The Lions of Lucerne

Uhm...not sure where to start to convey all the ways this struck me as ludicrous. I read it because it was recommended in the Suspense part of The Ultimate Reading List. I probably should have been warned it wasn't for me when I saw blurbs praising it by Vince Flynn of Term Limits and Glenn Beck. But hey, as it turned out, it wasn't that it was outre right-wing that turned me off, but that when it comes down to it I'm the kind of gal who believes Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. I find it easy to believe US Senators could be corrupt and in league with a filthy rich industrialist prepared to suborn them. I find it very easy to believe in politicians who are hiding sexual proclivities that would show more appall their constituents. What I do find hard to believe is that to defeat a bill in Congress they'd conspire to assassinate Secret Service agents and kidnap the American president and frame the surviving agent for murder. What I do find hard to believe is a US Senator who to cover up a homosexual affair orders a hit on his lover.

Not impossible to believe the above mind you--just hard. It doesn't help that this book is abysmally written in a style I find headache inducing. We're talking head-hopping, intrusive dialogue tagging, jarring frequent F-bombs, designer label name-dropping and awkwardly constructed sentences that don't flow--added to that is a Barbie Doll "gorgeous" love interest and indestructible Marty Stu ex-SEAL Olympic-class skier protagonist Scot Harvath. The characters are onion-skin thin and the plot ridden with unbelievable coincidences. This is the kind of book I wish I could give negative stars to. It's not just I "didn't like it"--I hated this book and found it painful to read far into it. show less

I did not read this novel completely by choice. I got caught in a long-wait situation without a book--it can only happen when I’m using someone else’s car--so I ducked into a used bookstore. That meant buying a standalone or the first in a series, because I already own the next book in line of any series I enjoy. I chose the first Scot Harvath book.

I have mixed feeling on this effort. It contained multiple transgressions of the single thing I hate most: the seasoned professional whose does incredibly stupid things. The worst example has the narrative explain how the hero studies the faces in any public place he enters, and the scene closes with someone he has reason to be suspicious of leaving the room unnoticed with his sabotage show more complete. But, when I put those things aside, it was a page-turner and raced to the end. I’ll buy the next one eventually because Thor has become a bestseller. The faults of a first-time novelist have presumably been corrected. show less

This was a very generic thriller, and frankly, I think you can tell its his first book. The plot moves along pretty well but the dialogue and characterizations is just choppy. I should also flag that there's some casual bias against Middle Eastern cultures in a couple places of this book that definitely feels abrasive.

The two stars I am giving this book is for a plot that moves along and is interesting enough to keep you reading. It is a typical airport thriller and is adequate in that sense.

What I disliked about this story was the main character and the dialogue. I can't stand Scot Harvath. He is a poorly written, poorly constructed stereotype. It is like the author watched a really good James Bond movie and then tried to apply those characteristics to his main character and failed abysmally. Harvath is a Secret Service agent who in the first chapter of the book allows almost 30 agents under his supervision to be massacred and the President of the United States to be kidnapped.

After saving the President's daughter by being the only Secret service show more agent to survive an avalanche, he bucks every order given by his superiors and heads out on a mission to recover POTUS. In so doing, he is able to foil every attempt at assassination that comes his way while also outrunning the FBI, CIA and Secret Service who also want to reel him back in and hold him accountable.

I knew the story had jumped the rails early when Harvath, a Navy Seal who also happened to be a former Olympic skier was caught in an avalanche without a recovery beacon. There is no way that a Secret Service agent would allow a president and his family to ski a black diamond run known as "The Death Chute" without having rescue beacons on everyone.

As a Navy Seal and member of the Secret Service, he would have had a very real sense of discipline and chain of command. Even James Bond was written with that aspect of his personality. Though Harvath is a quintessentially American cowboy, he lacks any sense of discipline and therefore any sense of realism. He spent the entire book going off half cocked and telling everyone off.

To that end, the author attempted to have Harvath begin or end battle scenes, fight scenes or kills with a quip. Again, that may work in a James Bond movie but read Fleming - Bond isn't written that way and it works even less for this character. I have to admit, by the end of the book I was actually rooting for the assassins to take this ass out!

He also made a mockery of the Swiss agent that ended up helping Harvath. Aside from concentrating on her "beauty", she kept getting into situations where Harvath would inevitably save her. Please. If she was a trained agent, she would be much better than the way she was written and would surely know what the six o'clock position is when working with a partner.

I don't know if the author has a deal with business but the number of times labels and brand names were dropped into the story was excessive. In addition, there were plenty of loose ends and gaps in the story that made me wonder why they were introduced at all.

Of course the end result is that it is all wrapped up in a nice bow with Harvath getting a promotion and the stage being set for more ridiculous stories to be presumably bought by Tom Cruise to star in at a later date as agent Scot Harvath.

I'm always looking for a storyteller with great action and a gripping story. I think I'm going to keep looking. This just didn't hit the mark for me. show less

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The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath #1)
by Brad Thor (Goodreads Author)
4.04 · Rating Details · 20,789 Ratings · 1,044 Reviews
“Quite possibly the next coming of Robert Ludlum”.
—Chicago Tribune

On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived—ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn't buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are behind the attack and begins his own campaign to find t ...more
Paperback, 512 pages
Published February 27th 2007 by Pocket Star Books (first published January 2001)
Original Title
The Lions of show more Lucerne
ISBN
1416543686 (ISBN13: 9781416543688)
Edition Language
English
URL
http://bradthor.com/book/lions-lucerne/#.VynpRdTEmh8
Series
Scot Harvath #1
Characters
Scot Harvath, Gary Lawlor, Herman Toffle
setting
Denver, Colorado, 2001 (United States)
Zurich (Zürich), 2001 (Switzerland)

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The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)
The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)
The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)
The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)
The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)

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Sep 29, 2016
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Status Read from December 08 to 28, 2016, read count: 1
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Review I really enjoyed this book, although part of me thought that the Agent Harvath's injuries were too much to continue without a significant rest - despite being a SEAL. But, that being said, I enjoyed the intrigue and vistas - the action takes place in Utah, Washington D.C. and then Switzerland, which are described in delicious detail. I felt like I was abroad at times, (I wish!), and had my German (heritage) hubby translating the crazy Swiss-German names for laughs. There was plenty of action, and the story was interesting, if too far fetched. But, it was satisfying and I enjoyed it. I've decided to continue reading the series, as Mr. Thor writes quite well. Well, except for some words which might be my own irritation, like "he awoke groggy" instead of saying he woke up groggy. Is 'awoke' even a word? I guess it is, but is that the best use of it?

It's minor irritation, though, especially compared to terrible writers like Lee Child, who uses the same phrases over and over, and his hero is a disgusting pig, or Vince Flynn who is SOOO Right wing that it annoys the Hell out of me, so much so that I couldn't read it anymore (sorry I know he died, but he was the worst). Also, Flynn's "hero" Mitch was such a wimp in love that you started to wish his bitchy girlfriend, then wife, would bite the big one. Not a Hero in any sense of the word, although I liked a lot of the other elements in the books, including the action and genre.

Mr. Thor doesn't make those mistakes. He keeps the action moving, and the Hero likeable most of the time (he's a little hard headed). If anyone is wondering, there isn't any sex in this book, although there is a love interest. But, there is some "language" from us American's, which shocks the polite Swiss. LOL

I'll be happily continuing with this series. show less

This is a big book in so many ways and does a good job of introducing the main character to the series, Scot Horvath. By the end of the book we know him very well, what makes him tick and his key strengths, but whatever you do don't point a gun, a knife or even a finger at him - you will regret it! An interesting theme is set up in this book with the kidnapping of the American President and Scot sets about finding the President to bring him home. Thoroughly recommended.

The writing is bad. Not horrendous, but bad. The author has a hard time keeping the point of view straight and we pop from seeing the world through the eyes of the currently highlighted character (usually Harvath) to the feelings of the person he just hit... sorry, we can't be in the head of the puncher and the punchee at the same time and still have any sense of suspense.

I'm used to over-the-top characters. I love Jack Reacher and he can do anything - but Reacher just goes ahead and does what he needs to do, he doesn't spend a page or two tooting his horn first.

Yeah, Thor, I get it... Horvath is FAN-TASTIC... but please stop whacking me with his multiple skills, especially when he follows up each of his Herculean feats with a great show more act of stupidity.

I like kick-butt heroes. I like vigilantes. I don't like characters where the author has to spend more time talking about how wonderfully powerful/exciting/perfect they are, than actually having them act in this way. show less