BRAD THOR | Choke Point (Ep. 931)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
So you're saying with Hilton Honors, I can use points for a free night stay anywhere? Anywhere.
What about fancy places like the Canopy in Paris? Yeah, Hilton Honors, baby. Or relaxing sanctuaries like the Conrad and Tulum?

**Kyle Thompson** (0:13)
Hilton Honors, baby.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:15)
What about the five-star Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives? Are you going to do this for all 9,000 properties?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:22)
When you want points that can take you anywhere, anytime, it matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:28)
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**Kyle Thompson** (0:58)
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This is Undaunted.Life A Man's Podcast. I'm your host, Kyle Thompson. Let's get into it. Brad Thor, welcome back to the show, but I gotta tell you, right from the jump, we've had a major upgrade. Do you know what it is?

**Brad Thor** (1:57)
What's the upgrade?

**Kyle Thompson** (1:58)
Because last time, I'm throwing you under the bus here, right from the beginning. Last time, in the background there, there was something sitting on the couch. It was a pillow with a UK flag on it. This is the 250th anniversary of us not having to care about it, so I appreciate that that pillow is nowhere inside, sir.

**Brad Thor** (2:15)
I'm glad that you're a healthy adult male and can let things go. That's great.

**Kyle Thompson** (2:19)
Yeah.
I'm very well adjusted. I get that compliment all the time. I definitely don't take things and beat dead horses. That's not really my style. But hey, we need to talk about you because you are back on the show, because again, you're a prolific writer. You just won't stop. We got a new book out and guys, I got it before the rest of you did. Aren't y'all jealous? This is the new book, Choke Point, the new thriller. Gosh, it's such a beautiful cover. But here's the thing about this book. So this is the continuation of the Scott Harvath character. And so for some guys in my audience, they were here for the last podcast where you did kind of a one-off with a co-author. And so it wasn't with the Scott Harvath character. And so let's just start there. Let's start kind of 30,000 foot view for those in our audience that are not familiar with that character. Who in the world is he?

**Brad Thor** (3:07)
Yeah, so I always set the table by saying that my thrillers are like the James Bond movies. If there's a new Bond movie at your local cinema, you can go see it even if you've never seen a previous Bond movie. You'll get caught up right away. So it's the same thing with my books and Scott Harvath. So this is my 25th Scott Harvath novel. And Choke Point in Harvath is the character I created. Harvath came out of the SEAL teams, distinguished himself on a presidential detail where the president was near water. And the Secret Service took a shine to him and said, let us bring you on board to help protect the White House against terrorists, to better improve our counter-terrorism expertise. And then the president took a shine to him and said, you know what, this guy shouldn't be playing defense. We should take the chain off and let him go after our enemies.
If they're not going to play by a rule book, then let's let Harvath go after the bad guys without a rule book. But with one understanding that if you're going to trust somebody not to be bound by the rules, you can't send a sadist. You actually have to send a man with a good, strong moral compass if you're going to say no rules. Because you don't want somebody that goes from to 80, to 100 in the blink of an eye as far as the continuum of force. And so that's a little bit of Harvath's background. Presidents have come and go during his career.