ARC FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER

One of the more desirable Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) of Clive’s books is
the one for the upcoming 40th anniversary edition of The Mediterranean Caper.
Due this July as a Putnam hardcover, I can tell you that the ARC for this
edition is already out. For several reasons, I consider this ARC a “must
have” for any serious collector of Clive Cussler. One reason is that The
Mediterranean Caper was Clive’s first published book and I don’t believe
that an ARC was done for the Pyramid paperback version forty years ago. As a
result, having an ARC of Clive’s debut book in a collection can be a new
cornerstone. Plus, unlike other ARCs produced for Clive’s newly-released
books, there were only around 50 or so made for The Mediterranean Caper—an
exceedingly small print run for this type of edition. The ARC for the 40th
anniversary edition does include a “Foreword” penned by Clive, although a
preliminary cover of the book that I’ve seen indicates it as a
“Preface.” I understand that the Foreword will eventually be renamed to be
a “Preface.” Recently, I’ve noticed ARCs for both Zero Hour (due out in
June) and The Mayan Secrets (scheduled for a September release) are available
on the usual Internet auction sites, but I’ve yet to see one for The
Mediterranean Caper. This is probably due to the limited number produced. My
advice: If you see one, grab it.