“Resolution” by Robert B. Parker (J. P. Putnam’s Sons, $25. 95, 292 pages, www.robertbparker.net)

But it’s still possible to have great adventures.

Clement Salvadori has traveled all over the world on a motorcycle. Country after country he’s met and enjoyed encounters with locals.

I tend to believe that adventure travelers are either: big budget movie stars traveling with a slew of mechanics, cameramen and credit cards or “MacGyver Types” who can repair a destroyed $20,000 BMW motorcycle with duct tape and a Swiss Army knife.

Salvadori proves I am wrong. He’s not mechanically gifted. He’s not rich. When things go all cockeyed he has to rely on his optimistic outlook and help from the people who happen along.

A quote: “The way I want to go from New York to Los Angeles will cost me more and take me longer than the red-eye express but that’s my choice … I’ll eat grits and drink a quart of coffee in Omar, West Virginia. Find a place to camp … maybe throw line in the water. Hunker down in a cheap motel …while the rain thunders down like the 40 days and nights all over again.”

“I get cold; I get wet; I’ll be hungry; I’ll be tired. And you can bet I’ll be happy. But one trip ends, and before long another begins. Occasionally I’ll wonder why I’m doing this. Then I’ll wake up in a tent with a view of all that makes this country beautiful, and then I’ll know why.”