Atlantis Found (A Dirk Pitt Novel)

An Antarctic whaler stumbles across an aged wreckher frozen crew guarding a priceless treasure. A team of anthropologists is buried under a mountain by a deliberate explosion. A ship that should have died fifty-six years ago reappears, and almost sinks a National Underwater and Marine Agency ship. Dirk Pitt knows that somehow these events are connected. His investigations lead to an ancient mystery with devastating modern consequences, and a diabolical enemy unlike any he has ever known. Now, he is racing to save not only his lifebut the world. The trap is set. The clock is ticking. And only one man stands between the earth and Armageddon A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club Amazon.com Review Dirk Pitt, indestructible hero of 14 previous Clive Cussler novels and special-projects director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (which is something like the CIA of the ocean depths), makes James Bond look like a tuxedoed, martini-swilling poseur. Pitt has raised the Titanic , escaped massive volcanic eruptions, ducked nuclear explosions, foiled criminal plans for world domination, saved everyone on earth from germ warfare, and mastered the ins and outs of various electronic gizmos and futuristic vehicles while evading every imaginable form of almost certain death. (Of course, he's also wildly successful with brilliant, beautiful women, but in an admirably circumspect, sensitive-guy way.) It stands to reason Pitt's the right man to handle a crisis of millennial proportions. When mysterious black obsidian skulls and other artifacts of an exceedingly ancient culture begin to turn up in odd places, Pitt jumps in with both feet. It soon becomes dangerously apparent that a powerful, amoral group of fanatics calling itself the Fourth Empire wants the strange discoveries to remain underground. Pitt teams up with a beautiful red-haired expert in ancient languages to decipher the meaning of the artifacts. They were made 10 millennia ago in a then-temperate Antarctica by a seafaring civilization advanced enough to predict its own destruction by a comet impact. Now the Fourth Empire (whose literal and figurative progenitor comes as no surprise) is predicting a similar disaster in only a matter of months, and preparing to take control of the earth. Cussler's known for hands-on research--his hobbies are the backbone of Pitt's adventures: flying, climbing, diving, racing. The scientific and historical riffs that fill in the background of Atlantis Found are the weakest parts of the book--they're Pitt-less, and they give every discovery in the book away early. But what the heck--Cussler's not the king of suspense, he's the emperor of nonstop action. Atlantis Found bounces along on a good-humored techno-joyride, and for Cussler's legion of fans, that will be more than enough. --Barrie Trinkle From 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. 750,000 first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection; simultaneous audio; author tour. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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

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.

Around the world ancient artefacts are suddenly appearing, hinting at a catastrophe that will soon visit Earth ... Dirk Pitt is on hand at a Colorado archaeological site where an ancient and mysterious artefact has been found - one that is perhaps linked to other strange objects turning up across the globe. And soon Pitt's skills and ingenuity are desperately needed to rescue the team after a suspicious explosion seals them deep underground. It quickly becomes clear that the artefacts carry a message: warning of global Armageddon. Yet a shadowy organisation called the Fourth Empire not only wants to stop others from heeding that warning, but is also actively seeking to accelerate the end it foretells. Now Pitt and NUMA must face this diabolical foe, who will stop at nothing to wipe out all life on earth ... Packed with blistering action and hair-raising suspense, Atlantis Found is Clive Cussler at his brilliant best. Atlantis Found is the fifteenth of Clive Cussler's bestselling Dirk Pitt thrillers - the series that also includes Arctic Drift and, his first novel, Mayday - in which the discovery of an artefact could mean the end of the world Marine explorer Dirk Pitt faces off against an elite army from an era gone-by in order to uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization in this #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A group of anthropologists uncover strange inscriptions on the wall of a Colorado mine just as an explosion traps them deep within the earth. But their work won’t stay buried long. Dirk Pitt is on hand during the blast and quick to initiate a rescue operation. He is then tapped to lead a research crew on behalf of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency to further study these uncanny artifacts. And that’s when his ship is set upon and nearly sunk by an impossibility—a vessel that should have died 56 years before. Clearly, another group knows about the relics of this long-forgotten but highly-advanced seafaring culture. And they’ll stop at nothing to keep the rest of the world in the dark. Agent Dirk Pitt of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency battles genetically engineered neo-Nazis, seeking to establish a Fourth Reich once they wipe out humanity. They plan to unleash a flood by splitting the Antarctic ice shelf. A beautiful archaeologist is on hand to help the hero