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include explicit sex, pervasive profanity, and gratuitous and descriptive stomach-turning violence with gruesome gore?

Can anyone suggest any that 'don't' have these elements?

Well, by requiring a book to be "intense" my question is then, how can it be intense without any violence or rough things? And remember that there is a clear difference -- or should be -- between gratuitous and requisite scenes of violence.

If for example the thriller is about a serial killer, we're not likely to see where the murderer has bored the victim to death. A serial murderer is usually quite violent and so any book depicting this criminal will have scenes of fairly explicit crime. Simply describing the crime in a clear and coherent way doesn't make it gratuitous, only accurate.

I remember reading some older Victorian books where the author "drew a veil" upon the terrible scene in the library of the rich person's mansion which may have worked well for Victorian sensibilities, I suppose.

But I ask again: if you eliminate explicit crime scenes, violence, rough language, and even sex between adults (without the old-school mode of using *** to delete anything beyond the woman sinking into the arms of the wayward count) then how can a book be thrilling if all the thrilling stuff is bowdlerized.

Now for kids, yeah, their sensibilities are still fragile and their minds aren't yet mature. But adults? Hey, not everyone was raised in a convent. Turn on the TV and watch the world news for week. If that doesn't frighten you, I don't know what.

But assuming you're an adult (even though your avatar shows a child) then why, exactly, is a literate adult unable to read such? And I'm not talking about egregious violence, but simply the actual things which occur in the real world. Do you think that real thuggish criminals use asterisks when they speak "d*mn you" or spout euphemisms "I want to poke that cop in the nose and pinch him on the ear!"?

Real criminals, and other people, often use graphic language, and if a writer is trying to depict a real thug, he or she would be doing the reader an insult to moderate the spew of angry language when the cops grab him "F----!" will be prevalent.

What I might recommend is that you not look for "thrillers" but read more sedate and perfectly fine mystery novels with less explicit violence. I'd suggest Bill Pronzini's iconic "Nameless" San Francisco private eye, a first rate set of novels which are pretty clean from the nasty bits, but at the same time are interesting mysteries, as Pronzini is a master. You might especially enjoy his recent novel, "Body Snatchers" (not nearly as gruesome as the title implies) dealing with the Victorian era San Francisco and a female sleuth who's solving a series of disappearances.

And never, under any circumstances, ever try to read Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian".

Maybe you can try out Ted Dekker. He does not have any of the stuff that you mentioned disliking.

I did like three of Dekker's books,[Showdown, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed] but they have become extremely violent from the synopsis and 1-2 reviews that I have read, so he no longer interests me. Plus it's hard for me to take the religious proselytizing in books I read, except the Amish themed ones.
The books by Alistair MacLean sound wonderful and I have loved the book-based-films.

booklvr62 wrote: include explicit sex, pervasive profanity, and gratuitous and descriptive stomach-turning violence with gruesome gore?

Can anyone suggest any that 'don't' have these elements?

Yes! There is one thriller I have recommended often. It is a bit dated but it is still a great read. it is called Fail-Safe and it was written by Eugene Burdick and harvey Wheeler. One of the best reading experiences of my life.

DATo wrote:

booklvr62 wrote: include explicit sex, pervasive profanity, and gratuitous and descriptive stomach-turning violence with gruesome gore?

Can anyone suggest any that 'don't' have these elements?

Yes! There is one thriller I have recommended often. It is a bit dated but it is still a great read. it is called Fail-Safe and it was written by Eugene Burdick and harvey Wheeler. One of the best reading experiences of my life.

I think I would enjoy this one, thank you.