Clive Cussler Books In Order

New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler has numerous popular adventure series and novels that are well worth reading.

Here are the Clive Cussler books in order of publication and chronological order for each fictional series, standalone, and nonfiction work.

Clive Cussler, the author who was called “Grand Master of Adventure,” passed away on Monday, February 24, 2020, at the age of 88, surrounded by his family. Rest in Peace, Clive Cussler.

Latest Clive Cussler Books

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Dirk Pitt Books in Publication Order

The first Dirk Pitt adventures novel (and the author’s debut novel), The Mediterranean Caper was written back in 1973, however chronologically it comes second after Pacific Vortex, which was published in 1983 but takes place some years before The Mediterranean Caper. Starting from Black Wind, the Dirk Pitt novels have been co-authored with Dirk Cussler.

Thus If you want to read the series in proper order, you should start with Pacific Vortex which was published after The Mediterranean Caper but the events within come first.

1. The Mediterranean Caper, 1973 – published under the title Mayday the United Kingdom and Australia
2. Iceberg, 1975
3. Raise The Titanic!, 1976
4. Vixen 03, 1978
5. Night Probe!, 1981
6. Pacific Vortex!, 1983
7. Deep Six, 1984
8. Cyclops, 1986
9. Treasure, 1988
10. Dragon, 1990
11. Sahara, 1992
12. Inca Gold, 1994
13. Shock Wave, 1996
14. Flood Tide, 1997
15. Atlantis Found, 1999
16. Valhalla Rising, 2001
17. Trojan Odyssey, 2003
18. Black Wind, 2004
19. Treasure of Khan, 2006
20. Arctic Drift, 2008
21. Crescent Dawn, 2010
22. Poseidon’s Arrow, 2012
23. Havana Storm, 2014
24. Odessa Sea, 2016
25. Celtic Empire, 2019
26. Clive Cussler’s The Devil’s Sea, 2021
27. Clive Cussler’s The Corsican Shadow, 2023

Dirk Pitt Books in Chronological Order

1. Pacific Vortex!, 1983
2. The Mediterranean Caper, 1973
3. Iceberg, 1975
4. Raise The Titanic!, 1976
5. Vixen 03, 1978
6. Night Probe!, 1981
7. Deep Six, 1984
8. Cyclops, 1986
9. Treasure, 1988
10. Dragon, 1990
11. Sahara, 1992
12. Inca Gold, 1994
13. Shock Wave, 1996
14. Flood Tide, 1997
15. Atlantis Found, 1999
16. Valhalla Rising, 2001
17. Trojan Odyssey, 2003
18. Black Wind, 2004
19. Treasure of Khan, 2006
20. Arctic Drift, 2008
21. Crescent Dawn, 2010
22. Poseidon’s Arrow, 2012
23. Havana Storm, 2014
24. Odessa Sea, 2016
25. Celtic Empire, 2019
26. Clive Cussler’s The Devil’s Sea, 2021
27. Clive Cussler’s The Corsican Shadow, 2023

NUMA Files Series

The NUMA Files book series featuring the NUMA director Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin, the leader of the Special Assignments Team at the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) has been co-authored with several other authors, including Paul Kemprecos, popular for his nautical mystery novels, including Neptune’s Eye, Cool Blue Tomb, and The Mayflower Murder, and Graham Brown. It is the author’s second series, started right after Dirk Pitt.

1. Serpent, 1999
2. Blue Gold, 2000
3. Fire Ice, 2002
4. White Death, 2003
5. Lost City, 2004
6. Polar Shift, 2005
7. The Navigator, 2007
8. Medusa, 2009
9. Devil’s Gate, 2011
10. The Storm, 2012
11. Zero Hour, 2013
12. Ghost Ship, 2014
13. The Pharao’s Secret, 2015
14. Nighthawk, 2017
15. The Rising Sea, 2018
16. Sea of Greed, 2018
17. Journey of the Pharaohs, 2020
18. Fast Ice, 2021
19. Clive Cussler’s Dark Vector, 2022
20. Clive Cussler’s Condor’s Fury, 2023
21. Clive Cussler’s Desolation’s Code, 2024
22. Clive Cussler’s Cold Fire, 2026

The Oregon Files Series

Clive Cussler has co-authored the book series with Craig Dirgo, known for his John Taft series, with Jack Du Brul, an author known for the Philip Mercer archaeological/adventure thriller series, with Boyd Morrison, and with Mike Maden. It is the author’s third written book series.

1. Golden Buddha, 2003
2. Sacred Stone, 2004
3. Dark Watch, 2005
4. Skeleton Coast, 2006
5. Plague Ship, 2008
6. Corsair, 2009
7. The Silent Sea, 2010
8. The Jungle, 2011
9. Mirage, 2013
10. Piranha, 2015
11. The Emperor’s Revenge, 2016
12. Typhoon Fury, 2017
13. Shadow Tyrants, 2018
14. Final Option, 2019
15. Marauder, 2020
16. Clive Cussler’s Hellburner, 2022
17. Clive Cussler’s Fire Strike, 2023
18. Clive Cussler’s Ghost Soldier, 2024
19. Quantum Tempest, 2025

Isaac Bell Adventures Books in Publication Order

Clive Cussler co-authored the Isaac Bell Adventures with Justin Scott, known for his Ben Abbott mystery series, and with Jack Du Brul. The main character is a private investigator with the Van Dorn Detective Agency, an establishment based on the real-life Pinkerton Agency. The series is the author’s fourth book series.

1. The Chase, 2007
2. The Wrecker, 2009
3. The Spy, 2010
4. The Race, 2011
5. The Thief, 2012
6. The Striker, 2013
7. The Bootlegger, 2014
8. The Assassin, 2015
9. The Gangster, 2016
10. The Cutthroat, 2017
11. The Titanic Secret, 2019
12. The Saboteurs, 2021
13. Clive Cussler’s The Sea Wolves, 2022
14. Clive Cussler’s The Heist, 2024
15. Clive Cussler’s The Iron Storm, 2025

Isaac Bell Adventures Books in Chronological Order

1. The Striker, 2013
2. The Assassin, 2015
3. The Chase, 2007
4. The Gangster, 2016
5. The Wrecker, 2009
6. The Spy, 2010
7. The Race, 2011
8. The Thief, 2012
9. The Cutthroat, 2017
10. The Titanic Secret, 2019
11. The Bootlegger, 2014
12. Clive Cussler’s The Saboteurs, 2021
13. Clive Cussler’s The Heist, 2024
14. Clive Cussler’s The Iron Storm, 2025

Sam and Remi Fargo Adventures

The Fargo series has been co-authored with Grant Blackwood, Thomas Perry, Russell Blake, and Robin Burcell. The book series focuses on a team of two professional treasure hunters, Sam and Remi Fargo. It is the author’s fifth series.

1. Spartan Gold, 2009
2. Lost Empire, 2010
3. The Kingdom, 2011
4. The Tombs, 2012
5. The Mayan Secrets, 2013
6. The Eye of Heaven, 2014
7. The Solomon Curse, 2015
8. Pirate, 2016
9. The Romanov Ransom, 2017
10. The Gray Ghost, 2018
11. The Oracle, 2019
12. Wrath of Poseidon, 2020
13. Clive Cussler’s The Serpent’s Eye, 2026

The Sea Hunters Books

The series was co-authored with Craig Dirgo

1. The Sea Hunters, 1996
2. The Sea Hunters II: More True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, 2002

Non-Fiction Books

• Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed, 1998
• Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler, 2011
• Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, 2016

Children’s Books

• The Adventures of Vin Fiz, 2006
• The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy, 2010

Short Story Anthologies

• Suspense Magazine, April 2010, 2010
• Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can’t Put Down, 2009

So there you have them, all Clive Cussler’s books in publication order from the first to the latest in each adventure book series, standalone novels, and non-fiction books, many of which were co-authored with other writers.

Clive Cussler Biography

Born in 1931 in Aurora, Illinois, the author Clive Eric Cussler grew up in Alhambra, California. His family came from England (from his mother’s part) and Germany (from his father’s part).

At the age of 14, he received the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Pasadena City College where he remained for two years after which he dropped out in order to enlist in the US Air Force where he got to the rank of sergeant. During his time with the army, he worked as a flight engineer and aircraft mechanic in Hawaii during the Korean War. It was during this time that he discovered scuba diving and his passion for it, one that will be with him throughout his entire life.

His first job after leaving the army was that of an advertising copywriter, after which he became a creative director for two important advertising agencies in the country. He created several radio and TV commercials that won international awards during his time at these ad agencies.

The author decided to start writing and basically he wrote his first book in 1965, 15 years after working as a copywriter while being at home with the kids as his wife, Barbara Knight, whom he married in 1955, was working night shifts at the local police department. It took him 18 years to publish his very first novel under the title Pacific Vortex.

In 1996, his first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was published. The next year, he received a Doctor of Letters degree by the Board of Governors of the State University of New York Maritime College who accepted the work instead of a Ph.D. thesis.

Over the years he wrote numerous books alone and in cooperation with other authors, creating several popular book series, including his Dirk Pitt novel series, the NUMA Files series, the Oregon Files, the Isaac Bell novels and the Sam and Remi Fargo Adventures series. He also has several nonfiction works, with his first one being The Sea Hunters, written in 1996.

Initially, the first two books in the Pitt series were straight-up maritime thrillers, however, the next books in the series began the trend of his latest novels involving a huge dose of adventure, a lot of high-tech knowledge, lost ships and sunken treasures, and evil megalomaniacs. While the stories are adventure thrillers, all his books are also considered techno-thrillers.

In 2002, he received the Naval Heritage Award from the U S Navy Memorial Foundation, which recognized his efforts related to marine exploration.

With so many books written under his belt, if you’re looking to read Clive Cussler’s novels in order, considering that there are several series that he put out so far, it might be a tad difficult to navigate the sea of his novels and find out which comes before which book and what is the right order of his many book series.

I’ve started reading the author’s books back in the 80s when I first discovered them. At the time he and Tom Clancy where my main mystery authors that I was religiously following – Tom Clancy with his political thrillers and Mr. Cussler with his maritime adventure mysteries called Dirk Pitt, named after the author’s son called Dirk Cussler, with whom he actually co-authored some of his later books.

Now just to see the huge amount of books written by this author, the Dirk Pitt series featuring the marine engineer, adventurer and government agent, has so far 27 books, the NUMA series includes 22 books, the Oregon Files series 19 books, the Isaac Bell 15 books and The Fargo Adventures 13 books, not to mention the several standalone and nonfiction books he has written during his lifetime. That makes it a total of over 70 books published to date, with each year the number getting bigger and bigger, even after his death.

He also wrote 2 kids’ books and several non-fiction stories, among which one is a book I’ve read called Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed. It’s worth checking it out.

Even at an advanced age, Cussler liked to scuba dive (a hobby that is well reflected in his adventure novels). He was living in Paradise Valley, Arizona before he passed away. He co-authored with other novelists, one of them being his own son, Dirk who helped his dad write several of the latest Dirk Pitt adventures.

Of course, the main character of his most popular book series was named after his son. Clive Cusller’s son, Dirk, started working with his father in 2004 after he left his job as a controller at Motorola Iridium in Phoenix.

When he did the research for the next books, the author liked to take real-life events and twist them to suit the needs of his main leads and storyline. For example, in his novel The Assassin, he invented a story about investigating real-life John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly.

While he still wrote books, Clive Cussler was more in a rewriting stage toward the end. The authors wrote the first 100 or so pages, which they then sent to Clive to check and edit, following which they got it back from him to continue the stories.

Here’s a list of the co-authors for the author’s various series:

• Dirk Pitt Series:
  • Co-authored with Dirk Cussler (starting with Black Wind).
• NUMA Files:
  • Co-authored with Paul Kemprecos (until Medusa).
  • Co-authored with Graham Brown (starting with Devil’s Gate).
• The Oregon Series:
  • Co-authored with Jack DuBrul (from Dark Watch until Mirage).
  • Co-authored with Boyd Morrison (from Piranha until Marauder).
  • Co-authored with Mike Maden (Starting with Hellburners)
• Isaac Bell Series:
  • Co-authored with Justin Scott (except for The Chase).
• Fargo Adventures:
  • Co-authored with Grant Blackwood (until The Tombs).
  • Co-authored with Thomas Perry (also wrote The Mayan Secrets).
  • Co-authored with Russell Blake (from The Eye of Heaven until Pirate).
  • Co-authored with Robin Burcell (starting with The Romanov Ransom).
• The Titanic Secret:
  • Written with Jack Du Brul.

An interesting fact about Mr. Cussler, a few years after starting his main adventure series, which features a fictitious National Underwater Marine Agency focused on finding underwater artifacts, he actually created the same-named NUMA nonprofit organization to find and preserve maritime and naval history.

As an underwater explorer, together with his agency he found over 60 notable underwater wrecks with historical significance and donated their findings to museums, related government agencies, non-profit organizations, and universities around the world.

In addition, Clive Cussler was also a member of the Royal Geographic Society in London, as well as the Explorers Club of New York. He was also an avid collector of classic automobiles, a hobby which he wrote about in his non-fiction book. During his lifetime he owned several 50’s convertibles and custom coachwork.

In an interview, Cussler was asked whether he believes his Dirk Pitt series (his most popular book series to date) will go on after he is gone. His answer was, “I hope Dirk will go on after me.”

So how many Cussler books are there? Currently, if we combine all his series, there are well over 100 books in total, all this without the author’s standalone novels, plus his nonfiction books and children’s books. However, the author’s collaboration with other authors also contributed to this number, not to mention after his death, his works are still being actively written.

His books have been translated into well over 40 languages and published in over 100 countries. He has a huge fanbase of over 90 million people who cherish his work and life.

The author died on February 24, 2020 at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88, from so-far undisclosed causes.

Should We Read the Clive Cussler Books in Order?

As for the question of whether we should read Clive Cussler’s book series in order, I think it’s not absolutely necessary. Each book has a starting and ending story, so they can be perfectly read on their own, out of order.

Having said that, many books have references to previous novels that might enrich your reading experience if you know what the author is talking about. I personally prefer reading all my mystery series in order, even when if they really don’t have to strictly be.

Clive Cussler Books Adaptations

Two of Clive Cussler’s novels have been adapted into movies. In 1980, Raise the Titanic was adapted and released by Paramount Pictures with Richard Jordan as Dirk, and Jason Robards, David Selby, and Anne Archer as additional main characters.

The second novel adapted was Sahara in 2005, again by Paramount Pictures. This time Matthew McConaughey played our famous Dirk, assisted by Steve Zahn, Rakie Ayola, Penélope Cruz, and Lambert Wilson as main protagonists.

The non-fiction book The Sea Hunters received a TV series that aired between 2002 and 2006. The documentary series follows an expert team of underwater archaeologists, divers, and technicians who locate, identify, and explore some of the world’s greatest, and often forgotten shipwrecks.

Clive Cussler Awards and Nominations

Over the years, the author received several awards for his books and his maritime works, and was nominated several times as well.

• The Mediterranean Caper was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Paperback original in 1974
• He received the Doctor of Letters degree by the Board of Governors of the State University of New York Maritime College in 1997
• He received the Naval Heritage Award from the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation in 2002
• He won the ThrillerMaster ward in 2006
• Skeleton Coast was nominated for the ITW Award for Best Paperback original in 2007