendarisch worden genoemd, hoewel zijn graftombe altijd een mysterie is gebleven. Tot vandaag. Als Dirk Pitt bijna om het leven komt bij het redden van een olie-exploratieteam dat op het Russische Baikalmeer door een gigantische golf in de problemen komt, lijkt dat op niet meer dan een gril van de natuur. Maar als de leden van dat team worden ontvoerd en Pitts onderzoeksvaartuig bijna tot zinken wordt gebracht, wordt duidelijk dat hier iets heel sinisters aan de hand is. Alle sporen leiden naar Mongolië, naar een mysterieuze mogol die geheime deals sluit voor het leveren van olie aan de Chinezen, terwijl hij via dodelijke sabotagedaden de wereldoliemarkt dreigt te ontregelen. De Mongoliër wil tot elke prijs het rijk van Dzjengis Khan in oude luister herstellen. Zal hij zijn droom kunnen realiseren? Van de ijskoude meren van Siberië tot aan het gloeiend hete zand van de Gobiwoestijn worden Dirk Pitt en Al Giordino, op zoek naar de mysterieuze schat van Xanadu, onophoudelijk geconfronteerd met intriges, avonturen en gevaar. Clive Cussler schreef al dertig bestsellers, waaronder het Dirk Pitt-avontuur Trojaanse Odyssee, de Kurt Austin-avonture Verloren stad en Poolstorm, en in de reeks Dossier Oregon verschenen Gouden Boeddha en Heilige steen. Hij woont in Arizona. Dirk Cussler werkte jaren in de financiële wereld en wijdt zich nu volledig aan het schrijven. Hij is met Clive Cussler co-auteur van Zwarte wind. Hij woont eveneens in Arizona.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Cussler's most dazzling bestseller.Dirk Pitt's most dangerous adventure.****Dirk Pitt proved invincible in *Raise the Titanic!* Now, with the future of virtually every person in the world at stake, he is enlisted to spearhead his most daring mission yet—the rescue of a vital document for the United States. To an energy-starved, economically devastated America, possession of this document is worth billions. But to Great Britain, it’s worth a war. Pitt’s quest plunges him into a head-to-head confrontation with Britian’s most cunning secret agent—and into the throes of a torrid love triangle. As time runs out for a desperate America, Dirk Pitt races toward an underwater clash more terrifying than anything Clive Cussler has ever created—the breathtaking climax of **Night Probe!****

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Clive Cussler's dazzling new Dirk Pitt(r) adventure. Clive the Mighty!" hailed Kirkus Reviews about Cussler's last Dirk Pitt(r) novel, *Trojan Odyssey*. "Hurricane Clive at his most tumultuous." Nobody has been able to match Cussler yet for the intricate plotting and sheer audacity of his work, and *Black Wind* sets the bar even higher. In the waning days of World War II, the Japanese tried a last desperate measure-a different kind of kamikaze mission, this one carried out by two submarines bound for the West Coast of the United States, their cargo a revolutionary new strain of biological virus. Neither sub made it to the designated target. But that does not mean they were lost. Someone knows about the subs and what they bore, knows too where they might be, and has an extraordinary plan in store for the prize inside-a scheme that could reshape the world as we know it. All that stands in the way are three people: a marine biologist named Summer, a marine engineer named Dirk, and their father, Dirk Pitt, the new head of NUMA. Pitt has faced devastating enemies before, and has even teamed up with his children to track them down. But never has he looked upon the face of pure evil . . . until now. Filled with dazzling suspense and breathtaking action, *Black Wind* is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers.

From Publishers Weekly

Cussler takes a breather from his several ongoing series with this historical thriller set in the western states, circa 1906. The U.S. government hires the renowned Van Dorn Detective Agency and its equally renowned lead agent, Isaac Bell, to capture the bank robber known as the Butcher Bandit. The Butcher has gunned down 38 men and women and two children, leaving behind neither witnesses nor clues. Bell heads the manhunt and finally figures out the Butcher's true identity, which is when the real chase begins. Unfortunately, Cussler's style is patterned on the clunky dialogue (I pray you catch the murdering scum) and improbable characters of the period's dime novels, and his in-depth research makes his descriptions sound like advertising. Once San Francisco gets hit by the 1906 earthquake and the principals climb aboard a pair of fire-breathing locomotives, the novel cranks up a head of steam and some high-speed thrills. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Cussler is the author or coauthor of 33 books, including 19 Dirk Pitt novels and 7 NUMA Files books. This latest adventure involves the hulk of a steam locomotive that comes to the surface of a lake in Montana in 1950. It contains the bodies of three men who died 44 years before. Flash back to 1906 and a two-year crime spree out west. There's a series of bank robberies by an evil person who murders any witnesses. The government brings in a detective to solve the case, but soon the hunter becomes the hunted. As always, Cussler ties everything together in the end. The author's many fans probably know that at the start, but they will want to read the novel anyway. Cohen, George

From Publishers Weekly

When a plane carrying the U.S. secretary of state, en route to a Middle East peace conference, disappears over Libya, the techno-wizards aboard the supership Oregon try to track it down and recover any survivors. Juan Cabrillo and his crew discover a terrorist presence that reaches to the highest levels of the Libyan government. This exciting story translates well into audio format, and Scott Brick's performance enhances the action-adventure. His moderate tone makes for easy listening, and his clarity renders the scientific and political elements—and intrigues—at the heart of the book comprehensible. Brick has narrated previous Cussler novels and his renditions of the characters will be familiar to fans, who will find themselves in the company of old friends. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 26). (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In the sixth entry set onboard the Oregon (and the third cowritten with Du Brul), Juan Cabrillo, the one-legged “chairman” of the ancient but technologically sophisticated ship, is hired to dig up the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasn’t just any plane crash: on board was Fiona Katamora, the U.S. secretary of state, who was on her way to a summit meeting in Libya. Although Cabrillo and his crew are able to recover the wreckage, there is no sign of the secretary. The Libyan foreign minister seems to have plans of his own, which is why the CIA thought to hire Cabrillo rather than to trust the Libyans to investigate the crash. A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago. But they’re back with a vengeance here, infesting the waters of Asia and Africa and becoming a terrorist threat like no other. The Libyans are after something, something centuries old, and only Cabrillo can find the answers. The action, suspense, and drama are full throttle throughout. Cussler fans used to international intrigue and battles at sea will not be disappointed.

From Publishers Weekly

In the bloated fourth Dirk Pitt novel from Cussler and son Dirk (after Arctic Drift), evildoers Ozden Aktan Celik and Ozden's sister, Maria, who are bent on Muslim domination of the Middle East, plot to blow up sacred Muslim sites like Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and pin the blame on the CIA in particular and the West in general. Dirk, the director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, and the Celiks are both searching for lost religious artifacts related to Jesus, artifacts whose rediscovery could embarrass certain powerful members of the British establishment. The authors keep the action moving with plenty of wreck diving, running sea battles, and ships laden with explosives. Fans of the indefatigable Pitt will enjoy watching their hero as he joins the battle on land, in the air, and at sea, but others might wish the Cusslers had picked less familiar terrorist targets. (Nov.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Cussler’s umpteenth installment in the 40-year run of Dirk Pitt chronicles, now written with his son, the eponymous Dirk Cussler, has become as formulaic a franchise as the James Bond movies. In fact, Pitt is a Bond of the seas with similar exotic locales, scenery-chewing villains, over-the-top technology, and bodacious babes served with a bucket of testosterone—“shaken not stirred.” But with formula fiction, as with theme restaurants, it’s fun, and you always know what you’re getting. Cussler, the Cheesecake Factory of adventure writers, doesn’t disappoint in his latest, in which the bizarre cargo carried by a Roman galley in 327 CE and the mysterious explosion of a British battleship in 1916 have tremendous ramifications on the current political climate of the Middle East. Brother-and-sister baddies Ozden and Maria Celik aim to resurrect the Ottoman Empire, to which they lay claim as the allegedly last surviving royal heirs, by fomenting a fundamentalist uprising in Turkey and the surrounding Middle Eastern countries. But they’ll succeed only if they can keep Dirk Pitt and his NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) team from discovering what was being transported in that ancient galley. High-Demand Back Story: A tried-and-true formula by a tried-and-true New York Times bestselling author will create its own stir. --Michael Gannon

The extraordinary new novel in the #1 New York Times- bestselling series. A Japanese cargo ship cruises the eastern Atlantic near the Azores- when it bursts into flames. A gang of pirates speeds to take advantage of the disaster- when their boat explodes. What is happening in that part of the world? As Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA(r) Special Assignments Team rush to investigate, they find themselves drawn into the extraordinary ambitions of an African dictator, the creation of a weapon of almost mythical power, and an unimaginably audacious plan to extort the world's major nations. Their penalty for refusal? The destruction of their greatest cities. Filled with the high-stakes suspense and boundless invention unique to Cussler, Devil's Gate is one of the most thrilling novels yet from the grand master of adventure.

SUMMARY: Dirk Pitt's first, most terrific adventure! Dirk Pitt, death-defying adventurer and deep-sea expert, is out to the ultimate test as he plunges into the perilous waters of the Pacific Vortex -- a fog-shrouded sea zone where dozens of ships have vanished without a trace. The latest victim is the awesome superb Starbuck, America's deep-diving nuclear arsenal. Its loss poses an unthinkable threat to national defense. Pitt's job is to find it, salvage it, before the sea explodes. In a furious race against time, Pitt's mission swirls him into a battle with underwater assassins-and traps him in the arms of Summer Moran, the most stunningly exotic and dangerous toward disaster, Clive Cussler plummets his hero onto an ancient sunken island-the astonishing setting for the explosive climax of Pacific Vortex!

SUMMARY: Dirk Pitt rides a tidal wave of intrigue in this classic Cussler. On an isolated Greek island, a World War I fighter plane attacks a modern U.S. Air Force base--a mysterious saboteur preys on an American scientific expedition--and Dirk Pitt plays a deadly game of hunter and hunted with the elusive head of an international smuggling ring.

SUMMARY: Frozen inside a million-ton mass of ice--the charred remains of a long-missing luxury yacht, vanished en route to a secret White House rendezvous. The only clue to the ship's priceless--and missing--cargo: nine ornately carved rings and the horribly burned bodies of its crew.

SUMMARY: The President's secret task force has developed an unprecedented defensive weapon that relies on an extremely rare radioactive element--and Dirk Pitt has followed a twisted trail to a secret cache of the substance. Now, racing against brutal storms, Soviet spies, and a ticking clock, Pitt begins his most thrilling mission--to raise from its watery grave the shipwreck of the century...

SUMMARY: 1954. Vixen 03 is down. The plane, bound for the Pacific carrying thirty-six Doomsday bombs -- canisters armed with quick-death germs of unbelievable potency -- vanishes. Vixen has in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in Colorado. 1988. Dirk Pitt, who heroically raised the Titanic, discovers the wreckage of Vixen 03. But two deadly canisters are missing. They're in the hands of a terrorist group. Their lethal mission: to sail a battleship seventy-five miles up the Potomac and blast Washington, D.C., to kingdom come. Only Dirk can stop them.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Cussler's most dazzling bestseller.Dirk Pitt's most dangerous adventure.****Dirk Pitt proved invincible in *Raise the Titanic!* Now, with the future of virtually every person in the world at stake, he is enlisted to spearhead his most daring mission yet—the rescue of a vital document for the United States. To an energy-starved, economically devastated America, possession of this document is worth billions. But to Great Britain, it’s worth a war. Pitt’s quest plunges him into a head-to-head confrontation with Britian’s most cunning secret agent—and into the throes of a torrid love triangle. As time runs out for a desperate America, Dirk Pitt races toward an underwater clash more terrifying than anything Clive Cussler has ever created—the breathtaking climax of **Night Probe!****

EDITORIAL REVIEW: A ghost ship drifts across the northern Pacific.... A Soviet luxury liner burns like a funeral pyre.... And the U.S. President's yacht is heading for disaster.... Somewhere off the coast of Alaska, a sunken cargo poses a threat of unthinkable proportions. Potentially, the lost shipment of chemicals could destroy all life in the ocean -- and perhaps the world -- unless DIRK PITT® can find it first. But time is running out for the NUMA agent and his team. Pitt's main target is just one deadly component of a vast international conspiracy fueled by hijacking, bribery, and murder. And at the center of it all is a powerful Korean shipping empire with a chilling political agenda -- *to kidnap the President of the United States....*

EDITORIAL REVIEW: A wealthy American financier disappears on a treasure hunt in an antique blimp. From Cuban waters, the blimp drifts toward Florida with a crew of dead men -- Soviet cosmonauts. DIRK PITT discovers a shocking scheme: a covert group of U.S. industrialists has put a colony on the moon, a secret base they will defend at any cost. Threatened in space, the Russians are about to strike a savage blow in Cuba -- and only DIRK PITT can stop them. From a Cuban torture chamber to the cold ocean depths, Pitt is racing to defuse an international conspiracy that threatens to shatter the earth!