YValhalla Rising by Clive Cussler

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2001
531 pages
Price on dust jacket $27.95
ISBN # 0-399-14787-X
First Printing Number Line: 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
From the dust jacket, "It is July 2003. In the middle of its maiden voyage, the luxury cruise ship Emerald Dolphin suddenly catches fire and sinks. What caused it? Why didn't the alarms go off?
What was its connection to the revolutionary new engines powering the ship? NUMA special projects director Dirk Pitt races to rescue the passengers and investigate the disaster, but he has no idea of the bizarre chain of events that are about to engulf him. Before the next few weeks are over, Pitt will find himself confronted by an extraordinary series of monsters, both human and mechanical, modern and ancient. He will tread upon territory previously known only to legend. And at the end of it all, though many lives will be lost, and many saved, it is Pitt's own life that will be changed forever. . . . Filled with dazzling suspense and breathtaking action, Valhalla Rising is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers."

In Valhalla Rising, Clive Cussler springs a surprise on his readers in this wild adventure, featuring Dirk Pitt.

Clive Cussler's superhero, Dirk Pitt, as the director of special projects for the National Underwater Maritime Administration (NUMA) is in the vicinity when the world's biggest cruise ship sinks. Pitt stages the rescue of nearly 2,000 passengers. A famous scientist is among those who perish, while Pitt rescues his beautiful daughter.

Clive Cussler tangles a story of ancient Viking runes, Captain Nemo's Nautilus, the Red Baron, water propulsion engines, murderous oil magnates, undersea catastrophes and cruise ship explosions into a knot that only Dirk Pitt and his sidekick Al Giordino can unravel.