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| Blowback: A Thriller | 
 enlarge | Author: Brad Thor
Publisher: Pocket
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.79
You Save: $7.20 (90%)
New (34) Used (37) Collectible (3) from $0.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 4038
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.3 x 4.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 1416505415
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781416505419
ASIN: 1416505415
Publication Date: May 23, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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Product Description
Scot Harvath's counterterrorism career has just crashed and burned -- thanks in part to a ruthless senator with her sights set on the White House. But when the war on terror takes a chilling turn, the president has no choice but to secretly bring Harvath back inside. Deep beneath an Alpine glacier, an ancient weapon designed to decimate the Roman Empire has been unearthed -- and a shadowy organization intends to use it for America's downfall. Racing across Europe, Harvath must secure the ultimate instrument of destruction before it brings the United States and the rest of the world to its knees.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
Ripped from the headlines. July 1, 2005
45 out of 50 found this review helpful
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.
 Let's Hope This Remains Fiction - Gripping Stuff!!!! August 18, 2005
29 out of 35 found this review helpful
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.
Is Scot Harvath the next Dirk Pitt? October 10, 2005
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
If you like your thrillers in the form of international espionage then Brad Thor's latest book may be the next good read for you. If waiting a year or more, is too long a time for you to learn how Dirk Pitt has saved the whole world from destruction yet again, then Brad Thor has a larger than life hero who might be just the intermediate fix you need! Welcome Scot Harvath!
Like all good thrillers, in Blowback Thor gives us a hero (protagonist) with a serious problem. This would be Scot Harvath, ex-seal, ex-secret service agent, and intrepid patriot. You don't have to wait long to figure out what the problem is, the actions starts in the first couple pages of the book, and the problem is not limited to just one big problem, there are all sorts of tangential issues to worry about as well. And again, like all good thrillers, the more our hero tries to solve the problem the worse the problem becomes. Harvath has all the skills and talents you would expect from someone with his background, but incredibly as soon as one bad guy gets eliminated, we learn that he was just a front for another much "badder" guy.
Blowback has Harvath in search of an evil genius who has figured out how to spread a plague around the world that will kill all but the most faithful Islamic extremists. While good guy Harvath has a lot of allies (no surprise, he teams up with a really smart, great looking woman), time is certainly working against him. As the story races to the big confrontation you will be treated to spectacular scenery, impregnable fortresses, lots of destruction, and you definitely won't be disappointed with the conclusion.
Brad Thor makes great use of current events and many of the characters are real life people/politicians with their names changed (presumably to protect the innocent). Thor serves up a great rendition of Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham. Of course "great" really depends on which side of the fence you sit! In the end Brad Thor ties up all the lose ends and leaves the reader satisfied but anxious for the next story! It is just fiction, but escapist fiction in the most enjoyable sense.
Highest recommendation for captivating, up all night reading.
Won't Make Hillary's "Must Read" List September 17, 2005
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
If for no other reason, Brad Thor's hilarilous thinly veiled (cellophane-veiled) parody of Hillary Rodham Clinton in "Blowback's" bitch-Senator Helen Remington Carmichael is worth four stars by itself. The carpet bagging Carmichael (Pennsylvania in this case, not New York) has weaseled her way into the Senate on the coattails of her powerful husband, and now will stop at nothing to reach the White House.
But old Hillary - I mean Helen - is only a sideshow in this rollicking and ambitious tale of radical Islam and terrorism. Give Brad Thor credit for originality: few would consider Hannibal's second century BC trans-Alps raid of Rome as the hook for an Islamic plot to finally rid the world - starting with the US of course - of all of us pesky non-believing infidels. While Thor takes some liberty with the ancients' understanding of contagious diseases, this is a unique and refreshing take on the standard spy-vs-spy thriller, complete with a handy primer on Sunni, Shi'a, and Wahhabi beliefs, as well as some interesting history of Hannibal and his trek across the Alps.
Having said that, this novel is not without its flaws. Seems all the brainy babes have PhD's, and could easily be appearing straight from the pages of Playboy's "The Women of Blowback" pictorial. And I found our hero, Scot Horvath, a bit annoying, the stereotyped ultra-macho ex-SEAL who nonetheless seems to get the stuffing kicked out of him consistently for the first two hundred pages or so. Overdosed with testosterone and under dosed with intelligent dialogue, Horvath just never clicked with me. And even at a generous 433 pages, Thor simply had too much going on to do anything more sophisticated than to wrap up the numerous story lines in a perfunctory, yadda-yadda-yadda-type climax. But I quibble. "Blowback" is a fun read, escapist entertainment that purveys just enough credibility to eliminate the "guilty" from pleasure.
Tremendous! Thor pens a winner. October 16, 2005
11 out of 17 found this review helpful
I'd call Brad Thor a great up and comer, but he arrived with his debut novel, Lions of Lucerne--easily one of my top 10 favorite books.
Blowback ranks high up there as well. It's the non-religious Da Vinci Code of the ancient Roman Empire. History entwined with mystery and heart pounding action makes Thor's fourth book a MUST READ.
His main character is Scot Harvath, a former Navy SEAL/current Secret Service agent. Harvath is right up there with Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp in the category of "Bad A$$ who you want on your side"!
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