ARC Arrival: The Athena Project by Brad Thor

The Athena Project

by Brad Thor

Atria

The world's most elite counterterrorism unit has just taken its game to an entirely new level.  And not a moment too soon. . .

From behind the rows of razor wire, a new breed of counterterrorism operator has emerged.

Just as skilled, just as fearsome, and just as deadly as their colleagues, Delta Force's newest members have only one thing setting them apart -- their gender.  Part of a top-secret, all-female program codenamed The Athena Project, four of Delta's best and brightest women are about to undertake one of the nation's deadliest assignments.

When a terrorist attack in Rome kills more than twenty Americans, Athena Team members Gretchen Casey, Julie Ericsson, Megan Rhodes, and Alex Cooper are tasked with hunting down the Venetian arms dealer responsible for providing the explosives.  But there is more to the story than anyone knows.

In the jungles of South America, a young U.S. intelligence officer has made a grisly discovery.  Surrounded by monoliths covered with Runic symbols, one of America's greatest fears appears to have come true.  Simultaneously in Colorado, a foreign spy is close to penetrating the mysterious secret the U.S. government has hidden beneath Denver International Airport.

As Casey, Ericsson, Rhodes, and Cooper close in on their target, they will soon learn that another attack -- one of unimaginable proportions -- has already been set in motion, and the greatest threat they face may be the secrets kept by their own government.

About the author: Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Influence, The Apostle, The Last Patriot, The First Commandment, Takedown, Blowback (recognized by NPR as one of the "100 Best Thrillers of All Time"), State of the Union, Path of the Assassin, and The Lions of Lucerne.  Visit his website at http://www.bradthor.com/.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria.  Please watch for my review in late February.~

 

The Athena Project
Publisher/Publication Date: Atria, Nov 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9295-5
336 pages

Purchased Pages and a Giveaway!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet Brad Thor at an author visit to our local library. The following is a repost of that visit:

Then, on Saturday, I got to meet Brad Thor, also a New York Times bestselling author - this time of thrillers, or I would call them political thrillers. Even though he was up for the Thriller of the Year award last night at Thriller Fest in NYC - he opted to come to our little ole library to continue his tour for his latest book - The Apostle. (The award went to Jeffrey Deaver for The Bodies Left Behind).

He was a great speaker and we got to hear about what pushed/enabled him to write his first novel, The Lions of Lucerne. His wife had asked him one evening (as they were drinking wine in Italy no less) that if he were on his deathbed, would there be any one thing that he would regret. He said he would regret never writing and publishing a novel. She told him then, that when they returned home, he needed to take 2 hours of time - everyday - and get busy, and she would do whatever it took to enable him to do that. (Behind every good man is a good woman you know!) And that is how The Lions of Lucerne was born. Since then he has written seven more novels.

He also entertained us with stories about his research for his last novel, The Apostle. He actually spent time with a Black Ops group in Afghanistan to learn how they would go about "recovering" someone who might be kidnapped. After he left Afghanistan, NYTimes reporter David Rohde was kidnapped by the Taliban, and the Black OPS group that he traveled with were the ones sent in to try to find him. (Mr Rohde has since escaped the Taliban last month after 7 months in captivity and is apparently in good health.) Mr. Thor said that was probably his scariest research he has ever done for a book. He also has a fun website full of pictures and information about his books - www.bradthor.com. I forgot my camera for this one - but the photographer for the library was nice enough to take our picture and will be emailing it later this week - so I will share it at that time.

I picked up a copy of his last book - The Last Patriot - and had it signed to giveaway to one of my readers.

I want to take the opportunity now to giveaway this book that I purchased and to share with you some of his other books that I either purchased that afternoon, or picked up through paperback swap since then.

The giveaway is for 2008 release - The Last Patriot - and it is autographed.

About the book: June 632 A.D.: The prophet Mohammed shares a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated. September 1789: Thomas Jefferson uncovers a conspiracy that could change the face of Islam. Present day: Men still kill to keep the secret hidden. When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian cafe, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried desperately to leave behind. In a race to uncover an ancient secret with the power to stop militant Islam, Harvath will risk everything to reclaim Mohammed's final revelation and defeat one of the deadliest evils the world has ever known. (from the back cover)

Easy to enter giveaway - just leave me a comment as to why you would like to win this book with your email address. Giveaway will end Aug 14. Only open to U.S. (sorry guys - this is out of pocket for me)

Other books that I have purchased this month by Brad Thor:

Title: The Lions of Lucerne

I got this book from Paperback Swap.

About the book: On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the unthinkable has happened: The President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived - ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn't buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are responsible, and begins his own campaign to find the truth - and exact revenge. But his search makes him a marked man by the sinister cabal behind the attack.

Framed for murder by the conspirators, Harvath goes on the run, taking the fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland. There, he finds an unlikely ally: the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus - and their only chance for survival is to enter the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known. . .(from the back cover)

Title: Path of the Assassin

I bought this at the author visit and had it autographed to me!
About the book: After rescuing the President from the kidnappers, Navy SEAL-turned-Secret Service agent Scot Harvath's bloody and twisting mission of revenge leads to one man: Hashim Nidal. Having assembled an internationalleague of Islamic terrorist networks in an ingenious plot to topple both Israel and America, Nidal must be immobilized. But Harvath and his CIA-led team have no idea what the man looks like and must recruit a woman who survived a brutal hijacking, the only person who can positively identify their quarry. From the burning deserts of North Africa to the winding streets of Rome, Scot Harvath's hunt for a ruthless madman has the world's survival at stake. (from the back cover)





Title: The Apostle

This is his latest book - I also purchased this one at the visit and had it autographed, too.

About the book: Every politician has a secret. And when the daughter of a politically connected family is kidnapped abroad, America's new president will agree to anything - even a deadly and ill-advised rescue plan - in order to keep his secret hidden.

A new administration and a new approach to dealing with America's enemies have left covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath without a job. But when American doctor Julia Gallo is kidnapped in Afghanistan, the terms of her ransom leave the president with only one course of action.

In a dangerous assignment that the United States government will deny any knowledge of, Scot Harvath must secretly infiltrate Kabul's notorious Policharki Prison and free the man the kidnappers demand as ransom --al-Qaoda mastermind Mustafa Khan.

But when Harvath arrives, he quickly learns that there is more to the kidnapping than anyone dares to admit. And as the subterfuge is laid bare, Harvath must examine his own career of hunting down and killing terrorists, and ask himself if he has what it takes to help one of the world's worst go free.

Brimming with the kind of ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity Brad Thor's internationally bestselling novels are known for, The Apostle doubles down on the blockbuster uccess of The Last Patriot and reaffirms Thor's status as the master of the political thriller. (from the book jacket)

His other books include State of the Union, Blowback, Takedown and The First Commandment.

The Sunday Salon 7-11-2009 (winners announced)

This is my first Sunday Salon post. Mainly because I didn't really know if I would have something to say every week - or, more honestly, that I would have something to say that anyone would care to read! But this week, I had the opportunity to attend two different author visits at my library! It was the first time that I had gone to see an author and I had so much fun!!! Ok, so let me tell you about them.

On Friday, I went to see Eloisa James. She writes historical romances for Harper Collins. I believe she said that she has written 18 books. This is a genre that I have just recently started reading. I must admit, there are some that I like, and some that I do not like. I like the historicals that are written in modern language, if that makes any sense. I have started her Duchess Quartet series - which begins with Duchess in Love and am liking it tremendously. About a week before her visit I also won a book off of her website - how coincidental was that! When I connected the two, I emailed her assistant Kim and told her how excited I was, as I had signed up to see her and that I had never been to see/hear an author before. Well, Kim told me about a luncheon they were having before the visit and so I got to have lunch with her and about 10 other fans as well.

It was very interesting to hear how Ms. James gets her ideas for books. She says that she will find little facts in history and then just start asking how and why these things might affect the people of that time period. Her book When the Duke Returns was actually brought about by toilets (water closets) and the problems that might have happened if they had not been plumbed properly, etc, etc. I bought this book as I had to see how this made for a romance!

When Ms. James is not writing she is an associate professor at Fordham University in New York City. She is currently on "leave" and will be writing an academic book for the university as well as working on her next novel. She has a fantastic webpage that is full of all sorts of goodies like her books and which ones are connected, all the different places you can find Eloisa on line and in person, and Eloisa's Easter Eggs - which will tell you different little facts about the books or pictures relating to the books, etc. So visit Eloisa today at www.eloisajames.com!

I will be hosting a giveaway for her New York Times bestseller - This Duchess of Mine which I had autographed for one of my lucky readers. That will be later this week so be sure to watch for it! She also has a new book coming out later this month - A Duke of Her Own.

Then, on Saturday, I got to meet Brad Thor, also a New York Times bestselling author - this time of thrillers, or I would call them political thrillers. Even though he was up for the Thriller of the Year award last night at Thriller Fest in NYC - he opted to come to our little ole library to continue his tour for his latest book - The Apostle. (The award went to Jeffrey Deaver for The Bodies Left Behind).

He was a great speaker and we got to hear about what pushed/enabled him to write his first novel, The Lions of Lucerne. His wife had asked him one evening (as they were drinking wine in Italy no less) that if he were on his deathbed, would there be any one thing that he would regret. He said he would regret never writing and publishing a novel. She told him then, that when they returned home, he needed to take 2 hours of time - everyday - and get busy, and she would do whatever it took to enable him to do that. (Behind every good man is a good woman you know!) And that is how The Lions of Lucerne was born. Since then he has written seven more novels.

He also entertained us with stories about his research for his last novel, The Apostle. He actually spent time with a Black Ops group in Afghanistan to learn how they would go about "recovering" someone who might be kidnapped. After he left Afghanistan, NYTimes reporter David Rohde was kidnapped by the Taliban, and the Black OPS group that he traveled with were the ones sent in to try to find him. (Mr Rohde has since escaped the Taliban last month after 7 months in captivity and is apparently in good health.) Mr. Thor said that was probably his scariest research he has ever done for a book. He also has a fun website full of pictures and information about his books - www.bradthor.com. I forgot my camera for this one - but the photographer for the library was nice enough to take our picture and will be emailing it later this week - so I will share it at that time.

I picked up a copy of his last book - The Last Patriot - and had it signed to giveaway to one of my readers. That giveaway will also happen later this week! Wasn't it an exciting weekend?

As for my other reading - I am getting behind in writing reviews. I need to write a review for Critical Care by Candace Calvert and A Promise for Breanna by Al Lacy. I am currently reading One Scream Away by Kate Brady which I will be doing a partial review on later today - as it is on a blog tour right now and today is my day to post! (It is a terrific book btw).

Coming up this week I will be reading - Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown - which I will be discussing with a group of bloggers at Bookworm With a View on Tuesday. I will also be dipping into Refuge: A True Story of Faith and Civil War by John and Bessie Gonleh for a First Wild Card Tour and The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock.

In addition to the two giveaways mentioned above, other new ones starting are Tamed by a Laird by Amanda Scott, Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer and The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock. Three giveaways are ending soon, so if you haven't signed up for Hint of Wicked, How to Score, or One Scream Away - you still have a few days left.

Since I am talking about giveaways - this would probably be a good time to tell you the winners of Knight of Desire which ended on Friday! They are:

1. Jenny,
2. kitten22,
3. nightdweller20, already won - new winner - nfmgirl
   
4. Belinda M
   
5. ibeeeg.

The winners have been notified and have until Wednesday morning to get back in touch with me.
It was nice visiting with you all and hope to see you in the salon again really soon!