The Last Patriot: A Thriller

The Last Patriot A Thriller by Brad Thor (based on 108 customer reviews)

(Hardcover)
Author: Brad Thor
Publisher: Atria Books

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Most useful review as voted by customers:
110 out of 120 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/1/08

Extremely entertaining and thought provoking

I became a fan of Brad Thor after I read 'The First Commandment' and could not wait for his next one. There was a very nice lady at Simon & Schuster who heard my cry and sent me a copy of this one and it did not disappoint!! Of course this one will catch a little flack because it raises some questions about the religion of Islam and questions the validity of Muhammad and the Koran. I loved how Brad interwove history in with the story and about just how long this war with some of the homicidal, radical Muslims has been going on. This is a mystery, suspense, thriller rolled up in one!

I love authors who have that special "it" that make you keep reading and reading and makes you take an extra 5 minutes on your lunch just so you can finish the chapter. The kind of writing that actually makes you tell your wife, "Hold on baby I'll hook you up after I finish this page!" Yeah, this book is THAT good! This will definitely be one of the best political-thrillers you'll read this year and will, if you aren't already, make you a die-hard fan of Mr. Thor!!

I'm not a big non-fiction reader but I love history. So I really appreciate when an author takes history and makes it fun, interesting, and not so freaking boring! I know authors (including this one) take liberties with history and the re-telling of it, but I can live with that because it just makes me go out and see if what they say is true. Did our former Presidents know about the Muslim invasions BEFORE this country was even a country? Did Adams and Jefferson know something and leave us clues to help us? Did our forefathers know how completely stupid, impotent, and P.C. our leaders would be (have) become?

I say YES to all 3 but you'll have to read this book and do your own research to figure that out. Either way 'The Last Patriot' is one heck of a book and a must read for this summer and seasons to come.

30 out of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/2/08

A Super Fine, Stay Up All Night Reading Thriller

I heard Brad Thor being interviewed on the radio, taking about how George Bush wasn't the first president to go to war against Islam, Thomas Jefferson was when he went to war against the Barbary Pirates. I was intrigued. Needless to say, by the time the interview was over, I wanted to read the book. Sadly it's Scot Harvath's seventh outing and I hadn't read the first six. However, Mr. Thor said in the interview that even though the character is reoccurring, his books are all really written as stand alone novels.

Taking Mr. Thor at his word, I decided to give his book a try and I found I could indeed identify with the characters, though I thought I might have been missing something, knowing those other books were out there. I'd have liked to see Scot's development and I'd've especially liked to have seen how his relationship with President Rutledge had begun, deteriorated then warmed again. But that being said, I enjoyed this book immensely. I bought it the day it came out, finished it during the night.

Thirty-seven-year old, ex-navy seal, ex-presidential protector is now working for a secret anti-terrorist outfit and is pretty upset that the president as let some some bad guys go from Gitmo. He's in Paris with his girlfriend at an outdoor café when he saves Professor Anthony Nichols from being blown to smithereens. It seems Iraq isn't the only place bad guys blow up cars these days and now Scot is sucked right into the thick of it.

Way back when, Mohammed had one final revelation for the Koran, but was assassinated before it was revealed. If it gets out the course of history will be changed and maybe not for the better, at least that's what some really bad people think. Scot's job, of course, find the secret. Bad guys job, of course again, stop Scot.

And where is this secret? Well there's clues out there. One buried in Thomas Jefferson's copy of DON QUOXITE. It seems Cervantes once had been a prisoner of the Barbary pirates. So we read along as Scot races along to find the clues and find the secret and while we're immersed in Scot's world we learn a bit of history, like why the Marines are called leathernecks, why they have that verse in their song "To the shores of Tripoli." Having served in the Marine Corps, I knew the answer to that last one, but you know, I never did know about that leathernecks thing. The Marines is 1815 had colors made of leather on their uniforms to protect themselves from the scimitars the Muslim's used, seems they wanted to keep their heads and if you want to fill your head with a some good escapist reading, you won't be sorry you picked up this book.

Ken Douglas, author of Scorpion, Running Scared & Dead Ringer.

18 out of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/1/08

Timely and Tantalizing

K.F. Zuzulo is the author of A Genie in the House of Saud: Zubis Rises

Many thriller writers today, (I think of Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, and James Rollins) are so thorough with research and adept at writing that you can imagine that the premises they write about are true. But that's the fun of fiction (for me anyway). And Brad Thor is at the helm of this illustrious crew of writers with his brand new novel, The Last Patriot. I bought this book the minute the bookstore opened on release day, thinking I would bring it with me to the beach. Well, I made it as far as the hammock in my own backyard and couldn't put it down until it was finished.

The plot is woven around a supposed missing chapter of the Koran, because of which the Prophet may have been killed. Other deaths follow in his wake throughout the centuries as militants desperately maneuver to squash the secret. I was on the edge of my hammock as the trail leads from Rome and DC to Langley, VA, Paris, back again and to the British Virgin Islands (did I say this is a great vacation read?)

Thor builds a compelling case for the possibility of such events occurring in real time (a mastery of fiction). And he has the background to make each scenario exciting and realistic. Thor served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Analytic Red Cell Program. You can hear the voices of his current, non-fiction sources in the information he's gathered to weave his story. The information is timely and much of it is relatively accurate. But, remember, it's fiction; so don't get carried away by the shuddering possibility of the scenes Thor paints.

The characters are boldly and clearly drawn. I especially like the electricity the main character Scot Horvath generates as he chases down the truth and the bad guys.

If you like reading action and strategy and hair-raising situations, and love characters with integrity and grit, you won't be disappointed.

16 out of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/2/08

Thor KNOWS how to write a controversial thriller...and this is IT

The character of Scot Harvath has been one of my recent favorites in the last 3-4 years since discovering Thor's books, and 'The Last Patriot' virtually cements this bold character into (at least MY version) of great leading Action/Adventure Hero's.

Controversy is nothing new to Brad Thor by any means...however, with that said, I believe he is courting a whole new set of problems, or seriously potential problems with the storyline here. Religion in general is a very touchy subject, but as we have seen over the last decade or so, even fictionalizing specific events in Muslim History can be viewed as MAJOR Blasphemy--the kind that involves life-threatening retaliation. Don't believe me? Anybody remember Salmon Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses'? 'Nuff said. I heard an interview done with Thor on Glenn Beck and I'm not the only one concerned here. I honestly feel that if somewhere, sometime soon if I read about Brad Thor being the target of Terrorists, well, let's just say it won't surprise me (read the book and you'll understand).

The book, though is a hum-dinger of a story. Easily Thor's best-to-date. Like other reviewers, I like when events in history are tied in with current storylines, and I REALLY like it when its done right...and I am happy to say Thor really nails it with this latest installment. Action on top of intrigue firmly attached to a healthy dose of adrenaline mixed with a Titanic-sized load of action and you have an idea of how well constructed 'The Last Patriot' truly is. I have enjoyed these books a lot since I first began them, but this one seriously places the bar at a level that is amazingly high compared to the previous Tales of Scot Harvath--and THEY were great, if that tells you anything.

One thing I enjoy in particular about Harvath is that no matter how death-defying his exploits end up being, I always find myself thinking that were I under similar circumstances, and I had Scot's talent, what Thor describes is pretty much dead-on with how I feel I would act and say--or at least what I'd like to THINK I would act and feel if our roles were reversed--which I am glad they aren't.

For those who are fans of how Cussler takes historical events and weaves a seamless tale of adventure into a modern tale of action, you honestly owe it to yourself to give Brad Thor a try--and while you don't HAVE to start at the beginning to appreciate each book, I personally feel that by starting with 'The Lions of Lucerne' you will get a much better appreciation not only for the character of Scot Harvath, but you will get a ringside seat to Thor's growing talent for storytelling that just gets better with each book...no REALLY.

Kudos to Thor for not just a good addition to this series, but EASILY the best to date by a country mile...and that's saying a LOT.

15 out of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/16/08

The threat of Islam as a well-done thriller

Thriller authors generally need a real world enemy to wrap their story around. Few are like Michael Chrichton who invent everything. No, for most thriller authors, it is the threat of the moment that matters. Nazism and Communism have had their day, but today belongs to radical Islam.

Brad Thor has cranked out several very good thrillers, but "The Last Patriot" is one of his best.

Former Navy SEAL, Secret Service agent and Presidential troubleshooter Scot (with one "t") Harvath is in Paris with his girlfriend Tracy Hastings, who is still recovering from injuries received in her job as a Naval demolitions specialist. Scot observes a car being stolen and another car pulling into the vacated parking space. His intuitive sense of action is aroused and he pulls Tracy away from the cafe where they were sitting. Passing a bookstore, a stranger in a hurry bumps into them and starts crossing the street. Scot senses trouble and covers the stanger with his own body as a car bomb goes off.

Borrowing liberally from Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code", Thor plunges Harvath into a labybrinth of clues, assasins, plots and counter-plots as a search for the prophet Mohammed's rumored last revelation which has the potential to change the nature of Islam.

The action never stops. A former CIA assassin, Matthew Dowd, now a dedicated convert to Islam and a stone-cold killer is murdering his way toward the secret. The President's man is looking for the secret. Soon the CIA and FBI are involved. Thomas Jefferson's 1805 war against the Barbary pirates is invoked as other aspects of Jefferson's wide ranging interests and genius. The plot moves from one bit of violence to another, with nary a thoughtful moment in between. In other words, this a perfectly satisfying thriller, an American flag waver.

Thor's characters have a bit of depth. Scot Harvath's exploits just make you want to stand up and cheer (provided you support the United States and its goals). Thor is particularly aggressive in his views of radical Islam and the poltically correct multiculturalists in the United States and elsewhere who are yielding democracy to a theocracy.

As noted, the plot borrows heavily from "The DaVinci Code" with the protagonist having to piece together bits of a puzzle while the bad guys are trying to kill the good guys. From time to time, Thor asks the reader to accept a jump in logic or an implausible happening, such as hairbreadth escapes. But Thor is a strong enough writer to carry the reader over the occasional chasm.

The ending, however, is on the weak side and a real stretch. I don't know if Thor ran out of time or ideas, but the last few pages weren't nearly as satisfying as those that went before.

Still, for thriller fans, "The Last Patriot" is a wonderfully jingoistic, red, white and blue story, filled with All-American heroes and nasty bad guys. Great fun reading!

Jerry

14 out of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/17/08

Another Winner From Brad Thor!

In the Uranah Valley of Mount Arafat in Mecca Mohammed shares with his devout followers a final revelation. Days afterward he is assassinated.
Thomas Jefferson,U.S. Misister to France is charged with making peace with the Muslim pirates of the Barbary Coast.
Scot Harvath has left the clandestine life. In Paris Harvath saves the intended of a car bomb,Professor Anthony Nichols. Because of his life saving act Harvath becomes party to cracking the true secrets of the Koran. There is proof that the final writings of Mohammed have not been brought to light. If this evidence can be obtained militant Islam can be defeated. But there are powerful forces aligned to stop this search.
Muslim groups have the services of Matthew Dodd who has become a Muslim going by the name pf Majd al-Din. He was a former CIA assassin who was
one of the deadliest. He staged his death and dissapeared. He is now the
enforcement arm of the militant Muslims. Harvath and Nichols are following evidence that could lead them to the needed information that
they are seeking. On every corner they have to do battle with Matthew Dodd. This book is action packed throughout. I found it especially
interesting to learn Thomas Jefferson's history with the Muslims. This is
another page turning book from Brad Thor.

12 out of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/3/08

Will This Author Draw A Fatwa?

A thriller with format similarities to "Davinci Code"...as much character development as one should expect from a book with this much action...miraculous escapes from danger not as far-fetched as Cussler...building to an exceptionally good ending. Unlike the author of "Davinci Code" and to Thor's credit, he includes a disclaimer after the epilogue - as to which parts of his book are fact and which are fiction.

Thor wrote this book, wondering "if there was a way I could combine the historical relevance of the Koran with Thomas Jefferson's experience with the Barbary pirates to create a thriller that would be relevant today." He then builds the book around the murderously competitive search for a previously little-known final chapter of the Koran - one that condemns violence. It seems Mohammed was assassinated over this chapter, which subsequently disappeared. Too many of his contemporaries were making their livings by looting and pillaging.

According to Thor, the tendency to violence by some radical Muslims is enabled by the policy of abrogation. That is - if two verses in the Koran conflict, the later verse takes precedence. If a last sura were found advocating peaceful co-existence, it would abrogate the earlier violent suras. According to the story, the discovery, publication, and authentization of this chapter would deal a death blow to the radical elements of Islam and force moderation in the religion.

There are items of interest to the religious scholar scattered throughout this book - for example: the moderate Muslim scholar who didn't think the Koran was perfect. Instead, he thought it contained errors of fact about human physiology, the stars and planets, and other mistakes one would expect in a book written by a man in the 600's. In another chapter, the author mentions the so-called satanic verses - where Mohammed, in an arrangement with his family's tribe, claimed it was legitimate to pray to three pagan goddesses as intermediaries to Allah. Later, he said the devil made him do it. Salman Rushdie named a book after these verses, subsequently having to live for years in hiding with armed guards. As a result of publicity from the fatwa, Rushdie probably sold a lot more copies of "Satanic Verses" than he would have otherwise. Whether political pressure had anything to do with it, the fatwa on Rushdie was eventually withdrawn.

This book would make an excellent movie for any studio with big enough cojones to consider it. No group should get a free pass from scrutiny just because it happens to be a religion. Most Christian would tell you that criticism has not seemed to hurt their cause through the years. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

DB

11 out of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/5/08

Post 9/11 Thriller

I heard Brad Thor being interviewed on the radio, taking about how George Bush wasn't the first Western leader to go to war against Islam, The French nobles combined with the English Crusaders and Spanish Christians went to war and sacked Jerusalem more times than historians can remember. The City of Jerusalem has been the cause of religous wars since time was recorded, and continues to do the same thing now. I was intrigued by the publics lack of historical knowledge in their response to the interview. Needless to say, by the time the interview was over, I wanted to read the book. I read and write novel about Islamic Terrorism, and terrorism in general. As a witness to an IRA bombing in Warrington England the subject terrifies me.
Mr. Thor said in the interview that even though the main character is reoccurring, his books are all really written as stand alone novels. On the back of this one I have a lot of reading to do, it`s excellent.
Taking Mr. Thor at his word, I decided to give his book a try and I enjoyed this book immensely. I bought it the day it came out, finished it during the night.

Way back when, Mohammed had one final revelation for the Koran, but was assassinated before it was revealed. If it gets out the course of history will be changed and maybe not for the better, at least that's what some really bad people think. Scot's job, of course, find the secret. Bad guys job, of course again, stop Scot.

And where is this secret? Well there's clues out there. One buried in Thomas Jefferson's copy of DON QUOXITE. It seems Cervantes once had been a prisoner of the Barbary pirates. So we read along as Scot races along to find the clues and find the secret and while we're immersed in Scot's world we learn a bit of history, like why the Marines are called leathernecks, why they have that verse in their song "To the shores of Tripoli." Having served in the Marine Corps, I knew the answer to that last one, but you know, I never did know about that leathernecks thing. The Marines in 1815 had collors made of leather on their uniforms to protect themselves from the scimitars the Muslim's used, seems they wanted to keep their heads and if you want to fill your head with a some good escapist reading, you won't be sorry you picked up this book.

11 out of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/2/08

exhilarating thriller

Former Navy SEAL thirty-seven year old Scot Horvath has left Homeland Security to get out of the covert operations business and start a fresh new life away from mass murdering terrorists who claim their ideology is blessed by God. He wants a normal life and feels as he closes in on forty undercover operations is a younger persons game. He also remains shook up that his significant other former Naval Explosive Ordinance Technician Tracy Hastings lost an eye and almost her life and almost died at the hands of some rabid avenging assassin.

They talk at a Paris café when Scot notices an Arab setting off an IED that targets University of Virginia Professor Anthony Nichols, who as he vanishes turns out to be a lot more than a highly regarded history teacher. The two retirees soon learn of the discovery of a seventh century version of the Koran in which the Prophet Mohammed informed his disciples of a radically different vision than that found in the Koran of today; if the lost revelation is published the Jihad extremists would lose much of their religious claims. Clues lead to President Jefferson's war on the Tripoli pirates and the third president's notes in an original copy of Don Quixote. Although they expect to learn more investigating Monticello, the American in Paris and President Jack Rutledge must end their estrangement caused by the incidents in his last assignment (see THE FIRST COMMANDMENT) while the Muslim extremists want the two Americans stopped.

This is an exhilarating thriller mindful of the Da Vinci Code but different that will hook the audience from the moment that Scot and Tracy learn of the lost revelation and never slows down until the final incredible spin. A critical key to this engaging tale is that the romantic relationship between the lead couple is limited as the inquiry and safety supersede everything. Brad Thor provides a strong insightful tale that links seemingly unconnected historical dots leading to the contemporary sleuthing by Scot and Tracy; accompanied by enthralled fans of the series.

Harriet Klausner

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