Free Fall: A Prelude to Hidden Order (Scot Harvath)

This is the tenth Brad Thor book that I have read. My goal is to read them all. I have seven more of the seventeen to go. I have enjoyed every one, even the early ones. Most writers are unable to both write a short tale and a full novel. Thor accomplished both very well. This is a short work that leads into a fuller thriller. Somali pirates have kidnapped a ship and killed its navigator. They are asking for a very high ransom. There was an attempt to rescue the ship and it failed. Scot Harvath's boss needed money, so he agreed to have four of his men save the ship. He agreed that if they were unable to save the ship and all of its personnel, they would not have to be paid. Scot and three men parachute to the ship. One is injured, so they are left to take the ship with only three. They discover that the captain of the ship is not on board, he has been taken to Somalia.

I had only read one previous Brad Thor book but I'd recently heard him on a ratio interview and thought he seemed unusually well-informed and sensible. (Translation: I share his views on most things.) This was well-written, the characters were interesting, and the dialogue moved the story forward. The action sequences were very cinematic. I like books where I am not only entertained, but also widen my understanding. This meets that mark in spades.

Suspenseful....the build-up for what is to come seems like it will be intriguing. I have always enjoyed reading Brad Thor's books!

This is a good start.I was disappointed to find this is basically a first chapter or two. I liked the plot, liked the characters but the story gets on a good roll, then stops. The first situation is partially resolved, the second event shows a possible resolution, then the book ends.

Something about this book description intrigued me, so I bought it. It was short (being a "prequel" to The Order) but powerfully written, with lots of action in just a few pages. I liked it so much that I immediately purchased The Order and can't wait to sink my teeth into it. There was not time to develop the characters fully in such a short writing, and I would have been disappointed with the ending had I not known that more was coming in The Order. However, Brad Thor did give enough "meat" to the characters that made me want to learn more about them. The story moves along at a fast pace, leaving you almost heaving a huge sigh at the end and wanting the action to continue. I would recommend this to anyone who likes this type of story--really just to everyone who needs to make a change in their genre preference once in a while.

Plenty of exposition, but like similar in the only other Brad Thor book I've read so far, Black List, woven expertly into the story. Though, in terms of action, I think less info-dump would be better, the pacing of the action into the latter half, I was easily drawn forward in the narrative. The story's drive at the finish, with a clear set-up for the larger story (Hidden Order), convinced me this deserved much better than a 3. And maybe, as preludes go (I haven't read many), this is really 5 star material. But as a stand-alone entertainment, satisfying in itself and making me want to read the main book, for me, this is a solid quality four.

Free Fall is just a teaser to the book Hidden Order, but once I got to the end of Free Fall I was so riveted to the story that had to find out what happened next. Hidden Order did not start up where Free Fall left off, but began in an entirely different place and mood. This caused me to wonder if the two really were connected in some way or if I was never going to find out what happened on that boat. In Hidden Order, we do find out what happened on the boat and we find out much much more. This was the first Brad Thorn book I've read and now I'm going back to read one of his earlier books which also features Scot Harvath, a crafty and tough as nails special operative who just happens to also have a way with the ladies. I decided to look into Thor's books after hearing a radio interview with Brad one morning. I'm very glad that I did, too. I've found his writing to be easy to read, but still on an adult level including a lot of history and geography while being a thrill ride with a final villain you never saw coming. I'm more of a non-fiction guy, but Thor is now on my reading list to stay!

Loved the writing - hated the fact that this was nothing more than the first chapters which you can read as a Take a Peak. Just a marketing gimmick for not only Brad Thor (who can clearly write well) but also for another author whose name I can't remember because I didn't bother to read any further - I was so annoyed by this scheme. It was a waste of my time to take the trouble of downloading this to my computer, then transferring it, expecting that I was actually downloading a short story by an author who was new to me. I was expecting this to be my long weekend read - instead it was my waiting for the luggage time killer.

niente di particolarmente entusiasmante

Muy buen thriller lleno de acción y buena descripción del momento, espero leer los demás títulos del autor, es corto para mi gusto

Recipient hooked on books by this author

Great book . I wish it was longer I lo looking forward yoseries Scott Horvath series Brad thoroughly is a good wriyer

It was a interesting although i have read the HIDDEN ORDER beforehand and it was free of cost to add to it.RECOMMENDED.