Clive Cussler Books In Order – Complete List

Last Updated on January 29, 2024

The Clive Cussler works include several popular series which is well worth reading in chronological order, although it is not necessarily a must. If you do want to read the author’s main series in proper order, you should start with Pacific Vortex which was published after The Mediterranean Caper but the events within come first.

Here are the New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler books in order of publication for each fictional series, standalones, and nonfiction works.

Clive Cussler passed away at the age of 88 on Monday, February 24, 2020, surrounded by his family. Rest in Peace, Clive Cussler.

New Clive Cussler Books

The Corsican Shadow
The Corsican Shadow (Dirk Pitt #27), 2023

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Dirk Pitt Books In Publication Order

The first Dirk Pitt 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.

  1. The Mediterranean Caper, 1973 – published under the title Mayday in England
  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. The Devil’s Sea, 2021
  27. 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. The Devil’s Sea, 2021
  27. The Corsican Shadow, 2023

The NUMA Files in Publication Order

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. The NUMA Files 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. Dark Vector, 2022
  20. Condor’s Fury, 2023

The Oregon Files Books In Publication Order

Clive Cussler has co-authored the Oregon Files book series with Craig Dirgo, known for his John Taft series, with Jack Du Brul, an author known for Philip Mercer archaeological/adventure thriller series, with Boyd Morrison, and with Mike Maden. The Oregon Files 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. Hellburner, 2022
  17. Fire Strike, 2023

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. Isaac Bell is a private investigator with the Van Dorn Detective Agency, an establishment he 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. The Sea Wolves, 2022
  14. The Heist, 2024

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. The Saboteurs, 2021
  13. The Heist, 2024

Sam and Remi Fargo Adventures In Publication Order

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. The Serpent’s Eye, 2024

The Sea Hunters Books in Publication Order

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

Non Fiction Books in Publication Order

Other Clive Cussler Novels In Publication Order

Edited Short Story Anthologies

So there you have them, all the Clive Cussler novels 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 – About the Author

Clive Cussler books in order

Born in 1931 in Aurora, Illinois, the author Clive Cussler grew up in Alhambra, California. He went to the Pasadena City College where he remained for two years after which e 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.

Clive Cussler wrote his first novel in 1965, 15 years after he’s been working as a copywriter while being at home with the kids as his wife was working night shifts at the police department. It took him 18 years to publish his very first novel under the title Pacific Vortex.

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

With so many books written under his belt, if you’re looking to read the Clive Cussler 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 books by Clive Cussler 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, with the main character 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 has so far 27 books, the NUMA series includes 20 books, the Oregon Files 17 books, the Isaac Bell 14 books and The Fargo Adventures 13 books, not to mention the several standalone and non-fiction 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.

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

Even at his advanced age, Clive Cussler liked to scuba dive (a hobby which is well reflected in his Dirk Pitt adventures 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 novels.

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

When he did the research for the next books, Clive Cussler liked to take real-life events and twist them to suit the needs of his main characters 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.

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

So far this agency found over 60 shipwrecks and donated their findings to museums or various related government agencies.

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 Pitt will go on after me.”

As for the question of whether we should read the Clive Cussler 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.

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

Adaptations of Works

Clive Cussler had two novels adapted into movies. In 1980, Raise the Titanic was adapted and released by Paramount Pictures with Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt, 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 characters.

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.

191 Comments

  1. imm having trouble understanding foss gly the assasin
    he appears in an isaac bell book set in 1912 but somehow still manages to be alive and fit in the dirk pitt book cyclops wich is set in 1985. could someone please help me with that?

  2. The heart of Cussler’s genius lay in the manner and breadth of tales he told. His stories were all highly entertaining. Great art. Nope. But eminently fun and readable and varied. Good story tellers like Cussler from the Greeks on have always had a magic hold on readers, and he belongs in that honored group. And his books are readable. Good way to get young people to read beyond the classroom.

  3. Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and other like books surely fed Clive Cussler’s imagination to create the series of books he wrote. Fun, entertaining reading, and a solution for teachers who cannot get their students to read much of anything.

  4. I literally have every CC novel. And it is with great sadness I have just learned of his passing. Clive Cussler ranks along side Sir Terry Pratchett (Disc World series) and one of the literary greats of the 20th/21st centuries. Where ever these 2 gentlemen may be, I hope they are in a pub somewhere swapping stories.

    1. I have everyone of Clive Cussler’s books, the movie Raise the Titanic and Sahara, on the series where he searches and locate famous shipwrecks. I am a big fan of his and his son Dirk Cussler. I even have his two books of his collection of automobiles and I must say I wish I had them in my driveway.

  5. How many additional books are in the works, where does built for thrill and built for Adventure fit as far as when they published. I had the majority of the entire series in paperback, when my basement flooded and most of my collection had to be replaced and at the time I could only find his work in hardcover so I started over again only this time in hardcover.

  6. Like a lot of people I came across CC by accident when reading Tom Clancy. I soon converted and set about building my collection – I now have the full collection of 1st’s. The collection is my pride and joy. That feeling of the new book arriving – opening the covering page – checking to see it’s the right one – then closing it and putting it on the shelf can’t be beaten! (I then read on the kindle – my partner doesn’t get it?). It won’t be the same without him – but hey life does go on and I have a feeling so will the ‘franchise’.

  7. Came across the Cussler body of work 10 or 15 years ago. I’ve been an avid fan ever since. I was very saddened to hear of Mr. Cussler’s passing. I will tell you I deeply enjoy his novels, re-read them frequently and they have been instrumental in my sharing the passion of reading with my two children who are now young adults. It is something very special that we have shared through the years. It is with mixed emotions that I look forward to my next purchase of the last of his novels this month to read but will add to my collection which includes everything he ever wrote 🙂

  8. Clive has been my all time favorite author since the first book I read was Raise the Titanic. I have almost all of his books and am trying complete the whole set. Tremendous writer. Glad to have the list to find which ones I’m missing

  9. I have 84 Clive Cussler books. This includes all the Dirk Pitt novels, NUMA Files, The Oregon Files, Issac Bell Adventures, Fargo Adventures, The Sea Hunters & Sea Hunters II, CC and Dirk Pitt Revealed, and The Adventures of VinFiz and The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy. 2 summers ago my wife surprised me with a detour on our way back from Breckenridge with a side stop in Arvada, CO. A visit to the Clive Cussler auto museum & some friends who live in the Denver area showed up to surprise me. So I decided that between the Covid-19 lockdowns and this being one of the hottest & driest summers I can remember in Pittsburgh that I will try to read through all these books again. I know I will enjoy all of these once again.

  10. Long time fan. My Cussler shelf is about 5ft long, but room for more. But I think it’s time to do something I have been wanting to do and the Covid thing gives me time to do. Start at the beginning and reread them ALL! Thank you Clive for the many many hours of entertainment you gave us all. As long as your stories live, you still live in our hearts!
    Sleep well… Dirk still lives!

  11. I am sad to hear of the passing of Clive I have read most of the Dirk Pitt books and some Numa books he will be missed I would like to see most of the Dirk Pitt novels produced as a movie.

  12. i have just heard the sad news of Clive’s passing. my condolences to his family and friends.
    his novels thrilled us in this world, his next novels will thrill those in the next.

  13. Sad to hear the news of Clive Cusslers passing…
    I have just finished reading “wrath of Poseidon “…yet another fantastic novel from a brilliant author who will be missed.

  14. I was very saddened when i heard of his passing, Requiecat in pace. I’v enjoyed every one of his books and waited patiently for the next on. I have read every one, BUT, the Gray Ghost with co author Robin Burcell was the worst book of his that i tried to read. I got halfway thru then gave up on it. Maybe I’ll finish it one day.

  15. I was very saddened to recently come across the news of Clive Cussler’s passing.
    Many years ago at a challenging and difficult time in my life I had the good fortune to see his books at the library. I read one and was addicted. Voraciously I read each and every series available and delighted in loosing myself in the pages of all the adventures and then waited in anticipation of each new book release. I have read all of his books with the exception of the last release, ‘Wrath of Poseidon’ (from the Fargo series), which is waiting on a shelf for me a my local library.
    To the Cussler Family, please accept my deepest and most sincere condolences.
    To Mr Clive Cussler, my gratitude for your wonderful talent, masterful story-telling, delightful humour and generosity of spirit, Rest in Peace dear Sir. You will be missed.

  16. I was not a reader most of my life. I mostly read magazine articles or condensed books. At age 60, I was suggested reading Clive Cussler. I have read 53 of his books. Better late than never!

  17. As a 15 yr. old, fascinated by the Titanic sinking, I stumbled upon Mr. Cussler’s “Raise The Titanic,” and my adventure with Dirk Pitt was spawned. As a voracious reader, I would put Mr. Cussler in my Top 5 fiction writers. I was stunned to hear of his passing today after a casual web search upon reading a article in Costco’s Connection Magazine, selecting “Wrath of Poseidon” as a recommended read. One of my favorite aspects of the Dirk Pitt series was Cussler’s penchant for instilling himself into chance meetings with this Pitt fellow from time to time in his story writing. Condolences to the Cussler family, and fans of his writing, we can only hope to “stumble” upon another of his ilk in our lifetimes.

  18. i feel as though i have known you all of my life ,as i have read most of your books,rest in pease friend

  19. I am so saddened to read of Clive’s passing.
    He is the only author I have read. My bookshelf is filled with his writings and will be missed.

  20. Clive cussler was in my opinion THE best writer ever. I Have and read everyone of his books and enjoyed all. Will miss you Mr. Cussler

  21. So sad to hear of Clive Cussler’s death. My condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

  22. I love all the series and characters. One of the best things is the way the mysteries are wrapped in actual historical events. The books also get you involved in learning about geography. Clive paints everything with such detail that you can almost picture being there. I even got my daughter and grandaughter interested.

  23. What was the title of the first book he wrote in 1965 that must not have been published? The earliest Clive Cussler book was published in 1973. Just curious.

  24. I am well and truly cusslerated, I am a tragic. Got rid of one collection and started another. Just cannot put those books down. If I don’t have a new book , I re-read one of the 35 at my bedside.

    1. That’s a great way to spend your time. I love the Clive Cussler books as well, can’t get enough of them, especially of his Dirk Pitt series.

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