Blowback

Scot Harvath, Book 4

By: Brad Thor

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

When a mysterious new weapon tips the balance against American and allied forces throughout the Middle East, the only person the president can call for help is the man the administration has just fired: Navy SEAL turned covert Homeland Security operative, Scot Harvath.

Caught live on Al Jazeera in an off-the-books operation, Harvath is forced to go to ground, as a senator with presidential aspirations turns her sights on the White House and forces President Jack Rutledge to publicly end the career of America's number-one counter-terrorism operative.

But when the tide in the war against terror suddenly turns against the West, the president has no choice but to bring Harvath back inside. Ducking a congressional subpoena, Harvath travels to Cyprus where he learns about a weapon called The Sword of Allah, which terrorists intend to use to rid all Muslim lands of Western infidels. As the layers of truth unfold, Harvath is witness to realities more menacing than he ever could have imagined and must rely solely on his instincts to confront a new evil closing in on the United States.

With his characteristic precision in describing military technology, high-voltage action, and sweeping international sensibility, Brad Thor has created another supercharged novel that is sure to thrill.

©2005 Brad Thor (P)2005 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Narrator

I'm not a fan of the Narrator "George Guidall" His Lazy almost slurred reading doesn't fit this series of books. Maybe he'd be better reading a Crime Novel or a Mystery... His Slurred Lazy Cadence doesn't fit well in a thriller. Other than my Problems with the Narrator the Book was great.

You sure this wasn't written by Dan Brown?

I read Brad Thor for the Thriller aspect and action. this book however was more a detective/historical education. the long endless chapters on Muslim history almost sounded like it could have been written by Dan Brown. this is definitely brad thor's worst book.

I like the narrator of the first two books better.

This narrator does not tell the story nearly as well as the narrator of the first two books. I really enjoyed the first two books, it took me a while to get to the third book becauase of the change, but I made it. I thought I would give this narrator one more chance, but I think I’m now done with the series because it’s just hard to listen to him tell the story. It’s not that he’s a bad narrator, that’s not it at all, I just don’t think this is the type of book for him.

A good read

I wish I didn't find these books so predictable. Scott Harvath is a a good character with potential, but I know what is going to happen through the book and at the end, within the first 5 chapters.
Well written but needs more twists

Scott is now geriatric?

The reader of this book makes me think that the characters are all in a retirement community. I can't tell if the writing is any good because I was so stuck on how badly matched the reader is to this genre. I wanted to like it, and probably would have if this were read by Scott Brick or any number of readers other than this one.

Another good Harvath story

What made the experience of listening to Blowback the most enjoyable?

Smart story, though slow at times ( had to relisten several times). Thor has created a most interesting set of characters that I enjoy and always look forward to the next one. Intricate plot, good characters, all loose ends tied up. Looking forward to the next one.

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As usual, Mr. Guidall is superb. I consider anything he is reading. Interesting tone that makes his story-telling compelling.

Another Excellent Book!

Scot Harvath books have long been some of my favorite to read/listen too, and this is no exception. Brad Thor has done it again with Blowback. Can't wait for the next one to be released!

Skip it

Any additional comments?

Not nearly as good as his other books. The story was boring and more sci-fi than normal. Go read State of the Union or Foreign Agent instead; those are excellent.

Kinda weak for my tatse

I'm not sure why, but the story was weak for me, the whole thing felt invented and unreal, not like other books I read. I know it is fiction but I could believe the premises of the story.
George is the best narrirtor there is. Period.

Good book with an abrupt ending

On one hand the book was very good. I like getting into the weeds with an author on a subject. There was a lot of plausible situations that Horvath could get into. Mix a little Dan Brown into a Horvath novel and you get Blow Back. My only real reason to not give the book 5 stars across is that once the book neared it's peak, it kinda fell off and wrapped up in an hour. I would have liked to see it wrap up within the last 2 hours. All in all the characters are believable, the "science" quite a scary concept and the performance solid.

Disappointed

I find Brad Thor's general story lines quite interesting but have been disappointed time and time again by the chief character who, while purporting to be highly experienced and extremely well trained, shows himself to be completely incompetent and amateurish both in terms of his skills as an operative and his intellectual prowess. Not only disappointing but unbelievable.