Amazon.com Review
In this incredibly fast-paced thriller, a conspiracy hatched close to the Oval Office results in the kidnapping of the president and the slaughter of a company of Secret Service agents commanded by ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. The story careers from the ski slopes of Utah to the top of Switzerland's Mount Pilatus and sets Scot on an impossible mission: recover the president, evade renegade Swiss spy Gerhard Miner and his cadre of trained agents, and elude the American conspirators who are hot on his trail. Framed for murder, his reputation in tatters, his former colleagues turned against him, Harvath finds an unlikely ally in a beautiful Swiss prosecutor who's been checkmated by Miner once too often. Together they play a high-stakes game of mixed "doubles" to save the president and uncover the conspiracy. Brad Thor's debut novel is a tightly wound spy tale that makes up in excitement what it lacks in subtlety and character development. Ludlum fans will love it. --Jane Adams

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.