I discovered James Rollins last year and I have really enjoyed his novels so far.  I started out with Deep Fathom, which was great, and have gone on to read most of what he has out.  Amazonia was a real adventure/treasure hunt, with a bit of a scientific edge, as all of his books have. He's got a great series that are stand alones, too, featuring the Sigma group of operatives.  He has a way of explaining all the scientific info in a fashion that doesn't have the layman frowing and saying "what the heck is he talking about?"

I also like Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston.   They started out with The Relic, which I'm still not sure isn't more horror than thriller or mystery, although it had all those included. The Codex was very good, too.

I've tried Steve Berry's The Amber Room. I thought the story line was very good, but it was just very dry reading. I felt more like I was being lectured to about the Russians and East Europeans during WW II than reading an adventure book. 

 What authors have you discovered that you'd like to share with another adventure/thriller reader who needs a break from cozy mysteries and fantasy once in a while?

If you like spy/military type thrillers, you'd probably enjoy Vince Flynn and Brad Thor.  Daniel Silva ia very good too.

For suspenseful thrillers no one is better than Harlan Coben - Tell No One is great and got me hooked on him.

I like Karin Slaughter also.  Her series books feature a physician who moonlights as a medical examiner, and her ex-husband who is the town sheriff.  The books are a little grisley, but I like the characters.

I am not a huge thriller reader, but I like Robert K. Tanenbaum for some reason, more for the legal details, I guess.

If you liked  James Rollins  you  should give Matthew Reilly  a  try  I really enjoyed  Ice Station and  Area 7.

Oooh, I've got Ice Station on my Reminder List, Tammy! Thanks!

I have The Seven Deadly Wonders by Reilly on my TBR pile...I got it in a swap and don't know anything about it, but the description sounded interesting.

I tried reading one James Rollins book a couple of years ago--it might have been Amazonia--and it was rather...I don't know. Amateurish or "cheesy" or something. It read like a B movie script rather than a book. I had the same problem with Preston/Child. I prefer 'mysteries' to thrillers, mostly, though. I used to read a lot more 'spy thrillers' (a la John le Carre and the early Tom Clancys and the Bourne books) when I was younger--they just don't do it for me much anymore. I'd rather see my thrillers in movie form, I guess.

One I read recently that I did enjoy was The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson. It's a modern-day spy novel about a guy (John Wells) who infiltrated Al Quaida. I've got the next in series here already.

Cheryl

Cheryl, I am going to look for The Faithful Spy now.  I know you said you don't like spy thrillers much anymore, but you might try Daniel Silva's books based on your description of The Faithful Spy.  Most deal with an Israeli secret service agent and they are good stories.  I especially liked the most recent installment, The Secret Servant.

Thanks for the recommendation, Elizabeth--I actually added Silva's first book in the series, The Kill Artist, to my RL. I might give that one a try sometime soon. I have started adding first-in-series books to my library list to try there before ordering them here--and I had that one on my library list, but unfortunately it looks like it's not available there any longer. The last copy that was in circulation seems to have either been withdrawn or never returned. :(

My TBR is so darned huge and I'm in the midst of so many series I feel like I really need to try to finish a few of them off before I begin anything new.

Cheryl