Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Book Review: Path of the Assassin (Scot Harvath Series #2)

 


Path of the Assassin is the second book in the long-running series of novels by Brad Thor set around the character, Scot Harvath. This novel, which was published in 2003, is mostly a reset of the story but does tie into the first book, The Lions of Lucerne, at the beginning. The events of this book are set about a year after those of the prior novel. Harvath is up for a promotion within the Secret Service, but he is also tracking down the remaining conspirators who were involved in the kidnapping of the President from the first novel. During a mission, one of his targets is taken out by a mysterious assassin who has ties to terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. From there, the storyline involves a cat-and-mouse game between Harvath and the assassin.

The hardcover version of the book is a little under 400 pages. It reads very similar to novels that are in the same genre such as the Red Sparrow novels and the Mitch Rapp novels. It has a very good blend of action and suspense and Thor does set the fictional events of the book within the real world as much as possible (e.g., referencing the 9/11 attacks and the very real unrest in the Middle East and the pissing contests between different US agencies). It is a very good follow-up to the first book and even surpasses the first book in terms of quality. If you liked the first book or are just a fan of the spy novel or international action thriller genres, this is absolutely worth the time to read. 



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