As a reader, I have lists of authors that are favorite writers. Sometimes I like to discover authors that are “new” to me. Brad Thor is an old favorite. The last time I read a book by Mr. Thor was 5 years ago (my bad!). I returned to the world of Scot Harvath with Use of Force. Harvath is a contract worker for the C.I.A. but has been, at times, a fulltime employee of the spook group and a military operative.
In this story, Scot and his team of ex-military and spy specialists are combating terrorist attacks on soft targets – concerts and cultural fairs, stories that might have been ripped from the front pages of media in recent years. On the path to ending the threat, the author takes the reader to The Burning Man Festival in Nevada, the Cathedral of St. James in San Juan de Compostela in Spain, a cultural fair in Tuileries Garden of Paris, the desert of Libya, a secret base in Malta and sanctuaries of the Mafia in Sicily and Calabria, Italy. The climax takes place in Rome.
One reviewer I read found it hard to believe that there are smugglers of human beings that transport people from North Africa to Italy and elsewhere in the European Mediterranean coast. Believe it. These “pirates” collect money in advance from the refugees then rape some of the women, kill some of the children and send the survivors off in leaky, unsafe boats with no safety equipment, food or water. Brad Thor covers that nasty work in Use of Force.
I am glad that I returned to Brad Thor’s fictional (with a hint of truth) world.
GO! BUY! READ!
–Jim Harris, retired book sales rep
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