Hey everyone, it's Rick. Before we get started, as we approach back to school,

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Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. I'm your host, Reed Gaelin. Today, I'm joined by New York Times

best-selling author Brad Thor. He's the author of 23 thrillers, including his latest,

Dead Fall, available now wherever find books are sold. In addition to his books, he's appeared on

just about every mainstream news outlet to discuss terrorism, as well as how closely his novels of

international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today. Brad served as a member of

the Department of Homeland Security's analytic red cell unit, and is also lectured to law enforcement

organizations on over the horizon and future threats. Today, he's coming to us from New York City.

Brad, welcome. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here, Reed.

All right, so as I mentioned before went on, go back to Lyon's Lucerne, the first in the series,

so here you are 23 books later. And you know, as I was reading the book, one thing I appreciate is

that your hero, Scott Harvath, he's feeling a little bit in his bones. You know, some people like

James Bond, right? They recycle him every generation or so, but Scott's feeling it. He's been at

this a long time. He's got a girlfriend. He's got a lot of baggage and damage and everything

else in his past. And here he is. He's got to suit up one more time. But I thought it was interesting

that you were willing to let him get a little bit old. Yeah, you know what? Harvath represents a lot

of the people that I've known over the last couple of decades in the intelligence community and

...