The Apostle by Brad Thor

The Apostle is another in Brad Thor's Scott Harvath series. I found it an enjoyable read, with less action and politics, and more character. These are terrorist and war novels, so if that's your type of excitement, this is for you.

The Afghan National Army wants to try a Taliban terrorist leader for his crimes. An aid worker, Julia Gallo, is captured in Afghanistan by the Taliban. They want to trade her for the recently captured leader. Julia's mother is the powerful campaign manager for the US President, and they have brought in Scott Horvath to retrieve Julia. The President is being blackmailed into this action by Julia's mom, or she will divulge what really happened when one of his drunken aides caused a deadly car accident. There were signs of a cover-up and possible affair, so when a Secret Service agent overhears this conversation, she starts to investigate the allegation.

Scott's team travels to Afghanistan and must break into an old Soviet prison hidden in the tunnels under a hospital. He retrieves Khan and sets about rescuing Julia. He becomes involved with the Afghans, especially the Pashtun community, and relates to their sense of honor. They help him broker a meeting between the Shura of neighboring towns, and help him travel through the mountainous region to fight the Taliban. Once he has rescued them both, more of the story unfolds, and he is reluctant to return Khan to the Afghans or the Americans. If you like thrillers, this is an action-packed page-turner.

I did not know about the Pashtunwali, a traditional set of ethics and communal conduct. Even though this is a thriller, I felt I learned something interesting about Afghan culture.

The Presidential indiscretions are less involving. Finding the president unworthy of the post because he lied under oath was pretty unbelievable.

There was less of the usual ignorant pro-American right-wing commentary, and his take on preserving Afghan culture was refreshing.

Scott is still a man's man with no time for romance or humor. When he gets shot in the back in a firefight, he just pops a Motrin and swigs a sugarless Red Bull and keeps on going. He doesn't just have a dog; he has an enormous white Caucasian Ovcharka named Bullet.

All part of making him larger than life, I guess.

I like Scott and his team, and would read more of the series.

For solid action, I would recommend Brad Thor.

2010 / Paperback / 544 pages