The plot of the novel was acceptable, if unspectacular, but seemed like a series of discarded Bond plot ideas more than anything else -- specifically, having to repeatedly read about the antagonist's silver eyes that turn black hammered home that bad Bond villain feel. There is also a good amount of jet setting, with most of the locations already forgotten.

As for the protagonist, Secret Service agent Scot Harvath is tasked down with hunting down terrorists, but without the sense of urgency from the kidnapping in the first book, The Lions Of Lucerne, Harvath's behavior comes off as an arrogant and boorish. To every other character in the book except the president, he acts like a prima-donna, and he flat out refuses to play nice with any other government agencies or their agents. While he is naturally always right, it did not make him any more endearing, and his habit of making snide remarks to everyone that questions him gets old fast. Also, it is mentioned multiple times how magnetic Harvath's personality is, especially to women, but it is not really shown, at least not believably.

The most thrilling segment of this thriller was the plane hijacking scenes. It seemed to be written as a form of 9/11 therapy for Thor -- which makes sense, giving that the book was published in late 2002 -- and, for that supposed reason, it is not surprising that this segment rises a level above the rest of the book. Although, of course, Harvath does get his girl-of-the-week from the survivors of the hijacking, checking off another Bond trope check-box.

Hopefully, this book was only a let-down because Brad Thor struggled to transition his first Scot Harvath book into a series, or with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the next book in the series, State Of The Union, is an improvement.

Too inconsistent and you get jarred out of the story by ridiculous events which stretch the ability to suspend belief to the maximum. I do not recommend this writer, baldacci, mcnab, vince flynn are a lot better.

I’m a big fan of Brad Thor’s books and this one has to be among my favorites! I highly recommend this book!

Another good one by Brad Thor. I like the main character and I really like how he is not superhuman, he makes mistakes and honestly sometimes he get super lucky. This book had that, some simple mistakes by the terrorists led to Harvard killing them. I appreciate this in a book like this. The old adage “sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.” I like that Thor has made him human. I am excited for where this series is going now after three books. I can see why there are like a dozen or so more of these. I can’t wait to devour them.

Brad Thor has created one of the more likeable lone wolf, alpha male, terrorist hunting assassins in Scot Horvath. With a nice sense of humor, Horvath and his beautiful new friend, Meg Cassidy (super agents never have dumpy friends), they chase down the heir to a Arab terrorist network. Their adventures take them to various exotic locales, which Thor does a nice job describing, identifying nice hotels and restaurants that are a visit. Although I know little about guns and military gear, Thor does, or at least that was my impression, and goes into the right amount of detail on some exotic instruments. The book stretches the bounds of credulity at times and Horvath is always very lucky, making the right guesses based on extremely flimsy evidence. Nevertheless, action abounds and the plot moves quickly between locales and dramatic action scenes. Well done.

I miss traveling so much that I figured I’d go on a virtual trip instead. Lucky for me Scot Harvath logged in some serious miles traveling to far-flung locations such as Israel, Hong Kong, Italy and Tunisia while hunting down an elusive assassin. Whew! Loved every minute of it.

For a man who prefers offense, there's a lot of chasing, just missing and defense in Path of the Assassin. In fact, one major "Harvath" type scene doesn't involve Scot at all as he is afforded only a couple blips of true execution. I find this disappointing for a "man of action." 5 of 10 stars

Scot Harvath ("Norseman") is an interesting protagonist. His training as a Navy SEAL prepares him to survive situations that the average American citizen would never find themselves in. However, he doesn't work well with people that he doesn't respect like Rick Morrell of the CIA; Rick, on the other hand, sees no value in Scot's training (his loss).

The plot is well thought out and keeps moving throughout the novel. There are some nice twists scattered through the novel. I would've like a bit more detail about the origins of Hashim and Adara Nidal.

The locales are sufficiently detailed that the author actually visited them or talked to someone who did.

The weapons are specific enough and I imagine that the author has actually fired many of them (per the Acknowledgments).

I loved the font used for the chapter headings.

"People who took themselves too seriously not only were no fun, but could also be very dangerous."—Brad Thor, Path of the Assassin.

I read Brad Thor’s debut, The Lions of Lucerne last year (originally published in 2002). I was obviously late to the party, but I was excited to find a new political thriller author. In Path of the Assassin, Navy Seal turned Secret Service agent Scot Harvath is taking on one of the world’s deadliest terrorist organizations. After rescuing the President from kidnappers, Harvath vows to capture or kill those responsible for the plot. A trail of clues points to Hashim Nidal, the planet’s most ruthless terrorist, who has assembled an international league of Islamic terrorist networks to topple both Israel and America.

Only one person can positively identify Nidal—a public relations expert and hijacking survivor. Together, Meg and Scot must untangle a web of global intrigue stretching across four continents—from Macau, Jerusalem, and Chicago, to Libya, Capri, and Rome—to prevent the Arab world from going to war with Israel.

Path of the Assassin is action-packed, engrossing, and suspenseful, but much of the plot is implausible. Harvath’s civilian sidekick would have never been brought into the CIA to identify a terrorist. She certainly wouldn’t have been put through the rigors of training and then put in harm’s way. I guess we don’t read thrillers for their realism. Farfetched as it is, the book is highly entertaining, and I look forward to reading the next installment. 4 stars.

** If graphic violence troubles you, take a pass on this novel.

Path of the Assassin is the second Scot Harvath story. He of the US Secret Service is now on a world spanning journey to find the true backers of the slaughter of his special forces brethren during the recent Presidential kidnapping incident. I would say that it's a plot-boiler of the first degree, where our hero leaves the arms of his Swiss prosecutor companion into the ass-kicking arms of the Chicago PR wiz-chica who also happens to save a plane full of civilians during a hijacking. It goes from there following the usual sort of spy shenanigans.

The first two installments of this series are interesting, but lack Gabriel Allon's pathos, and Mitch Rapp's certitude of bad-assery, of whom I've slagged previously as also being very much cardboardy in development.

I will likely give part tres a try, but perhaps not for a while. There are too many good characters out there.

This series is getting better. Scot Harvarth is back again and is the central character. The story features a strong female character in Meg. Harvarth begins tracking an international assassin and travels from locale to locale. The author clearly understands modern politics, military technology and the locations he is describing. The action moves quickly, but my favorite part of the story is when the plot unfolds. The author has intricate storyline and allows it to evolve, often leaving me guessing as to what the next step in the process will be. I definitely was caught by surprise at least a couple of times.
For me, having likable characters to return to is an important part of staying with a series. This has the political thriller vibe that is tuned into the holy way scene we have seen played out on our television screens for years, yet with fresh twists and insights into human nature. This book made me feel like reading it when I first woke up in the morning, which is an infrequent and a good sign for me.
4.5 stars.

I gave another brad thor/scot harvath books a chance and made sure this time it was Unabridged. It did not help.. maybe made it worse because then it was longer. The narrator does an ok job not great but doesn't help the book. The writing is just ... juvenile would be the best way to describe. The premise is fine and the villain is fine and does what you'd expect. The government agencies are very political and don't help the hero. But the decisions he makes and the actions leave me dumbfounded. It constantly had me saying out loud WTF as he said or did something that should be completely out of character for a Secret Service ex Navy Seal operator. I was cleaning up around the house over the holidays and had the audio book in my airpods and thought "this isn't that bad, I wonder why I've been so critical of it to this point?" and then I realized I had been over indulging in the eggnog and it made sense. I went back to it later when sober and yeah still hated it. And that should tell you everything you need. If you're busy and only half listening and drinking then you'll enjoy it. But if you want to get into the narrative and really immerse yourself in this book then it'll just piss you off.