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The First Commandment: A Thriller (Thorndike Core)
 
 
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The First Commandment: A Thriller (Thorndike Core) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Brad Thor (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 2008 Thorndike Core
Somewhere, somehow Scot Harvath has left the wrong person alive ...In the dead of night, five of the most dangerous detainees in the war on terror are pulled from their isolation cells in Guantanamo Bay, stripped of their orange jumpsuits, given civilian clothes and driven to the base airfield where they are loaded aboard a Boeing 727 and set free. Six months later, covert counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath awakes to discover that his world has changed violently and forever. A sadistic assassin is unleashing nightmarish horrors on those closest to Harvath in pursuit of a bloodthirsty personal vendetta. Ordered by the president to stay out of the investigation, Harvath is forced to mount his own operation to uncover the assassin's identity. When he discovers a connection between the attacks and a group of prisoners secretly released from Guantanamo, Harvah must ask himself previously unthinkable questions about the organization and the nation he has spent his life serving.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Thor's latest thrill-ride begins in anguish. Scot Harvath, navy SEAL turned Homeland Security superagent, sits at the bedside of girlfriend Tracy Hastings, who's in a deep coma after being gravely wounded at the end of Takedown. Meanwhile, five terrorists have been released from Guantánamo Bay as part of a secret hostage deal forced upon U.S. president Jack Rutledge. When one of the terrorists starts targeting Scot's friends and family, Scot discovers that the president won't allow the assassin to be hunted down. Soon enough, Scot is on the run from his own government and in pursuit of the killer. Many characters make appearances from earlier books, in particular Scot's ongoing nemesis, the fascinating, intelligence-gathering expert known as the Troll. It's a long, violent, shoot-'em-up, blow-'em-up pulse-pounder that will leave Thor's fans cheering and begging for more. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Brad Thor proves again to be a brutal master of suspense. The First Commandment is as riveting as it is relentless. A must-read for our times!" --James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Black Order and The Judas Strain

"Brad Thor knows how to excite the senses. The First Commandment is an adrenaline-charged, slick thriller, packed with suspense, that never relents. Another winner from a proven master." -- Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Alexandria Link

"Fast-paced and action-packed. Sure to please his many fans and gain new ones. Immensely satisfying and highly recommended." -- Library Journal

"Readers who like Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts will love Brad Thor -- quite possibly the next coming of Robert Ludlum." -- Chicago Tribune --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 591 pages
  • Publisher: Thorndike Press (January 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 141040370X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1410403704
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,584,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

93 Reviews
5 star:
 (47)
4 star:
 (16)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (9)
1 star:
 (14)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (93 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brad Thor raises the adrenalin with this terrific thriller., August 11, 2007
President Jack Rutledge authorizes a deal with terrorists. Although the American government leaders always insist they will never negotiate with terrorists even for the release of hostages, he secretly releases five hardcore known terrorists locked away at Guantomino as part of a deal to protect at risk children. In fairness his advisors told them they can keep this quintet under control with monitoring of the isotope they put in the blood of these killers.

The President's advisors missed another slammed dunk when they lose sight of the fearsome five. Just under six months later, an assassin shoots Homeland Security agent Scot Harvath's girlfriend Tracy Hastings (see TAKEDOWN), leaving her comatose and he furious as isotopic blood is found at the crime scene. Soon afterward, his mother is attacked by locusts and some friends of Harvath murdered. He knows someone is coming for him, through his loved ones. Harvath begins to make inquiries, but is told to stay out of it. Even before these incidents he knew the leadership saw him as an expendable renegade so he ignores the order to take no action against the person methodically destroying his loved ones.

TAKEDOWN is an exciting action-packed frightening thriller; THE FIRST COMMANDMENT is as exhilarating and action-packed, but even more frightening as the plausibility of the plot will not be questioned. Harvath is at his anguished best in this often violent tale as he is ordered to do nothing although his counter terrorist instincts are screaming to go on the offense. The return of several characters from previous books enhances the feel of the long term concept of the war against terrorism as Brad Thor raises the adrenalin with this terrific thriller.

Harriet Klausner

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23 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not to be Missed!!!, August 30, 2007
By 
John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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Brad Thor is one of the best. Right up there with Vince Flynn for writing topical thrillers that entertain and educate, this may be the most tightly written of his six novels that it has been my pleasure to read. The protagonist of these books is Scot Harvath a former Navy SEAL and Homeland Scurity operative.

This book picks up where the last one, "Takedown" leaves off. At the end of that book, Scot Harvath's girlfriend Tracy steps out on the porch of his home and is felled by an assassin's bullet which is just enough off target to spare her life, but serious enough to put her in a coma and on a ventilator.

Harvath does not realize it at the time, but that attack on Tracy is the first of several that are planned for people close to Harvath. Who is carrying out the attacks, who is planning them and why consumes not only Harvath, but the reader as events unfold. Someone appears bent on revenge, but for what?

It is a large onion that Harvath must peel his way through to get to the answers and telling you more than that could spoil the masterful writing effort that Thor has offered for our reading enjoyment.

Do not pass this one by.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad thriller, not the best, September 5, 2010
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Anyone looking for a decent intelligence-agent thriller should check out some of Brad Thor's books, but I'm not sure this would be his best. I think Lions of Lucerne was better. The ideas were solid, but not overally original, and it's hard not to get the feeling that a lot of the action is loaded with political messages shoved down reader's throats.
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Brad Thor, United States, Scot Harvath, Philippe Roussard, Secret Service, Tom Morgan, Ron Parker, Tim Finney, Meg Cassidy, Lake Geneva, Elk Mountain, Rick Morrell, Abu Nidal, Jack Rutledge, White House, Omega Team, Tracy Hastings, Baltimore Sun, John Doe, Ronaldo Palmera, South Carolina, Gary Lawlor, Agent Harvath, Adara Nidal, Bill Hastings
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