Clive Eric Cussler was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times
I always enjoyed the Dirk Pitt Novels though I probably stopped reading them about the time he started getting guest writers involved.
I rate Dirk Pitt as one of the greatest protagonists along with Jack Reacher etc.