The nuclear submarine Starbuck sailed into the calm Pacific Ocean for sea trials - and vanished Maritime troubleshooter Dirk Pitt finds a single, chilling clue in the shark-torn surf off Hawaii - the log of the Starbuck A crazed journal of madness and death is all that remains, and the Captain's final, note locates the Starbuck's grave hundreds of miles from her last known position! The search for the Starbuck plunges Dirk Pitt a whirlpool of deep-sea mystery and terror - the Pacific Vortex!