After reading Full Black, I was interested in reading another Brad Thor book in the Scott Horvath series. I found The Apostle a very 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 has captured a Taliban terrorist and want to try him for his crimes. An aide 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 President of the US 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 a signs of a cover-up and possible affair, so when a secret service agent overhears this conversation, she starts to investigate the allegation.
To get to the leader, Khan, Scott's team travels to Afghanistan and must break into an old Soviet prison hidden in the tunnels under a hospital. He retrieves him, and sets about rescuing Julia. He becomes involved with the Afghans, especially the Pashtun community and he relates to their sense of honour. They help him broker a meeting between the Shura of neighbouring towns, and they 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 much about the Pashtunwali, a traditional set of ethics and communal conduct. Even though this is a fantasy thriller, I felt like I learned something interesting about the Afghan culture.
The side story about the Presidents indiscretions is less involving, I found the story halt when the secret agent made an appearance. The end result of the President not being worthy of the post because he lied under oath was pretty unbelievable, like he didn't know how to complete that thread.
I found there was less of the usual ignorant pro-American right wing commentary, and his take on preserving the Afghan culture refreshing. Scott is still a man's man with no time for romance or humour. 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 white sheepdog, he has an enormous white Caucasian Ovcharkas named Bullet. All part of making him larger than life I guess.
I like Scott and all the other characters, and would read more of the series, earlier ones that I hear are better and less right-wing. For solid action, I would recommend Brad Thor.
2010 / Paperback / 544 pages
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