 Paperback cover | |
| Author | Clive Cussler, with Paul Kemprecos |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | NUMA Files |
| Genre | Thriller novel |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
Publication date | 1999 |
| Media type | |
| Followed by | Blue Gold |
Serpent is the first book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and veteran of mystery [1] books Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 1999. The main character of this series is Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. [2]
This is the first book with Cussler's new hero Kurt Austin. [3]
The main plot is about a group of men who call themselves "The Brotherhood" and have ties to a 15th-century religious order. The group in modern times has attempted to hide and destroy all evidence of pre-Columbian contact between the New and Old Worlds.
The book begins with the collision of the ships SS Andrea Doria and MS Stockholm and moves to modern times with gun fights and chases from Boston and Washington DC to Africa and Mexico. The introduction of replacements for Dirk Pitt and his sidekick does not change Cussler's plot.
In 1956, off the coast of Nantucket Island, a crew member of the Stockholm causes the collision with the Andrea Doria then disappears. After the collision, a waiter aboard the Andrea Doria witnesses the murder of several men beside an armored vehicle in the hold of the ship.
Years later, Marine archaeologist Nina Kirov is exploring underwater ruins off an isolated stretch of the coast of Morocco. The structures she discovers seems to attest to an ancient Phoenician port. She also observes a large stone head which intrigues her. Via computer she contacts a friend, another archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who confirms that nearly identical stone heads have been viewed in the Yucatán.
Soon afterwards Nina, unable to sleep, slips out of camp. Returning to camp, she witnesses an armed force execute all the team members still in the camp. The assassins sight Nina and give chase. She eventually literally swims for her life, but a hovercraft pursues her with the obvious intention of killing her. A hand on her ankle yanks her beneath the surface of the sea. Kurt Austin, a diver from an offshore NUMA ship shares his auxiliary oxygen tank and saves her from certain death.
Returning with Moroccan authorities, Nina discovers that all evidence of the camp and its residents has been obliterated. The stone head has been destroyed. There is yet more bad news: her friend at Penn has been killed.
A later attack by the armed force on the ship imperils the lives of all aboard, but Kurt, his friend Joe Zavala, and the captain of the ship manage to outwit and defeat the would-be assassins.
Back in the USA, a meeting which includes Kurt, Joe, and Nina investigates the surprising number of archaeological teams that have disappeared. The sole connection of all the incidents seems to be a non-profit volunteer organization called Time-Quest, a part of Halcon Industries.
Meanwhile, another NUMA operative Gamay Trout is investigating some unusual Mayan ruins. She meets scientist/archaeologist Dr. Chi in the Yucatán, but they are confronted by chicleros, lawless men who steal Mayan artifacts. Her husband goes searching for her when she disappears. Through amazing feats Gamay and Dr Chi barely escape and meet up with her husband.
All these events seem connected and point to a fiendish plot by Halcon. Secrets in the long-distant past hold the key.
SS Andrea Doriapronounced [anˈdrɛːa ˈdɔːrja], was a luxury transatlantic ocean liner of the Italian Line, put into service in 1953. She is widely known from the extensive media coverage of her sinking in 1956, which included the remarkably successful rescue of 1,660 of her 1,706 passengers and crew.
Clive Eric Cussler was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached 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 lead author of more than 80 books.
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 Vietnam 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.
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.
Atlantis Found is a 1999 novel by Clive Cussler, the fifteenth book in the Dirk Pitt series.
Dragon is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 10th book featuring the author's primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt. In 1945, a B-29 bomber carrying a third atomic bomb to Japan is shot down over the sea off the coast of Japan. In 1993, terrorists want to restore Japan's former glory through nuclear blackmail.
Shock Wave is a book written by Clive Cussler. First published in 1996, it is the thirteenth book in Cussler's Dirk Pitt series. The events in the book take place between January and March 2000.
Cyclops is an action-adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 8th book featuring the author’s primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt.
Treasure is an action-adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the ninth book featuring the author's primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt.
Flood Tide is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 14th book featuring the author's primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt.
The Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks is a nonfiction work by adventure novelist Clive Cussler published in the United States in 1996. This work details the author's search for famous shipwrecks with his nonprofit organization NUMA. There is also a television series titled The Sea Hunters which is based on the book. It airs on the National Geographic Channel and History Television in Canada.
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.
Polar Shift is the sixth book in the NUMA Files series of books co-written by best-selling author Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, and was published in 2005. 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.
Medusa is a Kurt Austin novel, of the series NUMA Files. This book is the eighth of that series. The hardcover edition was released June 2, 2009. Other editions of this book were released on other dates.
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 Sierre 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.
Nighthawk is the fourteenth novel in the NUMA Files series by Clive Cussler.
The Rising Sea is the fifteenth book in the NUMA Files series, created by American author Clive Cussler. It was published on March 13, 2018.