Clive Cussler was born in Aurora, Illinois on July 15, 1931. He attended Pasadena City College for two years before enlisting in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. After his discharge from the military, he worked first as a copywriter and later as a creative director for two of the nation's most successful advertising agencies. At that time, he wrote and produced radio and television commercials that won numerous international awards, including one at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. He began writing in 1965 and published his first novel featuring Dirk Pitt in 1973. His first non-fiction work, The Sea Hunters, was published in 1996. He has written over 50 books including the Dirk Pitt series, the NUMA Files series, Oregon Files series, Isaac Bell series, and the Fargo Adventure series. He is the Chairman of NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), a non-profit group which he founded. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered over 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites. Clive Cussler died on February 24, 2020 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography)

Grant Blackwood is a U.S. Navy veteran who spent three years on active duty aboard the guided missile frigate USS Ford. He was an operations specialist and pilot rescue swimmer. His first book, The End of Enemies, was published in 2001. He is the author of the Briggs Tanner Novels series. He writes a Fargo Adventure series with Clive Cussler and Tucker Wayne series with James Rollins. He also co-wrote some of the books in the Jack Ryan series and the Jack Ryan Jr. Novel series with Tom Clancy and continued them after his death. (Bowker Author Biography)