Black Wind (Dirk Pitt Series #18) » (Reprint)

Author of the wildly popular seafaring adventure series starring man's men Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin , former ace advertising exec Clive Cussler is also a sea searcher in real life and has discovered some of history's most famous shipwrecks.

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.

Publishers Weekly

About halfway through this rip-snorting adventure thriller, a "white-haired man" rescues heroes Dirk Pitt Jr. and his sister, Summer, from death by drowning. That man is revealed to be author Cussler (Trojan Odyssey, etc.), reminding Dirk of "an older version of his own father," legendary oceanographer Dirk Pitt, hero of Cussler's previous novels. Just as the primary action baton is passed in this tale from Pitt Sr. to Jr., readers may note that Cussler's coauthor is his own son. But even if Cussler is beginning to pass on his writing baton, he's doing so with panache: thriller fans will revel in this action-packed yarn of land- and sea-based derring-do stuffed with technical details on matters from biochemical weapons "chimeras" to rocket launches. The villain is a South Korean industrialist working for the North Koreans with an eye toward unifying Korea by ridding the country of American troops, allowing for an invasion of the South. His plan is to aim a sea-borne rocket filled with a combo of deadly viruses at Los Angeles, with clues laying blame on Japanese terrorists, thus distracting America while the North makes its move. But villain and modus operandi matter less than the series of exciting hairbreadth escapes wrought by Dirks Jr. and Sr. and Summer-including Dirk Sr.'s escape from being poached alive in a minisub trapped underneath massive rocket boosters spewing an inferno of flames. There's a slight, nasty gloss of "yellow peril" on the villain and his actions, and it's only the Americans who greet likely death with a grin and a quip, but that's a minor knock on some major entertainment that's bound toward the top of the charts. Agent, Peter Lampack. 750,000 first printing. (Dec.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.