“Black List” by Brad Thor – Knowledge and Power

Steadily, Brad Thor has been becoming one of the most celebrated thriller writers out there, with every one of his books being somehow better than the last.

With Black List, it seems to me that Brad Thor has once again outdone himself, bringing to us a real thriller of a novel revolving around the James Bondesque Scot Harvath, a counter-terrorist.

One day, somehow, his name suddenly appears on the "Black List", which is literally a list privy to the eyes of the President and a few of his most trusted advisors. Unfortunately, this is the type of blacklist that indicates one thing: who is to be assassinated. And so, in Black List by Brad Thor, we follow Scot as he tries to escape from the teams of assassins sent to kill him all while trying to figure out who set him up and why.

I have to admit that while the premise doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing ever, it’s all the way it’s written and the events that lead up to the conclusion. Brad Thor really has learned how to make us care for the main character, or at least for Scot: make him human.

Now, of course, you’ll have to suspend your disbelief at least partially, but Scot has a very recognizable and familiar side to him: despite all of his training and prowess, he can mistakes, he doesn’t know everything, he isn’t the smartest or the fastest... he is fallible, although less than most people.

Thanks to the unbelievably fast pace we are taken on a real rollercoaster, one filled with some of the most intense actions and chase sequences in any book or movie in recent history.

Also, don’t think that this is just a thriller made for pure entertainment. Alongside with the story itself Brad Thor takes a great amount of care in describing how the government works and the kind of power that technology has given it over regular people.

More precisely, it touches on the topic of surveillance, and while it may seem like something straight out of a spy movie, it is actually closer to reality than most people will admit. It looks into the various ways the government can locate and spy on anyone they wish to, and how, more importantly, there is nothing we can really do about it.

All in all, Black List by Brad Thor has all the elements of a successful book, with great and believable characters, a thrilling story, and some social commentary to top it all off.

The style is irreproachable, and anyone who likes thrillers that involve the government should give this book a read, at least in my opinion.

---

Brad Thor Personal site Brad Thor is an American novelist whose specialization is pretty much officially the thriller. His work The Last Patriot was nominated by the International Thriller Writers Association for the Best Thriller of the Year, while Blowback had the honor of finding a place on National Public Radio's 100 Best Ever Killer Thrillers list.