Mark Schmitz

What I have always loved about Cussler's characters is their humanity and the fact that they didn't kill indiscriminately. He also tried to keep the military lingo to a minimum, choosing to create more civilian heros working within a helpful government. There are a million military ops writers out there, and many are very good. But what I always loved about Clive's characters is that they were different than the others, always patriotic, but never barbaric. After reading Hellburner, it just felt like just another "kill all the bad guys" trope. BTW, I am a proud military veteran.