A Review of "The Athena Project" [87]

The Athena Project by Brad Thor
Atria Books, ISBN 978-1439192955
November 23, 2010, 336 pages

 

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There are just some jobs where you need a woman touch. Or rather, in the world of covert operations, there are some places where a man may stand out and a woman may go unnoticed. This was the idea behind the formation of a new Delta Force group, code named The Athena Project. The government would seek out and train the most talented woman they could find...great athletics, experts in all sorts of arms..and not beyond using their attractiveness to complete the mission.

"Give a woman a dog's leash, one person said, and she could wander anywhere. Put a woman in a car with a baby seat and she could sit all day surveilling a target without attracting much attention...A female operative capable of kicking in your door, shooting you in the head, or cuffing you and stuffing you in a trunk was the last thing most of the bad guys would ever expect."

When a terrorist attack takes place in Rome, the members of the Athena group are given the job of infiltrating the home of the arms dealer who supplied the explosives and taking him captive. An exciting beginning to the adventure, but only the beginning of what turns out to be a much more complicated and much more deadly conspiracy of terror.
It is a conspiracy that reaches back to the final days of the Nazi regime and reaches into a view of the future that would be truly frightening, if it comes to pass.
The woman of The Athena Project are given the job to see that it does not.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be a "whoot".
A fun, exciting romp.
Ok, at times you have to suspend your disbelief. The science is..well, hard to believe, regardless of the comment at the beginning of the book that "All the science in this novel is based on reality." Hmmmm... And the comparisons in your mind to old episodes of Charlie's Angels may get a bit old. I kept thinking who should play the four woman in the movie, because this is a book crying out to be a movie. A movie men and teenage boys will love.
But...the story holds your attention, moves along at a 'killer' pace (pun fully intended) and the dialogue is often quite funny, and for me, funny goes a long way. Yes, there is shooting and killing and a bit of "enhanced" interrogation methods but it never gets too heavy or scary before we are off to the next adventure with the girls.
Not an earth shattering thriller, but a good, fun read.

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