Brad Thor's New Thriller 'Black Ice' Includes Real World Intrigue

His insider pals gave him the idea for Black Ice

Over two decades in this business, I've developed a really good network of men and women in the military, the intelligence community, law enforcement, the diplomatic corps, government throughout Washington… I ask [them] “What keeps you up at night?” What I heard repeatedly was that there is a new Cold War that is starting to heat up in the Arctic. And it's between the United States, Russia and China. As temperatures in the Arctic are rising two times faster than anywhere else on the planet, the sea ice is turning to slush for longer and longer periods each summer, and that's opening up different shipping routes. And there's a ton of resources up there, and the Chinese want a share of the action…. That's a really cool backdrop to set a page-turning spy thriller against.

COVID-19 made research tricky

I was going to go to the Arctic spring of 2020, and a little something called COVID happened so I couldn't go, which is unfortunate, but it is what it is. When I can't make it to a location, I want to work through my network to find somebody who has been there, particularly somebody who has operated there, whether they were a special forces person, a diplomat, an intelligence officer — because those folks all pay attention to the details. Details are the bedrock of a great thriller. So luckily, I found somebody who's fabulous, who had not only been to the part of the Arctic that I was writing about, but had taken a million photos… really good stuff.

If you've never read the series, you can jump in anywhere

My Scot Harvath books are like the James Bond movies: You don't ever need to see the previous James Bond movie to go and enjoy the most recent one. So you could start with Black Ice having never read Brad Thor ever in your life. But if you wanted to back up and start three summers ago, I did a book called Spymaster. That was a lot of fun, and it really marked a change in the trajectory of the series.

He writes a book every year because…?

That's my contract. It takes a lot of discipline. And it takes somebody cracking the whip in the background, too.

He won't include COVID-19 in his next thriller

Absolutely not. I sell adventure and I sell escape. I want you to forget about COVID for a little bit. And I can't think of anything less sexy than two spies in a cafe wearing masks, and staying socially distant. But seven years ago, I did a book called Code of Conduct that was about a global pandemic, one that had been done on purpose. It's funny to have fans come back and say, “Man, you nailed it seven years ago."

His hero is headed for the big screen

I am under a nondisclosure agreement, but I had a massive, massive producer in Hollywood who said, “I would love to bring your books to the screen.” ... He closed our first real business conversation saying, “Who would you like to have direct these?” I picked the best action director, in my opinion, in Hollywood. The whole team is awesome. I can't comment on the actors but, boy, there is a wealth of potential actors who could play [Harvath].

Harvath isn't like James Bond

Bond is really, really cold. Harvath's got a great sense of humor…

He is like Thor, though

Scot Harvath is my alter ego — the same way I'm sure Bond was for Ian Fleming, and Jack Ryan was for Tom Clancy. I've always aged him chronologically along with me… And I grew up the son of a United States Marine, being taught that there is no American Dream without those willing to protect it. That's what my protagonist's calling is: to protect and defend the American dream. He's willing to give up everything — he's given up his own happiness, his own chance to have a family life and kids — because he believes so much in his mission, in his calling.… He always does the right thing, but he's not afraid to break a few eggs if that's what's necessary to make the omelet.

What Thor does for fun

I'm a big physical fitness guy, so working out is a big thing for me. I've got two teenagers, that keeps me very busy. But my number one love, and it's been tabled because of COVID, is travel. I love international travel…. Before I was an author I was the host of a series on public television called Traveling Lite. And my dad saw the world as a Marine, my mom was a flight attendant for TWA. So I've had that travel bug in me since I was born. That's a big passion for me. And reading. You can't be even a halfway decent writer without being a voracious reader.

Thor's favorite authors and books

My parents were big thriller readers, so I'd always swipe their books. I grew up reading Frederick Forsyth, John le Carré, Clancy, (Robert) Ludlum — the true greats. And I became a huge Vince Flynn fan. More recent, Jack Carr — he was a Navy SEAL — Steve Berry, James Rollins…Ben Coes is terrific. I am reading someone outside my genre now, Peng Shepherd, who wrote The Book of M, and she has a new one coming out next year called The Cartographer that's going to be a massive hit. And I loved All the Light We Cannot See [the 2014 historical novel by Anthony Doerr]. That's still the high watermark for me. It's not only a great story, but so beautifully, beautifully written.

Christina Ianzito is the travel and books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine, and also edits and writes health, entertainment and other stories for aarp.org. She received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing.