SAHARA by Clive Cussler (Movie and Audiobooks)

 

All of the Clive Cussler novels are on audio. Many are set in the summer on the ocean. Clive Cussler, of course, was the New York Times bestselling author of five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Sam and Remi Fargo series. Many of his novels have made the #1 spot of New York Times bestsellers. A movie starring Matthew McConaugh and Penelope Cruz was SAHARA, which had a budget of $130 Million and only grossed $119 Million. Director was Breck Eisner, in 2005. The book dates from 1992. Cussler hated the film, and sued over it (and won.) I liked the film. It's very high concept, and the acting and action sequences never let up. IMDB gives it 6 out of 10 stars. i'll give it 8.  His life nearly parallels that of his hero, Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he and his NUMA crew of volunteers (yes, NUMA actually exists) have discovered more than sixty lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Confederate submarine, Hunley, which was raised in 2000 with much press publicity. Another significant date is when Clive endorsed my own novel “Postmarked for Death” in small press hardcover, which now has a 2019 production on Audible/iTunes. The search for a legendary automobile threatens the careers and lives of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo in this thrilling adventure in Clive Cussler’s bestselling series. In 1906, a groundbreaking Rolls-Royce prototype known as the Gray Ghost vanishes from the streets of Manchester, England, and it is only the lucky intervention of an American detective named Isaac Bell that prevents it from being lost forever. Not even he can save the good name of Marcus Peyton, however, the man wrongly blamed for the theft, and more than a hundred years later, it is his grandson who turns to Sam and Remi Fargo to help prove his grandfather’s innocence. But there is even more at stake than any of them know. For the car has vanished again, and in it is an object so rare that it has the capacity to change lives. Men with everything to gain and a great deal to lose have a desperate plan to find it–and if anybody gets in their way? They have a plan for that, too. Narrated by Scott Brick, whom I interviewed at this site, and met at the Audie awards. Scott is the busiest voice actor in the business, and winner of multiple awards. Co-author of The Gray Ghost is Robin Burcell, who spent nearly three decades working in California law enforcement as a police officer, detective, hostage negotiator, and FBI-trained forensic artist. She is the author of ten novels.

In another #CliveCussler title, TYPHOON FURY, (an editor's pick at Amazon, click on link) Juan Cabrillo is hired to search for a collection of paintings worth half a billion dollars. The crew of the Oregon soon find themselves in much deeper waters. The vicious leader of a Filipino insurgency is not only using them to finance his attacks, he has stumbled upon one of the most lethal secrets of World War II: a Japanese-developed drug, designed, but never used, to turn soldiers into super-warriors. To stop him, the Oregon must not only take on the rebel commander, but a South African mercenary intent on getting his own hands on the drug, a massive swarm of torpedo drones targeting the U.S. Navy, an approaching megastorm—and, just possibly, a war that could envelop the entire Asian continent. Much fun. Co-writer Boyd Morrison is author of THE VAULT and THE ARK, plus co-author of other Cussler titles such as SHADOW TYRANTS, THE EMPEROR’S REVENGE, and PIRANHA. He is also an actor and engineer who started his career working on the NASA space station project. After earning a PhD in engineering from Virginia Tech, he used his training to develop US patents for various companies as well as manage video game testing for the Xbox division of Microsoft. He lives in Seattle.

Detective Isaac Bell is featured in THE GANGSTER, a 2016 thrilling novel set in 1906 in New York City. The Italian crime group known as the Black Hand is on a spree: kidnapping, extortion, arson. Bell and the Van Dorn agency are hired to form a special “Black Hand Squad,” but the gangsters appear to be everywhere—so much so that Bell begins to wonder if there are imitators, criminals using the name for the terror effect. And then the murders begin, each one of a man more powerful than the last, and as Bell discovers, to his dismay, the ultimate target may be the most powerful man of all. This is an unusual subject and time period for Cussler and co-author Justin Scott, well read (as usual) by Scott Brick. Co-author Justin Scott is author of the Ben Abbott mystery series, and also writes under the pen name Paul Garrison. His Cussler co-authored titles are THE WRECKER, THE BOOTLEGGER, THE STRIKER, THE THIEF, THE SPY, THE RACE, THE CUTTHROAT, and THE ASSASSIN. Whew! Roll all of them together, and you could win any Banana Republic election. Owner of a fleet of classic cars, Clive divided his time between Colorado and Arizona. Among his other books are RAISE THE TITANIC, GHOST SHIP, NIGHTHAWK, SACRED STONE, DEVIL’S GATE, and THE ROMANOV RANSOM…some written alone, some with his son Dirk, too.  Questions? Leave comments below about the movie and Cussler audiobooks. To read my interview with Cussler go HERE.  #TheSportsAtheist is on Facebook groups. Join the discussion there too!