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Brad Thor, who has long been considered the gold standard in today’s thriller genre, delivers another heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller with his latest Scot Harvath adventure, Shadow of Doubt, an easy front-runner for best book of the year.

When a mysterious Russian cargo plane carrying several missiles and bombs that are “three times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki” takes off from a remote airbase, analysts within the Pentagon fear that the world may be inching closer to nuclear doomsday. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and as alarm bells start ringing around the globe, there’s only one man who can throw ice water on the raging flames being stoked by those hellbent on launching another world war.

Set after the events of Dead Fall (2023), former Navy SEAL turned secret service agent turned America’s top counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is jetting off to Norway in hopes of laying low and getting some much-needed rest with his lover, Solvi Kolstad. Ice bags placed around his body, Harvath, who is nursing a bourbon before takeoff, is still recovering from his last mission, which left him battered and bruised from head to toe. Having told nobody at the Carlton Group, the private security firm he works for, where he’s headed, Harvath dreams of unplugging from the world and staying off the grid for the next week or so with Solvi and is ready to leave whatever problems may pop up to someone else.

Things, of course, do not go according to plan.

When a deranged giant-of-a-man begins beating up flight attendants and threatening other passengers, Harvath is forced to abandon his first-class seat in order to neutralize the threat. Though he’s much smaller than the 6’3″ goon who weighs a solid 270 pounds, Harvath out-finesses his large opponent, unsure whether the whole thing was a psychotic breakdown or a poorly executed hijacking attempt. Either way, the encounter added some fresh bruises to Harvath’s already aching body, leaving him all the more ready to find Solvi and lay low. So when a Norwegian police officer enters the cabin shortly after landing, instructing Scot to follow them off the plane, he’s less than excited but complies, assuming the misunderstanding will be cleared up shortly. What Harvath wasn’t expecting, though, was to see the chief of the CIA’s Oslo station waiting for him. Moments later, Harvath is read in on Leonid Grechko, a Russian defector who has recently sought refuge in Norway.

Grechko, as it turns out, isn’t just some random Russian looking to put down some roots outside of the homeland. The man was, until recently, a high-ranking operative in Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, where he was in charge of their “Active Measures” department and played a prominent role in shaping world events via political warfare through whatever means necessary—including espionage sabotage, assassination, and propaganda. What makes no sense, however, is why a man like Grechko would defect to Norway over working with someone like the CIA, who no doubt would have showered him with money and anything else he wanted in order to aid his cooperation. The CIA wants Harvath’s take, but more importantly, the agency is concerned about recent chatter that suggests the Russians are up to something… big. Using past events (going as far back as Thor’s Backlash, which led to Harvath crossing Russia and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake) to strong-arm Harvath into lending a hand, Scot has no choice but to get involved. And once he suits up, it doesn’t take long for him to locate another piece to the puzzle—one that paints a shocking and terrifying scenario for the United States.

With the clock rapidly ticking down and the stakes at an all-time high, it’s once again up to Scot Harvah to save the day . . . but this time, he’ll be tested like never before.

When it comes to crafting headline-beating, heart-pounding thrillers, there is nobody better than Brad Thor, the reigning master of the genre, who has consistently delivered unforgettable stories filled with intricate plots, relentless suspense, and characters so vivid they leap off the page. In fact, Thor’s unparalleled ability to blend real-world events with gripping fiction has been coined “faction” because it’s nearly impossible to spot the line where facts end and fiction begins. That is certainly the case here, as Thor thinks up another twisting, adrenaline-fueled threat scenario that’ll rock readers and leave them flipping pages well into the night.

Moreover, now twenty-three books into his series, Thor’s reached unchartered water—somehow sustaining the relentless pacing and promise he showed way back in 2002 when he launched his acclaimed debut, The Lions of Lucerne. Sure, Harvath, through experience on the front lines of the war on terror, has gotten better over time, but more impressively, so has his creator—with Thor seemingly finding a new gear at a point where most authors begin to flounder. That unprecedented longevity has made Thor the gold standard, a title he shows no signs of giving up anytime soon. Bottom line: An absolute must-read, Shadow of Doubt brings the heat in a big way, blowing away the competition and any doubt about who the best in the business is right now. It’s Brad Freaking Thor. 

Prepare to be blown away by Shadow of Doubt, the latest masterpiece from #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor, who cements his place as one of the greatest authors the thriller genre has ever known with yet another tale of high-stakes adventure packed with relentless suspense and bone-crushing action.

Book Details

Author: Brad Thor
Series: Scot Harvath #23
Pages: 368 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1982182237
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Release Date: August 6th, 2024

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Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.