The NUMA Files

Kurt Austin and his crew are back to slake their thirst for action as they attempt to drown an eco-extortionist's plan to control the world's freshwater supply. 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 can change the course of history.

The hero of Serpent and Blue Gold confronts a deadly global plot, in this breathtaking Kurt Austin adventure.

A ruthless corporation is about to take command of the seas. This is a mission for Kurt Austin and the NUMA team.

An enzyme that will dramatically prolong life has been discovered 2,000 feet down in the North Atlantic, in an area known as "Lost City". But why are the people attempting to harvest it getting killed? Why are the scientists in a remote Greek laboratory disappearing one by one? To Kurt Austin, leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team, and his colleague Joe Zavala, it's clear they have their work cut out for them, but it may be even bigger than they think.

An enzyme that will dramatically prolong life has been discovered 2,000 feet down in the North Atlantic, in an area known as "Lost City". But why are the people attempting to harvest it getting killed? Why are the scientists in a remote Greek laboratory disappearing one by one? To Kurt Austin, leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team, and his colleague Joe Zavala, it's clear they have their work cut out for them, but it may be even bigger than they think.

Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger a shift in the polar ice caps that could cause massive eruptions, earthquakes, and even climate changes. But then his work disappeared, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an anti-globalization group plans to use it to give the world’s industrialized nations a small jolt before reversing the shift back again. The only problem is, it cannot be reversed. Once it starts, there is nothing anyone can do.

Polar shift: It is the name for a phenomenon that may have occurred many times in the past. At the very least, it disorients birds and animals and damages electrical equipment. At its worst, it causes massive eruptions, earthquakes, and climatic changes. At its very worst, it would mean the obliteration of all living matter, and if that happens - exit Earth. Sixty years ago, aHungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift, but then his work was lost. Or so it was thought....

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.

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.

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.

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 hulk of the ship will eventually lead them to the discovery of the most audacious scheme ever known: a plan to permanently alter the weather on a global scale.

A new energy source holds the promise to change the world. If it doesn't kill it first. It's called zero point energy—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 does. 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.

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, 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.

Head of NUMA special assignments, Kurt Austin and his most trusted friend, Joe Zavala tangle with a ruthless powerbroker scheming to build a new Egyptian empire as glorious as those of the Pharaohs. Part of their adversary's plan rests on the manipulation of a newly discovered aquifer beneath the Sahara, but an even more devastating weapon at his disposal may threaten the entire world: A plant extract known as the black mist, discovered in the City of the Dead and rumored to have the power to take life from the living and restore it to the dead.

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.

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.

When NUMA scientists discover a startling rise in the Western Pacific sea levels, they fly to Japan in search of answers. Kurt, Joe and the team uncover a secret Chinese mining operation beneath the East China Sea and a diabolical plan to destroy the Japanese-American alliance and unbalance the world's scales of power. To avert an international disaster, Kurt and his team must outwit a powerful, ruthless industrialist, an assassin too violent for the Yakuza and an extraordinary hi-tech threat....

An alarming rise in the world's sea levels - much larger than could be accounted for by glacier melt - sends Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA scientific team rocketing around the globe in search of answers. What they find at the bottom of the East China Sea, however, is even worse than they imagined: a diabolical plan to upset the Pacific balance of power - and in the process displace as many as a billion people.

After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the president of the US to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire in the alternative-energy field. Her goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the worlds' most advanced fuel-cell systems. But is she an environmental hero...or a rogue genetic engineer?