Black Ice is the 21st Scot Harvath spy thriller from Brad Thor. I have read every book in the series and loved them all. However, Black Ice was a slow read with little suspense. In this installment of the series we have Harvath enjoying a summer off from work with his girlfriend Solvi. She is also a spy but for her own country, Norway. Near the end of his vacation, Harvath is told he must return to Washington ASAP or resign. He agrees to go back to Washington but as he leaves his favorite Oslo cafe, Harvath sees a man he killed enter a cab in front of the cafe. Harvath had confirmed the death of the Chinese spy before informing his bosses and knew he was dead. Now he wonders whether he killed a double or if he had just seen a double.

For the first time for a Brad Thor novel, I was frequently able to put the book down. Normally I would read his books in one sitting. It took me several days to get through it. When I read about Scot's girlfriend Solvi, it was apparent that the author was a man. Scot is always the catch, not the other way around. Scot's job is always more important than the women's job. The women are submissive to the man. I am not sure why this irked me now. Maybe the pattern is more apparent after 21 novels. I also wonder if men are his target audience.

I must also wonder whether I was not in the mood for a spy story or whether something was off in the writing. All I know is that I wasn't as interested in this installment of the series as I have been with prior novels. Perhaps Thor should switch up his formula for the series to breathe new life into his plots and characters.

I am sorry to have to rate Black Ice 3 out of 5 stars. Thor usually gets a 5 star rating from me. ( )