Use of Force by Brad Thor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Brad Thor is a great thriller writer. Use of Force is his latest and it does not disappoint. The action begins right away in the United States before bouncing back and forth from the U.S. to other parts of the world.

Language is on par with the other books in the series--foul words sprinkled in, but you don't feel you need to shower after every chapter.

Two points...

1. The story begins by introducing the reader to the protagonist, Harvath, in addition to five or six other men (I can't recall the exact number). Because they were all dumped at the same time, it was difficult to keep them straight. I never did get a mental image of any of them. That being said, I don't subtract a star for the character overload. I read the Thor books for the main character, which leads me to point number 2.

2. I found myself skimming the chapters that focused on the bad guy. There was a lot of information about his background, where he was in the scene, why Americans are evil, etc. Again, I believe this is a personal preference. Since I've begun writing books, I think I now read the way I write. That is to say, I want to read about the main character and his or her companions--their journey. The only thing I want to know about the bad guy is that he is bad. A few short scenes showing JUST HOW BAD he is reinforces the story. No stars off...just a personal note. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who love to know why the bad guy is bad, what happened in his childhood that made him the way he is today. Not me.

I've read all of Thor's books and they're all great. Use of Force gets 5 stars. Will I read the next one? Definitely. Five thousand people could rate it poorly and I'd still read it.



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