Twentieth century detective Isaac Bell takes on the world of warfare when America’s naval research and development experts begin to die one by one in this #1 New York Times -bestselling historical action adventure. 1908 marks a year of ever-escalating international tension as the world plunges toward war. And with America on the brink, it comes as a devastating blow to learn of the apparent suicide of one of the United States’ most brilliant battleship-gun designers. The death becomes a media sensation, and the man’s grief-stricken daughter turns to the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency to clear her father’s name. Van Dorn puts his chief investigator on the case, and Isaac Bell soon sees that the clues point not to suicide, but to murder. As Bell notices more suspicious deaths among the nation’s sharpest technological minds, he begins to suspect the work of an elusive spy somehow connected to a top-secret project called Hull 44. But that is just the beginning. As the intrigue deepens, Bell will find himself pitted against German, Japanese, and British spies, in a mission that encompasses dreadnought battleships, Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, Chinatown, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Isaac Bell has certainly faced perilous situations before, but this time it is more than the future of his country that’s at stake—it’s the fate of the world. Clive Cussler is the author of more than fifty books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Fargo. His life nearly parallels that of his hero Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he and his NUMA crew of volunteers have discovered more than seventy-five lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Confederate submarine Hunley , which was raised in 2000 with much press publicity. Like Pitt, Cussler collects classic automobiles. His collection features more than eighty examples of custom coachwork. Cussler lives in Arizona and Colorado. Justin Scott is the author of thirty-one novels, including The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle ; the Ben Abbott detective series; six thrillers under his pen name Paul Garrison; and his coauthorship with Cussler of The Wrecker , The Spy , The Race , The Thief , The Striker , The Bootlegger , The Assassin , The Gangster, and The Cutthroat . Scott lives in Connecticut. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication THE GUNNER’S DAUGHTER Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 ARMORED COFFINS Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 THE FLEET Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 A STREAK OF GOD Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 ON DISTANT SERVICE DIRK PITT® ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER Arctic Drift (WITH DIRK CUSSLER) Treasure of Khan (WITH DIRK CUSSLER) Black Wind (WITH DIRK CUSSLER) Trojan Odyssey Valhalla Rising Atlantis Found Flood Tide Shock Wave Inca Gold Sahara Dragon Treasure Cyclops Deep Six Pacific Vortex! Night Probe! Vixen 03 Raise the Titanic! Iceberg The Mediterranean Caper FARGO ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER WITH GRANT BLACKWOOD Spartan Gold ISAAC BELL NOVELS BY CLIVE CUSSLER The Wrecker (WITH JUSTIN SCOTT) The Chase KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER WITH PAUL KEMPRECOS Medusa The Navigator Polar Shift Lost City White Death Fire Ice Blue Gold Serpent OREGON FILES ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER WITH JACK DU BRUL The Silent Sea Corsair Plague Ship Skeleton Coast Dark Watch WITH CRAIG DIRGO Golden Buddha Sacred Stone NONFICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO The Sea Hunters The Sea Hunters II Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed CLIVE CUSSLER AND JUSTIN SCOTT Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore