THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

NUMA crew leaders Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala must beat the clock to stop the world's most dazzling new technological advance from becoming mankind's last in this action-packed thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling grand master of adventure.

When the most advanced aircraft ever designed vanishes over the South Pacific, 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...but they may be caught in a race that no one can win.

Clive Cussler is the author or coauthor of more than 50 previous books in five best-selling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Sam and Remi Fargo. His nonfiction works include Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, plus The Sea Hunters and The Sea Hunters II. They describe the true adventures of the real NUMA, which, led by Cussler, searches for lost ships of historic significance. With his crew of volunteers, Cussler has discovered more than 60 ships, including the long lost Confederate ship Hunley. He lives in Arizona.

Graham Brown grew up in Illinois, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, moving often with his family. As far as he knows they weren't in the witness protection program or part of any top secret government agency, but then, would they really tell him? A former pilot and lawyer, and later part of a start up health care firm, Brown decided he hadn't had enough different careers yet and decided to become a writer. A huge fan of Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, Stephen King, and television shows like The X-Files and Lost, Graham's first novel, Black Rain, debuted in January 2010. He now cowrites the NUMA Files series with Clive Cussler. Their second collaboration, The Storm, debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.