Blowback

Well worth the audio credit. If you like Vince Flynn, Ludlum, etc. you will enjoy this tight, well written yarn. I could not put it down.

This is the second book I have listened to by Thor. Takedown was the first. I really enjoyed Takedown because the action was absolutely not stop and it kept me on the edge of my seat. This one got pretty slow in the middle and turned a bit Dan Brown-esque with its attempt to weave ancient history into the plot. Thor is good in his genre, but he ain't Dan Brown. The other thing that took away from this book for me was the numerous technical inaccuracies - shotguns don't fire "bullets". Diesel and jet fuel burn - they don't explode (unless warmed and vaporized anyway), etc. An author of this genre needs to do his homework on these kinds of things. I also found the Horvath character to be pretty flat in this one. Not much personality and no real conflict. George Guidall is excellent as always as the narrator.

In summary, it wasn't a bad book and is worth the listen, but it isn't great either.

This was a good listen which was hard to put down. It was my 3rd Brad Thor novel (after TakeDown and Lions of Lucern) and I enjoyed it the best of all 3 even though they were also excellent. I agree with a previous reviewer that Thor's writing reminds one of Vince Flynn. So if you enjoy Vince Flynn you might enjoy this author as well.

An author who aspires to write an action thriller should at least research the subject. In this novel Thor spends a great deal of time describing the weapons used. A "double barrel Ruger 357 magnum revolver" no such thing. I think he meant a "double action" revolver.
He goes to great length to describe how a forklift is used as a bomb by affixing shot gun shells duct taped to the diesel fuel tank and detonating them with a shot gun fired by the "best shot" so the "bullet" ignites the shells and explodes the tank of diesel fuel and blows a hole in the cinderblock wall and catapults the forklift out of the building.
Diesel fuel does not explode, shot guns don't shoot bullets, they fire shot or slugs. He did not have to be a good shot as the shotgun in question was loaded with shot and therefore fired a pattern not a single projectile. In any event the shot would not detonate more than 1 of the 5 or 6 shells taped together.
This is all basic stuff Thor should have known about. I takes you out of the plot which was ridiculous anyway.

A great escape....highly recommended.

First, let me say that my issues are primarily with the reading of the novel, rather than the story itself. While not the most original, life altering work of literature, this book is precisely what I expected it to be; a relatively standard representation of its genre. Entertaining and fun. However, I found myself struggling to pay attention to the story itself because of the reader. While Mr. Guidall has a wonderful voice, I found it completely inappropriate to the character. The story you are hearing is about a man and woman in the thirties. Unfortunately, regardless what his actual age may be, Mr. Guidall's voice is that of a much more mature man. When one is denied the ability to see the speaker, the voice becomes their complete identity. I could not bring the reader's voice together with the character and it proved to be nothing but a distraction.

One of the best suspense novels I heard/read in a long time. And Guidall is one of the best narrators out there.

Action from start to finish with a strong plot and enough mystery to keep you hooked. The detail and research to military history really kept my attention as well.

Everything I have grown to expect from Thor after reading Lions of Lucerne. I enjoy the espionage/spy genre, especially with characters that grow from one book to the next. Blowback was no dissappointment.

Mildly entertaining if you like the old thriller formula of the good guy and the beautiful woman racing against time to stop the bad guy(s) from taking over the world. I wish someone would either vary the formula or at least create interesting instead of hackneyed characters.