Actually...

"The Inside of a Dog" got bumped. I warned that this would happen. I got through 20-30 chapters (which were very difficult), and Brad Thor's "The Athena Project" came in. It immediately went into the CD player. So, without further ado...

Brad Thor's "The Athena Project".

The Good: Alot. This is the book that I have been most looking forward to reading, and it didn't disappoint. The book centers around a super-secret Delta force-trained counter-terrorism unit. And did I mention, they're all hot chicks!!! If you don't know, I am a huge fan of female protagonists. I am also a big follower of Brad Thor - his "The Last Patriot" is my favorite novel of the last decade. His traditional protagonist, CIA agent Scott Horvath is a well-crafted character, but in his last novel, "Foreign Influence", Thor introduced Horvath to The Athena team. Since then, Thor fans have been aching for more. And, we get it. The character development and interplay between Casey, Cooper, Erickson, and Rhodes is intriguing and entertaining. I want even more. There's even a couple of Horvath cameos. Real good.
It has Nazi's, KGB agents, alQaeda, quantum teleportation, a Venice boat chase, beautiful women with guns. What more could you want? So much fun.

The Bad: Not much. I am very particular when it comes to female protagonists, and there are but a few storytellers that can do it well. Greg Rucka is just about the best. Brad Thor doesn't reach that level. His girls are a little single-dimensional and, at times, very campy. It feels as if he is fishing for someone to snatch up the movie rights. But that's okay, it's the level of camp that I'm looking for with this story. Just needs slightly more depth. Also, the narrator was not my favorite.

The Ugly: The villians. I'm still unclear of who they were, and what their motivations were. This is the setup for the next novel, which I anticipate will be titled "The Amalgam", but it does absolutely nothing to intrigue me in "The Athena Project". I don't want the bad guys to be brought to justice bad enough, because I'm not quite clear who/what/where/when/why/how they are the bad guys. That was the only, but definitive, disappointment of the novel. Brad: a great villian makes a novel.