Brad Thor is one of those authors that I feel could drop a book every week and I’d still say it’s too long between releases. So to say I was excited to get my hands on Black Ice is an understatement.
After enduring some of the worst moments imaginable in the past few books, we find Scot Harvath on leave from the Carlton group, enjoying the Norweigan summer with Sølvi Kolstad, the Deputy Director at the Norwegian Intelligence Service. Harvath is torn between the peace and comfort he has found over the past few months with Sølvi and his job, really his calling, back in the US. As he tries to soak up the last few days of his time with her, someone from his past is spotted where they shouldn’t be… above ground. Scot is tasked with unraveling the mystery of how a man he personally killed is walking around and why specifically he’s doing so in Olso.
Black Ice is a riveting novel and the events are so timely that it seems like Thor can see into the future while the rest of us are just now catching up through current news stories. The real world dangers in the Arctic are deftly outlined and explained, though in a fictional form, but as I read today’s headlines I can picture Harvath plotting how to protect the US and our allies.
This is the 20th installment of the Scot Harvath series and with each release Thor continues to evolve both his protagonist and the style of the series. Throughout the years, Scot has been known to find himself in… less than ideal situations. Many of the books are jam packed full of top notch action sequences that only a master of the genre like Thor can produce. Black Ice is not quite that style of book. The danger is very real, both to Scot personally and American interest in general, but there is more of a focus on the larger geopolitical aspects of the world Harvath occupies.
While there aren’t an overwhelming number of action scenes, there is more than enough intrigue, conspiratorial components, and emotional turmoil to keep readers flipping pages at a rapid rate. The introduction of some fantastic new supporting characters and a dive into Reed Carlton’s past really made this an enjoyable read. With all the uncertainty in Harvath’s life, I look forward to where Thor takes us in book #21.
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