If you’re a fan of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files series, then circle March 12, 2019, on your calendar because that’s when Sea of Greed, the 14th book in his popular New York Times bestselling series, is slated to hit bookstores.
After co-authoring Serpent in 1999 with Paul Kemprecos, Cussler wrote seven more books with him before partnering up with Graham Brown for The Storm (2012). Since then, Cussler and Brown have written six books together, including The Rising Sea, which came out back in March of this year and featured a high-stakes plot that followed scientists Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala as they tried to thwart a diabolical plan to upset the Pacific balance of power.
This time around, the NUMA team must work quickly if they have any hope of defeating a bacteria that is consuming the earth’s oil. See the rest of the plot details below!
January 1968
Two submarines–one French, one Israeli–vanish in the Mediterranean within days of each other. Extensive search-and-rescue operations turn up no sign of either vessel. Thirty years later, the wreck of one is found; the other is never recovered.
Present Day
After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt, Joe and NUMA are tapped by the President of the United States to find out why many of the world’s most productive oilfields have gone dry. The trail leads them to Tessa Franco, a brilliant billionaire in the alternative energy field. Tessa’s goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the most powerful and efficient fuel-cell systems the world has ever seen. In the eyes of many she’s an environmental hero, but her connection to a rogue genetic engineer and central Asian money suggest something more.
The NUMA crew discovers that the oil fields are infected with a bacteria that is consuming the oil before it can be pumped out of the earth–and initial studies reveal no way to stop it. With the price of oil tripling, the world’s stock markets crashing and the health of the global economy hanging in the balance, Kurt is up against it. But finding a submarine that’s remained hidden for fifty years won’t be easy. And with uncountable money and an army of hired killers at her disposal, Tessa Franco will do everything in her power to stop him.
Fans waiting for the next NUMA book can pick up Shadow Tyrants (an Oregon Files thriller) in September to hold them over.
Also, it’s worth noting that the 25th Dirk Pitt novel, Celtic Empire, was originally slated to come out in November, but has since been pushed back to March 12, 2019, the same day Sea of Greed is currently scheduled to come out. It’s highly improbable that both books will come out on the same day, so look for Dirk Pitt to slide back to the summer of 2019. An announcement could come soon on that front.
Stay tuned for more updates on all things Cussler. In the meantime, Sea of Greed is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck (“The Godfather of the thriller genre” — Ben Coes) has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.