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00:00:22
You can we get into action? I mean, you haven't even talked
00:00:24
about some of the coolest action scenes.
00:00:27
Brad, Thor has written so eariy adore.
00:00:29
But before we get into the action, there's one more like
00:00:31
quiet seen in Afghanistan. I think that can put a bow on
00:00:34
it. And it's part of Brad's five
00:00:36
things, but this chicken chicken Street.
00:00:39
Yeah, it's how he says, it's literally two blocks and so
00:00:42
that's where he goes and meets babaji's contact, right?
00:00:45
That's how I like this Red Schoendienst sort of get gets
00:00:48
kicked off. And again, it's Like Brad and
00:00:52
his best describing settings settings.
00:00:54
Like I felt like I was there and you know, like right then I
00:00:58
looked at the pictures and I was like the he captured that like
00:01:01
he was he was there. He was able to you know that's
00:01:04
Brad of the travel writer is good.
00:01:07
You know there's also a store that flour and flour was a cool
00:01:12
character. He was on babaji's team, even
00:01:14
though he was a local Afghan who could just run any sort of
00:01:17
errands for them, you know, he could use, also the muscle, the
00:01:20
driver. Yeah, but he goes to a shop just
00:01:23
to pick up snacks and things. And there's one shop in Kabul
00:01:27
selling like Doritos and Coke, and chips, and to us all these
00:01:33
Western things. And they're like, we really
00:01:35
think the owner of that store is an Iranian intelligence official
00:01:39
and or officer. And we think they just use this
00:01:44
store that sells Western Goods as a front to really collect
00:01:47
Intel, knowing the Americans would welcome here shop.
00:01:51
Yeah, and I was like again that's got to be one of those
00:01:53
things that's real that makes so much sense that the Iranians
00:01:56
would run that shop or somebody who wants Intel on us, would run
00:01:59
that shop pretending to be locals selling our Goods just to
00:02:02
get us in the front door. Yeah.
00:02:05
All right. So action.
00:02:07
I guess again it gets you. You said that the hospital plot
00:02:12
that sneaking in is more suspense an action like.
00:02:15
So I guess the first bit action we really get is when so when
00:02:17
they've already met with the sure of the one Village and
00:02:20
they're going to travel. To the village where they think
00:02:22
massoud is or was and they get spotted.
00:02:28
Yep, delete Convoy gets taken out there in there.
00:02:32
The last one the second one thing is gets taken out and they
00:02:34
have to start, you know, get out, you know, start to avoid
00:02:39
taking fire and it's only when this Canadian helicopter coming
00:02:43
you know. Again, the Canadians coming in
00:02:44
to save the day. That was a reminded me of the
00:02:51
Second what the path of the Assassin when they're in that
00:02:53
canyon in the desert and right on the copter comes and saves
00:02:57
the day like takes out all the guys that are there.
00:03:01
What about them? The villains like you know crew
00:03:04
very cool saying it does seem like that.
00:03:08
You're right. I could see the connection Brad
00:03:12
writes a pretty good helicopter scene.
00:03:14
Yeah though I think that's overshadowed by Gracie 130 by
00:03:20
the AC 130 Spectre gunship when that thing comes in.
00:03:23
And again, I think it was Fontaine who calls his
00:03:27
Connections in the Canadian services and he uses a fake call
00:03:31
sign. He calls in that it's for a
00:03:33
special operations guy who he know, the Americans would jump
00:03:37
at, you know, wanting to send in the Cavalry for.
00:03:40
He uses that guys call side to get immediate help.
00:03:43
And these guys, I think they were so they took the RPG to the
00:03:46
Convoy. And there was a shootout, but
00:03:49
then they Retreat to this mud house and we're like counting
00:03:53
down the seconds and I think that's when Gallagher gets shot.
00:03:57
Is that the same scene? No Gallagher gets snow
00:04:00
Gallagher's. Already shot Gallagher gets shot
00:04:03
when they're running in. So when they go to the, they
00:04:08
finally get to the village where Masuda is, there are still like
00:04:12
Taliban around, right? Right?
00:04:15
Even though they come in, with the Other shura they kind of
00:04:19
like and so it's then that with they're taking fire gallery or
00:04:24
get shot. Say protecting the one boy.
00:04:27
That's right. Asada Lihue.
00:04:29
And he was the one originally with Julia, right?
00:04:33
Gotcha. And they were to protecting him.
00:04:35
That's right. That's right. it's in one of the
00:04:38
villages that he's that he's protecting asada, Le and he Get
00:04:45
shot because of that. And then, yeah, because then he
00:04:48
brings back to they hook up with the NATO.
00:04:52
And so then he he he drops off Gallagher with the Canadians and
00:04:56
they Rush him back to the hospital.
00:05:00
And he like that is the last like, Gallagher never goes to
00:05:05
the camp. You know.
00:05:06
That's up at this higher elevation where they had Julia.
00:05:10
Yeah, it's only him and Fontaine.
00:05:11
Yeah. And that's why this Translator.
00:05:15
Had they been using who he has the connection?
00:05:17
It's his like cousin or as you know, friend that is tasked
00:05:22
doesn't like the Taliban because this the, The Village or area
00:05:25
that they're at is actually used to be a part of his family
00:05:28
Masood. Took it over and Ike but he also
00:05:32
he respects Gallagher for saving you know, even though this kid
00:05:36
is a little shit who, you know, groped the American League but
00:05:40
he still saved his life and right, he respects that.
00:05:43
So now he Once he doesn't even want the money, he's like, I'm
00:05:47
going to go, I have this friend. We're going to do this or I get
00:05:50
her back, right? We're going to pay it forward,
00:05:53
dude. I'm pretty sure the gunship
00:05:55
gives them cover on the helicopter soon.
00:05:57
Does it also I thought ID that was just I thought that was just
00:06:00
the Canadians and then the gunship is the Americans at the
00:06:03
end. Okay, I dunno Fontaine calls in
00:06:07
some sort of artillery from the air that clears the way for the
00:06:12
chopper to extract them. Okay, I forget if it's the same
00:06:16
team or not, although I think it is the same team because I
00:06:20
remember them saying, they'd be on standby again.
00:06:23
And then that's when the final action sequence, they call them
00:06:26
in because they've already saved their bacon parties, okay, and
00:06:30
the guys want to come back and do it again.
00:06:32
Either way, anytime that, that's done, where you have a
00:06:35
controller, call in some sort of air strike and use the ri-ight,
00:06:39
our strobes and whatnot. Those scenes are just absolutely
00:06:43
perfect. And you're right that that last
00:06:45
one is once they have Julia. That's when they're taking shots
00:06:50
and they're getting chased, right?
00:06:52
They so they they go down there like, down in this one lane icy
00:06:57
Road. You know, it's up in the
00:06:58
mountains, it's the winter time. So it's cold and taunting Slams
00:07:02
on the brakes. But, you know, the brakes sort
00:07:04
of Because ball tires, they can't go back and then when they
00:07:08
go back they see that the cousins the the other vehicle
00:07:14
was also taken out and like, you know, I had to re-listen to the
00:07:17
scene a couple times because like there's so much going on
00:07:21
and it happens so fast. It's very provoking year, olds
00:07:23
the frags the frames underneath the two, Taliban Vehicles.
00:07:26
Yes, yes. And then we get this interesting
00:07:31
like I don't know if you've gotten this literary device from
00:07:34
Brad before where Fontaine like calls in the ship or approves
00:07:39
the attack and then he says, like everyone, hold on.
00:07:43
And then we merely cut to my sued in the Russian and they're
00:07:47
driving. And they realize what's
00:07:50
happening. Like skies are about to open
00:07:53
this guy's about to open and then, you know, they don't see
00:07:56
like this other car and they crash and one, you know,
00:07:59
essentially it was just a very interesting device and how Brad
00:08:03
wrote, you know, sort of their downfall and The one like says
00:08:06
about a son and the other one sees zwack for one last time,
00:08:09
you know, obviously he's going to the afterlife or Hell.
00:08:13
Whatever. Right.
00:08:15
But no, it wasn't, it was, it was cool.
00:08:18
Yeah. And then another device that's
00:08:21
done for suspense, which is kind of a Trope, but it worked real
00:08:24
well, was getting the cellphone signal how they were between the
00:08:28
valley in the mound, right? And they couldn't call them in.
00:08:31
And then it's at the end when they're pinned down.
00:08:34
And massoud is bearing down on them that they get the signal.
00:08:37
And I think Julia passes the phone to Fontaine and it's like
00:08:41
connected and boom. That's when they know they're
00:08:43
saved. That's when the Eagles come, you
00:08:46
know, we made a Lord of the Rings reference in the past, but
00:08:48
that's when the Eagles swoop in and Sam and Frodo are lifted up
00:08:51
out of Mount Doom. That's funny.
00:08:55
Yeah, I know that that en scene was really cool, even though
00:08:58
we're getting them slightly mixed up, anytime there's a
00:09:01
convoy, an RPG you call in a gunship.
00:09:04
You need a helicopter for extract.
00:09:06
It's done so well. But so between both of these
00:09:08
scenes where that happens, I kind of have them jumbled in my
00:09:11
mind. Yeah, me too.
00:09:13
Because they are very similar, but your similar right when
00:09:16
you're reading them though, there's nothing like it.
00:09:17
That is the exact exact action that I want.
00:09:21
In a thriller definitely but Besides that we don't get much
00:09:26
other action in this novel. No.
00:09:28
There isn't that there really isn't.
00:09:30
I was but I wonder I didn't mind it because I would have to say
00:09:35
no it's perfect I'm wondering what I'm going to give this on
00:09:37
the scorecard. We might as well just get there
00:09:39
pretty soon because I love already an hour hour and 10
00:09:43
minutes into recording. So all right, I loved it so much
00:09:47
but there's not a lot of action but what we do get is so good.
00:09:51
So I don't think I can give it the perfect. 10.
00:09:54
But it's dance and pretty close with it.
00:09:56
The parts, the exact, I can't give it a 10 but I also don't
00:10:00
want to ding it for you. In the past.
00:10:02
We've dinged even we did good action but just lack thereof.
00:10:07
So I guess I gotta split the difference and, you know, give
00:10:10
it an eight Ernie. I think it's a 9.
00:10:13
I agree. I hear you on that.
00:10:15
I think I have to go now, because I loved it so much, but
00:10:18
the, yeah, I can't even say it's a pacing issue though, right?
00:10:22
Because most books, where Get a whole lot of action in the
00:10:25
second half, that's so good, but it was slow to develop but I
00:10:29
don't care. I like the slow to develop in
00:10:31
the beginning because we're meeting the team of Babaji and
00:10:35
flour and Hoyt, which oh boy wouldn't even talk Hoyt.
00:10:38
That guy is nuts. But like I didn't mind the Slow
00:10:41
Burn of meeting them. And I kind of didn't mind the
00:10:44
Slow Burn of who's in, what village.
00:10:46
And how do we get Intel on that Village?
00:10:48
And how do we get the villagers to respect us?
00:10:51
And no, and welcome Us in. And we To sit down with them and
00:10:54
have tea first, and I didn't mind all that Intrigue.
00:10:57
It's almost instead of like Palace Intrigue, it's desert
00:11:00
intrigued and I was here for it, even if no action was happening.
00:11:05
I feel like, you know, the scenes, you were calling more
00:11:08
suspenseful. We got those sort of early on
00:11:11
to, like, sort of wet winter because, you know, give us a
00:11:14
little bit taste of what obviously seeing Scott in
00:11:17
action. Yeah, so I guess you got a rope
00:11:20
those into quote, unquote action.
00:11:22
But so, what does this mean for plot?
00:11:24
Now I think I got to dig plot a little bit here because because
00:11:29
of how unconnected the two stories that even if like
00:11:32
they're both like compelling interesting on there.
00:11:36
Mmm. Just having the single
00:11:39
connection of Gallo of the 2 Galas.
00:11:41
Like just it hung me up for some reason.
00:11:44
I don't know why. I don't know why I should hang
00:11:46
it up, but I just feel like the B plot should be a but, you
00:11:51
know, if, if the B plot was more connected.
00:11:54
See, this is now I'm going to sort of come, it would have been
00:11:56
a stretch. I would have been a stretch.
00:11:58
It would have been working. We wouldn't only saw and then
00:12:00
and then I wouldn't know liked it so correct that this book is
00:12:05
a bunch of conundrums. I'm with you I even put in my
00:12:10
notes at one point. I was like so when is Elise
00:12:13
Campbell going to have to go to Afghanistan for right reason?
00:12:16
And interview Scott, you know, or I look how are the two going
00:12:22
to come together? I'm glad they didn't.
00:12:27
But then again, should they have now?
00:12:31
There's no need for them to connect well.
00:12:32
So here's what ties it together, though.
00:12:34
The final toast, when the boys are all in the hospital and they
00:12:38
knew their hands have been tied by politicians.
00:12:41
And we know the reason things can go south for the operators
00:12:45
on the ground is often because of the politicians, and this
00:12:48
dude is in the White House like a clown.
00:12:50
So the operators toasting to the United States of Erica watching
00:12:55
this dude's resignation knowing that they're going to be free
00:12:59
the top rate again that kind of gives it value.
00:13:03
It's like what Elise Campbell was doing in the background to
00:13:07
risk her career, in the Secret Service ultimately became the
00:13:11
reason these guys are going to get to do what they get to do
00:13:14
and need to do. You know, she was almost unsung
00:13:18
hero in a way in a way. Yeah, that coupled with like the
00:13:22
I think the comment section. Early on.
00:13:25
When I think it's the second chapter where Scott is like
00:13:28
explaining, you know, the president and what he's to do
00:13:30
like to follow have that and then followed up with this whole
00:13:33
plot and then at the very end put some nice connection to it.
00:13:36
So yeah. I guess you've talked me into
00:13:38
it. I gotta, I'll go nine solid.
00:13:40
That's a solid score for plot. I think I talked myself into it
00:13:44
too. I think I was going to go eight
00:13:45
eight and a half but Yeah, I talked myself into it and
00:13:49
because of that, I'm giving this is like, ignoring the B Plant.
00:13:54
The a plot alone has me a five out of five on the, on on buying
00:13:57
like just solutely that we've talked about, you know, the
00:14:00
heightened realism the attention to detail the well-crafted
00:14:05
research. The fact that it didn't have to
00:14:07
be about, you know, some virus that's going to take over the
00:14:11
world and didn't have, you know, truly earn or not, True,
00:14:14
Believer, devil's hand, I didn't didn't have to be about it.
00:14:17
Looks like it's trapped in a mountain Memorial Day.
00:14:20
Like it. There's low stakes, the slow.
00:14:23
Similarly, our let's save this girl, and I care so much.
00:14:27
Yeah, yeah, exactly exact. And that's all that's going on.
00:14:30
Let's get this prisoner back and I care deeply and there's
00:14:34
literally nothing more to the story than that.
00:14:38
What about the bad guys? The bad guys were really good.
00:14:43
The Russian was maybe a little out of place.
00:14:46
Little gimmicky if you will but I think he serves this idea and
00:14:51
I think like you know Brad puts it through Scott's words or
00:14:54
Scott's whatever like this idea of like yeah, the Russians left
00:14:57
but they never really left. Like Chris guy is being propped
00:15:01
up by the Russian military Russian, whatever to come in,
00:15:06
fund money, and they're able to You know, sort of wipe their
00:15:11
hands clean of it, you know? And, and, and so Insurgency, you
00:15:14
know, they're trying to sabotage, like, we stepped over
00:15:17
them. Exactly.
00:15:19
And yeah, 80s and so they're do W 2020s or the 2000s.
00:15:23
What we did to them in the 80s? You could believe that someone
00:15:26
like this actually exists again, buying five like beliefs.
00:15:31
Oh, you know, I got a solid, four, four and a half.
00:15:35
Yeah, I think so too. There's even I think someone in
00:15:38
the Taliban who was like, Really massoud.
00:15:41
We're going to work with this guy.
00:15:42
This Russian guy after what they did to us and there's these like
00:15:45
furtive glances, you know, at each other about why would we
00:15:47
want to trust a Russian after you know, everything that
00:15:50
happened. So it's brought up, it's not
00:15:52
ignored. Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to
00:15:53
go for on the bad guys and I liked how Massoud was like you
00:15:59
you said, quote unquote, lower lower case, v villain like I
00:16:03
liked having that, you know, it's a different sort of story
00:16:07
than having like a Lobby. You know, like this this
00:16:11
Mastermind that is crafting like and he's going to show up and
00:16:14
later novels like, you know, like you know, so I'd like to
00:16:18
trying to make a Bin Laden it would you would you consider
00:16:21
Alden as a bad guy a villain. Yeah.
00:16:28
I'm gonna say no just because if the answer is, yes, I'm going to
00:16:31
bring down my score on the bad guys.
00:16:34
Yeah yeah there's he's an empty suit, right?
00:16:36
I almost feel like he was a smokescreen.
00:16:38
There was nothing to him, he's resigned and he's gone.
00:16:41
So this whole like what's going to happen after Rutledge?
00:16:44
What's this new president? Like I'm glad he's in, he's out,
00:16:48
move on. You know.
00:16:49
I didn't need him to be any more than what he was.
00:16:52
Well, it's also like, it's not like he had He had to actually
00:16:57
kill somebody or the, you know, like the, you know, commit a
00:17:01
felony. I mean, he, he did.
00:17:03
He was negligent. He covered it up to save his ass
00:17:07
and she should have been, you know, paid money to this
00:17:11
obviously pay money, this family, but like, you know, the
00:17:13
stakes for him were were different than like what an
00:17:18
actual you know, if you had him be like a I think I like a Frank
00:17:22
Underwood from, you know, from House.
00:17:25
Of cards, you know like where he actually killed her reporter and
00:17:28
then he kills Corey Stoll is character.
00:17:30
You like this guy's a murderer wears like this guy.
00:17:32
Yeah. I mean, I guess he played a
00:17:34
hand, you know, manslaughter, but it's not murder.
00:17:36
Its manslaughter, right? So Mmm.
00:17:39
Yeah II hear you? I think I'm gonna go go for on
00:17:43
the bad guys. Which brings us to the good
00:17:45
guys. This is a real cast of
00:17:48
characters. We threw out so many awesome
00:17:51
names inside characters. We love so far.
00:17:55
I think I'm going five out of five.
00:17:56
My asterisk would be this height.
00:18:00
Dude, could break it down by. Should we talk about?
00:18:03
Its don't talk about it but the comic relief is there.
00:18:08
There were so many racial jokes about this guy being married to
00:18:13
a Chinese woman. And I'm just like, why are?
00:18:16
Leaning into this so much. Like it could be comic relief
00:18:21
and if you're into that kind of stuff so I get you could see
00:18:24
some Chuckles in this. But why did he lean so hard into
00:18:29
it? It makes me think there must
00:18:31
have been a guy. He was embedded with a real
00:18:33
operator and Afghanistan who they're running joke in the team
00:18:37
was one of the married, you know, a native Yucca Foreigner
00:18:40
from somewhere, who knows, you know, maybe had @iy for
00:18:43
Cambodian wife or Filipino wife, whatever and so Brad I had to
00:18:47
put that in here just it's some sort of running gag inside joke
00:18:51
with the boys. I It's gotta be.
00:18:53
Yeah, it just felt felt too out of place to not be it's not like
00:19:00
quintessential Brad to put that kind of stuff just willy-nilly
00:19:02
into a novel you know so it's yeah I don't want to talk about
00:19:07
him though. I want to talk about all the
00:19:08
people I did like though I'm saying we agreed Babaji Babaji
00:19:13
you know how many of the you know the Afghanistan Russia.
00:19:16
Get the Afghans who helped Scott out.
00:19:20
Yes, this is walk character. You know the kids walk.
00:19:23
I mean all the surest wouldn't call him a packet.
00:19:25
The sure, I like so, the five out of five best like cast of
00:19:30
characters, like one of the best kinds of characters we've gotten
00:19:33
in a standalone, you know, you can almost call this like a
00:19:35
standalone type novel because it has no literally, no real
00:19:38
connection to anything else we've done so.
00:19:40
But that's wouldn't you say that's a Thor.
00:19:42
Is MM though. That each book is Standalone
00:19:45
almost in the plot. Mostly with these loose tendrils
00:19:48
and connections but it's really a standalone.
00:19:51
In terms of the good guys, the cast of Good Guys I feel like
00:19:55
that's what Brad is building here.
00:19:56
Is that he can in a very short period of time build up a gang
00:20:01
that you feel are Scott's besties that he's been with for
00:20:03
forever you know and he does it authentically and he just keeps
00:20:08
doing it. I almost wouldn't like that in
00:20:09
any other author just coming up with one off characters.
00:20:13
That's that the main character is going to operate with and
00:20:16
then ditched them and move on by the next book.
00:20:19
But it's done so well and the Dynamics between them are
00:20:22
always. So great, like takedown.
00:20:23
I liked it here. I really liked it.
00:20:27
There's probably been a few more that we like to although there's
00:20:31
a good guy missing who is tangentially mentioned and I
00:20:37
thought there might be some closure that they were hinting
00:20:39
at 0. So this is doesn't happen till
00:20:41
next book Tracy. This is where I think like we we
00:20:46
should talk about it because we haven't brought it.
00:20:49
Since but yeah, this almost feels like a bottle book and I
00:20:52
feel like Brad is done this a couple times now.
00:20:55
Like I think Rising tiger was a little bit like a bottle book
00:20:58
and it did have the whole troll subplot, you know, in like the
00:21:02
attack on him and his wife. Where's the troll here?
00:21:06
Yeah, that's the other thing. Where's the troll?
00:21:07
But yet this Tracy and you could tell, you know, that was a
00:21:11
question that we brought up at the end of the last book and
00:21:14
since like deeply Scott's in love with Tracy and their But we
00:21:19
know as since we've already read, all the novels, especially
00:21:22
we just read Rising tiger. We know that that Scott's on to
00:21:25
someone else. And we know the whole Laurel
00:21:28
Outlook, I want to say Laura, but I feel like Arman Arman
00:21:33
calls are Laura. I think he says Lara.
00:21:35
Yeah. You know, in the whole subplot
00:21:37
and during spymaster, so we got to be like, it's kind of like
00:21:41
the conundrum we had with who's the chick in a kill shot.
00:21:47
Oh, Mitch is girl from Kill Shot.
00:21:50
I'm sorry Helga. Oh Jesus.
00:21:53
Oh my god. Oh, Meyer is last name Greta
00:21:56
Greta. All my Greta.
00:21:57
You know, it's like we know he's not with her anymore.
00:22:00
So where she go. I mean, I think ultimately, we
00:22:03
are going to get to that. And I think this novel was sort
00:22:05
of set laying the seeds for how they're going to break up, you
00:22:09
know. I'm going to have this
00:22:10
relationship headaches. And this, this sort of point of
00:22:14
contention, the sense that Scott wants to have a lot of kids.
00:22:16
It's really sad to know that, you know, Brad, He's writing
00:22:19
this in what his ninth novel and we just read 21 last year and
00:22:25
Scottsdale doesn't have any kids.
00:22:27
Yeah and that this is that she's never gonna have kids.
00:22:30
She doesn't want to have kids, she just can't deal with it.
00:22:32
And so I think this is a way I guess, you know all those get
00:22:36
tired of writing characters and this is how Brad is choosing to
00:22:40
sort of phase her out yet. So that's interesting.
00:22:44
I guess both things come up. I had really thought when the
00:22:48
headaches were coming on so strong that it was just going to
00:22:51
be that she dies from that. But then Scott would still have
00:22:55
feelings or be dealing with that.
00:22:57
So they must just break up over the difference of opinion on a
00:23:00
family. I think it's going to be similar
00:23:02
to it to Meg, like I think it's going to be very similar to Mega
00:23:05
these, you know, you guys a little bit more deeper than make
00:23:08
a city like the Sensi just realized they can't.
00:23:10
They're, they're incompatible not because they might not
00:23:13
because they don't love each other but they're incompatible
00:23:15
and their desires, or their priorities and work home.
00:23:22
Strays is also much younger than Scott Right.
00:23:24
Like Scott younger. Yeah.
00:23:26
See when they were talking so heavily about the headaches.
00:23:28
I was thinking it was going to be more like she dies and I
00:23:33
don't remember I don't really don't.
00:23:34
Yeah I think in the next book we're going to we're going to
00:23:37
get some some clarity on this pretty quickly, Clarity and
00:23:41
closure. Yeah, so the troll is actually
00:23:44
mentioned, by the way, kind is in a tangential way.
00:23:48
Well, not exactly. But in the beginning like most
00:23:52
books, do they talk about how the Is it in?
00:23:54
Shut down the Apex project. Oh yeah, I was going to bring
00:23:57
this up to. Yeah.
00:23:58
And so the off the oia or whatever it was that Gary Lawler
00:24:02
runs to have the Apex project where Scott can do what's got
00:24:05
needs to do this? President is shutting that down,
00:24:08
closing that down so that's again.
00:24:09
Another reason why Scott Harbor some resentment against him.
00:24:12
So seeing him resign what the secret service agent was doing
00:24:16
is important to the plot in the end because you know, it's going
00:24:19
might allow Scott some more covered and Gary really Gary
00:24:22
Lawler to do what he does best. But if there's a line that says
00:24:27
ever since that happened with the presidential transition,
00:24:30
Scott was planning to go into a private intelligence gathering
00:24:34
firm. He's already gotten this job
00:24:36
that he's going to start in like six months.
00:24:39
That's got to be the troll, right?
00:24:40
So no, I think that's the beginning of the calling group.
00:24:45
Yeah, we got to see how all this comes together, but when I read
00:24:47
that hint, you think read Carlton comes in that soon.
00:24:50
So what's the next level? So foreign influence.
00:24:54
So and then full black full black.
00:24:56
He's definitely in the Carlton group.
00:24:58
I think for it and things is where we first get a glimpse of,
00:25:00
that's the wrong person. Yeah, so I think you're right.
00:25:03
I think as then weeks when he was scenting at, we have the
00:25:05
Athena projects or in between foreign influence and full black
00:25:09
and we know that Scott's already working for the coaching group
00:25:13
in full black and during the Athena project so that's it. -
00:25:17
next one's a big one then. Yeah, next book is a hinge
00:25:21
moment. Yeah, it's opening up the new
00:25:24
the new chapter of you know what's what's going to be?
00:25:29
You know, Scott's life are back to the scorecard though.
00:25:32
We got to wrap things up with the setting and everybody's
00:25:34
favorite judge a cover by the book.
00:25:36
So let's round out the setting. You said you loved Afghanistan.
00:25:39
You felt like it was a character in the book.
00:25:41
I agree. Are you going to 5 and I can't
00:25:45
get anything less than 25, right?
00:25:46
I have to write. I have to, I was there.
00:25:49
I was with Brad riding on these Humvees and everything.
00:25:53
Yeah. So we even do the traveling
00:25:55
heavy because he doesn't he doesn't go maybe he's in
00:25:59
Afghanistan goes a lot of places in Afghanistan right so he goes
00:26:02
from Kabul to gel all the bad to various different Villages
00:26:07
around both of them and he's in d.c. in the very beginning.
00:26:13
I guess, you know, we get what's her name at least, gamble goes
00:26:16
from going, DC only to New York to you know, she's from Virginia
00:26:20
Beach whatever. But yeah, this And I like this
00:26:23
book was very contained, but we've gotten some contain books
00:26:26
before, but we felt that the setting was a little bit lacking
00:26:31
and since it just wasn't it was almost like a just a place card.
00:26:34
Where's this felt? Like I said Afghanistan, felt
00:26:36
like a character in this novel and I enjoyed that.
00:26:39
So I gotta give it a five. Yeah, 100% with you, which is
00:26:43
funny, because we're not traveling heavy, we're traveling
00:26:45
quite light, and I'm here for it.
00:26:48
It's, you know, we said something which a car, which is
00:26:50
sometimes You swing for the fences and you do something
00:26:54
different. That really is maybe outside of
00:26:56
your writing, wheelhouse or that you haven't done in the rest of
00:26:59
your novels. And sometimes it just works.
00:27:01
It works right here, staying in one place digging deep into that
00:27:05
one country sitting and stewing and seeing the different
00:27:08
perspectives from this one area really works.
00:27:13
So yep, five out of five there. We're headed for some high
00:27:16
scores here. I know this, this this novel is
00:27:19
quickly. Rising up the ranks, it's rising
00:27:21
up the ranks. ranks and dude, I think one thing that's going to
00:27:24
help that is the covers Oh see. That's where I'm gonna go.
00:27:29
I'm going to diverge from you really?
00:27:32
Okay. Tell me why did Judge judge this
00:27:34
cover by the book. So the one cover that I really
00:27:38
like is cover C, which is interesting because I was gonna
00:27:42
lie. Normally cover sees the one we
00:27:44
all like, but you know, we get some.
00:27:48
What do you know where this gate is?
00:27:51
I don't but it's really, really cool looking.
00:27:55
Is it the one that's on the flag on the seal there?
00:27:58
No doesn't have those that, like, Arch thing.
00:28:01
But what is that seal? So, that's the seal, that's on
00:28:04
the flag, the Afghan flag. Okay.
00:28:07
So I was assuming this was either a gate in Kabul or in
00:28:11
jalalabad somewhere, you know, in country.
00:28:14
And I like that, you know, I like when the comforter
00:28:17
correctly relates to the novel. So I really like that kind of a
00:28:21
fan of this newer. We have, at least gotten to The
00:28:24
ones I don't like of this newer run of paperbacks, but the
00:28:28
original cover is just, it's so generic to me, dude?
00:28:32
And no guy. Okay.
00:28:33
Also like I didn't like the title until you told me what the
00:28:36
authors note was, and I guess that's my fault for really
00:28:39
listening to the audiobook. And I guess it's the audiobooks
00:28:41
fault for not putting that little author snippet.
00:28:44
But like I didn't understand this idea, like, who, like, I
00:28:47
guess the operators are supposed to be the apostles.
00:28:49
That's what he said, but right. The true believers.
00:28:52
Yeah, this is a stone. The stone of our doesn't fit
00:28:58
with, you know, that's, that's our seal.
00:29:02
It's got a bullet in. It, it's just, that could be on
00:29:04
any novel that to me. It's just, it's so generic.
00:29:07
Mmm, You know what? I'm kind of seeing and now I
00:29:13
thought cover a looked cool because I have the hardback and
00:29:17
holding it. It's like a really cool feel it
00:29:20
does. Larval doesn't make any sense.
00:29:22
It does look cool. But this would be better on a
00:29:26
novel that's set in DC or CC. Yeah, you know, in the United
00:29:30
States, you're right. Now, if that was, you know, that
00:29:36
was the seal from cover, see, with a bullet in it, that be
00:29:39
interested but that'd be really cool.
00:29:42
And then the same happens with cover be this reads to me.
00:29:46
Screams like, there's just a gospel, it's great mission of
00:29:48
possible, cover to me, for some reason, I like the color scheme
00:29:52
again, but it's just a gun. Like what?
00:29:56
I don't know. They're both cool covers but
00:29:57
they could be on any single one of Brad's novels, A, and B are
00:30:02
designed rather. Well, But they don't have much
00:30:05
to do with the story and they're generic.
00:30:07
I I like them for the design at first, but I'm going to agree
00:30:11
with you. They're just they don't relate
00:30:13
enough to the story and we got we judge the cover by the book
00:30:16
and they don't have much at all to do with the book.
00:30:23
All right. Well, the cover see makes up for
00:30:25
it though because I think that's my favorite of this line.
00:30:29
You know, the line where they're re-releasing I think is
00:30:31
paperbacks with the symbol in the middle and some sort of
00:30:35
bright color as your background. So I think the orange and the
00:30:39
red Hues are revoking the desert red hot sun and the seal in the
00:30:45
Middle with this gate at the bottom or some sort of, you
00:30:48
know, maybe it's a mosque. I think it's screams
00:30:52
Afghanistan. Its screams.
00:30:54
Where Scott's going I can almost see him standing in that exact
00:30:58
spot. You know, with the turbine doing
00:31:00
his Afghan walk trying to fit in the cover.
00:31:04
Sees fantastically done, one of my favorites of all time.
00:31:08
I will say but a b d e and f. Kind of dumb F gets to
00:31:14
helicopters. Those are good.
00:31:16
It will be cool dude if it had AC-130 Gunship wonder if it had
00:31:20
the gunship. Yep.
00:31:21
That would have been nice. Now, the cover e.e. looks like
00:31:25
the plot to White House Down. I guess it's got a kidnapped
00:31:29
girl there and you know, an airplane and the white house but
00:31:34
it looks more. DC Centric to me and that again
00:31:39
covered even get a running man with an Plane next to the we
00:31:43
weren't we were there even at the Capitol Building.
00:31:45
Like now does once again that cover could be on.
00:31:49
Yeah, a million breadth or not a million but like you know ten
00:31:53
different breadth or 10 different Metro app.
00:31:55
You know novels covered D is one of those.
00:31:59
I just wrote my first novel. I'm going to publish it on like
00:32:02
Kindle unlimited. Hoping to make a couple pennies
00:32:04
off it right? No one knows who I am.
00:32:07
I just bought a cover online. Slap it on there.
00:32:09
Looks good. Except it doesn't even look
00:32:12
good. I walked that back.
00:32:13
Yeah, so okay unfortunately you're right when I take these
00:32:17
covers as a whole, I've got a ding, it if cover see, wasn't as
00:32:21
good as it was, I might go as low as a to I think because I
00:32:26
love cover. See so much I'm going three and
00:32:28
a half ago, three and a half. All right, I'm going to add a
00:32:31
half. I can't that okay, okay.
00:32:35
I think you're right. Yeah.
00:32:37
I Love cover. See I really like it.
00:32:39
No, I really do. And I think that's I probably
00:32:42
would give it a one if it didn't have cover.
00:32:44
See I probably would Yeah, I hear you.
00:32:49
I hear you. I hear covers these awesome.
00:32:50
It's kind of like your shirt right now.
00:32:53
You're wearing them bright orange, Tennessee, Tennessee.
00:32:57
Yeah. There it is.
00:32:58
That's what do you like to see what?
00:33:00
Okay, that's where she went and got her PhD.
00:33:02
So I have a couple Tennessee thinks the furman's are a family
00:33:06
of doctors. Yeah.
00:33:09
She's I have that. I have to Queens College stuff
00:33:12
for when she did her postdoc, I have corn Elsa Catholic stuff.
00:33:17
Oof got some education that family over there, but all of
00:33:22
your kids have phds already side note, you know, both me and Mike
00:33:28
sure. We've said it's on the pot, a
00:33:29
couple times me and my we met at got to University and I'm
00:33:33
important I have a Catholic sweatshirt that I love and I
00:33:36
wear it like a lot. So I wore it down when I was
00:33:40
working at the Eco stadium and I've never gotten, you know,
00:33:44
anyone, when I wear Kordell stuff, I've gotten people to,
00:33:46
you know, say, oh, Colleges you go, there.
00:33:48
Never got anyone to say any bad Catholic University and the same
00:33:52
day. Same game, two people.
00:33:55
Shout it out. Like the one guy was like, go
00:33:57
Cardinals. I had to be like, I didn't even
00:34:00
know he was talking to me, and I was like, oh particles, right?
00:34:03
That's our mascot dude. Catholic is full of Philly
00:34:07
people. Yeah, we're all right on
00:34:10
Catholic University of Philadelphia in Washington, d.c.
00:34:15
right outside Philadelphia. Yeah.
00:34:17
Everyone was like where are you from?
00:34:18
Right outside Philadelphia. You could be like in North
00:34:22
Jersey from right. Outside Philadelphia.
00:34:24
Oh, dude, 100%. Everybody's right outside
00:34:27
Philadelphia. It's like where you're from
00:34:28
Allentown. Yeah, exactly.
00:34:31
Now that's not right outside Philadelphia.
00:34:34
You're living middle. Middle Pennsylvania.
00:34:37
Everyone from like Wilkes-Barre is like, oh yeah, I'm from, you
00:34:40
know, just a little outside of Philly except Scranton people
00:34:45
that should take that back scram people.
00:34:47
Let's say that's his friends lie but it's only because of the
00:34:49
office, even some Harrisburg people they'd be like.
00:34:54
Yeah, you know, just outside Philly.
00:34:57
Yeah. I don't think people would say
00:34:58
Harrisburg they say like yeah like because they're only an
00:35:00
hour outside. So that's good.
00:35:03
That's good. All right.
00:35:04
Well what does that bring the total to for you my friend
00:35:06
because this is these numbers are climbing.
00:35:08
Do we didn't you didn't do the free space.
00:35:10
You need to free space. Oh we didn't do free space.
00:35:13
All right, all right. All right.
00:35:15
Got distracted here. Talking about how you know,
00:35:16
Patrick got a perfect score on the SATs at the age of seven
00:35:20
now. Yeah, nice.
00:35:24
What's your free space mic? So I really liked everything in
00:35:30
the Villages and how the backdrop of it all, is this code
00:35:34
of pashtunwali, and The fact that that was part of Brad's
00:35:41
blog on the five fast facts. I think shows it means I was
00:35:44
cool. Yeah.
00:35:45
And so yeah, as he describes, let's find it down here.
00:35:49
Oh, and if you seen what was the movie about Marcus Luttrell and
00:35:52
how he was protected or one of these movies where he was taken
00:35:57
in and protected by these villagers and house.
00:36:01
So, As Brad rights in the website, in the Apostle, we
00:36:05
learned that the traditional pashtun code of honor
00:36:07
explicitly, dictates it every aspect of their lives.
00:36:11
One of the most important aspects of this Unwritten code,
00:36:13
is the treatment of guests. Hospitality is a point of Pride
00:36:17
and honor among the pashtun Afghanistan's largest ethnic
00:36:20
group. The principles of this code of
00:36:21
conduct including Justice, forgiveness, bravery and loyalty
00:36:25
are practiced by pashtun around the world.
00:36:28
I thought was super cooled to include that have it as a
00:36:30
backdrop and really a theme running through everything about
00:36:33
this novel. In fact, it made its way into my
00:36:37
limerick. Who gave it to me for Afghans.
00:36:42
There's a code called pashtunwali to mistreat a guest.
00:36:46
Twould be quite the Folly Adventures abound while rolling
00:36:50
around with Hoyt. Babaji in Fontaine how Jolly
00:36:54
boom. That's good.
00:36:59
All right, give me a free space here.
00:37:02
So I think I gotta go with Brad's research, you know, it
00:37:07
just it's sings through the entire novel and even things
00:37:11
like one off things where they're talking about you, he
00:37:15
references the plot of Lone Survivor and let not well
00:37:18
obviously that's a real event, you know, he brings that up
00:37:21
where you can't like, let you know, the plot of that is like
00:37:26
these goatherds find these Navy Seals and they let they let them
00:37:31
go. Is they don't think that they
00:37:33
pose a risk. But in fact there they run until
00:37:35
the Taliban. And next thing, you know,
00:37:37
there's I think, for of the, the five Navy Seals along with like
00:37:42
the 16 people that come to save them all all perish.
00:37:45
And there's only one and stuff Navy SEAL that survives.
00:37:50
That's the movie I was thinking of.
00:37:52
Yeah, there's also, you know, just, you could tell he cared
00:37:59
about this and, you know, just a little snippet that he puts her
00:38:02
out. I, you know, I really enjoyed
00:38:04
that. Absolutely, this book is so good
00:38:07
and when you're reading it you know that must be the case and
00:38:11
then when you find an article or realize that Brad was embedded
00:38:14
with this team and spent time in Afghanistan you're like it just
00:38:18
makes sense. All the pieces fall into place
00:38:19
and come together. It was one of the things that I
00:38:24
thought was interesting, you know, he says to a Nas back to
00:38:26
when I guess they're going somewhere.
00:38:29
He's like no one's allowed to search the trauma.
00:38:33
They're going into like some CIA things.
00:38:35
Like no one's a lot of search. So that's when they're turning
00:38:37
in Mustafa Khan. Yeah, I'm over to the CIA and
00:38:41
that's just have you seen Zero Dark?
00:38:44
Thirty? Oh yeah, oh yeah.
00:38:47
And like the scene where they're yeah, that's what that gets them
00:38:51
in trouble. And I thought that was
00:38:52
interesting how he put that in, in, in the novel and how by
00:38:55
breaking protocol and not searching that one car.
00:38:57
God like all those CIA people killed at that one facility and
00:39:01
I was Beck is like this is the CIA, you're trying to come into
00:39:05
Bag room. Like you you're going to get
00:39:08
stopped Scott. And Scott's like okay I'll turn
00:39:09
around. You don't get my stuff back on
00:39:11
and I was back gives in and goes fine will clear you that's a big
00:39:15
risk. Risk.
00:39:15
Just like the woman was taken in Zero Dark.
00:39:17
Thirty to let that car through because she didn't want to spook
00:39:19
them. Yeah, no, I think I think
00:39:22
though, we know I was back from the book before, right?
00:39:25
Right. But it just, it was interesting
00:39:27
to me like really well that and then thinking back to you know,
00:39:30
events in the past. That actually happened.
00:39:32
Yeah. So our what's my score?
00:39:34
What's your score 46.5 I think I got a 46.5.
00:39:38
Let me see. One, two, three, four and a
00:39:42
half. I got four and a half is at
00:39:43
45.5. What is that?
00:39:45
What you had? Would you have a to 44.5 44.5?
00:39:50
I clock in at a 45.5. Good score, good.
00:39:54
So I think man, so far, that's the highest rated book that we
00:39:58
have. Although the first two we didn't
00:40:01
use the scorecard on, we hadn't created yet with lions and path.
00:40:05
So, This is up there, this is up there.
00:40:09
Chris, you're still going to say, you don't think it's going
00:40:11
to be in your top five. At the end of this whole no
00:40:13
optioned another one. Now that we like talk to talk
00:40:16
about it. It's definitely in my top five
00:40:17
for right right now too. Yeah we'll see.
00:40:20
We'll see if it stays in it. But yeah, you think so.
00:40:23
I think it will for me I really do.
00:40:25
I guess should we can we say we reserve the right to eat
00:40:29
whatever our scorecard say like we reserved the right to at the
00:40:32
end week will rank them the way our scorecards do but also like
00:40:36
we reserve the right to move them up and down.
00:40:37
Down for how we feel. No, I 100% things that I think
00:40:41
that's the case of But these are our scores in the moment, but
00:40:45
doesn't have to our final rankings at the end of this pod,
00:40:48
this whole journey of a podcast. I don't think have to go
00:40:50
directly by the scores. We could rank them still on this
00:40:54
General feel or Vibe, you know, like a book could move up
00:40:57
because of a Vibe or a book can move down because of a Vibe and
00:41:00
they age differently. We saw that with the Arab
00:41:02
series. You might remember a book
00:41:05
fondly, you know, five books from now and it moves up a
00:41:08
little bit because of how you remember it.
00:41:10
And there might be another one you liked in the moment, but As
00:41:13
an age well and that it doesn't stick or something later on in
00:41:16
the series contradicts it and it loses some of its cred.
00:41:19
So I think we reserve that right.
00:41:21
What about how we like, what was the one?
00:41:23
We were just reading how we read it.
00:41:25
Oh it was path. Yeah well what was the first
00:41:30
commandment? I learned a damn had path of the
00:41:33
Assassin, a lot better because of what was that guy's name?
00:41:37
Oh yeah. How that?
00:41:38
That story was connected. Oh already shown comes back in
00:41:40
the story was connected by re shown exactly Exactly exactly.
00:41:44
And we really unpacked the ending of path of the Assassin,
00:41:47
but it took like, what four more books before the payoff was
00:41:50
there, right? So our scorecard at, we go back
00:41:53
and we don't have one for that one, but if we were to do that,
00:41:56
that would be a very low score solely on that book.
00:41:59
But, you know, so I'm still not Elevate and path is still
00:42:02
probably at the right, the moment.
00:42:04
It's the second behind blowbacks obviously like least favorite
00:42:09
novel so far. Yeah.
00:42:10
Blowback is dumpster diving? Yeah.
00:42:14
Maybe we should do when we hit the halfway mark, we should do a
00:42:16
little brief little pod. Talking about things we've liked
00:42:20
in the first half of the breath or theories.
00:42:23
Yeah. No I definitely think we do kind
00:42:26
of slow down recap reflection episode.
00:42:28
So the halfway point would be which book if the new one coming
00:42:32
out is going to be 22 or 23 22, I think, right?
00:42:39
The new one coming out. Your right is going to be 22.
00:42:41
So what's the 11th book? So this is the eighth but we've
00:42:45
actually done nine because we jumped ahead.
00:42:49
That's true. That's true.
00:42:50
So maybe after 10:00 so. Yeah, we have two more which
00:42:55
means we're going to pause after full black which I think foreign
00:42:58
influence and full black might be.
00:43:00
Do we do foreign influence, do the apothem, do the Athena and
00:43:03
then pause before we get full black because I know we both
00:43:07
like full black Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna have to see.
00:43:12
We're gonna have to see maybe because we've already scheduled
00:43:15
it out. We go through full black, then
00:43:17
we do a reflection on books. One through ten plus Athena.
00:43:25
Yeah. 10 plus it is a okay. Sounds good to me.
00:43:28
Cool dude. Good pop it.
00:43:32
Great pod Gradebook, great research by Brown.
00:43:36
Alright, so next time when you hear from us, we're going to be
00:43:39
over on our way here from us on this feed, we will be doing
00:43:43
foreign influence, excited about that one and then, but the next
00:43:49
pod we release will be over on are no limits podcast.
00:43:53
We will be doing our first guess what off book or, you know, non
00:43:58
serialized book by Connor Sullivan, then that Sleeping
00:44:01
Bear. You've already read this one,
00:44:02
right Mike. I read, it's really good and we
00:44:05
want to That one this month because I think it's next month
00:44:09
that his second book comes out and he's also going to Russia
00:44:13
back to Russia in a second book. I hear.
00:44:15
So yeah I think we got a good one to punch in Connor Sullivan
00:44:19
with his debut book that came out last year and then his next
00:44:22
one coming out this March Okay, wait to read that Wolf Trap is a
00:44:27
second one wolftrap writer, right?
00:44:30
All right. We do you think our patrons are
00:44:32
special, operator? Sherry, f are special agents
00:44:34
Darryl. Kevin George Ben.
00:44:35
Matt Dawn. Peggy Ray.
00:44:37
Bridget and Mark, Please Subscribe rate and review.
00:44:40
Using your favorite podcasting platform.
00:44:42
You can find us all three seasons on Apple podcast as well
00:44:46
as Spotify. You can find us online at throw
00:44:49
their pod.com or Twitter and Instagram at the other podcast.
00:44:53
And as always To the United States of America.
00:44:58
I love how Armand, Schultz read that line.
00:45:00
If the final line of the book, loved what I was thinking of,
00:45:03
was you do? And as always T IA, T is a, this
00:45:08
is Afghanistan. Yeah, t.i., a how's it going?
00:45:13
You know, he picked that up over there.
00:45:14
He heard that from. Oh yeah.
00:45:16
For sure for sure.