The Lions of Lucerne [Paperback]

Brad Thor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2005

In a daring and chilling debut, Brad Thor draws us into a sinister labyrinth of political intrigue and international terrorism, serving up an explosive cocktail of unrelenting action -- and a shattering climax -- as one man is pushed to the edge.

On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the unthinkable has just become a nightmarish reality: thirty Secret Service agents have been viciously executed and the vacationing president of the United States is kidnapped by one of the most lethal terrorist organizations in the Middle East -- the dreaded Fatah.

But one man, surviving agent and ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath, doesn't believe the Fatah is responsible for the attack. Driven by his professional code of duty and honor -- and a solemn vow to avenge his fallen comrades -- Scot creates his own rules to get some answers. But his search for the truth raises the blood pressure of his superiors...and casts his own life in mortal jeopardy. The deadly machinations have been set in motion by a shadowy coalition, comprising some of the highest-ranking officials in government and business -- men who operate above the law, men who realize the threat Scot poses to their hidden agenda...men who will do anything to stop him.

Now framed for murder and on the run, Scot goes for broke and takes his own brand of justice to the unlikeliest place of all -- the towering mountains of Switzerland. It is there that he finds an improbable ally in the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus -- and enter the den of the most notorious team of professional killers the world has ever known.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this incredibly fast-paced thriller, a conspiracy hatched close to the Oval Office results in the kidnapping of the president and the slaughter of a company of Secret Service agents commanded by ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. The story careers from the ski slopes of Utah to the top of Switzerland's Mount Pilatus and sets Scot on an impossible mission: recover the president, evade renegade Swiss spy Gerhard Miner and his cadre of trained agents, and elude the American conspirators who are hot on his trail. Framed for murder, his reputation in tatters, his former colleagues turned against him, Harvath finds an unlikely ally in a beautiful Swiss prosecutor who's been checkmated by Miner once too often. Together they play a high-stakes game of mixed "doubles" to save the president and uncover the conspiracy. Brad Thor's debut novel is a tightly wound spy tale that makes up in excitement what it lacks in subtlety and character development. Ludlum fans will love it. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

He's fearless. He's tireless. If you get him angry, as does the chief of staff of the vice-president of the United States, he'll pop you with an uppercut. He's Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath, the hero of Thor's rough-and-ready debut. As the action opens on the ski slopes outside Park City, Utah, the 20-something Harvath has screwed up. Under his watch, terrorists not only kill 30 agents but kidnap the president midway down his final run of the day. When the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA and a suspiciously inept and indecisive vice-president wring their hands, the disgraced Harvath picks up the few scant clues left behind and launches a one-man search-and-rescue mission. The terrorists publicly demand $500 million and privately insist that an anti-fossil fuel proposal in Congress be killed. When those demands aren't immediately met, one of the president's fingers arrives at the White House. By this time, Harvath is on his way to Switzerland, where he's gotten word of a mysterious cell of mercenaries named the Lions of Lucerne. With unflinching determination and an uncanny ability to escape danger and assassination, the young buck pieces together the plot and girds himself for a showdown at the terrorists' secret hideaway inside the frozen exterior of Mt. Pilatus. Thor, host of the PBS television series Traveling Lite, shows a gift for dramatic storytelling. The momentum of the plot alone may satisfy some readers. Yet it's hard to get past the novel's many graceless shortcomings clichd language (time passes "at a snail's pace," old habits "die hard"), cartoonish scenes and a protagonist whose superhero character desperately needs fleshing out. Agent, Heide Lange of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Jan.)Forecast: Pocket is launching this pumped-up debut with billboard advertising in Times Square and an eight-city author tour. Swiss mercenaries may seem tame villains in times like these, but this is adequate escapist fare for readers seeking a quick action fix.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (August 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416517073
• ISBN-13: 978-1416517078
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,729 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good, fastpaced, fun read, March 7, 2002

By 

N. Gargano "nokegchris" (Waynesville NC and Bradenton, Fl) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lions of Lucerne (Hardcover)

Well, let me start off by telling you why this book received 4 stars from me instead of five. It was predictable, and the hero was almost too good to be true.Now....that said, I really did enjoy this book. I love thrillers (like Ludlum and Forysyth) and this book fits the bill. It was fast paced, very well written, I could see the action and feel some of the emotions. I think it is a great beginning for this author, and I look forward to his next book, and look forward to seeing this character again. So don't let the four stars stop you from reading it, just go into it with the knowledge that you will probably know where the author is going, but you will have fun if you go along for the ride.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thor Soars!!!!, May 12, 2003

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Lions of Lucerne (Hardcover)

This was one heck of a good read. It had all of the ingredients that people like Ludlum, Clancy,Flynn and Cussler like to mix into their stories. There is a dastardly villian - a brave and handsome hero - an interesting cast of characters, some villians, some brave men and women - a love interest - intrigue - adventure - action and a turning and twisitng plot that will keep you interested to the end.

Scott Harvath, a Secret Service Agent is part of the detail that is protecting the President and his daughter while on a skiing vacation in Utah. A conspiracy at the highest levels of government causes the skiing party to be ambushed and only Harvath, the President and his daughter survive the assault. However, the President has been kidnapped and the remainder of the book deals with Harvath's crusade to avenge his fallen comrades and recover the President alive. How he goes about that makes for interesting and page turning reading. This book is the first in a series of at least two as there is a sequel which has been released and which I will be reviewing shortly. It's good to have another top flight action writer on the scene.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lions Of Lucerne, August 20, 2004

By 

Greg (Ohio) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been a Robert Ludlum ( Jason Bourne Series ), Tom Clancy, Stephen Coonts and Dan Brown fan for years. I place Brad Thor on an equal to these authors. He has created the character of Scott Harvath that compares to Jason Bourne, and Mr. Clark. I found the book to be well written, and fast-paced, the type of book I didn't want to put down for a minute.