Good book with lots of action involving real time events and social issues. Keeps the reader reading late in the night.

A littl too much over the top for me. This guy is too unbelievable!

I picked up this book because I usually enjoy thrillers - especially political and legal. I wish I'd paid more attention to the negative reviews. In my opinion, this is a pale imitation of the Baldacci, Ludlum, Follett, Forsyth etc. I've enjoyed in the past. The few chapters I've read thus far are formulaic (at best) and the characters are so over-the-top that they read like a Saturday Night Live parody. I don't think I'm going to waste my time finishing the book.

Having read several of Thor's novels, I think this is his best one to date (May 2008). The back drop for the story is Hannibal's crossing the Alps to attack the Roman Empire, and a book called the Arthashastra (which is actually a 15 volume Indian treaties on government written by Chandragupta Maurya around 300 BC).

Thor weaves an imaginative and interesting story with several surprises for the reader. The plot is based upon a fanatical Islamists, Akrep, who wants to bring back the caliphate, with a few hidden caveats. But to do so, Akrep needs a suitable man to be caliph, and he needs to find Hannibal's secret weapon, an ancient biological weapon mentioned in the Arthashastra. Oh yes, the Great Satan must be destroyed, along with a few hundred million kafirs in other places. Only pure Muslims can remain--but who exactly is a "pure Muslims?" How can Allah protect the pure Muslim? Thor comes up with an interesting solution. The method to be used to dispense the agent is unique and plausible. Hannibal's biological weapon is mostly fiction, but similar bio-agents were developed and stockpiled by the Soviet Union, and terrorists could find one of these.

Scot Harvath, the protagnists, with the aid of a beautiful scientists, Jillian Alcott, unwind the sinister plot. Ancient weapons, modern technology, political intrigue--including a woman senator who will stop at nothing to become the next president--some insights on Islam and its internal conflicts, and what goes on in Saudi Arabia, add flesh to the bones of the story.

As the author of the first two novels of a trilogy with a somewhat similar theme, I found Thor's book to be fascinating, and in most cases accurate. Like all fiction authors, he took some liberties, but overall BLOWBACK is believable, educates the reader in several areas, and is a great read.

I am looking forward to reading Thor's next novel, The Last Patriot: A Thriller.

Lee Boyland, author of the Clash-of-Civilizations trilogy: The Rings of Allah and Behold, an Ashen Horse.

It's all very professional but very much by the numbers and following some how-to-write-a-book template. It's worth a skim on a plane as a time-killer but beyond that - not very much.

The author tries to pull off emulating Tom Clancy, Daniel Silva & of course Dan Brown but is unconvincing. From Tom Clancy, he uses policy & intelligence-gathering wonk as his foundation but unlike Tom Clancy who manages to give you real insight in what feels like secrets (whether they are or not) and technology in driving the story, Brad Thor's delivery style is never quite convincing that he and his characters knows more than the reader.

This book is also filled with weakly defined characters (as no traits are revealed in the story-telling, just what he spells out for us) and some How-to-write-a-thriller class or book that says to be more deeply involved, we must have disturning backstories as motivation for the characters so we get them randomly shoe-horned with zero payoff. The inept dialogue between characters is never convincing because it's not dialogue but exposition.

The character travels around the world but you never get a feel they are anywhere other than inserting a random comment from a travel book.

The undelying premise is intriguing (while a stretch, but acceptable) and crosses into Dan Brown territory but is strangely buried after until about 80 pages into the story - mainly because the author is so convinced we want to read about DC politics and he wants his character to be a lone wolf against all odds "with no backup." but it seems there are less dull ways to set that up. The premise and the concepts are fine, they just need to be organized by a better editor and not be sidetracked by the author's bigger interest in DC politics.

So, if you want more convincing wonk & intel details, read Clancy. If you want spy stores that are fully fleshed with real characters and simply better writing, read Daniel Silva or to a lesser extent, Barry Eisler ... and he's certainly no Dan Brown when it comes to mixing sci-mystery into intrigue ... it's all very professional by the numbers but ultimately instantly forgettable.

Brad Thor never fails to not only write a exceptional thriller but to include in his fiction some fact such as the bio-chemical possibilty of Hannibals armys from centurys ago. I also enjoy his own visions of the world we live in today and how foolish we as a nation are dealing with people that are still living in caves and eating with their hands considering bringing Democracy to them. As he expresses in a underlying way we are wasting our time. A good book everyone looking for a thriller will certainly enjoy.

Brad Thor knows how to write an entertaining read. It comes out of the gate at full-throttle and hardly lets up. I like the brainy women, the suave, tough-as-nails hero. But it's not as predictable as that sounds. His heroes bleed and fail and find the gumption to try again. Intrigue and "newsiness" make it always interesting. Sometimes, "Blowback" feels a bit manipulative, but it doesn't get in the way of the enjoyment. Buy it with confidence: you'll like it.

Another fast paced action thriller by Brad Thor. Our hero, Scott Harvath is racing to stop a chemical attack against the United States. While Harvath is a bit too much of a super hero (do bullets ever hit this guy?) it still a guilty pleasure kind of a read that is very well researched and deals not only with modern day terrorism but also the ancient's use of biological and chemical weapons.

Brad Thor is great. First time I read one of his books was when I was searching for something to read while relative in hospital. The book and another were finished before my relative was out of the hospital.

Brad Thor scores again with Blowback, a whipcrack thriller that tackles religious fanaticism and international terrorism with verve and style to spare. His protagonist, Scot Horvath, has been sent out to pasture by a meddling politician, but soon is brought back into the fold to take on a villain with a taste for biological weaponry. Alarmingly prescient and well-researched, it delivers the goods. Definitely check out James Macomber's A Grave Breach if you enjoyed this one.

This is a good thriller, that is fast paced, and with interesting characters and dialoged, very entertaining. That's the good news, the bad, is the plot is absurd; the science behind the bio weapon is laughable, a trip down the Jurassic Park style crypto-biology fiction that's a million times less likely. And the main characters is an active duty US Navy SEAL, but who worked for the US Secret Service (can't happen, violation of federal law), then went to work for a supper secret foreign intel/ counter terrorism unit in US Dept. of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Homeland Security has no control over...... WHAT?

BUT, it is entertaining, Thor gets the terrorism thing, and understands modern fascist Islamic radicalism, and his characters are likable. This is not his best book, but it is worth the read.

This was a great book. If you're looking for a political thriller from a similar writer check out The Trigger Event.

For a recent trip I ordered both Blowback and Takedown. Both were great books and very entertaining.

Blowback is a decent book so far. Brad Thor reminds me a lot of Tom Clancy and this is a good thing. The concept of an ancient weapon with repurcussions to modern Earth is a little far fetched. Sorry Moonfleet I thought that the KI were hermaphrodites but now i know they are the Kennedy Aye Mutts. Using messages back through time the following people had their DNA sent to the Moonfleet and were made into clones. Emperor Shadow President Jack F Kennedy age 89, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Queen Elizabeth II Winsor my highly favored Auntie, American Shadow President King Brad HD Morgan of England myself, my Daughter Princess Julia Ann Ruth Morgan of England the American Shadow Vice President in 2017 her clones have been known for thousands of years as ApophisYahwehGod, Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, his clever, charming wife Rose Kennedy, Capable President George W Bush and Godlike King Henry V Lancaster. My Clones Skippering Moon 168 a real moon that has rocket comets and is protecting Texas and England the two chesssquares in the corner that I move through the internet back and forth on as King. All of these actions are with the okay of our Creator ET alien Stealth who looks a lot like Yoda from Star Wars and a little bit like ET the Extraterrestrial. May the Creator bless you and keep you, lift up his countenance to you and give you peace. I am sane and telling the truth. Thank you to Amazon for allowing freedom of speech. Buy Amazon.

Blowback certainly deals with current issues--the Middle East political caldrone. It was like Dirk Pitt solves the DaVinci Code--a hero who can do everything and a lot of historical information. It just lacks real depth--but maybe that wasn't the intent.

I was in an airport looking for something to read. The selection was thin. Basically there was the NYT best seller rack and Dr. Phil. I generally like political thrillers and Brad Thor's Blowback seemed promising. I never read Thor, or even really know much if anything about him and his work. The book is "ripped from the headlines" which is another way of saying if it's paperback, the plot points are probably dated.

The book was enough to keep my attention from the in-flight Jennifer Anniston movie. After the trip, I found it hard to find the motivation to pick it up and finish it. The hard-boiled military hero is nothing new nor real original. The main antagonist is a cut-throat Democrat Senator "who will stop at nothing" to take down the President. The character is named Helen Remington Carmichael, and the initials aren't the only comparison to a certain New York senator. The effort to frame the character as Clinton is so transparent, it would be ridiculous by itself if the character wasn't ridiculously cartoon-like in partisanship. Needing to demonize a sitting senator in order to make an effective protagonist doesn't say much about Thor's imagination or character development. After a few chapters the wink and nod partisan commentary got old. If you have Ann Coulter on your bookshelf, you may get a few chuckles as Thor gleefully tries in indoctrinate readers, but others who don't share the neo-con ideology will likely find many distractions.

I have to start by saying that this was one of the most exciting thrillers I have read in a very long time.

I take exception with the review by J. Valentine below. Actually, it wasn't even a review. He gave the book only one star because he doesn't like what he sees as the book's politics. That doesn't seem at all fair to me. This isn't a political forum, this is a book forum.

The war on terror is aimed at Muslim extremists who are bent on destroying the West. And as far as Thor basing the Carmichael character on Hillary Clinton, so what? It's fiction and if Valentine hates people taking shots (literally and figuratively) at Muslim terrorists or power-hungry senators who are willing to do anything to gain more power and ultimately ascend to the Oval Office, I suggest he stay away from this genre altogether.

This is fiction and with Thor at the helm, darn good fiction at that! It is fast-paced, fascinating, well-written intelligent fare that will have you whipping through the pages until late into the night.

The Scot Harvath series has gone from being a mediocre guilty pleasure to downright racist claptrap with a side order of liberal bashing. Harvath (and/or Thor?) has always skewed right, but this installment introduces a perfunctory character (so obviously modeled on the reactionary's view of Hilary Clinton that Thor may as well have used her name) representing the purported selfish and decadent evils of liberalism. Harvath is admittedly her perfect foil: a sadist who fantasizes repeatedly about hurting and killing people and views U.S. policy as an inconvenience and hindrance to his mission of meting out unilateral justice. Harvath's superhuman abilities used to be fun, but when things turn to intellectual pusuits his output is simply incorrect and his outlook embarassing. Thor tries to balance the pervasive swipes at Muslims with a token passage extolling the virtues of the Muslim community at large but his beloved protagonist explicity states that "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but without fail all terrorists are Muslims". I am not sure if Thor was around during the Oklahoma City bombing, the Olympic Park bombing, the Unabomber manhunt or decades of IRA bombings, but I would think the copy editor would have noticed a statement that wildly inaccurate and offensive. To be fair, I would probably be skimming by that point as well. The bottom line is that poorly written airport books can be fun, but not when they are insulting to anyone sensitive to furthering understanding between religions or even political parties, not to mention the constitutional promise of due process. Read a Lee Child book instead if you need a hero formula story.