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Scot Harvath #1
The Lions of Lucerne
This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2002
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23271 people want to read
About the author
Brad Thor
46 books7,387 followersBRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five thrillers, including EDGE OF HONOR, SHADOW OF DOUBT, BLACK ICE (ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), NEAR DARK (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), BACKLASH (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), SPYMASTER (“One of the all-time best thriller novels” —The Washington Times), THE LAST PATRIOT (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association), and BLOWBACK (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR).
EDGE OF HONOR is on sale now. For more information, visit BradThor.com.
EDGE OF HONOR is on sale now. For more information, visit BradThor.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,185 reviews
August 29, 2021
Sloppy writing with a predictable plot.
June 13, 2014
After loving my first exposure to Brad Thor and his Scot Harvath character, in Black List, I figured I would start back at the beginning with the first in the series. While the writing isn't as tight -- this is Thor's first published book -- the story was just as compelling, if not more so. The stakes couldn't be higher, with Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath having to hunt down those responsible for the kidnapping of the U.S. President and the killing of thirty of Scot's Secret Service co-workers. And while the realism was a bit lacking, as is tradition in this genre, this was as close to realism as it seems to get, which I appreciated.
October 16, 2011
Uhm...not sure where to start to convey all the ways this struck me as ludicrous. I read it because it was recommended in the Suspense part of The Ultimate Reading List. I probably should have been warned it wasn't for me when I saw blurbs praising it by Vince Flynn of Term Limits and Glenn Beck. But hey, as it turned out, it wasn't that it was outre right-wing that turned me off, but that when it comes down to it I'm the kind of gal who believes Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. I find it easy to believe US Senators could be corrupt and in league with a filthy rich industrialist prepared to suborn them. I find it very easy to believe in politicians who are hiding sexual proclivities that would appall their constituents. What I do find hard to believe is that to defeat a bill in Congress they'd conspire to assassinate Secret Service agents and kidnap the American president and frame the surviving agent for murder. What I do find hard to believe is a US Senator who to cover up a homosexual affair orders a hit on his lover.
Not impossible to believe the above mind you--just hard. It doesn't help that this book is abysmally written in a style I find headache inducing. We're talking head-hopping, intrusive dialogue tagging, jarring frequent F-bombs, designer label name-dropping and awkwardly constructed sentences that don't flow--added to that is a Barbie Doll "gorgeous" love interest and indestructible Marty Stu ex-SEAL Olympic-class skier protagonist Scot Harvath. The characters are onion-skin thin and the plot ridden with unbelievable coincidences. This is the kind of book I wish I could give negative stars to. It's not just I "didn't like it"--I hated this book and found it painful to read far into it.
Not impossible to believe the above mind you--just hard. It doesn't help that this book is abysmally written in a style I find headache inducing. We're talking head-hopping, intrusive dialogue tagging, jarring frequent F-bombs, designer label name-dropping and awkwardly constructed sentences that don't flow--added to that is a Barbie Doll "gorgeous" love interest and indestructible Marty Stu ex-SEAL Olympic-class skier protagonist Scot Harvath. The characters are onion-skin thin and the plot ridden with unbelievable coincidences. This is the kind of book I wish I could give negative stars to. It's not just I "didn't like it"--I hated this book and found it painful to read far into it.
June 23, 2011
Meh.
After reading 11 Vince Flynn novels, and being unable to wait until Vince beats cancer so he can write some more, I decided to give this Brad Thor guy a shot. I'll keep looking for a fix elsewhere. This is very mediocre writing; the dialogue often didn't fit the intensity level of the situation. For example, they just had 30 fellow Secret Service agents shot up, and the president kidnapped, and immediately after Thor feels like it is a good time to develop protagonist Scot Harvath's character with some everyday, locker-room type, humorous banter--and not of the "this is how I'm dealing with the difficult situation" variety. There are a bunch of other flaws. The supposedly "highly trained" mercenaries hunting Harvath just stand and spray bullets ineffectively. The depiction of Mormons is hilariously flawed. Though the plot is okayish, it just doesn't satisfy. Glad I only bought it used on Amazon.
After reading 11 Vince Flynn novels, and being unable to wait until Vince beats cancer so he can write some more, I decided to give this Brad Thor guy a shot. I'll keep looking for a fix elsewhere. This is very mediocre writing; the dialogue often didn't fit the intensity level of the situation. For example, they just had 30 fellow Secret Service agents shot up, and the president kidnapped, and immediately after Thor feels like it is a good time to develop protagonist Scot Harvath's character with some everyday, locker-room type, humorous banter--and not of the "this is how I'm dealing with the difficult situation" variety. There are a bunch of other flaws. The supposedly "highly trained" mercenaries hunting Harvath just stand and spray bullets ineffectively. The depiction of Mormons is hilariously flawed. Though the plot is okayish, it just doesn't satisfy. Glad I only bought it used on Amazon.
September 11, 2022
It looks like I am in the minority on this book. I did not like it. Unfortunately, this is going to be gripe review. Sad thing is, I've had this on my list for several years, as I do love the kickass heroes. It started out okay. I actually liked the beginning, but the book got increasingly bad as it went along. I thought that Scot's decision-making was terrible. He basically bumbled his way through the whole book. While I liked that he didn't give up, I wanted him to be more thoughtful about what he did and to, I don't know, make plans, and think things through. Lord, the collateral damage in this book, whew! I really hate when the lead character's dumb decisions get other people killed. I think the only part of this book that I liked was when he dressed up in disguise.
A huge problem I had with the book was the characterization, both lead and secondary. I already mentioned my problems with Scot. He's supposed to be this super-elite Secret Service agent who was a Navy SEAL, but it's like his brain stopped working. Shouldn't he have more tactical decision-making skills than he showed in this book. I feel like Claudia was barely fleshed out, although she was definitely more intelligent than any of the other characters. She basically saved Scot's bacon multiple times in this book, which I'm here for. I feel like that and her being beautiful and constantly being hit on were her major character traits in this book. Even so, there was a sexist undertone to the book that I didn't care. You could tell that most of the characters were misogynists (I'm not including Scot).
I hated the villains. They were basically uber-violent neanderthals, and we were supposed to think they were elite and super-smart. The puppetmaster was a bit more intelligent, I suppose, but he didn't work for me as a villain either. The more I think about it, the more this reminds me of 80s action films. Don't get me wrong, I love action movies. But there were a few that were just so roided out and extremely violent, they made the whole genre look bad.
I see how highly rated this book is, and I'm sorry. I don't agree at all. By the end of this book, I was almost ready to give it 1.5 stars. I rounded up to 2. Will I continue this series? It's not at the top of my list. I think my standards are too high after Orphan X, Scarecrow and Court Gentry.
Normally, I don't rant about books this much. Once in a blue moon, I'll read a book that brings that out in me, and this one's it. Sadly, this was the first book I read this year.
Overall Rating: 2.0/5.0 stars.
A huge problem I had with the book was the characterization, both lead and secondary. I already mentioned my problems with Scot. He's supposed to be this super-elite Secret Service agent who was a Navy SEAL, but it's like his brain stopped working. Shouldn't he have more tactical decision-making skills than he showed in this book. I feel like Claudia was barely fleshed out, although she was definitely more intelligent than any of the other characters. She basically saved Scot's bacon multiple times in this book, which I'm here for. I feel like that and her being beautiful and constantly being hit on were her major character traits in this book. Even so, there was a sexist undertone to the book that I didn't care. You could tell that most of the characters were misogynists (I'm not including Scot).
I hated the villains. They were basically uber-violent neanderthals, and we were supposed to think they were elite and super-smart. The puppetmaster was a bit more intelligent, I suppose, but he didn't work for me as a villain either. The more I think about it, the more this reminds me of 80s action films. Don't get me wrong, I love action movies. But there were a few that were just so roided out and extremely violent, they made the whole genre look bad.
I see how highly rated this book is, and I'm sorry. I don't agree at all. By the end of this book, I was almost ready to give it 1.5 stars. I rounded up to 2. Will I continue this series? It's not at the top of my list. I think my standards are too high after Orphan X, Scarecrow and Court Gentry.
Normally, I don't rant about books this much. Once in a blue moon, I'll read a book that brings that out in me, and this one's it. Sadly, this was the first book I read this year.
Overall Rating: 2.0/5.0 stars.
December 18, 2017
This book was generally good. It centers on Scot Harvath, an intelligence agent for the US government. The plot involves the kidnapping of the president and the framing of Harvarth for the crime. It reads a lot like a Ludlum novel, with contemporary overtones.
There were times that the character development and individual scenes really drew me in, and there were times, especially during the gun fights, where it felt stereotypical. The action scenes were interesting, but they felt like every gunfight movie I have ever seen.
I like the characters and there are plot twists that drive the story and reveal the author's talent, despite the cookie cutter format of much of the action. Overall I liked it, but there were slow parts that I skimmed and found myself having to reread if there were critical plot elements I overlooked.
3.75 stars.
There were times that the character development and individual scenes really drew me in, and there were times, especially during the gun fights, where it felt stereotypical. The action scenes were interesting, but they felt like every gunfight movie I have ever seen.
I like the characters and there are plot twists that drive the story and reveal the author's talent, despite the cookie cutter format of much of the action. Overall I liked it, but there were slow parts that I skimmed and found myself having to reread if there were critical plot elements I overlooked.
3.75 stars.
November 2, 2013
One does not expect Shakespearean prose, Holmesian smarts or Dilbertian wit while picking up the books of this genre but even by the usual standards, the plot and the tale are below par. It is all action, which is what is needed, but even more "luck".
The entire story is full of accidental discoveries, charmed life-saving instances, the complete stupidity of the villains who are otherwise extremely intelligent in committing the most difficult of the crime and coincidences that break open the crime.
And these happenstances are in the dozens. The villains' forgetting to kill the good guys while the good guys have to be around them to move the story forward, the same villains allowing the secrets to escape because of the eavesdropping, the good guys surviving at least five point-blank shots/similar at various stages with the partner appearing in the nick of time, the partners-to-be coming across each other through a "common friend" in Swiss Alps and the list just goes on and on and on.
I am sure Thor's celebrated hero must have got a lot better in the later books, but unlike Vince Flynn's and other similar authors' superheroes, he starts somewhat low on deduction and intelligence. And the book suffers gravely as a result.
The entire story is full of accidental discoveries, charmed life-saving instances, the complete stupidity of the villains who are otherwise extremely intelligent in committing the most difficult of the crime and coincidences that break open the crime.
And these happenstances are in the dozens. The villains' forgetting to kill the good guys while the good guys have to be around them to move the story forward, the same villains allowing the secrets to escape because of the eavesdropping, the good guys surviving at least five point-blank shots/similar at various stages with the partner appearing in the nick of time, the partners-to-be coming across each other through a "common friend" in Swiss Alps and the list just goes on and on and on.
I am sure Thor's celebrated hero must have got a lot better in the later books, but unlike Vince Flynn's and other similar authors' superheroes, he starts somewhat low on deduction and intelligence. And the book suffers gravely as a result.
June 24, 2023
In Brad Thor's first Scot Harvath thriller The Lions of Lucerne was action filled and super read I really enjoyed it.
September 3, 2012
THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED. If that isn't engrossing, I don't know what is. Highly impressed with Brad Thor's debut novel, & it's precisely what I had been looking for. I wanted a spy/intelligence series with plausible, real-world characters, heavy on action, without being too partisan in politics, but yet have a strong governmental aspect to it all. This book fit the bill. Sort of a cross between TV's "24" and a Tom Clancy thriller, the Scot Harvath character is well-written and can be related to; he isn't a superhero, he makes mistakes (losing the President being one of them) and now must try to resolve that mistake even when facing obstacle after obstacle.
Brad Thor does something in this novel you don't come across too often; he keeps the focus on the *search* for the President and those involved, lead by Harvath, as opposed to focussing *on* the President. In other words, the President is simply the "MacGuffin". In fact, now that I think of it, I'm not sure the President is even revisited during the course of the search after he is kidnapped. Pretty bold.
I've already jumped right into the second book of the series ("Path of the Assassin"), which picks up where this book leaves off, but moves in a completely different direction, as well. Very happy to keep on reading whatever Brad Thor puts out there.
Brad Thor does something in this novel you don't come across too often; he keeps the focus on the *search* for the President and those involved, lead by Harvath, as opposed to focussing *on* the President. In other words, the President is simply the "MacGuffin". In fact, now that I think of it, I'm not sure the President is even revisited during the course of the search after he is kidnapped. Pretty bold.
I've already jumped right into the second book of the series ("Path of the Assassin"), which picks up where this book leaves off, but moves in a completely different direction, as well. Very happy to keep on reading whatever Brad Thor puts out there.
March 12, 2017
Really enjoyed it. I started with book #14 which was very good then book #15. Figured I really like Scot Harvath series I want to start from the beginning. I'm glad I did.
February 10, 2015
Well written, adrenalin filled novel featuring agent Scot Harvath with a very good ending. 9 of 10 stars
September 13, 2020
This has all the ingredients that I look for in a thriller. A great cast and a good story. Will read more :)
September 24, 2016
I am beyond stunned that this book averages a four-star rating; I can't believe that there are intelligent people who love this stuff. I can only hope that Thor becomes a better writer in the subsequent books, but I will not be sticking around to find out.
Much of this book was stunningly awful. I only had five chapters of the 83 left to read and it took me two weeks to finally polish it off. If I wasn't in a public place when I finally killed it, I would have screamed with exasperation at how horrible it was. I gave it a two rather than a one because it provided some light and entertaining escapism for half of its five hundred pages, but even as I say that, I think I am being too nice.
The main problem is with the entire second half of the book when the main character is on the run. It was just a never-ending series of overly-long, laughably-implausible chase and fight scenes where the hero somehow always prevails in spite of the amazing amount of physical punishment that he somehow always manages to shake off. Imagine a James Bond movie that instead of the signature mega-chase and battle scene mixed into the story, THE ENTIRE STORY is one of those scenes one after the other. Absolutely horrible.
Even in the "good" parts, however, it was pretty lame. I couldn't stand the attitude of all the characters. Even the good guys were constantly bickering and interacting in a way that did not at all ring true. Sure you don't always get along with people you work with or people on your team, but you act like you get along with them. Most all of the dialogue was silly and forced. There wasn't a good line in the entire book.
Anyway, this was not a good book, but it was OK long enough for me to be forced to finish it. It is a shame that this was so bad: I like this genre of books (Robert Ludlum stuff was always fun) and there are a lot of them. I was really hoping I had found an author who I could read their entire catalog. I was wrong.
Much of this book was stunningly awful. I only had five chapters of the 83 left to read and it took me two weeks to finally polish it off. If I wasn't in a public place when I finally killed it, I would have screamed with exasperation at how horrible it was. I gave it a two rather than a one because it provided some light and entertaining escapism for half of its five hundred pages, but even as I say that, I think I am being too nice.
The main problem is with the entire second half of the book when the main character is on the run. It was just a never-ending series of overly-long, laughably-implausible chase and fight scenes where the hero somehow always prevails in spite of the amazing amount of physical punishment that he somehow always manages to shake off. Imagine a James Bond movie that instead of the signature mega-chase and battle scene mixed into the story, THE ENTIRE STORY is one of those scenes one after the other. Absolutely horrible.
Even in the "good" parts, however, it was pretty lame. I couldn't stand the attitude of all the characters. Even the good guys were constantly bickering and interacting in a way that did not at all ring true. Sure you don't always get along with people you work with or people on your team, but you act like you get along with them. Most all of the dialogue was silly and forced. There wasn't a good line in the entire book.
Anyway, this was not a good book, but it was OK long enough for me to be forced to finish it. It is a shame that this was so bad: I like this genre of books (Robert Ludlum stuff was always fun) and there are a lot of them. I was really hoping I had found an author who I could read their entire catalog. I was wrong.
June 28, 2016
I did not read this novel completely by choice. I got caught in a long-wait situation without a book--it can only happen when I’m using someone else’s car--so I ducked into a used bookstore. That meant buying a standalone or the first in a series, because I already own the next book in line of any series I enjoy. I chose the first Scot Harvath book.
I have mixed feeling on this effort. It contained multiple transgressions of the single thing I hate most: the seasoned professional whose does incredibly stupid things. The worst example has the narrative explain how the hero studies the faces in any public place he enters, and the scene closes with someone he has reason to be suspicious of leaving the room unnoticed with his sabotage complete. But, when I put those things aside, it was a page-turner and raced to the end. I’ll buy the next one eventually because Thor has become a bestseller. The faults of a first-time novelist have presumably been corrected.
I have mixed feeling on this effort. It contained multiple transgressions of the single thing I hate most: the seasoned professional whose does incredibly stupid things. The worst example has the narrative explain how the hero studies the faces in any public place he enters, and the scene closes with someone he has reason to be suspicious of leaving the room unnoticed with his sabotage complete. But, when I put those things aside, it was a page-turner and raced to the end. I’ll buy the next one eventually because Thor has become a bestseller. The faults of a first-time novelist have presumably been corrected.
March 8, 2017
Very thrilling and page turning read. I will read other books of this author.
November 16, 2018
"For reasons of national security, certain names, places, and tactical procedures have been changed within this novel."
We're off to a bad start, Brad. It's a novel. What (fictional) names need to be changed? What "tactical procedures" need to be changed? There may be no cavernous, built-out place in the side of a mountain with a church on top as the entry point in Switzerland where the Swiss store their war-like stuff, but again: it's a novel.
The book opens with a prologue. Tsk. I'm not against prologues in general, but when I am, it's because of prologues like this one, where the bad guys lay out their dastardly plans so we'll absolutely know the hero, Scot Horvath, is not involved. We also get a monologue from one, just so we know how bad he is and get the supposed motivation for this entire thing. Oh, don't worry - if you have trouble remembering any of it, you'll get told again at the end, when one character explains to Horvath the motivation of the bad guys.
On a side note, if there is one phrase I wish writers would lose, forever, it has to be "As you know..." If they know, why are you telling them? That's rhetorical, of course, because I know why: you have to info dump on the reader instead of organically introducing the information like a better writer would.
The first chapter takes us to Utah, where the president of the US (hereafter as POTUS) is on a skiing vacation with his daughter. Horvath, former SEAL turned Secret Service, is the lead on the protection, and he is with the daughter. When it's time to return to the cabin, POTUS and his cover detail go one way and the daughter and Horvath's detail go another.
Horvath sees a couple of agents run into trees and fall down, and jokes with the others in his detail they were lucky to be going down the easier run. Then, there's an avalanche. Of course.
Horvath picks up the daughter and tries to ski both of them to protection behind some boulders, but oh no! He's off target. Then he wraps his body around hers as the avalanche catches up and they bounce down the hill, eventually reaching the area he was aiming for, and there they are, as the avalanche rushes past them and eventually stops. Then Superman - I mean, Horvath, proceeds to dig them out, take off much of his own clothing to put on the daughter, and starts trekking down the mountain until they are found by members of the detail that were stationed in the cabin.
OK, that's all fine. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief on that. On the other side of the coin, the supposedly super smart, I'd-die-for-POTUS Secret Service detail has thought nothing of the radios and sensors popping in and out all day long - until they can't raise the detail covering POTUS.
This is not a spoiler, because it's in the synopsis of the book: Thor helpfully tells us that the bad guys have been lying around in the snow, waiting for POTUS, and tells us exactly how they snatch him off the mountain, first using some super gadget thing that blasts the agents so they are disoriented. So, to keep in mind: the agents think the woods and snow are responsible for the total lack of communications, and we're supposed to believe that the bad guys managed to a) camp out in the heavy snow waiting for POTUS, when the Secret Service and any other law enforcement have cleared the area and are patrolling, who b) amazingly, skis right into the area the bad guys are waiting. What a happy coincidence! As is the angry Muslim one of the bad guys shoots and leaves behind, because as we know, only brown people commit terrorism.
Much of the book is tedious and aggravating. There's the bad guys driving a semi - in heavy, wet snow, on a mountain - to a cabin where they kill a couple of old people and then take off in the ambulance that was hauled up in that trailer, POTUS in the back.
Horvath appears to be the only one with a brain amongst the agencies, because he is seeing things that are obvious clues and no one else seems to notice a thing, ever. But of course, they don't listen to him, because it was his detail that was killed, allowing POTUS to be taken.
Now we go into spoilers.
The descriptions of some places is interesting, but either Thor was being paid by the word, or someone said, you know what this needs? Ponderous description down to the teeniest detail. the reader will love it! No, they do not. At least this reader didn't.
Two stars: my automatic one star for writing the thing. The other for some kind of semblance of a plot, even if it relied on way too many coincidences and there was zero mystery to the reader in any of it. Did I mention the hero is a former SEAL?
Recommended when there's nothing else to read, or when you need something that doesn't take a ton of concentration.
We're off to a bad start, Brad. It's a novel. What (fictional) names need to be changed? What "tactical procedures" need to be changed? There may be no cavernous, built-out place in the side of a mountain with a church on top as the entry point in Switzerland where the Swiss store their war-like stuff, but again: it's a novel.
The book opens with a prologue. Tsk. I'm not against prologues in general, but when I am, it's because of prologues like this one, where the bad guys lay out their dastardly plans so we'll absolutely know the hero, Scot Horvath, is not involved. We also get a monologue from one, just so we know how bad he is and get the supposed motivation for this entire thing. Oh, don't worry - if you have trouble remembering any of it, you'll get told again at the end, when one character explains to Horvath the motivation of the bad guys.
On a side note, if there is one phrase I wish writers would lose, forever, it has to be "As you know..." If they know, why are you telling them? That's rhetorical, of course, because I know why: you have to info dump on the reader instead of organically introducing the information like a better writer would.
The first chapter takes us to Utah, where the president of the US (hereafter as POTUS) is on a skiing vacation with his daughter. Horvath, former SEAL turned Secret Service, is the lead on the protection, and he is with the daughter. When it's time to return to the cabin, POTUS and his cover detail go one way and the daughter and Horvath's detail go another.
Horvath sees a couple of agents run into trees and fall down, and jokes with the others in his detail they were lucky to be going down the easier run. Then, there's an avalanche. Of course.
Horvath picks up the daughter and tries to ski both of them to protection behind some boulders, but oh no! He's off target. Then he wraps his body around hers as the avalanche catches up and they bounce down the hill, eventually reaching the area he was aiming for, and there they are, as the avalanche rushes past them and eventually stops. Then Superman - I mean, Horvath, proceeds to dig them out, take off much of his own clothing to put on the daughter, and starts trekking down the mountain until they are found by members of the detail that were stationed in the cabin.
OK, that's all fine. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief on that. On the other side of the coin, the supposedly super smart, I'd-die-for-POTUS Secret Service detail has thought nothing of the radios and sensors popping in and out all day long - until they can't raise the detail covering POTUS.
This is not a spoiler, because it's in the synopsis of the book: Thor helpfully tells us that the bad guys have been lying around in the snow, waiting for POTUS, and tells us exactly how they snatch him off the mountain, first using some super gadget thing that blasts the agents so they are disoriented. So, to keep in mind: the agents think the woods and snow are responsible for the total lack of communications, and we're supposed to believe that the bad guys managed to a) camp out in the heavy snow waiting for POTUS, when the Secret Service and any other law enforcement have cleared the area and are patrolling, who b) amazingly, skis right into the area the bad guys are waiting. What a happy coincidence! As is the angry Muslim one of the bad guys shoots and leaves behind, because as we know, only brown people commit terrorism.
Much of the book is tedious and aggravating. There's the bad guys driving a semi - in heavy, wet snow, on a mountain - to a cabin where they kill a couple of old people and then take off in the ambulance that was hauled up in that trailer, POTUS in the back.
Horvath appears to be the only one with a brain amongst the agencies, because he is seeing things that are obvious clues and no one else seems to notice a thing, ever. But of course, they don't listen to him, because it was his detail that was killed, allowing POTUS to be taken.
Now we go into spoilers.
The descriptions of some places is interesting, but either Thor was being paid by the word, or someone said, you know what this needs? Ponderous description down to the teeniest detail. the reader will love it! No, they do not. At least this reader didn't.
Two stars: my automatic one star for writing the thing. The other for some kind of semblance of a plot, even if it relied on way too many coincidences and there was zero mystery to the reader in any of it. Did I mention the hero is a former SEAL?
Recommended when there's nothing else to read, or when you need something that doesn't take a ton of concentration.
January 13, 2011
This book shows why I first became hooked on Brad Thor novels; it's fast paced, alternately tense, with a wise cracking tough guy character truly different from most series technothrillers. Scot Harvath is tough, smart, resourceful, and has a sense of humor about himself and others. He is also on the President's secret service detail, and was 'on watch' when the Commander in Chief was kidnapped. In disgrace, he realizes the investigation into the President's disappearance is on the wrong track, and realizes that the only thing he can do is to find the kidnapped man. He does not desire to clear his name, but rather, he realizes he must uphold the oath he swore to protect the President, and that the only way to do it is to find and free him.
Great character, amazing action, and Thor's extensive knowledge of European travel allows Harvath to change countries believably and fluidly. Great tale, and one of the best written first novels I have read. Interesting, too, that Thor makes the villains greedy oil corporations who are trying to hide their own corruption by placing the blame on middle eastern extremists.
Great, great book.
Great character, amazing action, and Thor's extensive knowledge of European travel allows Harvath to change countries believably and fluidly. Great tale, and one of the best written first novels I have read. Interesting, too, that Thor makes the villains greedy oil corporations who are trying to hide their own corruption by placing the blame on middle eastern extremists.
Great, great book.
July 21, 2009
wanted to read the Brad Thor book on the best seller list and found that this book is first in a group (Tom Clancey-like) of thrillers with the same main character. Since the first book "sets" the character I decided to read it first and I wasn't disappointed. A funny sideline is that - being set in the DeerValley/Park City area a Mormon family became part of the plot. The descriptions of the Mormon relegion was really hilarious to a Mormon. Just when I decided the author had researched with a disgruntled Mormon I found out he lived parttime in Park City. Which explains his misconceptions - they only added to my amusement and didn't distract my enjoyment. Now we will see if I like the current book with the same "super man" hero.
December 27, 2022
If you are looking for anything remotely original, or well-crafted actions scenes, or anything like a story you didn’t see coming from the opening pages, I’d pass on this novel.
To being with, the premise is way too farfetched. Maybe the president could have been kidnapped in the 1950’s, but after Kennedy, not too likely, but I'll play along, after all, one of my favorite books is Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
The clichés start piling up like an avalanche. Not only is Scot Harvath an ex-Navy SEAL (so tired of fucking everyone being an ex-SEAL) and head of the president’s secret service detail, but he’s also an ex-Olympic free-style skier and cum laude college graduate. In addition, he won the top award at the Tennessee square dancing jamboree three years in a row! He also knocked down all ten pins while bowling, and get this, with a single ball. That last fantastical achievement was just too much for me.
Tons of indiscriminate and gratuitous killing to start out with in the above-mentioned kidnapping while bowling legend Scot Harvath gets caught up in and avalanche with the president’s daughter. He immediately assaults two people involve in the investigation, but he can justify punching a chief of staff out because the guy poked him with his finger. Scot isn’t a badass, he’s a bully with anger issues, probably because he got beat up a lot in high school for being overly interested in square dancing. Not to slut-shame anyone, but if he hadn’t worn those super-short blue jean cut-off shorts, he probably wouldn’t have inspired so much ridicule because in Tennessee, square dancing isn’t sissy at all.
He is supposedly some total bad-ass, yet when her enters his apartment knowing someone is inside, he gets cold-cocked in the head. One a side note, hitting someone in the head doesn’t always lead to a loss of consciousness, but it can lead to brain damage.
He's in the secret service and he has an illegal foreign passport? That is probably the stupidest thing in the book. If he were caught with that, there would be about twenty years of jail he’d never be able to avoid. He has a top-secret clearance, he has to submit to regular polygraphs, he just wouldn’t take that sort of risk…but it’s super-convenient for this story so don’t worry about it, readers.
The dialogue is pretty lamentable throughout. If this passage doesn’t make you groan, I can punch you as hard as I can in the stomach. Let me know:
Claudia ran over to the man in the blue parka and kicked his pistol away. She then ran to Harvath. “I thought for sure he was going to kill me,” she said.
“Not on my watch. I hear sirens, the police are getting closer. We’ve got to move.”
His description of a woman agent, “She was gorgeous,” reminds me of my puberty days reading Penthouse letters with such artistic flourishes like, “she had the biggest tits I ever seen.”
I’ll give this novel two stars simply because it was his first book. I’m going to read Brad Thor’s latest novel, Tiger Rising, and if there has been no improvement in his writing, I’ll mark this down to one, not that he gives a fuck because he sells millions of books. I don’t get it. Not even a little.
To being with, the premise is way too farfetched. Maybe the president could have been kidnapped in the 1950’s, but after Kennedy, not too likely, but I'll play along, after all, one of my favorite books is Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
The clichés start piling up like an avalanche. Not only is Scot Harvath an ex-Navy SEAL (so tired of fucking everyone being an ex-SEAL) and head of the president’s secret service detail, but he’s also an ex-Olympic free-style skier and cum laude college graduate. In addition, he won the top award at the Tennessee square dancing jamboree three years in a row! He also knocked down all ten pins while bowling, and get this, with a single ball. That last fantastical achievement was just too much for me.
Tons of indiscriminate and gratuitous killing to start out with in the above-mentioned kidnapping while bowling legend Scot Harvath gets caught up in and avalanche with the president’s daughter. He immediately assaults two people involve in the investigation, but he can justify punching a chief of staff out because the guy poked him with his finger. Scot isn’t a badass, he’s a bully with anger issues, probably because he got beat up a lot in high school for being overly interested in square dancing. Not to slut-shame anyone, but if he hadn’t worn those super-short blue jean cut-off shorts, he probably wouldn’t have inspired so much ridicule because in Tennessee, square dancing isn’t sissy at all.
He is supposedly some total bad-ass, yet when her enters his apartment knowing someone is inside, he gets cold-cocked in the head. One a side note, hitting someone in the head doesn’t always lead to a loss of consciousness, but it can lead to brain damage.
He's in the secret service and he has an illegal foreign passport? That is probably the stupidest thing in the book. If he were caught with that, there would be about twenty years of jail he’d never be able to avoid. He has a top-secret clearance, he has to submit to regular polygraphs, he just wouldn’t take that sort of risk…but it’s super-convenient for this story so don’t worry about it, readers.
The dialogue is pretty lamentable throughout. If this passage doesn’t make you groan, I can punch you as hard as I can in the stomach. Let me know:
Claudia ran over to the man in the blue parka and kicked his pistol away. She then ran to Harvath. “I thought for sure he was going to kill me,” she said.
“Not on my watch. I hear sirens, the police are getting closer. We’ve got to move.”
His description of a woman agent, “She was gorgeous,” reminds me of my puberty days reading Penthouse letters with such artistic flourishes like, “she had the biggest tits I ever seen.”
I’ll give this novel two stars simply because it was his first book. I’m going to read Brad Thor’s latest novel, Tiger Rising, and if there has been no improvement in his writing, I’ll mark this down to one, not that he gives a fuck because he sells millions of books. I don’t get it. Not even a little.
September 17, 2017
Being a fan of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series and Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series, I finally decided to give Brad Thor a shot, and for my first book of his I didn't come back disappointed!
In The Lions of Lucerne, the US President is on vacation on the snow-covered slopes of Utah, and while skiing, the President and his Secret Service team are ambushed by a group of highly-trained Hitmen, who wipe out the Secret Service agents, and kidnap the President, only one SS agent has survived the ambush, ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. While investigating the Presidents kidnapping, Harvath is framed by the conspirators for murder, and Harvath goes rogue, attempting to clear his name and find the President, travelling to the mountains of Switzerland, and teaming up with the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office, together they battle assassins and terrorists, and climb the treacherous mountains to rescue the President and bring those responsible to justice.
Harvath is a great kick-ass type character, a highly trained operative with a no-nonsense attitude who doesn't always play by the rules but always gets the job done, very similar to Flynn's Mitch Rapp character. While some parts of the book are slow and the story tends to drag a bit, it will still hold your interest right up to the end.
In The Lions of Lucerne, the US President is on vacation on the snow-covered slopes of Utah, and while skiing, the President and his Secret Service team are ambushed by a group of highly-trained Hitmen, who wipe out the Secret Service agents, and kidnap the President, only one SS agent has survived the ambush, ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. While investigating the Presidents kidnapping, Harvath is framed by the conspirators for murder, and Harvath goes rogue, attempting to clear his name and find the President, travelling to the mountains of Switzerland, and teaming up with the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office, together they battle assassins and terrorists, and climb the treacherous mountains to rescue the President and bring those responsible to justice.
Harvath is a great kick-ass type character, a highly trained operative with a no-nonsense attitude who doesn't always play by the rules but always gets the job done, very similar to Flynn's Mitch Rapp character. While some parts of the book are slow and the story tends to drag a bit, it will still hold your interest right up to the end.
August 20, 2021
I was a big fan of thrillers when I was a younger man, and recently I have been trying to get back into them, asking everyone I could about the modern generation of thriller writers. A Booktube presenter who I like and trust suggested Brad Thor, who has been publishing Scot Harvath novels since 2001. It was a good recommendation.
This book is a wild ride and a lot of fun. That being said, it is not high literature. I never expected it to be. But as thrillers go it is top notch. For a book that is twenty years old it is surprisingly relevant to today.
Harvath is the typical thriller hero -- too good at everything, and a wiseass. But I didn't care. I liked him enough to follow him anywhere and suspend my belief many many times.
I will be reading more in this series. So much fun.
This book is a wild ride and a lot of fun. That being said, it is not high literature. I never expected it to be. But as thrillers go it is top notch. For a book that is twenty years old it is surprisingly relevant to today.
Harvath is the typical thriller hero -- too good at everything, and a wiseass. But I didn't care. I liked him enough to follow him anywhere and suspend my belief many many times.
I will be reading more in this series. So much fun.
November 21, 2022
This is my first Brad Thor. He's gained a new lifetime reader. It's always a wonderful feeling when you discover someone new!
Scot Harvath is a great character. Well rounded and believable. I hate when an author has the main character sleeping with a new woman every book and so far so good. I'm not in it for the romance!
The dialogue was natural- some of the best I've seen in a while. I really hope the rest of the series doesn't become a convoluted mess. Here's hoping Brad Thor stays on a similar path!
P.S.- I'm predicting an upcoming book about Harvath's fathers' death in a 'training accident.'
Scot Harvath is a great character. Well rounded and believable. I hate when an author has the main character sleeping with a new woman every book and so far so good. I'm not in it for the romance!
The dialogue was natural- some of the best I've seen in a while. I really hope the rest of the series doesn't become a convoluted mess. Here's hoping Brad Thor stays on a similar path!
P.S.- I'm predicting an upcoming book about Harvath's fathers' death in a 'training accident.'
October 31, 2021
Somebody kidnaps the President. After rescuing the President's daughter from an avalanche, Harvath pursues the terrorists, convinced the authorities are looking in all the wrong places. He chases them to Switzerland, and they keep trying to kill him, but Harvath teams up with a beautiful Swiss cop to g after them.
Exciting stuff. you can see why it caught on. Scot's a little more annoying and whiny here than in the later books.
Exciting stuff. you can see why it caught on. Scot's a little more annoying and whiny here than in the later books.
July 17, 2009
I love thrillers, especially spy thrillers but this offering was a great disappointment.
The plot has more "coincidences" than you would hear about at a Deja Vu Society meeting. Scott Harvath, Secret Service superman, just happens to have a disguise in his safety deposit box given to him, unasked, by a grateful friend. He just happens to have a good friend in Interlaken, Switzerland who just happens to be renovating her hotel so he can stay there unnoticed. A friendly White House aide just happens to be friends with a gay man who has all kinds of information needed to crack the case and just happens to call Scott to help. Scott just happens to be in his boss's office when they are all called to the White House situation room where Scott can be the only person who knows what's going to happen. And so it goes.... to quote Kurt Vonnegut.
The characters are pure cardboard. The villains could not be more evil. The Secret Service agents could not be more dedicated. The F.B.I. agents could not be more incompetent. The Swiss prosecuting attorney could not be more beautiful and also be an accomplished climber when they need to ascend a Swiss mountain. And Scott...well he's damn near perfect and manages to survive an avalanche while saving the President's daughter's life, three or four assassination attempts, a number of thorough beatings, and a fall off a mountain all the while avoiding being captured by thousands of law enforcement personnel dedicated to catching him. What a guy!
On the positive side the action is unremitting and the story moves at breakneck speed, which explains how I was able to finish the book.
Dirk Pitt of Clive Cussler's series has nothing on Scott Harvath. They both strain credulity to the limit and beyond. I have one of Thor's later books and will try it to see if his writing improved.
The plot has more "coincidences" than you would hear about at a Deja Vu Society meeting. Scott Harvath, Secret Service superman, just happens to have a disguise in his safety deposit box given to him, unasked, by a grateful friend. He just happens to have a good friend in Interlaken, Switzerland who just happens to be renovating her hotel so he can stay there unnoticed. A friendly White House aide just happens to be friends with a gay man who has all kinds of information needed to crack the case and just happens to call Scott to help. Scott just happens to be in his boss's office when they are all called to the White House situation room where Scott can be the only person who knows what's going to happen. And so it goes.... to quote Kurt Vonnegut.
The characters are pure cardboard. The villains could not be more evil. The Secret Service agents could not be more dedicated. The F.B.I. agents could not be more incompetent. The Swiss prosecuting attorney could not be more beautiful and also be an accomplished climber when they need to ascend a Swiss mountain. And Scott...well he's damn near perfect and manages to survive an avalanche while saving the President's daughter's life, three or four assassination attempts, a number of thorough beatings, and a fall off a mountain all the while avoiding being captured by thousands of law enforcement personnel dedicated to catching him. What a guy!
On the positive side the action is unremitting and the story moves at breakneck speed, which explains how I was able to finish the book.
Dirk Pitt of Clive Cussler's series has nothing on Scott Harvath. They both strain credulity to the limit and beyond. I have one of Thor's later books and will try it to see if his writing improved.
August 24, 2008
08/23/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: LIONS OF LUCERNE by Brad Thor
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Thriller/2002/416 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: 1st Scot Harvath
TIME/PLACE: Early 2000's/Utah, Washington, DC, Switzerland
CHARACTERS: Scot Harvath/Secret Service Agent
FIRST LINES: "Senators" said Fawcett as he strode across the polished floor in his monogrammed Stubbs * Wooton opera slippers. "I'm so very pleased you could make it."
COMMENTS: Library book. Fast paced -- full of action and adventure. Don't usually like political thrillers but enjoyed this one & will most likely read on in the series. Scot Harvath is on duty w/ the president and his daughter on a ski trip in Utah. An avalanche occurs and the president is kidnapped. Many of Scott's Secret Service team have been lost. The various government agencies are not happy w/ Scott and meanwhile he has reason that there is probably someone on the inside responsible for the presidential kidnapping.
TITLE/AUTHOR: LIONS OF LUCERNE by Brad Thor
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Thriller/2002/416 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: 1st Scot Harvath
TIME/PLACE: Early 2000's/Utah, Washington, DC, Switzerland
CHARACTERS: Scot Harvath/Secret Service Agent
FIRST LINES: "Senators" said Fawcett as he strode across the polished floor in his monogrammed Stubbs * Wooton opera slippers. "I'm so very pleased you could make it."
COMMENTS: Library book. Fast paced -- full of action and adventure. Don't usually like political thrillers but enjoyed this one & will most likely read on in the series. Scot Harvath is on duty w/ the president and his daughter on a ski trip in Utah. An avalanche occurs and the president is kidnapped. Many of Scott's Secret Service team have been lost. The various government agencies are not happy w/ Scott and meanwhile he has reason that there is probably someone on the inside responsible for the presidential kidnapping.
February 4, 2019
I read this for the first time years ago. Now, after 18 Harvath books, I wanted to go back to the beginning to remind myself how it all began. I recall Scot being a very different character at the start and wasn't disappointed. If anything, I think the early books showed a Harvath with a little more emotional range. It was before he became the hero who didn't make mistakes. Going back to his time with the Secret Service was a great deal of fun.
December 30, 2015
Excellent read
June 22, 2023
Book Review – The Lions of Lucerne - Brad Thor
“The Lions of Lucerne” was my first Brad Thor book and I was more than hooked! When the President of the United States is kidnapped while on a skiing trip with his daughter, only one Secret Service agent survived the massacre – former Navy SEAL Scot (one t) Harvath. Miraculously, Harvath, the lead agent in charge of the protective detail, managed to save his and the first daughter’s life. But, burdened that he had ‘failed’ to keep the President from being kidnapped, guilt engulfed Harvath found himself ‘persona non grata’ when he started investigating the kidnapping and mass killings on his own including the cause of a catastrophic avalanche. His probing soon causes him to be a target of powerful people trying to frame him for the massacre and then attempt to assassinate him. I was completely mesmerized by the action, research and the pure adrenaline rush of The Lions of Lucerne. The story felt so real, it felt ripped from the newspaper front pages, even though it was a fiction novel. Since reading The Lions of Lucerne, I have read/listened to ‘all’ of Brad Thor’s books, and I have never been disappointed. Thor’s writing and plotting are dynamic and exhilarating. His extensive knowledge of armaments, their use, and where and how they lend importance in this, and other stories is always top notch. I loved the way Thor brought this story together, with believable clues scattered throughout and giving Harvath the pieces he needed to discover the truth all while running for his life. The entire premise seemed so real and believable that elected officials would do anything to attain more and more power. The entire kidnapping was thought out with amazing and horrifying detail by evil and manipulative intelligence on the part of the bad guys but Thor’s main character/protagonist Scot Harvath is the star! Thor’s pacing of the action and impeccable research to come up with such believable scenarios was extremely well done. His imaginative writing made me think I was there watching an action movie. Although The Lions of Lucerne was Brad Thor’s debut novel, it was so good it elevated him to be one of my few auto-buy authors and top three favorite authors. Awesome first novel by a great thriller author!
“The Lions of Lucerne” was my first Brad Thor book and I was more than hooked! When the President of the United States is kidnapped while on a skiing trip with his daughter, only one Secret Service agent survived the massacre – former Navy SEAL Scot (one t) Harvath. Miraculously, Harvath, the lead agent in charge of the protective detail, managed to save his and the first daughter’s life. But, burdened that he had ‘failed’ to keep the President from being kidnapped, guilt engulfed Harvath found himself ‘persona non grata’ when he started investigating the kidnapping and mass killings on his own including the cause of a catastrophic avalanche. His probing soon causes him to be a target of powerful people trying to frame him for the massacre and then attempt to assassinate him. I was completely mesmerized by the action, research and the pure adrenaline rush of The Lions of Lucerne. The story felt so real, it felt ripped from the newspaper front pages, even though it was a fiction novel. Since reading The Lions of Lucerne, I have read/listened to ‘all’ of Brad Thor’s books, and I have never been disappointed. Thor’s writing and plotting are dynamic and exhilarating. His extensive knowledge of armaments, their use, and where and how they lend importance in this, and other stories is always top notch. I loved the way Thor brought this story together, with believable clues scattered throughout and giving Harvath the pieces he needed to discover the truth all while running for his life. The entire premise seemed so real and believable that elected officials would do anything to attain more and more power. The entire kidnapping was thought out with amazing and horrifying detail by evil and manipulative intelligence on the part of the bad guys but Thor’s main character/protagonist Scot Harvath is the star! Thor’s pacing of the action and impeccable research to come up with such believable scenarios was extremely well done. His imaginative writing made me think I was there watching an action movie. Although The Lions of Lucerne was Brad Thor’s debut novel, it was so good it elevated him to be one of my few auto-buy authors and top three favorite authors. Awesome first novel by a great thriller author!
June 11, 2021
This was Brad Thor's first novel (2002). He's still writing and a bestseller. (I saw his latest in the grocery store.) It's a 'thriller' in the vain of Ludlum, Lee Child and so on. On all levels - it's pretty bad. Though I finished it. Notwithstanding without caring about the plot, the characters, or the writing. Here's a sample:
There wasn't time for him to think, only to react. For most, reacting without thinking could be a dangerous thing, but not when you were trained to make life-or-death decisions in milliseconds.
Yes, there's a girl: beautiful, smart, and tough. Of course, she falls in love with our hero. Matter of fact, they both save the other's life two, three times. It's so sweet.
There's a lot about what our hero eats. His dry wit. And also much about the weapons used. There's this curious fact - the bad guys are terrible shots. It's woeful. But I needed to read something like this.
In the acknowledgements, Thor tells how he always wanted to be a writer and that writing is hard. But, no worries, "It just goes to show you that everything happens for a reason and it all works out for the best." Two stars.
There wasn't time for him to think, only to react. For most, reacting without thinking could be a dangerous thing, but not when you were trained to make life-or-death decisions in milliseconds.
Yes, there's a girl: beautiful, smart, and tough. Of course, she falls in love with our hero. Matter of fact, they both save the other's life two, three times. It's so sweet.
There's a lot about what our hero eats. His dry wit. And also much about the weapons used. There's this curious fact - the bad guys are terrible shots. It's woeful. But I needed to read something like this.
In the acknowledgements, Thor tells how he always wanted to be a writer and that writing is hard. But, no worries, "It just goes to show you that everything happens for a reason and it all works out for the best." Two stars.
March 28, 2023
While waiting to check out a book at the library, I browsed the Brad Thor hardcover and description, so on a whim, I tried the audio version of Foreign Agent. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the hero Scot Harvath and the wonderful narration by Armand Schultz that I had to go find the first book in the series to read how it all began.
The Lions of Lucerne was better than I could've hoped, and love the Swiss setting of the story as it brought back many wonderful memories of my time spent at many of the stories locations. Even got me to dig out my old photo taken at the Memorial.
The Lions of Lucerne was better than I could've hoped, and love the Swiss setting of the story as it brought back many wonderful memories of my time spent at many of the stories locations. Even got me to dig out my old photo taken at the Memorial.
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