State of the Union: A Thriller by Brad Thor
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Book Reviews of State of the Union: A Thriller
Book Review: 3.5 Stars For Brad Thor's Third
Summary: 4 Stars
State of the Union is Brad Thor's third book in his Scot Harvath (ex-Navy SEAL, ex-Secret Service) series.
This book deals with a resurgent Russia lead by old communist die-hards. The plot is interesting and fresh, with Russia's comeback both logical and comprehensible. Also, I enjoy how the end of the third book gets you ready for the fourth book (at least I assume that it does as I have not read Blowback: the fourth book in the series)
I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who has interest in this series or these types of political/military thrillers.
Book Review: One of the worst-written books I have ever read
Summary: 1 Stars
First the good news: the book has an interesting plot, the author keeps things moving at a brisk pace, and the technical details are well researched.
Now the bad news, and there's a lot of it. Brad Thor's writing style is incredibly clunky and awkward. His descriptions are clumsy, full of clich?s, and loaded with superfluous references. I just picked up the book and opened to a random page to find an example. Here's one: "The message had come down loud and clear: Harvath and Alexandra were in a hurry and there was no time to waste." Really? Eight hours before the nation is incinerated in a nuclear inferno, and they're in a hurry? You don't say. An obvious reference, a punctuation error, and four clich?s in ONE SENTENCE. Every page has at least one clunker like that. Techno-thrillers aren't known for brilliant prose, but even by the standards of the genre, this is just terrible writing.
Thor goes into exhaustive detail about every single weapon and gadget his characters use, at great expense to the development of the story and the characters themselves. At times the book reads like a Special Forces equipment catalog. I like techno-thrillers, and I like tactical hardware, but please, give us a story. I can look technical specs up on Wikipedia.
Finally, the dialog is completely implausible. People just don't talk like Brad Thor's characters. How did this guy become a best-selling author?
It typically takes me 3-4 days to devour a book of this size and type. "State Of The Union" took me two weeks. I would get so frustrated and annoyed by the writing that I couldn't continue reading for more than a few minutes at a time. Having finished it, I'm not sure if I should be proud of my persistence, or angry with myself for wasting so much time on this awful book.
Book Review: Master of the politically relevant thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
Brad Thor has fast become one of my favorite writers. Can all 7 of his books on terrorisim truly be that different? Yes they can! Every book is a suspensful page turner. Every book offers a different, politically relevant veiw and outcome. Brad Thor is truly a master story teller.Book Review: The best in the series so far.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've read the preceeding books in Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series. They usually read like they were meant to be easily adapted to silly Hollywood action films--except they are too patriotic to be made by Hollywood. And if I have to read about Scot Harvath's rugged good looks and muscular 5'10" frame, with sandy brown hair and piercing blue eyes one more time I'm going to barf. Enjoyable for a fun read, but not really too believable.
State of The Union was much better. Scot even began to feel run down and tired, rather than superhuman like usual. I really liked the plot twists and turns and the insight into Russian culture and current events. It kept me hooked and guessing. Good stuff. The next one, Blowback, not so much. Kind of ridiculous and a little tedious. But I did enjoy State of the Union. I'm taking a break from the Scot Harvath books for a bit. At some point I'll go back to them because I've heard good things about Take Down, The First Commandment and The Last Patriot.
Book Review: Great Read
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like suspence and spies Brad Thor mixes both very well. One of my favorite authors and characters.