Dirk Pitt Books In Order

Publication Order of Dirk Pitt Books

About Dirk Pitt:

Dirk Pitt, while being a fictional character from the mind of Clive Cussler, through his complex and realistic personality he has become a character that many readers have come to know as if he were a real human being. Dirk Eric Pitt, his full name, is perhaps best known as a wild and unstoppable renegade adventurer who will stop at nothing to save the day. One of the character traits of Dirk Pitt that has made him a memorable character for so many fans is that he pushes the envelope, he’s a loose canon, and he does what he needs to do to get things done.

Physically, Dirk Pitt is a tall man – approximately 6 feet and three inches, with dark, thick hair, and a medium build. In the books by Clive Cussler, it is frequently described that the most recognizable of all of Dirk Pitt’s physical features is that he has deep green eyes which are viewed as alluring by his friends, and intimidating by anyone that stands in his way.

One of the most common themes in Dirk Pitt novels is a love of the sea. Dirk is known to love its mysterious allure, which is an interest and obsession that he clearly shares with the author of the novels, Clive Cussler.

One of the greatest aspects of Dirk Pitt novels is his fast paced style, something that resonates through the writing style of his novels as well. Dirk Pitt stories frequently follow a fairly predictable storyline, but the quality that makes every Dirk Pitt story so unique is the delivery of it. Dirk loves adventure, and loves the unpredictable, his embracing of his circumstances makes him a character who always delivers exciting new events.

While Dirk Pitt is typically out traveling and living a life of utmost wild adventure, he occasionally retires to his crazy home which is a refurbished hangar on the grounds of Washington National Airport. His home is part house, part maze of inventions with his eccentric car collection (Dirk Pitt is a serious car fanatic, and this is a part of his personality that surfaces in some form in every single one of his books), several different aircraft, a Pullman railroad dining car, and even a totem pole. Dirk Pitt, being a fairly eccentric and adventurous soul, keeps a home that is equally wild and exciting.

Dirk Pitt’s Backstory

Dirk Pitt is the child of Senator George Pitt. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, along with his lifetime best friend Al Giordino. Many people consider Dirk Pitt to be the star, and Al Giordino to be his side kick – but truly everything that Dirk Pitt does is with the help of his trusty pal, Al Giordino. They work as a team and need each other quite a lot through out the series.

Pacific Vortex!

This is the very first of all of the Dirk Pitt stories, however this frequently leads to some confusion, because it was not the first story to be published. It is the sixth book in the series according to publication dates, but Clive Cussler wrote this story about Pitt before any of the other ones.

Not only has Clive Cussler confirmed that he wrote this story first, but he has stated that it is sort of an exception to the series. He had not fully found his style of writing yet and so this one, he believes, is published more as a piece of history than as a part of the series. He feels that Dirk Pitt really finds his feet in the future stories of the series.

In this first story, Dirk is sitting around enjoying himself on Oahu beach when he sees something floating in the water; swimming out to discover what it might be, he discovers it is a communication device used to send messages back and forth between ships and submarines. The message inside: word from the The Starbuck, a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine that had disappeared unexplainably into the Pacific Vortex more than 30 years ago.

The Mediterranean Caper

This book, sometimes published as just Mayday, is more traditionally considered the very first Dirk Pitt novel. It certainly is the first published Dirk Pitt novel, and the beginning of the series as most of Dirk’s fans know of it.

In this adventure, Dirk Pitt is forced to infiltrate an international drug smuggling ring, which is lead by an ex German pilot who fought in the World Wars.

Dirk Pitt, along with his best friend and trust comrade Al Giordino, are traveling on their own assignment in the Aegean Sea (where this particular adventure takes place), when they come across a distress call from Brady Air Force Base. Apparently there is an old German WWI plane, an antiquated plane with a low speed and very little ability, that is attacking the base by strafing runways and firing at immobile vehicles. Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino engage in an all out dogfight with the German place, before leaving with victory in their hands.

This is all just how the adventure begins. The story continues with more excitement and attacks as Dirk Pitt is forced to content with the evil Bruno Von Till, who turns out to be the mastermind behind the drug smuggling organization that is causing all of the trouble. It is a long and complex tale with plenty of twists and turns that will surprise readers, as is typical of all of the Dirk Pitt adventure stories.

Iceberg

Iceberg is the next story in the long, winding series of adventure novels about Dirk Pitt. This time he is forced off of his vacation early, as he is needed for a top secret mission involving a ship that has crashed into an iceberg sometime in the past.

As usual, he and his comrade Al Giordino, go off in search of answers to this mysterious set of events, this time under the command of Admiral Sandecker, who becomes a regular, returning character in the adventures of Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.

This is just the third installment (the second by some people’s standards) of the series and there are dozens more novels after this one, documenting the adventures of both Dirk and Al as they work for the government on top secret missions, often risking their lives to defend the world from evil.

One Response to “Dirk Pitt”

1. steveb: 2 years ago

   wish a movie made from, altantis found. thanx-steveb

   Reply