“Takedown” by Brad Thor

 

 

#1 New York Times bestselling author, Brad Thor, delivers thrillers that keep the action moving. His series of twelve novels feature counterterrorist Scot Horvath as the central character.

 

In honor of the fans old and new of the enormously successful books, Thor arranged for an entire year of “Thrills, Threats, and Thor.” He invited them to read each of the books (one a month) in order, starting in January, 2013, with the first, “The Lions of Lucerne.” Thor’s website has videos and extras about each of the books and of course, an opportunity to buy them.

 

May’s book is “Takedown,” first published in 2006. It is just as topical as Thor’s other recent books and deals with post September 11^th terrorism action in New York City. In a horrifying glimpse of the future, bridges as well as tunnels are blown up at the beginning of the book and the resulting action places the President’s daughter in danger.

 

But, are the explosions and destruction a smokescreen for something else? Something even more devastating to our nation’s security than what has already occurred?

 

Yes, indeed. And, unfortunately, quite believable.

 

Foreign soldiers are in the streets and are looking for one of their own, having created the chaos of a burning, crippled New York in order to paralyze any opposition. But the man is so feared that the US government will not admit that he even exists, let alone that he is being held somewhere. The plot is scary enough to give the reader chills and instill a sincere wish that none of this nightmarish scenario ever comes to pass in the USA.

 

Scot Harvath is well written, with some depth and a sense of humanity despite the gravity of his tasks. We experience moments of his deep commitment and never question his patriotism as the drama unfolds.

 

There are multiple bad guys – believable in that they are multi-dimensional – the worst one (a really nasty type) has dogs that he loves and treats tenderly.

 

As in many thrillers, there is a suspension of disbelief while the reader goes along for the ride, but the practicality of one of the action sequences seemed off to my New York City pals. Secret Service agents must get the dying daughter to a hospital. In actual fact, driving a car along the sidewalks of Manhattan to avoid grid-lock traffic doesn’t really work. During the day on most streets, the sidewalks are blocked with potted trees and restaurant awnings and litter baskets and fruit stands and flower stands, etc. and are just too narrow for a car to make any headway. And, if mass transit shuts down, the people spill onto those very sidewalks while they try to get home. “Never gonna happen,” was one comment, even though New Yorkers would like it to.

 

Aside from that, Thor gets the feel of the city exactly right, with its complex maze of office buildings, side streets, subway stairwells, alleys, parks, garages, et al as the background for Harvath’s chase.

 

Be prepared to re-examine the anger of the post 9/11 world in this intense novel, which does include torture scenes. Terrible choices must be made throughout the book, and sometimes the lines are blurred between good and evil. Thor makes the case so well, that taken in the post-9/11 context, we never doubt for a moment that it’s necessary.

 

If you’d like to catch up with the Thor 2013 reading plan, here are the books in order:

January’s Book: The Lions Of Lucerne
February’s Book: Path Of The Assassin
March’s Book: State Of The Union
April’s Book: Blowback
May’s Book: Takedown
June’s Book: The First Commandment
July’s Book: The Last Patriot
August’s Book: The Apostle
September’s Book: Foreign Influence
October’s Book: The Athena Project
November’s Book: Full Black
December’s Book: Black List

 

Please visit www.bradthor.com to read about the other titles in the series, as well as the new release coming in July, “Act of War.”