Author | Clive Cussler and Graham Brown (writer) |
---|---|
Language | English |
Series | The NUMA Files |
Genre | Thriller novel |
Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons (US) Michael Joseph (UK) |
Publication date | May 30, 2017 [1] |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover) [2] |
Pages | 464 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
ISBN | 978-0399184017 |
LC Class | PS3553.U75 N54 2017 |
Preceded by | The Pharaoh's Secret (2015) |
Followed by | The Rising Sea (2018) |
Nighthawk is the fourteenth novel in the NUMA Files series by Clive Cussler. [3]
This novel centers around NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency) crew leaders Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. Nighthawk is an advanced unmanned aircraft that has been in space three years collecting data. On its return to Earth it defies its controllers who are guiding it to a safe landing and it presumably crashes into the ocean. NUMA is requested by the National Security Agency (NSA) to help find and recover Nighthawk. The NSA sends one of its agents to assist and she, Austin and Zavala attempt to find Nighthawk.
The Russians and the Chinese also seek to find and recover the craft, as well. This adventure takes Austin, Zavala and others from NUMA off the coast of Ecuador and in the mountains of Peru. As Austin and Zavala search for Nighthawk, more of the story of the importance of what is inside this craft comes to light and why the stakes are so high that it be found quickly. They are to find the future of the world depends on their success. Austin meets a man named Urco, who is trying to study the Chachapoya people. He later, once NUMA uncovers the Nighthawk, was a spy nicknamed "The Falconer" who wanted to "turn the world back to the stone age". He is foiled, but it explodes partially over the Pacific ocean which causes plenty of things to break. After this, both a couple Russians who were helping to steal the Nighthawk and the NUMA crew are found on a Caribbean island, now friends.
Kirkus seemed to like this book, although its review alluded to some of the unlikely scenarios in its pages, saying, "Cussler and company deliver another fun page-turner with a plot ranging from the highly improbable to the totally implausible." [4] The Real Book Spy website liked this book, saying, "A huge jump up from last year’s The Pharoah’s Secret, Nighthawk is an exciting thriller that seems slightly more realistic and timely after multiple news headlines about disappearing aircraft." [5]
H. L. Hunley, also known as the Hunley, CSS H. L. Hunley, or CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare. She was the first combat submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic), although Hunley was not completely submerged and, following her attack, was lost along with her crew before she could return to base. Twenty-one crewmen died in the three sinkings of Hunley during her short career. She was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after she was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina.
Clive Eric Cussler was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. Cussler was the founder and chairman of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks. He was the sole author or main author of more than 80 books. He often placed himself into his books as himself.
Dirk Pitt is a fictional character created by American novelist Clive Cussler and featured in a series of novels published from 1976 to 2021. Pitt is a larger-than-life hero reminiscent of pulp magazine icon Doc Savage. Pitt is a citizen of the United States, on loan from the United States Air Force with the rank of Major, after serving in the Vietnam War as a pilot. He manages to find adventure with his childhood best friend, Al Giordino, despite ending up with an ostensibly desk-bound role as the head of the National Underwater and Marine Agency. Pitt has a commanding presence, a quick wit, and a considerable collection of classic cars.
The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a private non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1979. Originally it was a fictional US government organization in the novels of author Clive Cussler. Cussler later created and, until his death in 2020, led the actual organization which is dedicated to "preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.” Additionally "NUMA does not actively seek private funding. Most of the financial support for the projects comes from the royalties from Clive Cussler’s books."
Sahara is a 2005 American action-adventure film directed by Breck Eisner based on the best-selling 1992 novel of the same name by Clive Cussler. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz, and follows a treasure hunter who partners with a WHO doctor to find a lost American Civil War Ironclad warship in the Sahara Desert.
Raise the Titanic! is a 1976 adventure novel by Clive Cussler, published in the United States by the Viking Press. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS Titanic to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in order to recover a stockpile of an exotic mineral that was being carried aboard.
Serpent is the first book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and veteran of mystery books Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 1999. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala.
Fire Ice is the third book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 2002. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin.
White Death is the fourth book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 2003. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin.
The Texan steamship Zavala was a Texas Navy ship in Texas' second Navy after the Texas Revolution. She was the first steamship-of-war in the Texas Navy.
The Navigator is the seventh book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, and was published in June 2007. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin.
Mark M. Newell, Ph.D. RPA is a British/American underwater and terrestrial archaeologist and anthropologist, the director of the Georgia Archaeological Institute. He received his doctorate from St. Andrews University, Scotland. Newell began diving in Bermuda in 1963. While working as a journalist, he continued to dive throughout the Caribbean and South America, developing an interest in the archaeological potential of the sites he discovered. In 1996 he completed a Ph.D. in underwater archaeology at the Scottish Institute of Maritime Studies at the University of St. Andrews.
Raise the Titanic is a 1980 adventure film produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment and directed by Jerry Jameson. The film, written by Eric Hughes (adaptation) and Adam Kennedy (screenplay), is based on the 1976 book of the same name by Clive Cussler. The storyline concerns a plan to recover RMS Titanic to obtain cargo valuable to Cold War hegemony.
Devil's Gate is an adventure novel in author Clive Cussler's The NUMA Files. Co-written with Graham Brown, this installment is the ninth of that series which features the main character Kurt Austin. The story follows employees of NUMA who discover someone is developing a directed-energy weapon and thwart the dictator of Sierra Leone, Djemma Garand, and the mercenary group led by Andras the Knife before they are able to use the weapon. The hardcover edition was released November 14, 2011, it was subsequently released as a paperback, audiobook and ebook. It appeared on several best-seller lists and was describe by reviewers as being suitable for fans of Cussler and action-adventure stories.
The Kingdom is the third in a series of adventure novels by Clive Cussler, co-authored by Grant Blackwood, whose main characters are adventurers and treasure hunters Sam Fargo and his wife, Remi. The book's hardcover edition was first published June 6, 2011. Other editions of this novel were released on various dates in 2011 and 2012.
The Striker is an Isaac Bell adventure novel, the sixth in that series. The hardcover edition was released March 6, 2013. Other editions were released on different dates.
Top Secret is to be the first novel in the Clandestine Operations series by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV.
The Solomon Curse is the seventh book in Clive Cussler's Fargo Adventures series.
The Gangster is an Isaac Bell adventure novel by Clive Cussler, the ninth in that series. The hardcover edition was released March 1, 2016.
The Romanov Ransom is the ninth novel in The Fargo Adventures series by Clive Cussler.