Product Description

Six months ago: In the dead of the night, five of the most dangerous detainees in the war on terror are pulled from their isolation cells in Guantanamo Bay, held at gunpoint, and told to strip off their orange jumpsuits. Issued civilian clothes and driven to the base airfield, they are loaded aboard a Boeing 727 and set free.

Present day: Covert counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath awakens to discover that his world has changed violently -- and forever. A sadistic assassin with a personal vendetta is wreaking havoc of biblical proportions. Unleashing nightmarish horrors on those closest to Harvath, the attacker thrusts everything Harvath holds dear -- including his life -- into absolute peril.

Ordered by the president to stay out of the investigation, Harvath is forced to mount his own operation to uncover the conspiracy and to exact revenge. When he discovers a connection between the attacks and a group of prisoners secretly released from Guantanamo, Harvath must ask himself previously unthinkable questions about the organizations and the nation he has spent his life serving.

A renegade from his own government, Harvath will place his life on the line as his search for the truth draws him into a showdown with one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth.

Brad Thor roars through this nonstop adventure full of international intrigue, twisted betrayals, and ultimate revenge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127239 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416543794
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Thor's latest thrill-ride begins in anguish. Scot Harvath, navy SEAL turned Homeland Security superagent, sits at the bedside of girlfriend Tracy Hastings, who's in a deep coma after being gravely wounded at the end of Takedown. Meanwhile, five terrorists have been released from Guantánamo Bay as part of a secret hostage deal forced upon U.S. president Jack Rutledge. When one of the terrorists starts targeting Scot's friends and family, Scot discovers that the president won't allow the assassin to be hunted down. Soon enough, Scot is on the run from his own government and in pursuit of the killer. Many characters make appearances from earlier books, in particular Scot's ongoing nemesis, the fascinating, intelligence-gathering expert known as the Troll. It's a long, violent, shoot-'em-up, blow-'em-up pulse-pounder that will leave Thor's fans cheering and begging for more. (Aug.)
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Review
"Fast-paced and action-packed. Sure to please his many fans and gain new ones. Immensely satisfying and highly recommended." -- Library Journal

Review
"Brad Thor proves again to be a brutal master of suspense. The First Commandment is as riveting as it is relentless. A must-read for our times!"--James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Black Order and The Judas Strain

"Brad Thor knows how to excite the senses. The First Commandment is an adrenaline-charged, slick thriller, packed with suspense, that never relents. Another winner from a proven master." -- Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Alexandria Link

"Fast-paced and action-packed. Sure to please his many fans and gain new ones. Immensely satisfying and highly recommended." -- Library Journal

"Readers who like Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts will love Brad Thor -- quite possibly the next coming of Robert Ludlum."-- Chicago Tribune

Customer Reviews

Brad Thor raises the adrenalin with this terrific thriller.
President Jack Rutledge authorizes a deal with terrorists. Although the American government leaders always insist they will never negotiate with terrorists even for the release of hostages, he secretly releases five hardcore known terrorists locked away at Guantomino as part of a deal to protect at risk children. In fairness his advisors told them they can keep this quintet under control with monitoring of the isotope they put in the blood of these killers.

The President's advisors missed another slammed dunk when they lose sight of the fearsome five. Just under six months later, an assassin shoots Homeland Security agent Scot Harvath's girlfriend Tracy Hastings (see TAKEDOWN), leaving her comatose and he furious as isotopic blood is found at the crime scene. Soon afterward, his mother is attacked by locusts and some friends of Harvath murdered. He knows someone is coming for him, through his loved ones. Harvath begins to make inquiries, but is told to stay out of it. Even before these incidents he knew the leadership saw him as an expendable renegade so he ignores the order to take no action against the person methodically destroying his loved ones.

TAKEDOWN is an exciting action-packed frightening thriller; THE FIRST COMMANDMENT is as exhilarating and action-packed, but even more frightening as the plausibility of the plot will not be questioned. Harvath is at his anguished best in this often violent tale as he is ordered to do nothing although his counter terrorist instincts are screaming to go on the offense. The return of several characters from previous books enhances the feel of the long term concept of the war against terrorism as Brad Thor raises the adrenalin with this terrific thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Not to be Missed!!!
Brad Thor is one of the best. Right up there with Vince Flynn for writing topical thrillers that entertain and educate, this may be the most tightly written of his six novels that it has been my pleasure to read. The protagonist of these books is Scot Harvath a former Navy SEAL and Homeland Scurity operative.

This book picks up where the last one, "Takedown" leaves off. At the end of that book, Scot Harvath's girlfriend Tracy steps out on the porch of his home and is felled by an assassin's bullet which is just enough off target to spare her life, but serious enough to put her in a coma and on a ventilator.

Harvath does not realize it at the time, but that attack on Tracy is the first of several that are planned for people close to Harvath. Who is carrying out the attacks, who is planning them and why consumes not only Harvath, but the reader as events unfold. Someone appears bent on revenge, but for what?

It is a large onion that Harvath must peel his way through to get to the answers and telling you more than that could spoil the masterful writing effort that Thor has offered for our reading enjoyment.

Do not pass this one by.

Baldacci and Flynn are better
I bought this book based on an NY Times Book Review. It sounded interesting and in the same genre as the Vince Flynn and David Baldacci books I've read. The book starts out well and builds a credible story, but doesn't hold the interest as well all the way through.

Thor's protagonist is a likable guy that anyone would want to root for on the post 9-11 era but his character is not as well developed as some of Flynn's, Baldacci's or Nelson DeMille's characters. You may feel for the people in the story who have been struck by various tragedies of the (Harvath's girlfriend and friends particularly) but Thor does not develop them or their backgrounds well enough for the story line to be credible.

This was mediocre beach reading but I was expecting more. I may give Thor another try again, not with my $ but with my library card instead.