I love a good action-spy-terrorist-FBI-Secret-Service-double-crossing-political-thriller. There are four authors in this genre that I turn to again and again, and they never disappoint. Sorry that I can't add Brad Thor to the list.

Not that it didn't start out with a brilliant, and I mean BRILLIANT crime. The kidnapping of the president was really well done. Loved it.

But then, The Lions of Lucerne turned into a Nancy Drew mystery: The Case of the Missing President (plus lots of strong language and violence). The clues were so obvious as to make the terrorist kidnappers look like a bunch of rank amateurs. Each bit of evidence was so over-explained, I felt I was being talked down to. We follow Secret Service Agent Scot Harvath as he is battered, beaten, shot at, stabbed, nearly drowned, etc. He has a couple of friends who provide key clues, and one introduces him to the only other person on the planet who could figure this out, who just happens to be a beautiful woman. And, just like in Nancy Drew, during the interview of the bad guy, an odd turn of phrase turns into the key clue that helps them solve the case! Wow!

Also annoying, the reader is constantly reminded (through "tell" as much as "show") of how smart, tough, strong, well-trained, quick-thinking and handsome the hero is.

I have another Brad Thor book on my "to read" shelf, loaned to me by my dad, who told me this one was the better of the two. Hmm. Hard to get excited about that one...