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.
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.
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)
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 LucerneI 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 AssassinI 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 ApostleThis 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.
