Customer Reviews

Takedown

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Brad Thor's "Takedown" focuses on the conflict between Islamic extremists and their enemies in the west. Mohammed bin Mohammed is al-Qaeda's master bombmaker as well as the head of its committee on weapons of mass destruction. An American covert action team kidnaps Mohammed from his hiding place in Somalia and brings him to a secret location in New York City. Abdul Ali, a man implicated in a number of terrorist attacks and high-profile assassinations, is determined to get Mohammed back. He enlists the aid of a villainous dwarf known as the Troll to put together an extraction team to rescue Mohammed.

Meanwhile, thirty-six year old Scot Harvath, a former Navy Seal and counterterrorism operative for the Department of Homeland Security, crosses the border into Montreal to nab Sayed Jamal, an Algerian-born terrorist. Although Scot is a patriot, he has grown tired of the red tape and secrecy that hamper his ability to carry out his job. In addition, Scot would like to have a personal life and start a family someday, but as long as he continues to travel all over the world on highly secret missions, his time will never be his own.

Soon, terrorists stage a series of attacks on the infrastructure of New York City. Besides claiming many innocent lives, these attacks insure that all of the major emergency services are tied up with search and rescue missions. Meanwhile, Abdul Ali and his hired band of fierce Chechens are busy with a mission of their own--to find the place where Mohammed bin Mohammed is being held and bring him to safety.

This novel features enough explosions, weaponry, and chase scenes to please any action-adventure junkie. The villains are merciless fiends who commit unspeakable acts in an effort to bring the United States government to its knees. The author implies that America is currently losing the war on terror. As long as there is bureaucratic infighting and too much emphasis on the rights of suspected terrorists, Thor seems to be saying, America will be unable to defeat al-Qaeda. The book's epigraph is "exitus acta probat": "the ends justify the means."

"Takedown" has an enormous cast of characters, including former soldiers who accompany Harvath on his quest to stop Abdul Ali. One of them, Tracy Hastings, was maimed when a bomb that she was trying to defuse in Iraq accidentally detonated. Tracy and Scott form a bond that soon blossoms into romance. At almost four hundred pages, the book goes on a bit too long and is so frantically busy that there is little room for character development. However, its courageous heroes and "ripped from the headlines" plot will undoubtedly earn "Takedown" a receptive audience among fans of contemporary thrillers.

Well, I bought this book last Saturday, promptly laid down the current book I was reading, and started to read "Takedown". It took me about 2-1/2 days to finish it and I have to say it was great. Definitely one of the best action/thrillers out there. I have read all five of Brad's books and would place this one as number 2 (Lions being #1).
I have read other authors to include Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, Alex Kava, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, Ken Follett but my top two favorites have to be Brad and Vince. Both are awesome military style/good guy writers and I highly encourage everyone to read both authors books. I anxiously await Scot Harvath's next adventure and hope he avenges the death of someone (I won't ruin the story for those who haven't read it) at the end of Takedown.
To a previous reviewer, I don't think it was the Troll who is the murderer but someone else who Scot knows.

In regard to the poison pen reviewers, who seem to infest Amazon like fleas on a dog (and write reviews using psuedonyms), I would note that you should read an entire novel before attempting to review it. Some novels start out slow, but the action builds up. This one kept me up late.

The author has written a great action filled novel. United States agents capture an international terrorist in Somalia, using a covert operation, and take him to a location in New York City. In the meantime, Scot Harvath has been on a secret operation in Canada to capture another terrorist, also taken to New York in a covert operation.

Terrorists mount a massive suicide mission against New York City to try to free the terrorist mastermind, needed to complete evil plans. Harvath finds himself on the scene, mounting a counter operation using a team put together on the spot including an old friend. Events are complicated by a lack of cooperation between agencies, and the fact that there is a mole somewhere aiding the enemy.

Then there is the information source known as the Troll, playing all sides for his own profit. Everyone has their own agenda, some of which are not obvious to the players in the game.

The white hats eventually win this round, but at a high price. The Troll is still out there, and an unknown enemy is stalking Harvath. Final events set things up for a sequel.

Takedown, the latest thriller by super author Brad Thor was shipped early by Amazon.com I'm not sure whether that was by design or by mistake, but either way I was excited to receive it earlier this week. My plan was to read it during my holiday weekend trip to the beach. My plan failed.

It's no secret to regular readers of Dr. Blogstein (hi Nana Blogstein!) that Brad Thor ranks top shelf in my bookcase, so it shouldn't come as a shock that I couldn't resist starting the book. So I popped it open and before I knew it I was halfway into it. At that point, there was no stopping me. Takedown is awesome. I read it in two sittings. You've got to get it.

Takedown is about a systematic and highly coordinated attack on New York City by Al-Qaeda for the purpose of rescuing one of their own. But what I didn't realize is that the attack on NYC occurs in the beginning of the book!

What follows is a harrowing mission through a devastated Manhattan to bring the terrorists involved to justice by Counterterrorism hero Scot Harvath and a group of random soldiers he was able to recruit along the way.

But, the best part of Takedown is a little man known as "The Troll." Be honest now, who doesn't love a midget villain?!?

The Troll is a tiny, evil Scottish dude who keeps huge, rideable dogs as pets and peddles intelligence to the highest bidder. In this case, the highest bidder is Al-Qaeda. Not since White Castle introduced the Slyder has something so small caused so much damage. With all the action and scary thrills in Takedown, The Troll steals the show.

This is the best Scott Havarth story yet! The book grabs your attention and takes you on a wild chase through the streets of New York. The plot line is plausible (after what has happened overseas) and the characters are believable; and if you like the way 24 ended this season, wait till you read how this one ends. I'm already counting down till his next release.

I have been a fan of Brad Thor for several years and have read and enjoyed all of his books. The minute I started this book it got my attention because the plot and the possibilities are so current. It is one of those books where you just want to get real comfortable, turn off all the distractions and start. You won't want to put it down.

I read Clancy, Grisham, Brown, Flynn, Coonts, Baldacci, Connelly, Crias, Mills, Huston, Patterson, Kellerman, Ludlum, and Demille. My favorites are Thor and DeMille.

I'm not sure how valuable it is to review this book, frankly. If you've read the others, then you're going to read this one regardless. However, I need to say that this is the best yet. I was amazed with the pace of the book, and couldn't put it down. I violated one of my fundamental 'good book' rules and read it in less than a day. I much prefer when I can pace myself and make a good book last, but I couldn't do that with Takedown. Once I got rolling, I couldn't slow down. I even used some time off from work to finish it up, and I don't regret it.

I was a bit disappointed with Blowback; not because it wasn't a good book, but because it felt a bit out of sync with the other Harvath novels. However, Takedown got the rhythm going again and I couldn't have asked for more. President Rutledge taking the fight to radical Islam invigorated me, and the final paragraph of the book both made my jaw drop and my heart race. Not to mention itch for more...

A definite must read. And if you haven't read the Harvath books yet, don't let anything keep you from ordering them all, today. You won't be disappointed. I'm an avid reader (try to put away a few books a month), and this series is way up there on my favorites list.

Brad Thor's latest action novel follows the mold of his previous works: a sinister plot to harm the United States that only one man, Scot Harvath, has the skills to stop. This time, the War on Terror becomes the backdrop of the book, as a deadly terrorist act causes death and havoc in New York City that is used as a red herring to launch a rescue mission to find one of America's latest terrorist mastermind prisoner. What follows is vintage Thor: shootouts followed by more shootouts and with Harvath having the time to take a serious interest in another female ally. Whatever Thor lacks in character development he makes up for in suspense. Recommended for the beach or a cross-country flight.

Brad Thor's Takedown has an exciting plot, a conventional hero (lots of reader comparisons to Jack Ryan, etc.), and far far too much lecture about how the constitution must be suspended to protect our country. Frankly, the lectures are obtrusive and interfere with this reader's enjoyment of the suspense and the plot. Vince Flynn's characters hold similar attitudes, one deduces, but Flynn doea not bludgeon the reader with the party line. Nor does Daniel Silva whose Gabriel Allon is also a swashbuckling hero. Please, Mr. Thor, back off the lectures and put more effort into character development and making sure the transitions are handled competently. Let the exposition make the point, not thinly disguised authorial commentary. When that occurs, I'd very much like to read more thrillers by Brad Thor, but meanwhile, I'll stick with the Ludlum successors, with Flynn, Clancy, Silva, Child, and other more skilled writers of thrillers.

"Takedown" by Brad Thor, is a very fast paced thriller dealing with Islamic Terrorism and the US's half hearted "War" to defend itself and western civilization from destruction. It deals with RENDITION (using other nations to do the dirty work of interrogation, to keep the US hands clean), and the absurd policies that hinder the west from defending itself.

There is a action pact attack on the United States, things go very wrong, and the US Government is slow to react, and traitors within threaten the integrity of a super secret intelligence program. The hero Scot Harvath, a counterterrorism operative for the Department of Homeland Security, finds himself in the middle of the attack and leads a group of VA patients into battle to stop the terrorist.

OK, the attack on the US city is very exciting, but not very realistic, not in operation, or in the US response to the attack (No US methods and practices given away to the real terrorist possibly reading this novel).


Thor gets the terrorism thing, and understands modern fascist Islamic radicalism!