The Scot Harvath Series by Brad Thor | Book Review

“If you steadfastly refused to quit, you rapidly narrowed your options to only winning.” ~Brad Thor, Hidden Order

I have an annual reading tradition that I started in 2017 wherein I binge-read one entire book series. It usually comprises a single character series written by the same author which I read in sequence from start to finish. In past binge reads I have read the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling, The Tracy Crosswhite Series by Robert Dugoni, and The Gray Man Series by Mark Greaney, among others. You can find more details on my annual binge-reads in my Instagram Story Highlights.

I had planned to take up Brad Thor’s thriller series for my annual binge-read in 2021. Having read Near Dark (Book #19) from the series in 2020, and enjoyed it immensely, I was eager to follow the lead character’s story from the start.

The idea of reading an entire series comprising nearly twenty books sounded daunting, considering it would also be the highest number of books I would read for my one-author-one-character series annual tradition. And yet I was drawn in by the compelling character I had met in Near Dark.

As plans have a tendency to go awry, I couldn’t take this up in 2021 due to other commitments and deferred it to 2022. Towards the end of 2022 I realised I had a little over two months left and now was as good a time as any to get started on it. So, on the night of October 31st, 2022, I finally opened up the Brad Thor folder on my eReader and began reading.

The Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor comprises of 21 novels (of which I had already read one) and 3 short stories. My aim was to finish these 23 books between November and December. I completed the reading on 23rd December 2022 by the end of which I had also re-read Near Dark because I was so absorbed in the flow of events that it didn’t make sense to skip one book. Now being familiar with all of Harvath’s history, it was an entirely new experience to read it again. I wrapped the binge-read session with The Athena Project which is written in the same universe but is led by a female team introduced in book #9.The lead character in Brad Thor’s thriller series is Scot Harvath – a lethal operative who started as a U.S. Navy SEAL that led him to the Secret Service where he was tasked on Presidential Protective Detail. He then moved to do contract work for the CIA before going into the private sector as a covert counter-terrorism agent.

I could go on why the series is worth spending your time on but I doubt I have enough space to cover all I would want to say. But it bears to point out that I did read 25 books in continuity, with barely a moment’s breath in between.

The series was immensely engrossing in how each book took the story forward on an entirely new adventure but was linked to a continuing backstory. It does bring me to ponder on the fact that the author has spent over two decades building this character who goes through major professional and personal upheaval. It’s tremendously fun to complete one book and be able to jump into the next one right away when the plot is rife with tension and you can’t wait to know what happens next.

Of the many characters introduced over the course of these 25 books, my other favourite after Scot Harvath is Nicholas a.k.a. The Troll. At one point he was Harvath’s arch nemesis but as is seen in the world of espionage, sometimes one calls upon one’s enemy to fight another. Harvath and Nicholas’ equation gradually changes and over time they end up working closely towards a common goal. Nicholas is an unusual character, the type you rarely come across, and yet his story in the larger scheme of things continued to engage me.

I am also going to take a moment to talk about the last book in the series till date – Rising Tiger – which is set almost entirely in India. Here, Scot Harvath is assisted by a retired IPS officer and a female RAW agent. The plot is built around real events that took place in India which are fictionalised for the purpose of this thriller. I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed this, especially as I am yet to come across an international thriller set in India with Indian characters.

I am simply thrilled I could finally read these books and have enjoyed every moment, every page, every character. As I said before after reading Near Dark, Scot Harvath’s moral compass always pointing due north despite his deadly persona is what endears him to you. Needless to say, I am a big fan of the spy-thriller genre and this was exactly what I needed to wrap up another fantastic year of reading.

Brad Thor has already announced his next book in the series – Dead Fall – due for publication in the Summer of 2023 and I am already looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, I am looking up suggestions for my 2023 binge-read so if you have any suggestions for one-author-one-character book series, drop them in the comments below.

The Scot Harvath Series and The Athena Project by Brad Thor. Published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster UK, Simon and Schuster India.

Books 46-70 of 2022.

Aquamarine Flavours Rating: .

Available on Amazon*:

1. The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath 01) – Published 2002
2. Path of the Assassin (Scot Harvath 02) – Published 2003
3. State of the Union (Scot Harvath 03) – Published 2004
4. Blowback (Scot Harvath 04) – Published 2005
5. Takedown (Scot Harvath 05) – Published 2006
6. The First Commandment (Scot Harvath 06) – Published 2007
7. The Last Patriot (Scot Harvath 07) – Published 2008
8. The Apostle (Scot Harvath 08) – Published 2009
9. Foreign Influence (Scot Harvath 09) – Published 2010
10. Full Black (Scot Harvath 10) – Published 2011
11. Black List (Scot Harvath 11) – Published 2012
12. Free Fall (Scot Harvath 11.5) – Published 2013
13. Hidden Order (Scot Harvath 12) – Published 2013
14. Epilogue II- A Bonus Chapter to Hidden Order (Scot Harvath 12.5) – Published 2013
15. Act of War (Scot Harvath 13) – Published 2014
16. Code of Conduct (Scot Harvath 14) – Published 2015
17. The Athens Solution (Scot Harvath 14.5) – Published 2015
18. Foreign Agent (Scot Harvath 15) – Published 2016
19. Use of Force (Scot Harvath 16) – Published 2017
20. Spymaster (Scot Harvath 17) – Published 2018
21. Backlash (Scot Harvath 18) – Published 2019
22. Near Dark (Scot Harvath 19) – Published 2020
23. Black Ice (Scot Harvath 20) – Published 2021
24. Rising Tiger (Scot Harvath 21) – Published 2022
25. The Athena Project – Published 2010

About Photo: No matter how grave a situation he is caught in, Scot Harvath will rise from the dead like a phoenix, a term also used to describe Nicholas a.k.a The Troll. Considering how well it fits my two favourite characters, I made a flaming phoenix to pair with this book series.

This 3d papercraft model of the phoenix is cut from 210gsm cartridge paper using a template by Canon Creative Park.

About the Author: Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two thrillers, including Black Ice, 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).

Brad has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Channel, CNN, CNN Headline News, The Blaze, and MSNBC (among others) to discuss terrorism, as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today.

Brad has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Analytic Red Cell Unit. He has also lectured to law enforcement organizations on over-the-horizon/future threats, and has been a keynote speaker for the National Tactical Officers Association annual conference. In 2008, Brad shadowed a Black Ops team in Afghanistan to research his thriller, The Apostle.

Brad graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California where he studied creative writing, film, and television production. Prior to becoming a novelist, Brad was the award-winning creator, producer, writer and host of the critically acclaimed national public television series, Traveling Lite.

You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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