The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor - B-

Well, okay.

The Lions of Lucerne is the first of the Scot Harvath novels written by Brad Thor.  The Brad Thor novels had been recommended to me, by various friends and acquaintances, numerous times.  And, as you can tell from my (lack of) blog postings, I needed a quick read.  A palate cleanser, as it were.  Sometimes, my brain is just fried, and to get back to my usual reading pace, I need something to flush the crap out of my brain.  So I thought a new spy series might be crazy enough to work.

Scot Harvath is a former Navy SEAL currently serving as a member of the Secret Service.  The action in the novel surrounds a kidnapping of the President.  You can probably guess most of the plot from those two sentences.

Then, I ran in to problem No. 1.  The name of the protagonist.  You've seen the protagonist before in dozens, nay hundreds, of spy novels.  And that's ok.  THAT wasn't my problem.  My problem was the lack of an additional "t" at the end of the protagonist's name.  I found "Scot" (as opposed to "Scott") unsettling for some reason.  Bothersome even.

Problem No. 2 was the dialogue.  I hate dialogue that makes me think, "People just don't talk that way."  And the dialogue in Lions often fit that bill.

Problem No. 3 involved plot development.  Sometimes, Scot (with one "t") made quick connections, was quick on the draw, as it were.  Sometimes, he really needed to be taken by the hand or completely missed things.  Thor explained some of Scot's failures in this regard with reference to one of the numerous head injuries Scot suffered during the action.  Seemed too convenient for me.

Problem No. 4 dealt with foreshadowing.  In one scene, Thor makes much too much about the fact that Scot was going to a meeting without his gun.  Hit us over the head, ok?  Man, you think that's going to be significant?

Fact is, I still enjoyed this novel.  Most of these issues are what I would characterize as "first novel" issues.  Just a bit amateurish in my opinion.  But I'd like to try at least one more Scot (with one "t") Harvath novel.

I felt the same way, by the way, about the first Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.  I've only read the first one.  Yes, I'm one of those nutty readers who feels that he has to read a series from book one forward.  I actually liked Killing Floor a bit better than Lions of Lucerne.  I liked how Jack Reacher was "rough around the edges" compared to Scot (with one "t").  I'd like to hear how others who have read both feel.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the light on for you.