The narrator is really, really good.
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Agree. I would call it fluff, but what are long drives for, really?
I will say that having three video game-loving sons probably increases my familiarity with - and patience for - the game aspect of it. If @meastlake1ās wife doesnāt have any familiarity with gaming or doesnāt spend much time online, it could be a drag. Even as a non-gamer, text boxes popping up are common for me (my workouts have them), and Iāll sometimes use the term āNPCā to describe situations my younger male clients are dealing with. Your boss is probably on the autism spectrum and doesnāt give you much positive feedback, recently graduated engineer? Youāre probably a NPC to him - donāt take it personally.
My husband enjoyed Kristen Hannahās The Great Alone really well recently. Itās character-driven enough for me, but he liked the challenges of life in Alaska:
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a historical fiction novel about the Allbright familyās move to the remote Alaskan wilderness in the 1970s, where they face the harsh realities of survival, both from nature and from the fatherās PTSD and volatile behavior, exploring themes of resilience, domestic abuse, and the power of community. The story, told through the eyes of teenage daughter Leni, follows the familyās struggle to adapt to the unforgiving landscape and the increasing darkness within their home as winter sets in.
We listened to it on the 12 hour drives back and forth to Pittsburgh in November.
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Agreed. I would say probably the best Iāve listened to.
Thanks for the suggestions/ideas @EmilyQ and @BethB ! It will just be the wife and I, so profanity/gore/sexā¦.bring it on! Haha. No problems hearing that.
From the sounds of it, Iām leaning towards this Dungeon Crawler Carl, but Iāve got to check it out a bit this weekend. Already got the vehicle ready, spent $1,000 last Friday as I took it to my local mechanic who I actually trust for a pre-road trip checkup, it needed new rear rotors and pads, a brake fluid flush/fill, and an oil change. So maybe this weekend I can focus on what weāre doing for entertainment during the 15/16 hour drive. But we both donāt mind road trips whatsoever so weāre kinda looking forward to it. And we figure we can make the drive across two days, so day 1 weāre going to drive until we canāt stand it and then just pull off and find some random motel, and pick it back up the next morning. Now I have Dungeon Crawler Carl written down on a post it note by my desk.
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I hope you enjoy it. Iāve found it to be endlessly entertaining.
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Have read any James Rollins? Or David Baldacci? Steve Berry?
Finallllyyy finished The Secret of Secrets- Dan Brown. I knew it was 22hrs but geeeezzz it just kept going on and on. 
It could have been done in 10-12 hrs. 
On to the new Steve Berry- The Devilās Bible.
Yay!
Edit: Well that was not the best Cotton Malone book I have ever read.
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Dan Simmons is dead. RIP.
He was a great author. Often mentioned Hyperion is one of the best scifi novels Iāve read. He had other great stuff too, like Song of Kali or The Terror.
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I have not read any of the authors you mentioned. Can you please indicate which of them is most similar to Preston & Child as far as plot, theme (action/thriller with bits of supernatural/sci-fi), tone, pace? I know, I know, no two authors are alike, I get that, but at least I would like to find another author who has a very similar style, and who also possesses a fairly large body of work so that I have plenty of books to keep me busy.
I just now scrolled back up/through this thread and saw you mentioned Cork OāConnor, but I see you said not horrorā¦.itās mystery/detective you saidā¦.but is there some good action/violence/gore? LOL, I know, Iām pretty dark & enjoy my books fueling that, but I like what I like.
I also say you mentioned āThe Ice Limitāā¦is it really entertaining? And beyond that, I do know that there are the other books/series like the Nora Kelly series, and I believe there is a series of books with Pendergastās researcher, Eli Ginn. Are those worth reading? Sorry for all the questions, but I need to put together a roadmap for what I am going to pursue reading after I finish what I got.
I picked up āOilā by Upton Sinclair at the library yesterday, So I currently am reading āThe Cabinent of Dr. Lengā, and after that I have āAngel of Vengeanceā and then the very latest book āPendergast: the beginningā, then I have āThe Jungleā and āOilā both by Upton Sinclair.
@BethB HEY! Where are you in Sanfordās āpreyā series now 
? I hope youāre continuing to read them, they just get better and better. Lmk.
I recently read Ryan Holidayās The Obstacle Is The Way. Itās a primer on stoicism, in the style of Robert Greene but more focused and and pragmatic. Highly recommended.
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Not sure any of them are close to Penedergastā¦ lol
But the Sigma Force series (James Rollins) is action/adventure with a sci fi twist. The first few are not great but his imagination gets better with time. I think there are 20+ books in the series. He usually explains what parts are fact, and which are fiction.
The Camel Club by David Baldacci is just good fiction. Oliver Stone is my favorite assassin. Thereās only 5 books in that series.
Steve Berry writes historical/political action/adventure. Nothing too far out there but Cotton Malone has blown up several UNSECO World Heritage Sites. His books are usually based on actual historical events. He also explains what part is fact and what is fiction. 20 novels in that series.
The Cork O Conner series has a interesting Native American twist. I love the Meloux character in the books. 22 books in this series
Ice Limit is an Eli Glenn story. I thought it was entertaining. I mean, giant meteors and the panspermia theory, whatās not to like?
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I have read and liked both the Sigma Force books and Camel Club books.
Give the John Rain series by Barry Eisler a try. Was recommended by @idaho (I think) as being fairly ārealisticā wrt trade craft; itās an international man of mystery assassin dude.
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Bummer. No audiobooks of this author on Libby.
Read those books before I even had a Kindle LOL.
I just checked my library, not even e-books, print only!
ā¦only those in the know, know about these booksā¦shhhh LOL.
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AWESOME! Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it and will be back to reference this for sure.
About Riptideā¦.were you being sarcastic? or is it a really good book? I think Iāll have to read The Ice limit for sure now, those topics sound really cool, and I like that Eli Ginn character and all his fancy computer skills.
@ChickenLittle I was just looking at my library app and saw Beyond the Ice limitā¦.is that the sequel? And would you also recommend that one as well? Iām about to put Ice Limit and possibly this on hold.
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Crap, my library didnāt have Ice limit for whatever reason (and they seem to have everything), so no dice there. They did have Beyond the Ice limit but seeing as how it appears to be a sequel, I didnāt put it on hold.
They did have Riptide so I put that sucker on hold; I read about it and it looks intriguing. Thanks again @ChickenLittle
@BethB Iām guessing youāre busy with other stuff and not reading your prey series? Ya gotta make time for reading, even if itās just a little here and there. Especially before bed, itās much better than TV. Hoping you are still working your way through the Prey series.
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Today was a super busy day! Iāve been listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl with my husband at night so I havenāt been able to read. I really do need to get going on book 3. I have books 4 & 5 from the library and need to burn through those before I have to give them back. Planning to make some progress this week. I think I have one week to read each one before they are due.
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I liked it, it was their take on a treasure hunt like Oak Island.