The Real Book Spy

The Real Book Spy

First Reaction: My Initial Thoughts After Finishing 'Cold Zero' by Brad Thor and Ward Larsen

Frozen wasteland. Global stakes. No way out.

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The Real Book Spy
Sep 01, 2025
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Oh, my gosh.

Wow!

Yup, okay. I didn’t know what to expect here. I really didn’t know much about the book before starting it; I just dove in. I’m not sure what I thought it was going to be—but I was wrong either way.

I suppose, after more than two decades of reading Scot Harvath novels, I thought I had a sense of what Thor writes, but this is a different vibe. Fresh. New. So very unlike anything he’s ever done, and yet, it’s a familiar note to Harvath, just bigger. Mostly in scope, but hard as it may be to believe—bigger in action, too. And stakes!

How can that be? I’m telling you . . . I’m still trying to get my head around this one. Harvath has saved the world over and over again, but this is, well, bigger.

Think Red Storm Rising frozen on Ice, Cold Zero has it all—arctic wastelands, global superpowers, and a countdown to chaos that demands you read it in a single sitting. Epic in scale and relentless in execution, Thor and his new co-author, Ward Larsen, prove why they’re masters of the modern thriller.

Here’s the hook: A vanished plane. A deadly secret. A race to stop WWIII. It doesn’t get better than this.

I’ll craft my eventual review around that. Remember, this is not my review. I’m literally rambling in real-time, not planning this out, just giving you raw feedback as it comes to me. Again, I’m still getting my head around this.

It’s a lot to take in.

Honestly, one thing makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Ward Larsen, already a terrific writer, was the perfect author for Thor to team with because . . .

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