Framing the Dialogue

Posts Tagged ‘thriller’

Last Testament

There seems to have been Mid-East “peace” talks as long as I can remember and there have even been some agreements.  The accords don’t last long much like the peace.  Author Sam Bourne uses yet another peace accord as the backdrop for his thriller The Last Testament.  The novel centers around archaeology, Jerusalem, a female mediator, Iraq, and some really bad people.  Overall this was a very enjoyable work.  Perhaps the best compliment is that I gave up a couple hours of sleep last night finishing the story.  I am tired this morning, but it was well worth the sleepiness, however, Bourne never quite reaches the pinnacle of many other thrillers.  Some of the twists just don’t really fit even though they are twists.  I also was a little disappointed by the “bad guy” and thought Bourne’s choice was a little too easy.

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Full Black

Released in the heat of the summer of 2011, Full Black adds more heat as super agent Scot Harvath is once again thrust in the middle of a vast terrorist network.  Their intent is the same, but the methods and leaders may surprise you.  Author Brad Thor hits another home run in this latest thriller as Harvath and company race across the globe struggling to prevent further attacks.  The list of perpetratorstouch on all of America’s “enemies;” China, Russia, Middle East, Britain, and Globalists.  All Harvath knows is that his security is compromised hence the need to go “full black” refering to deep deep cover. 

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Portrait of a Spy

About a month ago I get my edition of Costco Connection in the mail and was excited!  No there’s wasn’t a sale on batteries (actually there was), but news of the upcoming release of Daniel Silva’s new novel, Portrait of a Spy, feature heroic Gabriel Allon.  I fastidiously set the date on my Droid calendar and planned to drive to Costco on the release day to pick up my copy.  I arranged my reading plan so that I could start the book that night.  I was excited on the drive that day.  When I got there the book was no where in sight.  Frustrated, I rechecked my calendar and it was July 12 yet there was no book.  I used the power of my Verizon unlimited data package to search Mr. Silva’s website only to find out that I had gotten the date wrong and was a week early,

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Buried Secrets

The latest Nick Heller thriller is another winner by author Joseph Finder. Buried Secrets brings Heller into the world of the super rich as he tries to rescue the daughter of a close friend and his mother’s former employer.  Joseph Finder has become one of my favorite thriller authors and his latest novel does not disappoint.  I love to find a novel that almost forces me to drop everything and read and read and read. 

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Foreign Influence

The frightening thing about Brad Thor’s novels is the shear number of ways that terrorists could hit the United States.  Scot Harvath is back to foil major attempts to hit Americans here and abroad.  Harvath struggles with his age (fortyish), his desire for a family, and his deep hatred of jihadists as he travels the globe hunting down the Islamic fundamentalist organization plotting destruction. 

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The Apostle

Common knowledge about Afghanistan and Afghans is generally about how rough a country it is; how inhospitable both the landscape and the residents can be.  It is hard for those of us in the west to imagine a world of dominated by warlords, tribes, and a culture that seems stuck in the first century.  Brad Thor takes us for a brief peek into their lives and gives us a glimpse of what they face.  I get the sense that even though this is a novel, Thor presents an accurate depiction of the troubled country and the battles our military endure.

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The Athena Project

When I read about a new novel from a favorite author I get excited and when the tease is that it features a new characters I had to rush out to buy it.  Brad Thor’s newest group of operatives begs for a comparison to Charlie’s Angels.  Sorry Brad, but having a four woman team of operatives commanded by a male is eerily similar.  Since this is Brad Thor and not a network television show the level of action and intrigue is at a higher level and the dialogue is better.  Super operative Scot Harvath makes a “cameo” appearance in the book, but The Athena Project is all about the “world’s most elite counter-terrorism unit” as they race against time to save America. 

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The Last Patriot

Brad Thor has brought us Scot Harvath meets The DaVinci Code in this thriller.  The Last Patriot still pits the United States against islamist extremists, but President Rutledge has taken the fight to the base of the Muslim issue…The Koran.  While Harvath doesn’t quite give up exotic weaponry, stealthy operations, or enhanced interrogation, he is more concerned with ancient literature, Don Quixote, wooden puzzle boxes and Thomas Jefferson.

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Just One Look

I am not sure what the title of Harlan’s book has to do with the story, but his titles are perhaps the greatest in the suspense genre.  In Just One Look , housewife Grace Lawson’s life is turned upside down by a photograph that was slipped to her.  Her husband disappears, strange characters return from her tragic past, and she feels threatened for her and her children’s safety.  Oh and the police don’t seem to want to help.  And there is an oriental super villain thrown in for good measure.

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Hostile Intent

Perhaps the best way to describe this book is to use the blurb from the back cover;

“Only one man can stop them.  Code named Devlin, he exists in the blackest shadows of the United States government – operating off the grid as the NSA’s top agent.  He’s their most lethal weapon…and their most secret.  But someone is trying to draw him out into the open by putting America’s citizens in the crosshairs – and they will continue the slaughter until they get what they want.”

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