The recent horrific terrorist attacks on U.S. soil that took place in Orlando make the work of author Brad Thor that much more relevant and frightening. Whether the enemy at hand is ISIS, home-grown terrorists or one of a myriad of radical fundamentalist groups, people need to be informed so that they can learn how to deal with potentially life-threatening situations.

A novel like FOREIGN AGENT, Thor's latest release, should be required reading. The insight he brings to his books, particularly his laser-focused Scot Harvath series, makes me wonder how he knows what he knows. He has worked within the U.S. government and participated in think tanks aimed at counter-terrorism. If the government limits what he is allowed to reveal, I am hard-pressed to point out what that may be. Each of his novels is filled with eye-opening revelations that place readers directly into the heart of modern terrorism and how the U.S. and their allies respond to them.

Deep within the Syrian mountains, a group of American operations workers are enjoying a cookout with some friends. The location may look nice for such an event, but the spot is actually a safe house that is about to become quite unsafe. The team of men and women are ambushed on all sides by heavily armed combatants and wiped out.

"Thor keeps FOREIGN AGENT brimming with intrigue and high-level espionage games, hitting so close to reality that it is almost a horror novel."

The U.S. government and President Porter plan an immediate response to this unprovoked attack, and their next move is to involve former Navy Seal and now private intelligence professional Scot Harvath. Americans have been killed, and there is no better man to sweat the right bad guys for answers than Harvath. Initial suspicion falls upon an informant located in Brussels, but as Harvath and his team dig deeper, they find that something much larger may be at play.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to an extremely deadly individual named Sacha Baseyev. Baseyev has had a difficult life growing up deep inside Russia, and he possesses a special desire to bring down Americans whenever possible. As the novel’s villain, he actually disappears for a good portion of the tale only to resurface during the deadly final confrontation.

What FOREIGN AGENT does best is to firmly place its finger on the pulse of modern terrorism without soft-soaping a single element. ISIS is presented as the death cult they are. How can the “civilized” Western world defeat an enemy who not only lives to destroy us but are actually raised to believe that they have a special place in heaven with each enemy they kill?

The White House is attacked by a female suicide bomber, and a message is clearly sent. Harvath is traveling throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East in an effort to get the intelligence required to stop the next attack before it happens. He becomes disheartened by what he finds in his travels --- Europe seemingly ready to give up under the pressure of terrorism and resigned to the fact that their nation's best days are in the past. Harvath, a true American patriot, does not share this sentiment. 

With Baseyev still lingering, the true picture of what is going on begins to surface. What if Russia wanted to force the U.S. to battle and defeat ISIS for their own political agenda? With ISIS out of the way, Syria would be easy prey and far less of a threat to them in their efforts to expand and become a major superpower once again. 

Thor keeps FOREIGN AGENT brimming with intrigue and high-level espionage games, hitting so close to reality that it is almost a horror novel. Harvath, like Thor, is a patriot full of conservative ideology that is necessary to combat and defeat modern-day terrorists. Readers will be unnerved, but at the end of the day should hope that there are some real Scott Harvaths out there right now doing what they do best to keep us all safe.