The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor


This is the first book in the Scot Harvath series. He is a former Navy Seal, now working as a US Secret Service agent assigned to protect the president.


Right at the start, the president is kidnapped while on a skiing holiday, and all his protective detail are killed, except for Harvath. The rest of the novel is spent with Harvath trying to find out the identity of the kidnappers, while at the same time trying to find and rescue the president.


I chose this particular version of this audio book as it was read by Armand Schultz and not by George Guidall whose voice I can't stand. He does an average job of narrating the story. However, it turned out this is an abridged version, and is only 4 hours and 52 mins in length. There were obvious gaps in the plot while I was listening. I got the general gist, but I feel I would have enjoyed it more had it been unabridged.


The plot revolves around Harvath, an independent minded guy who does his own investigation and goes up against some unknown bad guys.
I liked the main character, but the characters felt one dimensional. There is the stereotypical hero, villains and a beautiful lady, the hero will meet up with during the adventure.


I liked the action sequence right at the start, when the bad guys kidnap the president which was elaborate and well crafted. I didn't find any of the other action set-pieces interesting and the rest of the story wasn't as gripping. It had a slightly wooden feel to it, made worse by the fact this is abridged.


This is told in the third person and the reader knows from the start who the main bad guys are. You get to see Harvath working out the clues as the story moves along but I didn't really get into it.


You can purchase this from the Audible website.


== Summary and recommendation ==
I give this one star mainly due to the fact it was abridged so I missed out on a lot of the story. The plot was a bit too predictable, and there should have been more action set-pieces.
I would probably have enjoyed this more had it not been abridged.