NUMA Files Series

Dive into thrilling underwater adventures with a dedicated team of marine explorers. Each installment plunges readers into unexplored depths, uncovering ancient mysteries and lost treasures hidden beneath the waves. This series masterfully blends high-octane action, historical intrigue, and cutting-edge technology, captivating fans of adventure and the deep sea.

Recommended Reading Order

Serpent
Clive Cussler
480 pages
17 hours of reading
When Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater & Marine Agency exploration team, rescues beautiful marine archaeologist Nina Kirov off the coast of Morocco, he becomes the next target of Texas industrialist Don Halcon. A madman bent on carving a new nation out of the southwestern United States and Mexico, Halcon's scheme hinges on Nina's recent discovery involving Christopher Columbus, and a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity buried in the battered remains of the sunken Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria. Only Kurt Austin and his crack NUMA team stand between Halcon and the Andrea Doria's silent steel hull - and if their deadly mission fails, Halcon will ride to power on a wave of death and destruction.
1
3.9
Blue Gold
Clive Cussler
384 pages
14 hours of reading
Planet Earth is a paradox - a lush, fertile world three-quarters-covered by water, yet in danger of running dry. Fresh water is disappearing from overuse and pollution and the only hope lies in desalination, a process to convert salt water into fresh. Francesca Carval is a brilliant scientist whose newest discovery will save the human race. She has perfected the process of desalination, and is flying to a conference in Rio to announce it to the world. Then a group of terrorists attempts to hijack her plane which crashes in the Venezuelan jungle. Francesca is taken in and protected by a native tribe: she is not heard from again. Ten years later, Kurt Austin and his NUMA team come across the mysterious death of a pod of grey whales off the coast of California. The path leads Austin to the heart of South America where he discovers Francesca, the 'white goddess' of the jungle, living among the tribe that took her in. At the same time Austin stumbles upon a group that aims to control the world's fresh water supply, and which will kill anyone who stands in its way. Racing from the open oceans off the United States to the deep jungles of Venezuela, Austin and the NUMA team engage in a thrilling new adventure with the future of the world at stake...
2
3.9
Fire Ice
Clive Cussler
416 pages
15 hours of reading
Leader of the NUMA Special Assignments team, Kurt Austin must work with a former KGB spy to save the United States from a lunatic with a generations-spanning grudge in this novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series. Kurt Austin is preparing for an interview while aboard a research vessel in the Black Sea. But his television spot suddenly becomes a rescue mission when the waiting film crew is attacked on a nearby island. With little information on the attackers, and no clue to their true agenda, Austin is forced to turn to an unlikely source: his old KGB Cold War adversary Vladimir Petrov. According to Petrov, the island is actually an old submarine base that’s been commandeered by clever mobster-turned-billionaire-businessman Mikhail Razov. Razov is certain he descends from the great Romanov family and he’s out to reclaim his rightful position as czar of Russia. With a powerful resource called “fire ice”, discovered by his mining company, Razov may just have the ammunition he needs to take over the modern world. To stop him, Austin will have to work with Petrov. And he’ll have to find out fast how much trust he can offer an old nemesis in this thrilling adventure that “goes down like a chilled Stolichnaya martini.” (Kirkus Reviews)
3
3.9
White Death
Clive Cussler
355 pages
13 hours of reading
Hailed as a hero for the new millennium, Kurt Austin is the leader of NUMA's special assignments team-- and the threat before him now is definitely special. A confrontation between a radical environmentalist group and a Danish cruiser has forced Austin and colleague Joe Zavala to come to the rescue of a shipful of trapped men; but when they investigate further, they discover that something far more sinister is at work.
4
3.9
Lost City
Clive Cussler
The NUMA crew, under Kurt Austin’s direction, take on a blood-thirsty family with a fortune built on crime, in what may be race to discover the very secret of ever-lasting life in this heart-bounding installment in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series. Kurt Austin is mid-mission when his new colleague, the stunning archeologist Skye Labelle, is called away to examine a mysterious 16th-century military helmet discovered in the possession of a very contemporary-looking corpse. Ms. Labelle’s research on the armor draws her into the sights of a ruthless black-widow with her own plans for the artifact. As danger creeps closer to Ms. Labelle, a scientist half-way across the globe is kidnapped. At the same time, experts working to harvest an enzyme discovered two thousand feet down in the North Atlantic, in an area known as “Lost City,” start turning up dead. Worlds apart in location and areas of expertise, they all have something in common. And it’s up to Kurt Austin, with the help of Joe Zavala and the NUMA Special Assignments Team, to put the pieces together if he’s going to keep his friend safe.
5
3.9
Polar Shift
Clive Cussler
504 pages
18 hours of reading
NUMA operative Kurt Austin takes on a madman fronting as an evironmentalist in this #1 New York Times-bestselling series. Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift in the polar ice caps, which could cause massive eruptions, earthquaks, and even climate changes. But then his work disappeared, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an antiglobalization group plans to use it to give the world’s industrialized nations a small jolt, before reversing the shift back again. The only problem is, it cannot be reversed. Once it starts, there is nothing anyone can do. Austin, Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team must make strange alliances to protect this technology from being exploited by their new and power-hungry nemesis before the entire planet is made to pay. Rich with all the hair-raising action and endless imagination that have become Cussler’s hallmarks, Polar Shift is a wonderful thriller—indeed, “vintage Cussler.”
6
3.9
The Navigator
Clive Cussler
Years after an ancient Phoenician statue is stolen from the Baghdad museum, a series of murders sparks interest in the statue's relevance in Austin and Zavala, who lead the NUMA team on a historical investigation into the lost treasures of King Solomon. 650,000 first printing.
7
4.0
Medusa
Clive Cussler
In "Medusa," deep-sea explorer Kurt Austin races against time to thwart a viral outbreak linked to a vanished U.S. lab in Micronesia. As he investigates, he uncovers a sinister plot involving medical experiments and a powerful Chinese crime syndicate. Austin and his team must save millions from a potential pandemic.
8
4.0
Devil's Gate
Clive Cussler
The classic Clive Cussler thriller from the master of the adventure novel.
9
4.0
The storm
Clive Cussler
A deadly, unstoppable force has just been unleashed on the world . . . In the middle of the Indian Ocean, a NUMA research vessel spots what the crew believe is a slick of oil. But as their boat sails into this liquid they quickly find that it is something far more deadly. In moments everyone aboard is killed, and only a flaming wreck is left. Quickly, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala of NUMA are dispatched to investigate. What they find on recovering the smoldering hulk leads them to the discovery of an audacious scheme to permanently alter the earth. It will kill millions - and it is already well underway. Who could be behind it, and why? Questions Austin and Zavala must answer if they are to somehow prevent murder on a global scale . . . 'Nobody does it better than Clive Cussler, nobody.' Stephen Coonts 'The guy I read.' Tom Clancy 'The Adventure King.' Sunday Express
10
4.0
Zero Hour
Clive Cussler
425 pages
15 hours of reading
Zero Hour is the latest in a string of nerve-shredding NUMA Files novels from Clive Cussler. A burning helicopter crashes into Sydney Opera House and Kurt Austin is flung headlong into a race to avert global catastrophe . . . Attempting to save a man in a speedboat from a sniper swooping in by helicopter, Kurt Austin lands himself in trouble with the Australian secret service. Though he gives them their only clue - 'Tartarus', the last word of a dying man - Kurt is brusquely warned off. Intrigued and never one to ignore a mystery he is soon on the trail of a crazed scientist hellbent on unleashing a deadly destructive force: machines capable of triggering earthquakes. Now Austin must assemble the NUMA team. Their mission? To find and stop this madman before he tears the world apart. Clive Cussler, author of recent New York Times bestsellers The Tombs, Poseidon's Arrow and The Striker, brings us Zero Hour, the new adrenalin-soaked doomsday masterpiece in the NUMA Files series. Praise for Clive Cussler: 'Clive Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail 'The guy I read' Tom Clancy 'The adventure king' Daily Express
11
4.0
The NUMA Files - 12: Ghost Ship
Clive Cussler
468 pages
17 hours of reading
The dazzling new novel in the #1 New York Times -bestselling series from the grand master of adventure. When Kurt Austin is injured attempting to rescue the passengers and crew from a sinking yacht, he wakes with fragmented and conflicted memories. Did he see an old friend and her children drown, or was the yacht abandoned when he came aboard? For reasons he cannot explain, Kurt doesn’t trust either version of his recollection. Determined to know the truth, he begins to search for answers, and soon finds himself descending into a shadowy world of state-sponsored cybercrime, and uncovering a pattern of vanishing scientists, suspicious accidents, and a web of human trafficking. With the help of Joe Zavala, he takes on the sinister organization at the heart of this web, facing off with them in locations ranging from Monaco to North Korea to the rugged coasts of Madagascar. But where he will ultimately end up¾even he could not begin to guess.
12
3.9
NUMA Files - 13: The Pharaoh's Secret
Clive Cussler
432 pages
16 hours of reading
THE CITY OF THE DEAD, EGYPT 1353 BC Buried deep beneath the Saharan desert is a secret - an ancient elixir so powerful that it is rumoured to take life from the living and restore it to the dead. LAMPEDUSA, PRESENT DAY Off a remote island, a mysterious ship releases a deadly poison. Minutes later everyone on the island is dead. Responding to a distress call, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team struggle to understand what has caused this disaster. As they investigate the incident further they uncover a far greater threat. WHAT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGENDS? Now Kurt Austin must learn the secrets of the past if he is to save millions from a horrifying death. But it is a desperate race against time. And he faces a deadly enemy who will stop at nothing ...
13
3.9
Nighthawk
Clive Cussler
When the most advanced aircraft ever designed vanishes over the South Pacific, NUMA operatives Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are drawn into a deadly contest to locate the fallen machine. Russia and China covet the radical technology, but the United States worries about a darker problem. They know what others don't-that the X-37 is carrying a dangerous secret, a payload of exotic matter, extracted from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and stored at a temperature near absolute zero. As long as it remains frozen, the cargo is inert, but if it thaws, it will unleash a catastrophe of nearly unthinkable proportions. From the Galapagos Islands to the jungles of South America to an icy mountain lake many believe to be the birthplace of the Inca, the entire NUMA team will risk everything in an effort to avert disaster . . . but they may be caught in a race that no one can win.
14
4.2
The Rising Sea
Clive Cussler
416 pages
15 hours of reading
Everywhere, waters are rising--and that is just the beginning of the world's peril, unless the NUMA crew can beat the clock in this thrilling novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling grand master of adventure. An alarming rise in the world's sea levels--much larger than could be accounted for by glacier melt--sends Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA scientific team rocketing around the globe in search of answers. What they find at the bottom of the East China Sea, however, is even worse than they imagined: a diabolical plan to upset the Pacific balance of power--and in the process displace as many as a billion people. A rare alloy unlike anything else on earth, a pair of five-hundred-year-old Japanese talismans, an assassin so violent even the Yakuza has disowned him, an audacious technological breakthrough that will become a very personal nightmare for Kurt Austin--from the shark-filled waters of Asia to the high-tech streets of Tokyo to a forbidden secret island, the NUMA team must risk everything to head off the coming catastrophe.
15
4.2
Sea of Greed
Clive Cussler
480 pages
17 hours of reading
The NUMA crew must crack a baffling historical mystery in this thrilling novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling grand master of adventure. After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the President of the United States to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire in the alternative energy field. Her goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the worlds' most advanced fuel-cell systems. But is she an environmental hero...or a rogue genetic engineer? The NUMA crew discovers that the oil fields are infected with bacteria that are consuming the oil before it can be pumped out of the earth--a bacteria originally lost decades ago when two submarines vanished in the Mediterranean. With hired killers on his trail, can Kurt Austin locate a submarine that's remained hidden for more than fifty years? And even if he can, can the biological terror that's been unleashed be stopped?
16
4.2
Journey of the Pharaohs
Clive Cussler
When Kurt Austin rescues the crew of a Scottish trawler, he finds himself trying to save them not once but twice. First, from the violent storm that dashes their vessel into jagged rocks and, second, from the deadly gunmen desperate to get their hands on its lost cargo of stolen Egyptian artefacts. Soon Kurt - with the assistance of resourceful MI5 agent Morgan Manning - is on the hunt for the source of these artefacts. It's a journey that takes them around the world and draws the fury of the mysterious Bloodstone group - an international network of murderous individuals who'll kill anyone in their way. But what do gunmen want with ancient loot? One thing is for sure, if Kurt is to find out he's going to be in the cross hairs of some ruthless and well-armed foes...
17
4.1
Fast Ice
Clive Cussler
432 pages
16 hours of reading
Kurt Austin races to Antarctica to stop a chilling plot that imperils the entire planet in the latest novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling Grand Master of Adventure. In the early days of World War II, the infamous German Luftwaffe embark upon an expedition to Antarctica, hoping to set up a military base to support their goal of world domination. Though the military outpost never comes to fruition, what the Nazis find on the icy continent indeed proves dangerous...and will have implications far into the future. In the present day, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala embark for the freezing edge of the world after a former NUMA colleague disappears in Antarctica. While there, they discover a photo of the Luftwaffe expedition of 1939, and are drawn into a decades-old conspiracy. Even as they confront perilous waters and frigid temperatures, they are also are up against a terrifying man-made weapon--a fast-growing ice that could usher in a new Ice Age. Pitted against a determined madman and a monstrous storm, Kurt and the NUMA team must unravel the Nazi-era plot in order to save the globe from a freeze that would bury it once and for all.
18
4.1