In Spymaster, Brad Thord betrays his anti-Russian perspective.

Brad Thor has achieved the dubious distinction of reaching #25 on the Richtopia list of the “Top 200 Most Influential Authors” in the world. Judging from the list, that may mean very little. But there’s no disputing Thor’s success as a writer. The 19th entry in his Scot Harvath series of thrillers was published this year, and like most if not all the other books in the series it was a bestseller. So was #18, Spymaster, a showcase for Thor’s right-wing politics and anti-Russian perspective.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The author’s anti-Russian perspective is evident on every page

Spymaster is built on the shaky assumption that Russia’s seizure of Crimea and other cross-border attacks in Ukraine are just the beginning of the country’s effort to rebuild the Soviet empire. In the novel, an evil senior officer in the GRU (Russian military intelligence) has masterminded a series of murderous events across Europe disguised as terrorist attacks. All this action is meant to distract the leadership of NATO from Russia’s true intent: to invade the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Naturally, Scot Harvath, Thor’s hero, isn’t fooled at all. Leading a small team of special forces soldiers, Harvath foils the plot, and all is right in the world. In the process, they kill a lot of people, including dozens of Russian soldiers. And somehow this manages to stay under the radar screen.

Spymaster is reasonably well written. The book is tightly plotted, and the information Thor throws around about weapons and spy craft is engaging. The only problem is that Thor, a member of the Heritage Foundation, clearly has an axe to grind, and grind he does.

Spymaster (Scot Horvath #18) by Brad Thor (2018) 337 pages ★★★★☆

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