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I was intrigued. It seems Iraq isn't the only place bad guys blow up cars these days and now Scot is sucked right into the thick of it.Way back when, Mohammed had one final revelation for the Koran, but was assassinated before it was revealed. Bad guys job, of course again, stop Scot.And where is this secret. Scot's job, of course, find the secret. Thor at his word, I decided to give his book a try and I found I could indeed identify with the characters, though I thought I might have been missing something, knowing those other books were out there. Sadly it's Scot Harvath's seventh outing and I hadn't read the first six.
However, Mr. Thor said in the interview that even though the character is reoccurring, his books are all really written as stand alone novels.Taking Mr. I heard Brad Thor being interviewed on the radio, taking about how George Bush wasn't the first president to go to war against Islam, Thomas Jefferson was when he went to war against the Barbary Pirates. It seems Cervantes once had been a prisoner of the Barbary pirates. He's in Paris with his girlfriend at an outdoor café when he saves Professor Anthony Nichols from being blown to smithereens. If it gets out the course of history will be changed and maybe not for the better, at least that's what some really bad people think. So we read along as Scot races along to find the clues and find the secret and while we're immersed in Scot's world we learn a bit of history, like why the Marines are called leathernecks, why they have that verse in their song "To the shores of Tripoli." Having served in the Marine Corps, I knew the answer to that last one, but you know, I never did know about that leathernecks thing.
But that being said, I enjoyed this book immensely. Needless to say, by the time the interview was over, I wanted to read the book. Well there's clues out there. I'd have liked to see Scot's development and I'd've especially liked to have seen how his relationship with President Rutledge had begun, deteriorated then warmed again. I bought it the day it came out, finished it during the night.Thirty-seven-year old, ex-navy seal, ex-presidential protector Scot Harvath is now working for a secret anti-terrorist outfit and is pretty upset the president has let some some bad guys go from Gitmo. One buried in Thomas Jefferson's copy of DON QUOXITE. The Marines in 1815 had collars made of leather on their uniforms to protect themselves from the scimitars the Muslim's used, seems they wanted to keep their heads and if you want to fill your head with a some good escapist reading, you won't be sorry you picked up this book.
This book could've used some word economy as well as in the last half I was really skimming pages looking for action. Maybe that was just me though, and maybe this points to my own insecurity that someday Scot Harvath will die and then there will be nobody in the world to save me from the bad guys.Again not a bad read but perhaps not worth your money.
The creative license used to create this across the ages conspiracy was enough to keep me wanting more and waiting to be filled in as the pages turned but by the end I'll admit I was looking forward to being done with the book. This book seemed kind of a departure for Thor but a worthy effort I suppose.
It is okay in fiction to suspend reality at times like the plot idea but I just had difficulty accepting that there is nobody in our gov't or the world to help with the heavy lifting on this one--just Scot and a professor a few years shy of emeritus status. After finishing the First Commandment I was hoping Scot Harvath would become a little more interesting a person and this book didn't really help me feel that in any way.
The concept of why Islamic extremism IS is a interesting idea for Harvath to tackle since he has spent his adult life saving the world from those rogues but I did find myself wondering if this was such an important task then why wasn't it more of a priority to stop the bad guys then the president saying "figure it out like always Scot" or something like that. Early a review commented that the length seemed stretched out and I'd agree.
At $10 paperback it was hardly a bargain but I didn't regret the money and time invested.
I don't appreciate propaganda being stuffed down my throat. Unfortunately, while I thought the premise & initial story interesting, esp mixing the whole Thomas Jefferson/ Barbary wars with the current struggle against militant Islam connection, Thor quickly became irritating with the incessant over the top political agenda he pushed. This was my 1st Brad Thor novel and I thought I had discovered a new author/series to follow. This will be my last Brad Thor 'novel'. It was not surprising to find a special acknowledgement to Glenn Beck in the end. I see from reviews of some of his other stories they follow the same tack. The average story telling ( Thor is NOT the next Ludlum or LeCarre) doesn't warrant my having to sit through such a blatant agenda. And so unneccesary for the story itself.
The book was published in 2008, but hits the nail on the head, especially in light of the terrorist attack at Fort Hood.
seemed bias when I read it and not very good at that.then I read at the end he admires Glen Beck, not I see why.
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