Brad Thor’s newest summer thrill ride, Edge of Honor, has Scot Harvath stacking bodies from the very first pages. Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., showcases the architectural expressions of the world’s most powerful nations. Bristling with surveillance and security, they stand like battleships formed of concrete, brick, and marble—forever moored in manicured lawns to stately piers of oak and maple.
The Norwegian embassy sits across Massachusetts Avenue from the Naval Observatory, the Vice President’s residence. Its sensible rectangular design reflects an austerity and severity of line characteristic of Nordic modernism. But as Harvath and the love of his life, Solvi, pass by, the placid edifice reverberates with the concussive force of a coordinated, professional assault.
A synchronized detonation propels a shockwave that lifts Harvath’s Tahoe and showers the interior with a smoky mix of pulverized debris and glass spall. Catching Harvath and Solvi in their crossfire will be the biggest mistake these would-be insurgents ever make.
Harvath engages a half-dozen black-clad targets wearing hoodies. Snapping the stock of his Flux Defense Raider into its extended position, Harvath kills with the artful efficiency of an apex predator. But, two of his targets escape the body-littered street and smash through a window at the Norwegian embassy, desperate to escape the certain death closing in on them.
Just like his protagonist, Brad Thor is a force of nature when it comes to crafting an entertaining story, appealing to both those looking for sledgehammer action and those seeking sophisticated character development. Edge of Honor is as intriguing, multifaceted, and sophisticated as the city in which much of the bone-breaking action takes place.
From the outset, Thor creates a story with authentic themes of vital importance to national security. With insight gained from decades of experience, research, and observation, Thor identifies a threat that has increased exponentially on social media platforms. Information campaigns propagated on social media—often for profit—successfully influence thought and culture, as demonstrated by recent SVR operations. China is an existential threat in this space, growing geometrically.
Thor highlights a developing domestic threat: the disaffected are being recruited and mobilized—nothing entirely new, but now culture warriors are being specifically targeted for recruitment. Thor puts a novel twist on the organization and influence of the subculture of grievance. For specifics, you’ll have to read the novel. Social media accounts are increasingly hostile to DHS, FBI, and law enforcement in general. Make no mistake, attacks on the legitimate work being done in the domestic and national security arenas are being directed by foreign adversaries. And, more often than not, the social media agitators are motivated by monetization.
Thor’s twenty-fifth novel, Edge of Honor, is perfectly at home on a cruise ship, at the beach, or as a palliative for the mind-numbing monotony inside the cattle-car environment of domestic airlines. Thor told Townhall, “I have friends that will be traveling internationally [like the late Andrew Breitbart]…he would see people in airports reading me. He would call me on his cellphone, and then hand the phone to the person reading my book…he used to do that at every airport he saw somebody with a Brad Thor book.”
Be forewarned, if you start Edge of Honor at bedtime, you’ll be up all night, anxiously turning pages in anticipation of cliff-hanger resolutions.
And, if you’re brand new to the Scot Harvath universe of death-defying thrills and international intrigue, you can jump right in at any point and enjoy the ride. Thor is a master of economy and has created a long series of interconnected nodes that are worlds unto themselves, yet tell a unified story spanning decades.
Thor is steeped in FBI culture, and it shows. The dialogue between two of his FBI characters, Carolin and Fields, is pure gold. Having spent twenty years as an FBI agent, I can tell you these two feel real. In fact, Thor’s research and experience are extensive. And he applies that expertise within the story, blending the edges of the real and the illusory. The effect is a tale enervated by the magic of belief. Thor makes it feel, smell, and taste real. So, for as long as you choose to be with Brad’s story, you’ll live the story.
Brad told Townhall about an upcoming series based on his first book, Lions of Lucerne. As good as his books are, this series is shaping up to be epic. “The director for our TV series is the director for the John Wick series, Chad Stahelski…We closed the deal, and are waiting for them to make the official announcement…it’ll be an eight-episode first season…we have Steve Lightfoot, who wrote the Punisher series…he’s our writer and is adapting the Lions of Lucerne…and Howard Gordan, the force behind Twenty Four and Homeland.” To say this is a dream team list of collaborators is an understatement.
If you’re a Brad Thor fan, Edge of Honor is an evolution in the fine craft of writing and story, with fresh surprises that could be headline news. If you’re new to Thor’s writing, start here and enjoy a summer blockbuster thriller. Hollywood and the big screen may let you down, but Brad Thor never will.
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