Recommend an adventure writer?

R

RH

Joined
Jan 31, 1999
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I have a ton of serious books I need to read (spiritual growth, parenting, etc.) but sometimes I need a diversion. I've read almost all of Clancy's stuff (all good), and some of the Ops Center stuff (mostly so-so. OK for reading on the beach on vacation :cool: ). I like the espionage/spec ops type stuff, but who's good? I read the first few Marcinko books, but I just can't stomach it anymore. The language is bad, the writing style is annoying, and Dick's ego is the main subject matter :barf: . Any suggestions? :confused:
 
I've never enjoyed better "pulp" than the books by Jerry Ahern. You'll need to hit the used book stores or find used books online as he hasn't written much in the last 10 years.
 
I like the older Clive Cussler novels. He has a few new series, but I have not gotten into the new protagonists. I prefer the old "Dirk Pitt" adventures. A good place to start may be "Raise the Titanic."

The protagonist, Dirk Pitt, is like a cross between James Bond and Jacques Cousteau. Makes for a fun read.
 
I don't know if you're into non-fiction, but any of Peter Hathaway Capstick's books on big game hunting in Africa make good reading. Plenty of true hair-raising adventures there.
 
Centaur said:
I like the older Clive Cussler novels. He has a few new series, but I have not gotten into the new protagonists. I prefer the old "Dirk Pitt" adventures. A good place to start may be "Raise the Titanic."

The protagonist, Dirk Pitt, is like a cross between James Bond and Jacques Cousteau. Makes for a fun read.
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It's truly a small world. My father turned me on to the Dirk Pitt series a few weeks ago, as I needed something to kill time whilst unemployed. I've read 4 or 5 of them now; pretty good mindless entertainment. You'll likely find most of them in paperback at used stores, and I'm sure a few at libraries.

WayLander
 
TorzJohnson said:
I don't know if you're into non-fiction, but any of Peter Hathaway Capstick's books on big game hunting in Africa make good reading. Plenty of true hair-raising adventures there.
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DITTO! :cool:

Paul
 
Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" series. Twenty books about life and adventure in the British Napoleonic navy.

Most of Stephen Hunter, especially Dirty White Boys and Time to Hunt.

Thomas Harris's serial killer series: Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

The SF of Larry Niven, esp. The Legacy of Heorot.

maximus otter
 
Andrew Vachss..kind of an antihero great reads.
Stewart Woods is good and I love his Stone Barrington novels
Anything by Lawrence Block and most of James Pattersons stuff is a good read.

Woops, sorry these are all mystery rather than adventure novels, for adventure novels why not read the ORIGINAL Ian Flemming James Bond stuff. The modern stuff is just so much junk but the originals...fun to read.
 
Prolific author William W. Johnstone writes some great pulp action in all genres, from thrillers horror to Westerns to even science fiction, on occasion.

If you want something a bit more serious with a martial arts flavor, I highly recommend Barry Eisler's Rain series.
 
Try the Ian Fleming James Bond books. The movies don't do the books justice. Another favorite is Andy McNab's Nick Stone series. I'm not sure how available they are now, but Bob Mayer wrote a few books about an Army SF team.
 
Check out Robert Ludlum's Bourne trilogy (The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum), along with the recently released followup, The Bourne Legacy written by Eric van Lustbader.
 
Peter O'Donnell's Modest Blaise novels are huge fun, and feature tons of knife/MA stuff. May be hard to find, though.

For something more cerebral in the espionage line, try John LeCarre.
 
Most anything by Ken Follet. He writes on a wide variety of topics and does it very well.

For great mysteries/crime novels, check out James Lee Burke.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TorzJohnson
I don't know if you're into non-fiction, but any of Peter Hathaway Capstick's books on big game hunting in Africa make good reading. Plenty of true hair-raising adventures there.

PWork said:
DITTO! :cool:

Paul
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Double Ditto. "Death In The Long Grass." Absolutely riveting
 
If you havent read Black Hawk down, it's an excellent read. Also read "Dear Mom--A Sniper's Vietnam", and "Dead Center". Both are about Marine Snipers in Vietnam. "Sharkman 6" is also a great book, a fiction about a Marine Recon platoon commander in Somalia.
 
The best novel I've read in the past 20 years is " The Journeyer " by Gary Jennings . It is about Marco Polo's travels from Genoa to China and back . The various experiences he had are rendered believeable . It is also a history lesson delivered in a entertaining and often rather explicit (sexually) Sort of like the bes t James Michener amped up to LOUD

also one book that has stayed with me is "The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom " by Slavomir Rawicz . About a group of Soviet concentration camp prisoners who escape and walk thousands of miles to try to escape.

Trust me folks these two books are amazing. ;)
 
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