The Apostle Book

Have read all the Thor books in order, beginning with The Lions of Lucerne--a very good read, by the way.

Thor seems to oscillate between getting overly detailed and technical in one novel to beating us over the head in the next with useless, mundane character traits such as in The Apostle, Harvath drinking Diet Red Bull.

It adds exactly zero to either Harvath's character, the plot or the overall read of the book.

As a veteran, I appreciate Mr. Thor's respect and admiration for what our Armed Forces do, but I read novels to be entertained and taken away from real-life realities. I know our present president is an idiot; I know the far-left is every bit as out of touch as the far-right so I don't need that "explained" to me in a fiction novel.

Likewise, I could care less about all the little idioms relative to the Afghani language and custom. Tell me once or twice what they mean, then leave me the hell alone about them and get on with the damned plot.

This book, The Apostle, feels like a "Contract Obligation Project" that Thor wrote under duress of contract rather than of brilliance of inspiration. The plot is thinner than an Obama birth certificate and this book drags like a bad horse pill riding down your throat with too little water to wash it down.

Of eight novels by Mr. Thor, this is only the second in which I've been thoroughly disappointed and where I had to force myself to finish the book. His previous works are excellent. The Apostle falls short of his otherwise high benchmark.