Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Looking for more that are also free of pervasive profanity, explicit sex, and detailed grisly gore /gratuitous violence?

I enjoyed Angels And Demons and The DaVinci Code.

Tried the asinine Vixen03 by Clive Cussler, but OMG see my review, please none as silly/sexist as that lol!

Ok, here is my review for Vixen 03~"OMG,are all his books this silly?

Tried what is supposed to be an action/thriller by Clive Cussler~ Vixen03,my first book by this author... but only made it to page 15 before I almost fell out of my chair laughing when Dirk's girlfriend comes into her deceased father's garage [they are staying at his cabin] where Dirk has found the nose gear to an airplane.He tells her that he needs her help to load it into the jeep so he can take it to someone to help identify it,and that she might want to take off her blue nightie so she doesn't get it dirty,so she does that and proceeds to push the large nose gear up boards into the back of the jeep,while "naked"! Yeah like any woman alive would be THAT IDIOTIC,LOL! That killed it for me, no way could I take that book seriously as a thriller with a scene that ridiculous in it! Guess only a man could appreciate that visual,lol,lol,lol!

Thankfully, it was a library book. I would not recommend such a ridiculous book to thriller lovers!"

The Vatican Trilogy does look interesting, thanks

Q.E.D. Your honor, the defense rests. My advice: just don't read any more non-Christian thrillers. Because female characters--naked for any reason--are just so utterly extraordinary and far-fetched. Pure fantasy. No one ever actually undresses in real life. Okay..

Feliks wrote: "Q.E.D. Your honor, the defense rests. My advice: just don't read any more non-Christian thrillers. Because female characters--naked for any reason--are just so utterly extraordinary and far-fetched..."

No woman in real life is going to maneuver a huge, heavy airplane nose cone up 'splintery' boards 'Naked' to get it into a jeep, and any man that thinks that is realism...well there are just no words to describe such a man, LOL,LOL,LOL!
No more likely than a man doing that chore NAKED!

I rest my case!

Feliks wrote: "You have no case. You're talking rot. Maybe *you* wouldn't shuck out of a nightie to lend-a-hand with a grimy job when your man asks you to; but that's just you. Don't presume to speak for all wome..."


Yeah RIGHT, and where does one find such Neanderthal women, LOL? Must be BUBBA land for sure, and they would probably get clubbed by their CRETIN man if they didn't do it!

I don't think there are actually any contemporary thrillers which fit your criteria whatsoever.
Regarding the elements you suggest, you might get 1/3 or 2/3 but you will never get 3/3.
Perhaps with pre-21st century thrillers like John Buchnan or the brilliant Agatha Christie you might get lucky, but with today's thrillers?
Not much chance.

Perhaps classic thriller author Jack Higgins might be up your alley. No graphic violence, no explicit sex and I only ever saw one profane word when reading his books.
Here's his best work:

Jack Higgins' 'Storm Warning' is a tale of a German Kriegsmarine captain escorting nuns to safety.

Thomas Gifford wrote several Vatican-based intrigue/ assassination thrillers

Samuel wrote: "I don't think there are actually any contemporary thrillers which fit your criteria whatsoever.
Regarding the elements you suggest, you might get 1/3 or 2/3 but you will never get 3/3.
Perhaps wi..."

I have no doubt that you are correct, just like the movies of today. Even my late husband who was an Air Force Viet Nam Vet hated the modern war films because of the pervasive filthy language. Neither he nor my career Air Force dad used language like the Cretins in those films, which[in our opinion] don't hold a candle to the quality of the pre-Vietnam era war movies.

Anyway, thank you so much for introducing me to Jack Higgins, those titles sound very good, and so does~ Thunder Point. Thank you! :D

Haha! That fella does come across well creepy

Thankfully, I know that very few men are like that!

Welcome to the 60s... the 1860s, where men are men, women are "pretty" and sheep get really nervous.

C. wrote: "Looking for more that are also free of pervasive profanity, explicit sex, and detailed grisly gore /gratuitous violence?

I enjoyed Angels And Demons and The DaVinci Code.

Tried the asinine Vixen0..."

Have you tried the Pendergast series by Preston and Child? Technically, the first book is Relic and, the series uses many of the same characters, but the first reall "Pendergast" book is The Cabinet of Curiosities.

The series has some romance, but, really, not much until the 6th or 7th book of the series... which is a good thing because they kind of suck at it.

The female characters, though they may get hassled by the villian(s) are not damsels in distress (though, they may be kind of "Damsel-ish").

Cussler's Dirk Pitt Novels were once described to me as "a man's harlequin novel." They are like James Bond Movies... Christmas Jones, Nuclear Physicist by day and sexy lingere model after 6pm.

I think, it is safe to say, that they will appeal to men more than women generally.

Compared with Pendergast, in Cussler's books the only reason to have a lady is to give the hero somebody to save from the villains.

The action oriented genres are rife with this kind of machismo and mysogony. (yes, I had to look that word up to spell it.)

Too make it worse, the heroines in said novels tend to be "guys that look great as females" or "sexy girls that do what Guys do."

Where I would suggest that you look are James Rollins, both his stand alones and his Sigma Force Series and the afore mentioned "Pendergast" series. If you can enjoy a racus modern fantasy story the Honored tomes of Larry Corriea, particularly Monster Hunter International doesn't "doll the ladies up" nearly as badly as Cussler. And of course the afore mentioned Pendergast series, which is more of a suspence thriller than an action story, but there is a lot of action in them, very little sex.

I would be remise to point out that none of these are perfect when it comes to realistic female characters. Some are better than others. Having said that, in the few made for Ladies romance novels that I have read, the authors there aren't exactly sure what a real man is like either. (Face it, we generally aren't that sensitive or even that aware of what's going on on the other side of the dinner table.)

That said, It's hard to find books with realistic female characters. Guys are easy, not because we are realistically depicted, but because we only know a few emotional pony tricks... anguish... desparation... fear... anger... and "act like your listening to her." Some books are better than others there too.

Still, Try the Pendergast Novels (I LOVED Still Life With Crows), or James Rollins. Each has their flaws, but none are so "manly men doing manly things with sexy women" as Cussler's Dirk Pitt Series.

No, I haven't yet tried the Pendergast series or James Rollins, though they are on my TBR list, so your thoughtful and detailed info makes me more anxious to check them out. I appreciate your very informative response, thanks.

C. wrote: "No, I haven't yet tried the Pendergast series or James Rollins, though they are on my TBR list, so your thoughtful and detailed info makes me more anxious to check them out. I appreciate your very ..."

Pendergast is a good read. The first two are fun, but not nearly as good as the third book whic is the fisrt in the series with the full "Pendergast style" in it and the writing is much better. I would love to say you don't have to read the first two, however, 1) they are fun reads, just not as good as 3 and on the stylke changes between the second and third books, and 2) the series uses characters from those first two books throughout so it's worth getting a handle on them.

I'd say the writing of female characters also gets better thoughout the series, not worse. Pendergahst reminds me of "The Shadow" (who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men). The characters are good there. The audiobook is good also.

Thanks that's good to know and keep in mind while I'm reading the first books which I am putting on reserve at my library.

if you liked da vinci code. try james rollins or steve berry.

Justin wrote: "if you liked da vinci code. try james rollins or steve berry."

Ok, thanks!

The Pirate Ghost wrote: "C. wrote: "No, I haven't yet tried the Pendergast series or James Rollins, though they are on my TBR list, so your thoughtful and detailed info makes me more anxious to check them out. I appreciate..."

Good to hear about the Pendergast series - that the 3rd book is where things pickup. I read the first 2 books and I seem to remember his role was a very small one.

C. - I'll 'third' the James Rollins recommendation. Sigma Force is a good series, and I really enjoyed the stand-alones Altar of Eden and Subterranean.

Also, I'm not sure if he would be classified as 'action/adventure' or more 'spy/thriller', but I really like the John Wells series by Alex Berenson. Wells is a former CIA op who is a thinking, feeling person and not just a lump of muscle! lol

Before you entirely count Cussler out, have you read any of the NUMA series? Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are likable characters - I prefer them over Dirk Pitt. In the NUMA series Pitt is limited to cameo appearances.

The Fargo series by Cussler had a husband and wife team, and it's a little more toned down, maybe like a 'cozy' action/adventure, if such a creature exists. Happy Reading!

John Wells is spy fiction.
Has swearing and gory violence. Book 1, man infected with plague. Book 3, man gutted like fish and intestines torn out. Book 4, terrorist rips his wrists open in a splatter of blood and the book after that has a character getting his hands lopped off by terrorists.

C I advise you don't bother with spy fiction whether contemporary or classic. If you focus on that genre, the search for what you want will be a fruitless endeavor and a waste of your time. As I said before, the criteria that you've suggested simply doesn't exist in that part of thriller fiction.

I believe what you truly seek may be found in other thriller sub-genres that the others are suggesting.

Samuel wrote: "John Wells is spy fiction.
Has swearing and gory violence. Book 1, man infected with plague. Book 3, man gutted like fish and intestines torn out. Book 4, terrorist rips his wrists open in a splat..."

Well, I guess that disqualifies John Wells! My memory might be a bit 'selective' where he is concerned, or else I have a high gore tolerance (yikes). His inner turmoil and struggle to do the right thing by his son and Ann are what make me like him as a character. What do you think of him, Samuel?

Michelle wrote: "Samuel wrote: "John Wells is spy fiction.
Has swearing and gory violence. Book 1, man infected with plague. Book 3, man gutted like fish and intestines torn out. Book 4, terrorist rips his wrists ..."

Interesting at times, but Berenson could do better with keeping his character arcs unique
In the most recent books, once again he's been dumped by the woman he loves because at the end of the day he loves the job more.
Vincent Dutto attempted to point this out to him and even suggested he try make peace with the fact in book 9.

Michelle wrote: "Samuel wrote: "John Wells is spy fiction.
Has swearing and gory violence. Book 1, man infected with plague. Book 3, man gutted like fish and intestines torn out. Book 4, terrorist rips his wrists ..."

He's a idealist underneath the cynicism.
A good man who has gone off to the war on terror, returned home and found the world changed. And he doesn't like it one bit.

He operates in a profession which has no place for that and yet Wells is willing to fight and do the right thing even if he gets hurt in the process.

He's a man of contradictions, psychologically discontent with his work and yet craving for the thrill of the hunt like a drug addict.

I like and am at the same time a bit frustrated by him.
My favorite John Wells Novel is "The Ghost Agent/War", the second book. What's yours?

Yes, 'craving the thrill like a drug addict' - that's the way Vinnie Dutto described Wells in book 8 - The Counterfeit Agent. I just finished that one a month or so ago, it's been my favorite so far. I started the series at book 4, so I know I missed a lot of back story (Exley, the years in deep cover, conversion to Islam, leaving the agency)that is alluded to in the later ones, so at some point I need to backtrack and do 1-3.

Michelle wrote: "Yes, 'craving the thrill like a drug addict' - that's the way Vinnie Dutto described Wells in book 8 - The Counterfeit Agent. I just finished that one a month or so ago, it's been m..."

Book 1 is great (being one of the first Post 9/11 spy novels that didn't try rip off Mitch Rapp, and instead took a radically new approach with the characters),

Book 2 focuses on another relevant geopolitical issue and features one of the most sympathetic antagonists in spy fiction, I've come across.

Book 3 is one of the finest deconstructions of the "roaring rampage of revenge" trope I've seen in the genre.

Thanks Samuel, great descriptions of Books 1 - 3 (especially Book 3!!) I have them all in paperback, and I'm thinking that might mesh well with a personal reading challenge for 2016 to complete series where I've started mid-stream, jumped around in, or only read the first 1 or 2 books.

And to C., sorry for highjacking your discussion thread :)

Michelle wrote: "Thanks Samuel, great descriptions of Books 1 - 3 (especially Book 3!!) I have them all in paperback, and I'm thinking that might mesh well with a personal reading challenge for 2016 to complete ser..."

Good luck, I wish you all the best ;)

Michelle wrote: "Thanks Samuel, great descriptions of Books 1 - 3 (especially Book 3!!) I have them all in paperback, and I'm thinking that might mesh well with a personal reading challenge for 2016 to complete ser..."


Well those posts are also informative for myself, and I'm sure for others ,as well. :] I will try a book from each of Cussler's other non Dirk Pitt series, and James Rollins and Jack Higgins, but I think I will pass on John Wells, haha.

The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry also sounds interesting to me.Thanks ~ Justin, for suggesting him.

start with the templar legacy by steve berry if you can its the first of the series. and they are very similar to dan brown in that they are fast paced with a lot of interesti g history mixed in.

Oh, ok, will do. I really like fiction that also has interesting history or true facts that we can learn from.

I just went through and deleted posts that were abusive towards other members and had devolved into personal attacks/arguments. May I remind everyone that this behavior is not allowed on this group? I sent a warning to parties who have committed offenses that could lead to being banned from this group.

Keep the discussion on topic and cordial. Take your arguments off this group. I would hate to have to ban any member from this group.

"Deception Point" and "Digital Fortress" were also two very good Dan Brown books.

Greg wrote: ""Deception Point" and "Digital Fortress" were also two very good Dan Brown books."

I agree Greg. And as much as I enjoy his Robert Langdon series, I much preferred his standalone Deception Point. Digital Fortress is the only one I haven't read yet...looking forward to it. I wish he would write more of these!

Shameless plug, but my books have been compared to Dan Brown due to the pacing and conspiracy fiction. I can give a few Kindle copies away if anyone is interested, just hit me up. Dear Moderator, my apologies if I crossed the line. Thanks MWM