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Dan Lenson #9
The Threat
Medal of Honor recipient Dan Lenson has just been assigned to the White House military staff--a dubious honor, serving a president the Joint Chiefs hate more than any other in modern history. His new concern is counternarcotics, and soon Lenson uncovers a troubling plot that involves a ruthless drug cartel, an assault on a nuclear power plant in Mexico, Islamic terrorists, and a devastating weapon aimed at the heart of America. "Poyer [is] a master."--Kirkus ReviewsIf saving the fate of a nation isn't enough, Lenson also suspects his wife is having an affair€¦with the Commander in Chief. As his marriage deteriorates and his frustration with Washington builds, Lenson becomes an unwitting accomplice in a dangerous and subversive conspiracy--to assassinate the president. Now Lenson must operate at the highest levels of command to serve and protect the man he despises the most€¦and fight for the country, and woman, he loves.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 31, 2006
43 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
David Poyer
82 books240 followersAka D.C. Poyer.
DAVID C. POYER was born in DuBois, PA in 1949. He grew up in Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford, in western Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bradford Area High School in 1967. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1971, and later received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve naval service included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific, and shore duty at the Pentagon, Surface Warfare Development Group, Joint Forces Command, and in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He retired in July 2001.
Poyer began writing in 1976, and is the author of nearly fifty books, including THE MED, THE GULF, THE CIRCLE, THE PASSAGE, TOMAHAWK, CHINA SEA, BLACK STORM, THE COMMAND, THE THREAT, KOREA STRAIT, THE WEAPON, THE CRISIS, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, HUNTER KILLER, DEEP WAR, OVERTHROW, VIOLENT PEACE, ARCTIC SEA, and THE ACADEMY, best-selling Navy novels; THE DEAD OF WINTER, WINTER IN THE HEART, AS THE WOLF LOVES WINTER, THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE HILL, set in Western Pennsylvania; and HATTERAS BLUE, BAHAMAS BLUE, LOUISIANA BLUE, and DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, underwater diving adventure.
Other noteworthy books are THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, a historical thriller, THE RETURN OF PHILO T. McGIFFIN, a comic novel of Annapolis, and the three volumes of The Civil War at Sea, FIRE ON THE WATERS, A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN, and THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS. He's also written two sailing thrillers, GHOSTING and THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE. His work has been published in Britain, translated into Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Hugarian, and Serbo-Croatian; recorded for audiobooks, iPod downloads, and Kindle, and selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and other book clubs. Rights to several properties have been sold or optioned for films, and two novellas appeared in the Night Bazaar series of fantasy anthologies.
Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the University of North Florida, Christopher Newport University, and other institutions. He has been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America, and has appeared at the Southern Festival of Books and many other literary events. He taught in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program at Wilkes University for sixteen years. He is currently core faculty at the Ossabaw Writers Retreat, a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a board member of the Northern Appalachia Review.
He lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist Lenore Hart.
DAVID C. POYER was born in DuBois, PA in 1949. He grew up in Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford, in western Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bradford Area High School in 1967. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1971, and later received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve naval service included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific, and shore duty at the Pentagon, Surface Warfare Development Group, Joint Forces Command, and in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He retired in July 2001.
Poyer began writing in 1976, and is the author of nearly fifty books, including THE MED, THE GULF, THE CIRCLE, THE PASSAGE, TOMAHAWK, CHINA SEA, BLACK STORM, THE COMMAND, THE THREAT, KOREA STRAIT, THE WEAPON, THE CRISIS, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, HUNTER KILLER, DEEP WAR, OVERTHROW, VIOLENT PEACE, ARCTIC SEA, and THE ACADEMY, best-selling Navy novels; THE DEAD OF WINTER, WINTER IN THE HEART, AS THE WOLF LOVES WINTER, THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE HILL, set in Western Pennsylvania; and HATTERAS BLUE, BAHAMAS BLUE, LOUISIANA BLUE, and DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, underwater diving adventure.
Other noteworthy books are THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, a historical thriller, THE RETURN OF PHILO T. McGIFFIN, a comic novel of Annapolis, and the three volumes of The Civil War at Sea, FIRE ON THE WATERS, A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN, and THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS. He's also written two sailing thrillers, GHOSTING and THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE. His work has been published in Britain, translated into Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Hugarian, and Serbo-Croatian; recorded for audiobooks, iPod downloads, and Kindle, and selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and other book clubs. Rights to several properties have been sold or optioned for films, and two novellas appeared in the Night Bazaar series of fantasy anthologies.
Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the University of North Florida, Christopher Newport University, and other institutions. He has been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America, and has appeared at the Southern Festival of Books and many other literary events. He taught in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program at Wilkes University for sixteen years. He is currently core faculty at the Ossabaw Writers Retreat, a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a board member of the Northern Appalachia Review.
He lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist Lenore Hart.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 28, 2019
I just finished reading "The Threat," the ninth book in David Poyer's Dan Lenson series. In this outing, Dan is assigned to duty at the White House, initially to direct a multiservice team tasked with combating the flow of drugs from Latin America. His actions result in some government agency feathers getting ruffled, and Dan gets a new assignment: being the naval officer who carries the "football" (the satchel containing the nuclear launch codes) for the President. Dan initially welcomes the assignment as a change from sea duty, but begins to have his doubts... Although David Poyer's writing is still terrific, I really didn't enjoy this book. Maybe it was the political infighting and jockeying for power within the White House staffs and other government entities. In any event, it looks like the next Dan Lenson book in the series finds him back in his element, serving at sea.
July 7, 2024
David Poyer is a gifted writer who captures the realism of USN life and combat. We now find him working in the White House with an assignation under foot. What's particularly unique is Poyer's ability to make his main character Dan Lenson real; a career officer who has fails as well as succeeds, a man who bears the physical and emotional scars of many years at sea and in shore service.
May 21, 2021
I read a novel to be entertained, not wanting to dive in to a dictionary to find out what words mean. Maybe I'm dumb, but basilsking, cordovan, mendacious aren't words that I would ever write or speak. But they were in the first few pages of this book. So many unnecessary references to a persons face, colour, getting told off for walking dog shit on the floor. Phew. And I didn't get past page 20. No way will I ever wade through the rest of the book. My first by this author and probably no more
December 29, 2018
This guy Lenson just can't catch a break and never gets any credit. Good story though except for the extensive use of office squabbles that were used to show how ineffective the security apparatus of the USA was. The second half was more interesting than the first half but I still give The Threat four stars.
December 26, 2018
Shore duty, Washington D.C. and the west wing
Dan Lenson gets a series of assignments attached to Washington D.C. in another twisting story. Interesting plot but I personally missed the naval action.
Dan Lenson gets a series of assignments attached to Washington D.C. in another twisting story. Interesting plot but I personally missed the naval action.
May 16, 2021
The story just keeps getting better!
I have read and enjoyed all the previous Dan Lenson novels but this was very different than the others and I think it's the best so far. Dan was in a very dark place for much of the novel but there was never a dull moment. Just a great read!
I have read and enjoyed all the previous Dan Lenson novels but this was very different than the others and I think it's the best so far. Dan was in a very dark place for much of the novel but there was never a dull moment. Just a great read!
February 2, 2025
another good read
David Poyer has added another tale to the amazing career of Commander Dan Lenson. Working this time in the White House, Dan again is in the middle of the action. Recommended.
David Poyer has added another tale to the amazing career of Commander Dan Lenson. Working this time in the White House, Dan again is in the middle of the action. Recommended.
June 23, 2018
The Threat
The story starts a little slow but it's a set up. Once it starts rolling the story grabs you pretty hard.
The story starts a little slow but it's a set up. Once it starts rolling the story grabs you pretty hard.
October 31, 2018
Another great Dan Lesson book
A very creative storyline, fast paced and filled with interesting insights to our nuclear deterrent. The ending was a complete surprise.
A very creative storyline, fast paced and filled with interesting insights to our nuclear deterrent. The ending was a complete surprise.
May 23, 2019
An Unanticipated Resolution
Marital complications coupled with Duty Honor and ultimately Common Sense lead to an unanticipated conclusion. I’m clearly hooked into Book 10 ASAP.
Marital complications coupled with Duty Honor and ultimately Common Sense lead to an unanticipated conclusion. I’m clearly hooked into Book 10 ASAP.
February 10, 2020
Another good Dan Lenson Novel. This time he is in Washington and there is very little naval action more of a political thriller this time.
July 3, 2021
Enjoyed this more than I expected.
June 14, 2024
Great story. Loved the action.
November 27, 2015
Naval officer Dan Lenson joins the National Security Council in Washington D.C. Lenson, however, has a past that makes him vulnerable to self-doubt from the loss of people under his command to a nuclear weapon. Though his vulnerability makes him a seemingly weak link in an assassination plot against the president, it also makes him likelier to discover it.
While the plot was cleverly constructed, there were two things that didn't work for me. First, it surprised me that the assassination was enacted at an odd place in the story. Similarly, there were several scenes that we didn't get to experience any more directly than through Lenson's remembrance of them. It bothered me the more because they would theoretically have been very exciting, based on what had happened.
This brings me to the second problem. I enjoy audio stories, especially on the road, though print is my preferred medium. There I can hop back within the text easily to a page to check a detail; in the audio, I don't always remember where the track or chapter changed. The thing that required this referring back was reader, Ray Porter. He mispronounced enough words to break my concentration on the story: KaZAKstan, DaNOOB (Danube) and so on. (305 p.)
Two and a half stars
February 17, 2013
David Poyer is one of my favorite writers. Dan Lenson is the primary protagonist in this naval series and he is a fascinating, troubled character representing at the same time an ideal, intelligent and highly competent naval officer and an alcoholic, self-doubting man always on the edge of either leaving the Navy or getting killed in heroic action.
In the course of this series of novels we readers learn about small naval craft -- frigates and destroyers; naval missile; foreign intrigue; and, in this novel, the intricacies of the executive drug interdiction staff the Secret Service, and the football with the nuclear codes.
In a genre of otherwise over-muscled heroes who are smarter and stronger and sexier than everyone else, Dan Lenson is a character we can empathize with a really like and hope he the recognition he so deserves.
And, all this is a set of great yarns. I strongly recommend the entire series.
In the course of this series of novels we readers learn about small naval craft -- frigates and destroyers; naval missile; foreign intrigue; and, in this novel, the intricacies of the executive drug interdiction staff the Secret Service, and the football with the nuclear codes.
In a genre of otherwise over-muscled heroes who are smarter and stronger and sexier than everyone else, Dan Lenson is a character we can empathize with a really like and hope he the recognition he so deserves.
And, all this is a set of great yarns. I strongly recommend the entire series.
April 2, 2018
Commander Dan Lenson, medal of honor recipient and thorn in the side of the Navy traditionalists, is assigned to the National Security Council at the White House. Like many of the military, Lenson finds himself despising the current president, and becomes an unwilling catspaw in a plot against him. At the same time, he uses his position to get things done in the war against the drug trade, which endears him to no one. As usual, Poyer's profile of a difficult hero makes for good reading, and tells us much about the late 20th/early 21st centuries.
July 16, 2015
#8 in the Dan Lenson series.
Commander Dan Lenson is assigned to the NSCs Drug Interdiction unit. After overstepping his bounds in thwarting an attack co-ordinated by drug dealers and Islamic terrorists, he is punished by being assigned as a military aide to a President he loathes and who he is led to suspect is sleeping with his wife.
Commander Dan Lenson is assigned to the NSCs Drug Interdiction unit. After overstepping his bounds in thwarting an attack co-ordinated by drug dealers and Islamic terrorists, he is punished by being assigned as a military aide to a President he loathes and who he is led to suspect is sleeping with his wife.
February 2, 2011
OMIG! This book is so today!! I am more impressed with Poyer's writing.
At first, it was a little difficult to get into because of the technical stuff, but I kept at it and was rewarded with a contemporary plot that could have been taken out of today's news.
At first, it was a little difficult to get into because of the technical stuff, but I kept at it and was rewarded with a contemporary plot that could have been taken out of today's news.
January 15, 2017
My first for this author. I enjoyed. This guy either has first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the White House or a very good imagination. The last couple of chapters almost had my heart pounding. Very intense and a great plot. Can't wait to read him again.
September 1, 2011
Listened to the audio book. It seemed a bit choppy. Perhaps it was abridged?
July 24, 2015
The threat always comes from the unexpected ...
Read
December 9, 2012poorly written, no real plot, boring
September 22, 2013
This was just a so so read for me,too many characters
June 21, 2016
Reread
November 29, 2016
Enjoyed the story. Not as good as the first of this series that I read. Had an interesting twist at the end.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews