Which Genre?

[Code_Name_Lady]

I am a recent member to the board. My husband is the writer, although I try to help with queries and such. My question is about novel Genre. What genre does adventure fall under? One of my husband's novels is kind of a mystery with the main character in pursuit of a kidnapper. The other novel is set in the near future several years after a nuclear exchange. Both are focused on one main character and how each deals with what happens. We have yet to query many agents, but chose several based on the write-ups in the Writers Market who published that they were looking for new authors. In the query for the kidnapping novel we described it as "Action/Adventure." We received 2 kinds of replies. One was "not taking any new clients", and the other was just "not for us." We don't want to waste time and effort querying the wrong kind of agent. From some publications, it would seem these two novels would be mainstream. Others make me think they could be included in Mystery/Thriller/Suspense. Some agents state exactly what they handle, but most only give general guidelines. Most don't mention Action/Adventure as a genre (like on your forum). Perhaps others would also like to know how to classify their work. Are there any rules, or do you just go for the closest match?

We would greatly appreciate help on figuring this out.

Joan

[MadScientistMatt]

The first one does sound like Mystery / Thriller if the point of the story is to figure out who the kidnappers are and where they are hiding.

The second one sounds like it could be either Mainstream or Science Fiction depending on how it is written.