Dirk Cussler

Dirk Cussler is an American author who co-writes and, following his father Clive Cussler's death in 2020, now continues the bestselling Dirk Pitt adventure series, following a NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) troubleshooter whose globe-spanning missions combine underwater exploration, historical mystery, and high-action thriller plotting. Dirk began co-authoring Dirk Pitt novels with his father starting with Black Wind in 2004, and has since taken primary authorship of the series, keeping its blend of nautical adventure, historical artifacts, and larger-than-life action intact for longtime fans.

Named, notably, after the series' own protagonist, Dirk Cussler grew up immersed in his father's fiction and maritime-history interests — Clive Cussler was also a real-world shipwreck hunter through his NUMA nonprofit — and brings that same interest in nautical history and exploration to his own writing. He has also contributed to other branches of the wider Cussler fictional universe. Readers new to Dirk Pitt should start at the beginning of the series with Pacific Vortex! or, for entries Dirk Cussler had a direct hand in, Black Wind, since the character's personal life and the NUMA ensemble cast build up over many books. Several earlier Dirk Pitt novels were adapted into the films Raise the Titanic! and Sahara; no adaptation has drawn specifically on the volumes Dirk Cussler has written or co-written.