The wars of the 21st century will not typically begin with the brutalist modalities of armies crossing borders or missiles flying across the horizon. More often, they will unfold quietly—in cyberspace, through economic coercion, by means of information warfare, or through covert efforts designed to destabilize societies from within.
Asymmetry will shape the future, with kinetic actions manipulated by AI systems, and information mechanisms dominated by illusions, and great deceptions created by minds made of silicon—inherent with the baffling subtleties of superposition.
Few contemporary thriller writers understand that uncomfortable reality better than Brad Thor.
With “Choke Point,” his 25th novel featuring legendary operative Scot Harvath, Thor once again demonstrates why he remains one of the most insightful voices in modern political fiction. Like Tom Clancy before him, Thor possesses a rare ability to take emerging geopolitical realities and transform them into a story that is both immensely entertaining and uncomfortably plausible. That realism is no accident.
During our conversation, Thor explained that he does not begin with action sequences or exotic locations. He begins with a geopolitical question.
“I always wrap my books around some big geopolitical set piece,” Thor told Townhall. “I call what I do faction, where you don’t know where the facts end and the fiction begins.”
For “Choke Point,” that question centered on China’s strategic ambitions in Southeast Asia. Thor became fascinated by China’s desire to bypass the Strait of Malacca, a narrow maritime passage through which much of its commerce and energy supply flows. Thailand had resisted Chinese efforts to create a canal through the Kra Isthmus, preserving a strategic vulnerability that American naval power could exploit in a future conflict.
The novelist’s imagination then asked a question that intelligence professionals have long understood is often the beginning of a dangerous scenario: What happens when a powerful adversary cannot achieve its objective through persuasion?
“What if the Chinese figured out a way to make things so unstable in Thailand that another military coup took place?” Thor told Townhall.
That question becomes the foundation for a thriller rooted not merely in military conflict, but in the far more complex world of covert influence, deniable operations, and political destabilization.
As a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent who spent years working counterintelligence matters, I found this aspect of “Choke Point” particularly compelling. Modern adversaries rarely seek to defeat the United States in a conventional battle. They seek to weaken our alliances, exploit our divisions, and convince Americans to distrust one another.
Thor articulated that danger with remarkable clarity.
“Our enemies want to create disunity,” he told Townhall. “They benefit when we’re at each other’s throats because it erodes our confidence in ourselves as citizens and in our nation.”
The novel’s greatest surprise, however, may be its antagonist. After 25 books, the challenge for any author is creating an enemy who feels genuinely dangerous. Thor accomplishes that by making Harvath’s opponent not a foreign terrorist but an American—a former Navy SEAL whose exceptional training and tragic fall from grace make him a mirror image of the hero pursuing him.
The concept itself grew from Thor’s fascination with a real military pipeline in which exceptionally capable Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel were recruited to attempt Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUDS), the incredibly rigorous selection process for Navy SEALs. The result is a villain whose expertise exceeds even Harvath’s in certain areas, particularly explosives, making him a uniquely formidable opponent.
Yet Thor avoids the trap of creating a one-dimensional villain. The best antagonists are often those whose motivations the reader can understand, even if their actions cannot be justified. This enemy is not a caricature of evil. He is a man who lost his identity when he lost the uniform and brotherhood that defined his life. That complexity has always distinguished Thor’s writing.
Early in the novel, after the bombing in Bangkok, Harvath expresses confidence in the FBI’s Evidence Response Team with a line that immediately caught my attention: “They’re the best. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, it’s the Bureau.”
As someone who spent 20 years serving in the FBI, I appreciated that moment. At a time when public conversations about the Bureau are frequently dominated by political controversies, Thor portrays the organization with reference to the thousands of agents, analysts, scientists, and professional staff who quietly dedicate their lives to protecting the nation.
“It’s a tremendous organization that has done so much good for our country,” Thor told Townhall. “I think the world of the men and women that work tirelessly to keep us safe.”
Perhaps the most revealing moment of our conversation came when I asked Thor what he had learned about Scot Harvath after writing the character for a quarter century. His answer revealed the deeper philosophy behind the entire series. “There is no American Dream without those willing to protect it,” Thor told Townhall. “It doesn’t exist.”
That may be the single sentence that best explains why readers have followed Scot Harvath through 25 novels.
Harvath is not simply an action hero. He represents the enduring warrior ethos—courage, loyalty, discipline, and the willingness to enter dangerous places so that others can live safely.
“Choke Point” delivers everything longtime readers expect from a Brad Thor thriller: international intrigue, sophisticated intelligence tradecraft, a compelling villain, and relentless pacing. More importantly, it accomplishes what the best political thrillers always do. It entertains while forcing readers to think seriously about the threats that exist beyond the headlines.
Twenty-five novels after “The Lions of Lucerne” introduced Scot Harvath to readers, Brad Thor has proven that his greatest creation still has much to say about the world we inhabit—and the men and women who stand watch over it.
“Choke Point” is on sale today wherever books are sold! Also, don’t miss my long-form interview with Brad Thor about “Choke Point” here!
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