Night Probe!

Night Probe! is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 5th book featuring the author’s primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt. Published in 1981, it is set in the near future of 1989, a date with ironic significance (see below).

The book's plot includes a major element of Secret History.

Plot introduction

The world is in the throes of an energy crunch and the United States is on the brink of financial disaster. Desperate to find any solution that can save the nation from national bankruptcy, the President of the United States looks to Dirk Pitt and NUMA to pull off an audacious double salvage operation.

Explanation of the novel's title

Cussler, through the character Pitt, claims that "Night Probe" is an old diving term for exploring the darkness of underwater caves.

Plot summary

It is 1989 and the United States is in an economic freefall because "From Franklin Roosevelt on, every chief executive has played a game of tag, pinning a multiplying financial burden on the office of his successor," (said by the POTUS in part 1) and by increasing scarcity of oil.