Blowback [Audio Cassette]

Brad Thor (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: RecordedBooks (2006)
• ISBN-10: 1428116060
• ISBN-13: 978-1428116061
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I always get asked if Brad Thor is my real name or if I made it up because it sounded perfect for an international thriller writer. My standard reply is that if I was going to chose a nom de plume, it would fall in the C's somewhere between Clancy and Cussler so that all of my books could be displayed at eye level.

As the son of a United States Marine and a former TWA flight attendant, travel has always been in my blood. In fact, the title for my first novel, The Lions of Lucerne came to me while I was in Switzerland shooting an episode of my Public Television travel series, Traveling Lite (still seen in many countries outside the U.S.).

It happened when I went to visit what Mark Twain called the most moving piece of rock in the world. The Lion of Lucerne is a sculpture of a dying lion with a spear broken off in its side. It had been commissioned to honor the 700+ Swiss Guard who died defending King Louis and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. Fast-forward a couple of years to my wife and me sitting in a cafe in Amsterdam. I was reading a story in the International Herald Tribune about a Swiss Intelligence officer who had embezzled money from the Swiss Army and was caught training his own shadow militia high in the Alps with high-tech weapons from his own private arsenal. Just like that, the idea for my first novel was born.

Since then, I have written many more with the same protagonist - Navy SEAL turned covert counterterrorism operative, Scot Harvath. Thanks to my readers, all of the novels have been national bestsellers and book club favorites. They are also being made into major motion pictures. By the way, many people ask me what order they should read the books in. You can read them in any order. They are all written to stand on their own. But for those who are interested, the order is: The Lions of Lucerne, Path of the Assassin, State of the Union, and Blowback.

I am currently hard at work on my next Scot Harvath thriller.

Thank you for visiting my Amazon.com page. Please scroll down to learn a little bit more about me and my novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ripped from the headlines., June 30, 2005

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blowback: A Thriller (Hardcover)

Brad Thor's "Blowback" is an action-packed spy thriller about the complex world of international terrorism, biological warfare, religious fanaticism, and political corruption. The macho hero is Scot Harvath, a former SEAL who works for the Office of International Investigative Assistance in the Department of Homeland Security. He has repeatedly sacrificed his personal happiness and peace of mind in order to serve his country. Scott's archenemy is Khalid Sheik Alomari, a high-ranking al-Qaeda operative and ruthless assassin. Alomari has been traveling around the world killing Muslim scientists who may have unlocked the key to a devastating super weapon.

This scenario plays out against the background of a vicious power struggle between an ambitious Democratic senator named Helen Carmichael and Republican President Jack Rutledge. Carmichael will do anything to unseat the popular president, and she has been secretly compiling damaging information about Rutledge in order to turn public opinion against him. Scott Harvath soon becomes Carmichael's pawn in her scheme to destroy President Rutledge.

"Blowback" is timely story that is "ripped from the headlines," with references to people and organizations that we read about in the news every day. Brad Thor provides well-researched and detailed background information about the Muslim world, and he explores the many ways in which the United States is battling the terrorist threat posed by radical fundamentalists. Scot Harvath's courage, knowledge of weaponry, and unerring instincts make him a worthy and appealing hero, and for a change, the author doesn't provide his protagonist with a love interest to distract him from his duties. Although Scot does have a beautiful and brainy partner, a molecular biologist named Dr. Jillian Alcott, his relationship with her is strictly platonic. Jillian provides the scientific expertise that Scot needs in order to fight a terrifying biological weapon that may soon be unleashed against the United States.

At over four hundred pages, this novel is a bit too long. However, Thor keeps the narrative from dragging by shifting rapidly between characters in far-flung locales, such as France, England, Cyprus, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Washington, D. C. You may need a scorecard to keep tabs on who is doing what to whom and why. However, "Blowback" packs an undeniable wallop, especially in light of the very real dangers that we face in today's frightening and unpredictable world.

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's Hope This Remains Fiction - Gripping Stuff!!!!, August 18, 2005

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blowback: A Thriller (Hardcover)

This is a book that most readers will find unsettling. Not so much for the terrific story contained within, but more for the history lesson the reader receives about the Saudi Royal family, the tenuousness of the world's oil supply, and the danger posed to the non-Muslim world by the Wahhabis, the radical Muslim movement from which all modern Islamic terrorisim has sprung. We can hope and pray that there are many Scot Harvaths out there doing the work of defending us from the plots and plans of the radical Muslims, but no one should be sanguine that the threat is not real and the situation is not truly dangerous.

Brad Thor weaves a chilling tale involving the release of a disease which can cause a pandemic in the non-Muslim world with its roots in the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal hundreds of years ago. There is no need for a suspension of belief in reading this book as the author lays out his case very well and convincingly.

This book is hard to put down and the world situation it describes will give you some sleepless nights, however you owe it to yourself to read and learn from one of the masters of this genre.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His best yet, October 12, 2005

By 

Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blowback: A Thriller (Hardcover)

Brad Thor has continued to amaze me with his wonderful International thrillers. Filled with intrigue and suspense that puts him at the top of my 'must read' list. His well researched novels, this time around, includes Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, some history of bio-chemical warfare, the divide between Muslims two major groups and much more. With all this, you get a great adventure to boot. Doesn't get much better than this for great entertainment.

Highly Recommended.