The Athens Solution

Scot Harvath #15.5

by Brad Thor

In this action-packed story by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author, a covert agent faces off against a terrorist cell armed with a powerful weapon.A deadly betrayal is at the center of ”The Athens Solution.” When a game-changing weapon falls into the wrong hands, the US Ambassador to Greece must risk everything to recover it, even if it means participating in a ruse that costs his life. With the ambassador dead and the device still at large, covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath rushes to eliminate a terror cell about to sell the dangerous technology to Iran. As the sun sets on the Aegean Sea, Harvath must go head-to-head with a traitorous adversary in a confrontation that puts the fate of America and her allies at risk . . . Originally published in the short story anthology, Thriller, ”The Athens Solution” has been revised and includes a brand new, bonus afterword. This riveting addition to the Scot Harvath thrillers delivers all the pulse-pounding action and high stakes fans have come to know and love from Brad Thor. Without a doubt, ”The Athens Solution” will leave fans hungry for more!Praise for “The Athens Solution”“Nobody can pack as much action into fifty pages as Brad Thor . . . Undoubtedly the best short story I’ve ever read.” —The Real Book Spy

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Spy Thriller, Short Stories, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Action

29 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

BRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven thrillers, including CHOKE POINT, COLD ZERO, EDGE OF HONOR, 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).

CHOKE POINT is on sale now. For more information, visit BradThor.com.

Reviews

[Matt]

In this short story, Thor ramps up the action in only a few pages and offers readers a great literary piece to accompany a brief cup of tea. When the US Ambassador to Greece is shown a piece of technology able to manipulate sensitive information, he organises its purchase with the backing of the White House. During the transaction, a number of Americans are killed and the technology kept from the safety of US control. The terrorist organisation 21 August claims responsibility and is brokering a deal to sell the technology to the highest bidder. Enter Scot Harvath, who arrives in Greece to acquire the technology and ensure it does not fall into enemy hands. However, what Harvath discovers is anything but expected, placing him in the crosshairs and subject to becoming the hunted.

Brad Thor has built his protagonist over a number of novels and short pieces, creating a persona that entertains as well as educates. In this short piece, Harvath is sent on another of his harrowing missions with only minimal assistance, but with the safety of the Free World resting on his shoulders. This is a great story, which reads quickly, and is full of trademark Harvath wit. Perhaps too brief to fully appreciate any character development, but highly entertaining nonetheless, while showing the reader that things cannot always turn out as one can hope, even for the hero.

Kudos Mr. Thor. Great work as you help ardent fans bridge the time until the next full-length novel comes out.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Tim]

Super short and a lackluster effort in my opinion. 2 of 10 stars

[Bren fall in love with the sea.]

Damn, was this a spectacular ride!

The Athens Solution is as delicious as it sounds. It's a thriller set in Athens Greece and man is it suspenseful. It's made me an instant fan of this writer whose work I was not familiar with until now.

Will be writing a full review another day. Let me just say that reading the author's afterword was as great as reading the story. He talks about how he fell in love with Greece. So did I and I've yet to visit. And yet the country is always in my thoughts.

So is Egypt. I became obsessed with Greek Mythology as a child and those breathtaking Greek villas.

This is five stars and will expand on the review later in the week.

[Matthew]

This was a short, short story! I downloaded the audio from my library as I have read the Brad Thor novels and getting access to this seemed pretty easy through Hoopla. However, I discovered quickly that while the audio version was a bit over an hour long, 10 minutes of it is afterward and 25 minutes of it is an extract from one of the novels.

It was okay – the subject matter and exposition seemed to be opening up on a bigger story, but kind of just ended. A few of the ideas were pretty cool. Thor’s main character, Scot Harvath, is in it, but you don’t really get a chance to settle in with him before it ends.

So, not bad, but not great – probably only for hardcore Thor fans as it won’t be all that interesting without already knowing Harvath. I would say 2.5 stars – rounding up to 3 as I feel like, based on the afterward, my feelings on this are kind of what Thor was expecting; just a little something extra for his fans based on some of his earlier short story work.

[Henry]

Enjoyable short story for fans of Thor's Scot Harvath character.

[Skip]

Scot Harvath is dispatched with no back-up to recover a formidable weapon before it can be sold by a terror cell to Iran. A very short story, packed with action, but nothing is resolved. Not worth reading in my opinion.

[Dee Haddrill]

Read out of order but a great novella nonetheless. Brad Thor is a brilliant writer and this one is no exception.

[Kris Marasca]

This was 54 pages of nothing. I haven't read a short story in some time but, if I recall, they have a beginning, a middle and an ending. The Athens Solution had no ending. It read more like the "bonus chapter" of a new novel that would be found at the back of an older one. It was only 99 cents, but I still feel as if I were ripped off.

[Douglas Barrow]

Well that was a fast read! Started and finished it over my lunch hour. When it comes to Brad Thor's writings I do tend to be a bit selfish; I always want more! I liked it though. Amazing how much intrigue, suspense and surprise can be packed into such a short story.

[Cyndy]

I liked this. That said, I am not a fan of short stories; I much prefer novels. I truly felt while reading, that this was an alternate ending to one of Mr. Thor's previous novels, although the Author Notes mention the short story was published before, they also mentioned The Lions of Lucerne as associated to Greece. Worth the 99 cents if you are a fan of Mr. Thor.

[carl clause]

Carl's review

Another great story. Brad Thor should write my short stories in between books. That way we can enjoy the wait. Brad ,Lee Child,Daniel Silva and Kylie Mills should collaborate on a book of short stories. Can't wait for Foreign Agent. Brad is one of my greatest authors. Thanks !!!!

[Greg Chesser]

A really short story, but an intense thriller just the same.

[Timothy Kaiser]

Great short story by Brad Thor, just like all his previous books, you can't put it down!

[Anna]

Great really short story. I love everything Brad Thor has written.

[Angela]

4 Stars

‘Scot Harvath is an ex-Navy SEAL Secret Service agent…. First he rescues President Rutledge and saves his daughter Amanda as head of his security detail, later he is a covert counter-terrorism agent. He travels around the world, ignores pain and wounds, gets the villains, girls, jokes with comrades.’

The Athens Solution is Book #15.5 in the Scot Harvath Series by Brad Thor. This collection delivers a high-octane blend of espionage, political intrigue, and relentless action that kept my little thriller-loving-heart hooked right from the very first page. Following the journey of Scot Harvath - an ex–Navy SEAL turned covert counterterrorism operative - the books deliver a gripping mix of tactical realism, high-stakes, global impact, and deeply personal challenges.
The pacing is razor-sharp - and missions unfold with vivid intensity, yet there’s enough breathing room for moments of reflection, emotion, and moral complexity. And it appears that Mr. Thor meticulously researched military tactics, intelligence operations, and international affairs - which gives the series authenticity, while his knack for cliffhangers ensured I was reaching for the next book immediately.
Well worth the binge.
Happy Reading…

[Jason]

This is a great tease!

[Glen]

For a short story this is everything I expect a Thor story to be. It would be great to see him write more short stories.

[Ian]

Just a quick short story adding to the characters. Not sure but it read like it was Book 13.5 not 14.5?? Still a good way to spend an hour.

[Kristine]

48 pages. That’s it.

[Josh]

This was a good story, but it was WAY too short. The whole thing could have been the prologue to a novel. There were sections that were glossed over that would normally have been fleshed out in a longer work, and it felt missing here. I was kind of disappointed in that about half of what I thought was the story's length was actually a preview of another book. So this story was only HALF the length I thought it was. It only cost a buck, but still - I've gotten a lot more book from a buck before than this.

[Clwseattle]

Good grief. Outside of children's books, I think The Athens Solution is the shortest short story I've ever read. It literally took me all of 10 minutes.

The main parts of a story consist of five elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, and RESOLUTION.

The lead up to the plot is vintage Thor and Horvath, but it ends is like a cold bath. There is no ending, just a tempting dangle that apparently goes nowhere . . . you know, because there is NO solution in Athens.

3 disappointed Stars

[Bryan Lee]

Great little short story by Brad Thor. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who hasn't read any of the previous "Scott Harvath" novels as it is built around his other books. However, it is very entertaining and fits into the ongoing storyline nicely. I'm looking forward to his new book later this year.

[Jaume Ayala]

Not possible for me to rate this one.... as it's tagged as being the #15.5 book in Scot Harvath series, I already was expecting a "short" novel but, in fact, it's not a short novel but just like an article. I read it in just 5 mins and was totally astonished realizing it was already finished.
(Note: I was reading in an ebook, so not an idea from physical item to undersand was really so short)

[John]

A Good SHORT story!

This was a very good short story, as much as I consider Brad Thor one of my top three authors, I would really have like to see this story turned into a full length novel. Be advised, it is short, but every bit as good as Mr. Thor's previous works.

[Bern Jones]

The Athens Solution

As always Brad Thor doesn't disappoint!!! You will love this short story like all his other works. Enjoy the read.

[Ed]

#14.5 in the Scot Harvath series. This 2015 short story from author Thor is a slightly revised version of the original published in 2006 as part of the Thriller Anthology. It is listed as #14.5 but it seems that perhaps it should be #13.5 since it is marketed with a preview of #14 Code of Conduct
(2015). The story is a piece of anti-terrorist Scot Harvath's career, I found it disappointing because it reads like the prologue to a novel. My taste in short stories calls for them to replace the plot or character development that there is no room for due to length restrictions with some sort of a twist to complete the tale. Here the author provides a twist but continues with what amounts to a cliff-hanger or tease to the next (non-existent) installment.

Hidden deep within one of the world's most powerful organizations is a secret committee with a devastating agenda. Its members are afforded incredible protections-considered elites, untouchables. But when four seconds of video is captured halfway around the world and anonymously transmitted to D.C., covert wheels are set in motion, and counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is tapped to undertake the deadliest assignment of his career. What begins as a favor will evolve into a globe-spanning drama of highly personal stakes played out against a backdrop of stunning international intrigue, duplicitous political gamesmanship, and the darkest, most clandestine fears of the espionage world.

[Maureen Lamb]

The Athens Solution a lightning-paced short story. It is well written and a very quick read. I enjoyed it.

A deadly betrayal is at the center of The Athens Solution. When a game-changing weapon falls into the wrong hands, the US Ambassador to Greece must risk everything to recover it, even if it means participating in a ruse that costs his life. With the ambassador dead and the device still at large, covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath rushes to eliminate a terror cell about to sell the dangerous technology to Iran. As the sun sets on the Aegean Sea, Harvath must go head-to-head with a traitorous adversary in a confrontation that puts the fate of America and her allies at risk.

[Mcf1nder_sk]

This is a short story that is part of the Scot Horvath series that I have loved since the first book, The Lions of Lucerne, came out in 2002. Scot Horvath is a former Navy SEAL who became a part of the President's security detail with the Secret Service. He was then asked to become a one-man team to deal with those enemies of America who couldn't be reasoned with. This short story involves Scot going to Greece to avenge the assassination of the US ambassador, but of course, there's a twist. I don't post spoilers; read the book if you're curious.

[Mitch Davies]

The Athens Solution is a short, action-packed novella set within the Scott Harvath universe. Though brief, Brad Thor still manages to deliver plenty of intrigue, suspense, and his signature fast-paced style. The novella follows a covert mission involving a financial conspiracy, and while it’s not as deep or complex as the full-length novels, it serves as a great quick read for fans of the series. The characters are engaging, and the plot moves at a brisk pace, making it a solid entry into the Harvath world. A perfect filler between the larger novels.

[dennis barron]

The Athens Solution. Brad Thor

A short novella which is a sequel to the Scott Harvath series. The U.S. ambassador to Greece is assassinated trying to hopefully recover a very dangerous technical device from terrorist. A clever ploy to deceive former navy seal now covert operative Scott Harvath. Enjoyed!