State of the Union » (Reprint)

Brad Thor, a graduate of the University of Southern California, has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Analytic Red Cell Program and is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Lucerne, Path of the Assassin, State of the Union, Blowback, Takedown, The First Commandment, and The Last Patriot. Visit his website at www.BradThor.com.

"On a cold January morning, the United States awakes to discover than an old enemy, one long believed dead and buried, has crawled out of its grave to lay siege to the world's only superpower." "With the stunning discovery that enhanced Soviet-made suitcase nukes have been secreted in America's major cities, President Jack Rutledge gathers his National Security Council to weigh the feasibility of a first strike against the Russian Federation. There's only one problem. For over two decades, the Russians have been funneling international aid money into a top secret air defense system, which has just been brought on-line and which will render any conventional attack upon their country utterly ineffective." "After exhausting all of his other options, and with Soviet sleeper agents preparing to detonate their deadly payloads across the United States, the president turns to the nation's final hope, ex-Navy SEAL and Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath." "Assigned to a covert section of the Department of Homeland Security and charged with defending the nation against all foreign aggressors by any means necessary, Harvath finds himself handpicked by the president to unravel a brilliantly orchestrated, fiendishly timed conspiracy that has already shattered the fragile peace between the world's nations and which, if successful, will leave the United States in smoldering ruins." With family friend and former Deputy FBI Director Gary Lawlor nowhere to be found and suspected of betraying his country, Harvath embarks on an adventure that will test the bonds of loyalty and reveal a nation's deepest secrets.

Publishers Weekly

Fortunately for America, series hero Scot Harvath (The Lions of Lucerne; Path of the Assassin) possesses almost superhuman abilities and an equal amount of fantastic luck in this blistering, testosterone-fueled espionage thriller. Making use of an innovative plot device, Thor resuscitates that old Cold War bugbear, Russia, as a credible threat to our country's very existence. Twenty years before the story's start, Russian agents hide at least 19 suitcase nuclear devices in secret locations throughout the United States. As the book opens, President Jack Rutledge is ordered by the Russians to inform the American people in his State of the Union address that America will withdraw forthwith from world affairs, remove its troops from all foreign countries, surrender its seat in the United Nations and divest itself of all involvement with the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the G-8. If he does not do as he is commanded, sleeper agents will set off the hidden nuclear weapons, and millions of Americans will die. Harvath former SEAL, former Secret Service agent and special agent with the Office of International Investigative Assistance is assigned the job of thwarting this nefarious plan, and he's got seven days to do it. Assisting him are many stalwarts drawn from elite military and other government agencies, all armed with the most techno of weapons, each lovingly described. As the clock ticks down, the battle takes Harvath around the globe, from a brothel in Berlin to the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea and back to the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. It's a complex plot, but Thor (host of the PBS television program Traveling Lite) keeps everyone in line and trotting briskly ahead. Readers of the genre will understand that Harvath's triumph is a foregone conclusion and will marvel at the canny plan and clever devices he employs to succeed. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.