Books
The NUMA Files books in order: the complete series
Looking for Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files books in order? Look no further!
A spin-off from the Dirk Pitt series, the NUMA Files are an underwater exploration series starring on Kurt Austin, leader of the US National Underwater and Marine Agency’s (NUMA) Special Assignments Team.
Austin’s assignments take him around the world hunting people trying to exploit the world’s resources. But Austin won’t let that happen, not on his watch.
Action-packed and full of adventure, these titles take inspiration from Cussler’s own work as an underwater explorer. You’ll definitely need your sea legs for this collection!
The latest book in the NUMA Files series is Desolation Code.
If you love Clive Cussler, check out his Dirk Pitt books in order, Isaac Bell books in order, The Oregon Files books in order Fargo books in order.
Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files books in order:
Serpent by Clive Cussler
1. Serpent (1999)
When Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater & Marine Agency exploration team, rescues beautiful marine archaeologist Nina Kirov off the coast of Morocco, he becomes the next target of Texas industrialist Don Halcon.
A madman bent on carving a new nation out of the southwestern United States and Mexico, Halcon’s scheme hinges on Nina’s recent discovery involving Christopher Columbus, and a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity buried in the battered remains of the sunken Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria.
Only Kurt Austin and his crack NUMA team stand between Halcon and the Andrea Doria’s silent steel hull – and if their deadly mission fails, Halcon will ride to power on a wave of death and destruction.
Blue Gold by Clive Cussler
2. Blue Gold (2000)
From deep within the Venezuelan rain forest emanates the legend of a white goddess and a mysterious tribe with startling technical accomplishments. Few believe the tribe exists – and even fewer suspect its deity may hold knowledge that can change the course of history.
For NUMA crew leader Kurt Austin, an investigation into the sudden deaths of rare whales leads him to the Mexican coast, where someone tries to put him and his mini-sub permanently out of commission. Meanwhile, in South America’s lush hills, a specially assigned NUMA crew turns up the white-goddess legend – and a murderous cadre of bio-pirates intent on stealing medicinal secrets worth millions. Soon Austin and his crew realise they’re working the opposite ends of the same grand scheme. A billionaire California tycoon is poised to rise to power by monopolizing the earth’s vastly depleted freshwater reserves and ultimately dominate the world.
Austin has a hunch Venezuela’s mythical tribal goddess has some real roots in science, and may be the key to locating a secret formula that could turn vast amounts of seawater into fresh. But with each step into the bush, he and his NUMA team feel like fish out of water – and must fight a deadly, twisting trail of enemies through a dense jungle of treachery, blackmail, and murder.
Fire Ice by Clive Cussler
3. Fire Ice (2002)
In the Black Sea, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team discover an abandoned submarine base commandeered by a mining tycoon who claims Romanov ancestry.
Backed by his incredible wealth, the tycoon has proclaimed himself Czar of Russia. He is determined to overthrow the already shaky Russian government – and he has a terrifying surprise in store for the Americans that will ensure they don’t interfere.
But standing in his way are Kurt Austin and the NUMA team…
White Death by Clive Cussler
4. White Death (2003)
When a confrontation between a radical environmental group and a Danish cruiser off the Faroe Islands sinks a ship, trapping her crew beneath the waves, Kurt Austin of NUMA is immediately called to the rescue.
Investigating the collision, Austin uncovers a trail of sabotage that leads to a sinister multinational corporation seeking control of the waves. When he is almost killed for his trouble, Austin knows that this is one organization that will let nothing stand in its way.
But with an environmental disaster underway, the clock is ticking for Austin and the NUMA team…
Lost City by Clive Cussler
5. Lost City (2004)
The discovery of a body frozen for ninety years in a glacier high in the French Alps seems of unlikely concern to Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects team.
But when those on site are trapped in alpine tunnels flooding with glacial meltwater, Austin can hardly ignore a cry for help. And this near tragedy proves to be no mere accident. For the body held a secret. A secret someone was prepared to kill for.
Soon Austin is plunged into a mystery involving a virulent algal weed ravaging the Atlantic’s Lost City trench, while he and the team face a family of astonishing greed – who will stop at nothing to get what they want…
Polar Shift by Clive Cussler
6. Polar Shift (2005)
Giant freak waves send an unsinkable cargo ship to the bottom of the Atlantic and a herd of killer whales attack a party of kayakers in the Pacific – random events, or evidence of polar shift?
For Kurt Austin of NUMA these two seemingly unconnected incidents are harbingers of a global phenomenon that will mark the end of civilization! A secret organization aiming to bring down the world’s elite powers have discovered the means to bring about polar shift – a catastrophic event that will cause earthquakes, lava eruptions, tsunami, electrical disruption and giant whirlpools.
Austin knows that he and NUMA cannot fail this time. The end of the world is coming unless he and the team can track down the conspirators or reverse the effects of the Earth’s most destructive power: polar shift!
The Navigator by Clive Cussler
7. The Navigator (2007)
Iraq, 2003: in the post-war looting of the treasures from Baghdad’s antiquities museum, a legendary Phoenicean statue is stolen…
Known as the Navigator, the statue points back to the days of King Solomon and is the vital clue to a secret of unimaginable power. Lucky then that UN investigator Carina Mechadi recovers it quickly. But a daring raid by helicopter in Iceberg Alley off Newfoundland and the statue is gone again – while Carina is only saved by the timely intervention of Kurt Austin of NUMA.
Now Austin and Carina are scouring the globe. Firstly, to track down the statue as it leaves a trail of murder and mayhem in its wake. And, secondly, to beat the thieves to the secret of the Navigator – for if it falls into the wrong hands, the world could be changed for ever.
Medusa by Clive Cussler
8. Medusa (2009)
In the Micronesian Islands, a top-secret US undersea lab vanishes. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere operated by NUMA and overseen by Kurt Austin is attacked and becomes stranded half a mile below the surface. Only quick thinking and bold action will save the crew – which includes the head of a certain, now-missing undersea lab – from a watery grave.
Austin is convinced both events are connected, and he puts NUMA on the case. Soon he’s uncovering some hideous medical experiments and evidence of a terrifying virus that could be used to create a worldwide pandemic. Behind it all lies an ambitious Chinese criminal organization prepared to commit mass murder to achieve its ends.
Now Austin must put his life on the line in order that millions will be saved from death…
Devil’s Gate by Clive Cussler
9. Devil’s Gate (2011)
Deep beneath the Eastern Atlantic Ocean lies an extraordinary underwater burial ground of ships and planes. Nearby, a Japanese cargo ship blows up without warning. Racing to help, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team are beaten to the scene by heavily armed pirates. But when the ruthless gang’s own boat explodes as they’re making their escape, the men from NUMA are suddenly plunged from a disaster into a mystery.
Soon they uncover a scheme involving the deadly ambitions of an African dictator, the creation of a weapon of terrible power, a kidnapped CERN scientist and a deep-water graveyard holding a lost aircraft and its precious cargo.
As a terrifying and audacious plan to bring the world’s major nations to their knees is set in motion, only Kurt Austin – the right man, in the right place, at the right time – can stop it…
The Storm by Clive Cussler
10. The Storm (2012)
In the middle of the Indian Ocean, a NUMA research vessel is taking water samples at sunset, when a crew member spots a sheen of black oil ahead of them. But it is not oil. Like a horde of army ants, a swarm of black particles suddenly attacks the ship, killing everyone aboard, while the ship itself goes up in flames.
A few hours later, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are on their way to the Indian Ocean. What they will find there on the smouldering hulk of the ship will eventually lead them to the discovery of the most audacious scheme they have ever known: a plan to permanently alter the weather on a global scale. It will kill millions… and it has already begun.
Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
11. Zero Hour (2013)
A new energy source holds the promise to change the world. If it doesn’t kill it first.
It’s called zero point energy, and it really exists – a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it, however. Until one scientist discovers a way.
Or at least he thinks he has. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them – and soon – the world will be on the threshold of a new era of catastrophe and unchecked volcanism.
Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler
12. Ghost Ship (2014)
When Kurt Austin is injured while rescuing the passengers and crew of a sinking yacht, he wakes up with conflicting memories of what he saw. Did he witness an old friend and her children drown, or was the yacht abandoned when he came aboard? For reasons he cannot explain – yet – Kurt doesn’t trust either version of his recollection.
Determined to seek out the truth, in his hunt for answers, he soon descends into a shadowy world of state-sponsored cybercrime, where he uncovers a pattern of suspicious accidents, vanishing scientists and a web of human trafficking.
Now, he must take on the sinister organization behind this conspiracy, facing off against them from Morocco to North Korea to the rugged coasts of Madagascar. But where this highly dangerous quest will ultimately take him, even he could not begin to guess…
The Pharaoh’s Secret by Clive Cussler
13. The Pharoah’s Secret (2015)
The City of the Dead, Egypt, 1353 BC. Buried deep beneath the Saharan desert is a secret – an ancient elixir so powerful that it is rumoured to take life from the living and restore it to the dead.
Lampedusa, present day. Off a remote island, a mysterious ship releases a deadly poison. Minutes later everyone on the island is dead.
Responding to a distress call, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team struggle to understand what has caused this disaster. As they investigate the incident further they uncover a far greater threat.
Now Kurt Austin must learn the secrets of the past if he is to save millions from a horrifying death. But it is a desperate race against time. And he faces a deadly enemy who will stop at nothing…
Nighthawk by Clive Cussler
14. Nighthawk (2017)
When the most advanced aircraft ever designed vanishes over the South Pacific, NUMA operatives Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are drawn into a deadly contest to locate the fallen machine.
Russia and China covet the radical technology, but the United States worries about a darker problem. They know what others don’t-that the X-37 is carrying a dangerous secret, a payload of exotic matter, extracted from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and stored at a temperature near absolute zero.
As long as it remains frozen, the cargo is inert, but if it thaws, it will unleash a catastrophe of nearly unthinkable proportions.
From the Galapagos Islands to the jungles of South America to an icy mountain lake many believe to be the birthplace of the Inca, the entire NUMA team will risk everything in an effort to avert disaster… will they get caught in a race that no one can win?
The Rising Sea by Clive Cussler
15. The Rising Sea (2018)
Kurt and his crew are in a deadly race against time to stop the sea rising. A mission deep inside the swirling Pacific. Their objective? To save the world.
The world’s sea levels are rising at an alarming rate. So fast that nobody can explain it. It’s up to Kurt and the NUMA team to find out why, before it’s too late.
Their search for answers sends them racing around the world, from the high-tech streets of Tokyo, to a forbidden secret island. But it’s in the East China Sea that they discover a secret underwater mining operation, and a plot more dangerous than they could have ever imagined…
The world is drowning and fast – but has Kurt Austin arrived in time to save the day?
Sea of Greed by Clive Cussler
16. Sea of Greed (2018)
In the Gulf of Mexico, flames erupt from the seabed turning oilrigs into infernos. Luckily, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team are on hand to rescue the crews before the burning rigs sink beneath the waves. But what caused this fireball?
It’s soon clear this is sabotage, but at the same time oil fields around the world are dying.
Tasked with discovering the truth, Kurt is led to alternative energy scientist Tessa Franco. Franco’s company seeks the end of the oil age. But is she part of the solution – or the problem?
With the world simmering on the verge of catastrophe, Kurt’s in a race against time to discover the extraordinary truth – one that may lie with an audacious experiment and a submarine lost fifty years ago…
Journey of the Pharaohs by Clive Cussler
17. Journey of the Pharaohs (2020)
In 1074 BC, vast treasures disappear from the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs. In 1927, a daredevil American aviator vanishes on an attempted transcontinental flight. And in the present day, a fishing trawler – along with its mysterious cargo – sinks off the coast of Scotland.
How are these three mysterious events connected? And, more importantly, what do they mean for Kurt Austin and his NUMA team?
As they search for answers, the NUMA squad join the agents of MI5 to take on a wide-reaching international conspiracy. Their common enemy is the Bloodstone Group, a conglomerate of arms dealers and thieves attempting to steal ancient relics on both sides of the Atlantic.
Kurt and his team soon find themselves wrapped up in a treacherous treasure hunt as they race to find the lost Egyptian riches before they fall into the wrong hands.
Fast Ice by Clive Cussler
18. Fast Ice (2021)
In the early days of World War II, the infamous German Luftwaffe embark upon an expedition to Antarctica’s icy continent. Their mission ended in disaster – its frozen secrets lying forgotten for almost a century…
When a former NUMA colleague mysteriously disappears, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala journey to the freezing bottom of the world to investigate. Amidst the perilous waters and frigid temperatures, they soon uncover a terrifying weapon – a human-made, fast-growing ice with the power to usher in a new Ice Age.
With a determined madman and a monstrous storm at their heels, Kurt and the NUMA team must unravel the Nazi-era plot, and save the earth from a freeze that would bury it once and for all.
Clive Cussler's Dark Vector by Graham Brown
19. Dark Vector (2022)
Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are diving for treasure…
Specifically, the legendary hoard of Pirate Queen Ching Shih, lost in the South China Sea. But no sooner than they’ve found a clue than a more pressing matter requires urgent attention: a nearby freighter carrying the world’s most state-of-the-art computers has vanished.
NUMA must find the ship – and fast. If hackers, criminals or terrorists get hold of it, this cargo could be the Information Age’s most deadly weapon.
Plunged into a cyberwar that has spilled into real life, facing modern-day pirates and cut-throat billionaires, Kurt and Joe are about to discover just how perilous are the high seas…
Clive Cussler: Condor's Fury by Graham Brown
20. Condor’s Fury (2023)
Kurt Austin faces mind-control technology and cutting-edge weaponry in the latest novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series created by the “grand master of adventure” Clive Cussler.
A freighter carrying top-secret computers of unparalleled capability disappears in the Western Pacific. While searching for a lost treasure that once belonged to the famous pirate queen, Ching Shih, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are redirected to look for the missing vessel.
Discovering that the sinking of the ship is just part of an intricate web of deception, they find themselves in the middle of a cyber-war between rival groups of hackers, both of whom want to control the flow of data around the world.
With no allies except a group of pirates who operate under their own crude laws, Kurt and Joe must rescue a colleague held hostage–while keeping the computers out of Russian or Chinese hands and the world’s digital information safe from the hackers.
Clive Cussler’s Desolation Code by Graham Brown
21. Desolation Code (2024)
When Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala investigate a mass stranding of aquatic life in the Indian Ocean, they accidentally uncover a much deeper mystery.
A strange figure soon steals NUMA’s findings, forcing a high-speed chase―someone really didn’t want them examining those dead whales. But who, and why?
A cryptic text through the NUMA satellite network makes things still stranger: these odd phrases and numbers look like NUMA codes. But who could be tantalizing the crew with such specific knowledge of their tech?
Are they being helped by an old friend, or lured into a trap by a traitor who knows a little too much about NUMA’s inner workings?
Kurt, Joe, and even Max, the agency’s supercomputer, will have to investigate like never before as they decrypt data, infiltrate a cult of cloned men, and prepare for a battle on two very different planes: one physical; one digital.
There you have it – the NUMA Files books in order! What’s the best book in the NUMA Files series? Let us know in the comments below…
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