The Reader's Shelf: Macho Heroes! Evil Villains!! Adventure!!!

Jake trudged through the blinding snowstorm on the verge of collapse. He could barely see the wolf pack that had been stalking him, but he could hear their snarling. Suddenly, the loud roaring of a snowmobile engine pierced the sheer whiteness. The assassin had finally found him. Jake fingered the map tucked in his pocket, and thought about the treasure that was practically under his feet….

This is the stuff of adventure novels: the strong, action hero faces a variety of death-defying situations while battling villains or nature itself. In addition, the fast-paced tale often involves a quest for a hidden artifact or something else absolutely vital to the well-being of humanity.

When it comes to contemporary adventure, Clive Cussler is the master. Starring macho Dirk Pitt of the National Underwater Maritime Administration (NUMA), Cussler's novels meld the derring-do of Indiana Jones with oceanography and history texts. They are impossible to put down. In VALHALLA RISING (Berkley. 2002. ISBN 0-425-18571-0. pap. $7.99), Pitt rescues almost 2000 passengers from a sinking cruise ship, uncovers evidence of an ancient Viking landing on the Hudson River, and locates the remains of a submarine that might be the Nautilus of Jules Verne fame. Another series that Clive Cussler writes with Paul Kemprecos features fellow NUMA employee Kurt Austin (White Death). While these are not as intricate as the Dirk Pitt novels, Austin still rocks as an action hero.

Also at the top of the adventure genre is Jack DuBrul. His hero is geologist Philip Mercer, who must save the world in every book. In RIVER OF RUIN (Onyx: NAL. 2002. ISBN 0-451-41054-8. pap. $6.99), Mercer purchases a diary at an auction, which leads him to a dastardly Chinese scheme to bomb the Panama Canal and distract the United States from the real plot to invade Taiwan. The perpetrators don't realize that Philip Mercer always wins. DuBrul's writing is a fusion of Cussler and Tom Clancy, without overdoing the arcane technology as Clancy often does.

Less well known but no less talented is Australian Matthew Reilly. His AREA 7 (St. Martin's. 2001. ISBN 0-312-26685-5. $24.95; pap. 2002. ISBN 0-312-98322-0. $6.99) has nonstop action that increases in intensity. Things go horribly wrong during a presidential visit to a secret military outpost in the Utah desert when an evil air force general takes control of Area 7. His plot: to release a deadly virus that targets ethnic groups and to detonate the nuclear bombs he has planted around the country. The triggering mechanism for the bombs is implanted in the President's heart, and the bombs will go off if the president is killed. All of this happens in just the first 30 pages! It is up to Shane Schofield, a Secret Service agent who goes by the name of Scarecrow, and his team to protect the President and stop the general. [Reilly continues Schofield's adventures in Scarecrow, reviewed on p. 162.—Ed.]

The largest meteorite on Earth has just been discovered, and billionaire Palmer Lloyd wants to get it in a museum, regardless of the cost. The size of the meteorite makes transporting it from the Southern Hemisphere to the United States difficult, if not impossible. Welcome to the intriguing premise of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's amazing THE ICE LIMIT (Warner. 2001. ISBN 0-446-61023-2. pap. $7.99). All the elements of a great adventure are here: the reluctant and formerly disgraced meteorite hunter hero, the quest for something seemingly unattainable, and the battle against the elements.

In CAPTAIN NEMO: THE FANTASTIC HISTORY OF A DARK GENIUS (Star Trek: Pocket Bks. 2002. ISBN 0-7434-4406-X. $23; pap. 2002. ISBN 0-7434-4409-4. $7.99), sf author Kevin J. Anderson has drafted a fictionalized biography of Jules Verne with a flesh-and-blood Nemo as his best friend. As Nemo writes to his pal and tells him of all his adventures on land, sea, and in the air, the letters inspire Verne to write his fantastic novels. This is a wonderful homage to Verne—fans of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and his other rousing adventures won't want to miss it.

A superb adventure writer capable of creating exotic locales is James Rollins. In AMAZONIA (Morrow. 2002. ISBN 0-06-000248-4. $24.95; pap. Avon. 2003. ISBN 0-06-000249-2. $7.99), a Special Forces agent investigating a biopharmaceutical company has been missing for five years in the Amazon jungle; he mysteriously reappears—with one significant change. The man, who had only one arm when he disappeared, has returned with two arms. Is the regeneration of body parts possible? A team of scientists with military escorts tries to retrace the agent's route through the Amazon in order to discover the truth. Rollins does a terrific job of giving a classic adventure a contemporary feel.

Steve Alten's DOMAIN (Tor. 2002. ISBN 0-8125-7956-9. pap. $7.99) takes place in the near future, but begins 65 million years in the past. The ancient Mayans predicted the end of humanity on December 21, 2012, and it is up to archaeologist Michael Gabriel to stop this disaster. You know our hero is worthy, since he is named after not one archangel but two! Trapped in a mental institution, Michael convinces his nurse that he is sane, and, with her help, they escape to save the world. Tying in myths from other cultures and the truth behind the destruction of the dinosaurs, Alten is able to keep the pages turning while educating and entertaining the reader in ancient prophecies and cultures.