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The First Commandment: A Thriller (The Scot Harvath Series Book 6) Kindle Edition
Six months ago: in the dead of the night, five of the most dangerous detainees in the war on terror are pulled from their isolation cells in Guantanamo Bay, held at gunpoint, and told to strip off their orange jumpsuits. Issued civilian clothes and driven to the base airfield, they are loaded aboard a Boeing 727 and set free.
Present day: covert counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath awakens to discover that his world has changed violently—and forever. A sadistic assassin with a personal vendetta is wreaking havoc of biblical proportions. Unleashing nightmarish horrors on those closest to Harvath, the attacker thrusts everything Harvath holds dear—including his life—into absolute peril.
Ordered by the president to stay out of the investigation, Harvath is forced to mount his own operation to uncover the conspiracy and to exact revenge. When he discovers a connection between the attacks and a group of prisoners secretly released from Guantanamo, Harvath must ask himself previously unthinkable questions about the organizations and the nation he has spent his life serving.
A renegade from his own government, Harvath will place his life on the line as his search for the truth draws him into a showdown with one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth.
Brad Thor roars through this nonstop adventure full of international intrigue, twisted betrayals, and ultimate revenge.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAtria Books
- Publication dateJuly 17, 2007
- File size3186 KB
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Camp Delta
U.S. Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
When it was hot and humid, life in Cuba hovered somewhere between absolute misery and "the bath is ready does anyone have some razor blades?" But when it was cold and raining, Cuba was downright unbearable. Tonight was one of those nights.
When the guards arrived at the isolation cells of Delta's "Camp 5," where the most dangerous and highest-intelligence-value detainees resided, they were in a worse mood than usual. And it wasn't because of the weather. Something was wrong. It was written all over their faces as they pulled five prisoners from their cells and ordered them at gunpoint to strip.
Philippe Roussard hadn't been at Guantanamo the longest, but he had definitely been interrogated the hardest. A European of Arab descent, he was a sniper of extraordinary ability whose exploits were legendary. Videos of his kills played on continuous loops on jihadist websites across the internet. To his Muslim brothers he was nothing short of a superhero in the radical Islamist pantheon. To the United States, he was a horrific killing machine responsible for the deaths of over one hundred U.S. soldiers.
As Roussard looked into the eyes of his jailers, though, he saw more than the usual pure hatred. Tonight it was coupled with absolute disgust. Whatever middle-of-the-night interrogation tactic the Joint Task Force Guantanamo soldiers had in store for Roussard and his four colleagues, something told him it wasn't going to be like anything they had experienced before. The guards appeared on the verge of losing control.
Had an attack been successfully executed against the United States? What else could have put the soldiers in such a state?
If so, Roussard felt certain that the Americans would make the prisoners pay. Undoubtedly, they had devised yet another humiliating exercise designed to insult their prisoners' Muslim sensibilities. Privately, Roussard hoped the torture involved the attractive blond soldier and that she would disrobe down to her lacy, black lingerie and rub herself against him. Though he knew it was wrong, his fantasies of what he wanted to do to that woman were what kept him nicely occupied during the long, lonely hours of isolation he endured.
He was still speculating about his fate when he heard the door at the far end of the cell block shut. Roussard looked up, hoping it was the blond, but it wasn't. Another soldier had entered carrying five paper shopping bags. As he passed, he threw each of the prisoners a bag.
"Get dressed!" he ordered in awkward Arabic.
Confused, all of the prisoners, including Philippe, removed the civilian clothing from their bags and began to get dressed. The men cast furtive glances at one another as they tried to figure out what was happening. Roussard was reminded of stories he'd heard about Jewish concentration camp prisoners who were told they were being taken for showers when they were actually on their way to the gas chambers.
He doubted the Americans were dressing them in new clothes only to execute them, but nevertheless the uncertainty of what they were about to face filled him with more than a little trepidation.
"Why don't they try to make a run for it?" one of the guards whispered to his comrade as he stroked the trigger guard of his M-16. "I just want one of these fuckers to rabbit on us."
"This is bullshit," replied the other. "What the hell are we doing?"
"You two, shut up!" barked their commander, who then called in a series of commands over his radio.
Something definitely wasn't right.
Once they were completely clothed, shackles were placed around their wrists and ankles and they were lined up against the far wall.
This is it, thought Roussard as he held the stare of the soldier who had been hoping for one of the prisoners to make a run for it.
The soldier's finger went from his weapon's trigger guard to its actual trigger and he seemed about to say something when a series of vehicles ground to a halt just outside.
"That's us," shouted the Task Force commander. "Let's mount up."
The prisoners were shoved toward the door. Roussard hoped that once they got outside and he could see where they were going, things would make more sense.
That plan was dashed as one by one, black hoods were placed over each man's head before he was taken outside to a waiting column of green Humvees.
*
Ten minutes later, the convoy came to a stop. Before Roussard's heavy hood was removed, he could make out the distinct, high-pitched whine of idling jet engines.
On the rain-soaked tarmac, the prisoners stared up at an enormous Boeing 727 as their shackles were removed. A metal staircase had been rolled up against the side of the aircraft and its door stood wide open.
No one said a word, but based on the demeanor of the soldiers -- who seemed to have been ordered to keep their distance from the plane -- Roussard came to a stunning conclusion. Without being directed to do so, he took a step forward. When none of the soldiers tried to stop him, he took another and another until his feet touched the first metal step and he began climbing upward two at a time. His salvation was at hand! Just as he had known it eventually would be.
With the sound of the other prisoners pounding up the gangway behind him, Roussard stepped cautiously into the cabin. He was met by the plane's first officer, who compared his likeness to a photo on his clipboard, removed a heavy black envelope, and said, "We were told to give you this."
Roussard had received envelopes like this before. Without even opening it, he knew who it was from.
"If you wouldn't mind taking a seat," continued the first officer. "The captain is eager to be underway."
Roussard found an empty place near the window and buckled himself in. As the main cabin door was closed, several members of the flight crew disappeared into the rear of the aircraft and returned lugging odd-looking pieces of medical equipment, along with an equal number of large, plastic coolers.
None of it made any sense to Roussard until he opened the envelope and read its contents. A slow smile then began to spread across his face. It was done. Not only was he free, but the Americans would not be able to come after him. He was going to have his revenge -- and much sooner than he would have thought.
Opening his window shade, Roussard could see the soldiers climbing back into their Humvees and driving away from their airstrip, several with their hands hanging out the windows and their middle fingers raised in mock salute.
As the aircraft's engines roared to life and the heavy beast began to roll forward, cheers of "Allahu Akbar," God is great, erupted from the front of the plane.
Allah was indeed great, but Roussard knew it wasn't He who had arranged for their release. As he stared at the black envelope, he knew their gratitude was owed to someone much less benevolent.
Turning his attention back to the window as the soldiers quickly disappeared from view, Roussard cocked thumb and forefinger, took aim, and pulled an imaginary trigger.
Now that he was free, he knew that it was only a matter of time before his handler turned him loose inside America to exact his revenge.
Copyright © 2007 by Brad Thor
From AudioFile
Product details
- ASIN : B000UG78KY
- Publisher : Atria Books (July 17, 2007)
- Publication date : July 17, 2007
- Language : English
- File size : 3186 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 333 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #35,194 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #182 in Terrorism Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- #182 in Political Thrillers & Suspense
- #192 in Assassination Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Welcome to my Amazon author page. My new thriller, DEAD FALL is now on sale.
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And the stakes rise as the killer starts going after others close to Harvath, with flagrantly baroque attacks. And he’s targeting a wedding of someone once close to Harvath.
I have some problems with the story. Our killer structures his attacks on the Biblical plagues. This strains believability. Working alone, traveling alone, arranging his own transport and covering his own tracks, it’s hard to see how he could put all this together. It would be tough enough to pull off all these attacks and remain undetected, even without adding the complexity his scheme demands. If I’m the assassin, I’m keeping it a lot simpler.
Believability is already strained by the character of the Dwarf, the reclusive computer genius and blackmailing information trafficker. He and Harvath, basically enemies, have had to ally on occasion. The Dwarf’s omniscience strains believability as well. I’m okay with him living alone, guarded by his two enormous dogs, and with his computer virtuosity, but sometimes he, too, seems far more able to orchestrate complicated maneuvers, and do it solo, than seems likely.
Thor ups the tension as Harvath's determination to follow the trail - flouting presidential orders not to - make him a wanted man.
Thor knows how to make his nemesis have no predictability which keeps the book flowing. His characters are strong and powerful which makes every piece of action truly believable. You will know you are reading a Brad Thor book, but you will be unable to predict or guess the ending. Don't even try. Enjoy the pace of this book and then say a prayer that Thor continues to write for a very long time.
I give the novel a 5-star rating.