INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER “Fast-paced...pulse-pounding...supremely entertaining…His best ever.” — The Washington Times “This might be the single greatest thriller I’ve covered....It’s amazing!” — The Real Book Spy Scot Harvath returns in the newest thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor. The world’s largest bounty has just been placed upon America’s top spy. His only hope for survival is to outwit, outrun, and outlast his enemies long enough to get to the truth. But for Scot Harvath to accomplish his most dangerous mission ever—one that has already claimed the lives of the people closest to him, including his new wife—he’s going to need help—a lot of it. Not knowing whom he can trust, Harvath finds an unlikely ally in Norwegian intelligence operative Sølvi Kolstad. Just as smart, just as deadly, and just as determined, she not only has the skills, but also the broken, troubled past to match Harvath’s own. "If you love thrillers . . . if you've ever read a thriller you enjoyed . . . if you think you *might* like a thriller . . . you HAVE to pre-order Brad Thor's NEAR DARK. This might be the single greatest thriller I've covered on The Real Book Spy. It's amazing!" ― The Real Book Spy "Not since Ian Fleming rendered James Bond a mere shell of himself in the wake of "From Russia, With Love" has an author pushed an icon to such depths." ― Providence Journal "Brad Thor has mastered the art of the thriller cliffhanger." ― New York Journal of Books "Fast-paced... Pulse-pounding... Supremely entertaining... His best ever." ― Washington Times "Brad Thor thrills yet again with NEAR DARK." ― The San Diego Tribune Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five thrillers, including Edge of Honor , Black Ice ( ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), Near Dark (one of Suspense Magazine ’s Best Books of the Year), Backlash (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), Spymaster (“One of the all-time best thriller novels” — The Washington Times ), The Last Patriot (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association), and Blowback (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR). Visit his website at BradThor.com and follow him on Facebook @BradThorOfficial, on Instagram @RealBradThor, and on X @BradThor. Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 KEY WEST FRIDAY, TWO WEEKS LATER Looking back on it, Scot Harvath probably shouldn’t have punched the guy. Flipped him on his ass? Sure . Put his wrist into a painful, yet harmless joint lock? Even better . But uppercut the guy so hard that he knocked him out cold? Not one of his better decisions . And therein lay the problem. Lately, Harvath seemed to be out of the good-decision-making business altogether. Forget for the moment that the other guy had it coming. A wealthy Wall Street type, he appeared to take great pleasure in verbally abusing his female companion. The more the man had to drink, the worse it got. It was uncomfortable for everyone sitting nearby. What it wasn’t , though, was any of Harvath’s business. People got into relationships for all sorts of reasons. If she was willing to sit there and get berated by some jackass, that was her problem. At least it had been until she took off her shawl. The moment she did, everything changed. On such a warm evening, in the resort’s open-air lounge, it had seemed odd to be wearing a wrap. Then Harvath noticed her bruises. She had tried to conceal them, but to his discerning eye they were unmistakable, running up and down both arms. Apparently, Wall Street could get rough with more than just his words. In Harvath’s book—hell, in any decent human being’s book—men who beat women were scum. Did this guy need to be taught a lesson? Absolutely . Did Harvath need to be the one doing the teaching? That was de batable . Karma would catch up with the guy eventually. It was one of those things from which you could run, but never hide. Nevertheless, Harvath felt for the woman. Maybe it was all the cocktails he had consumed that were talking. Maybe it was the amount of personal trauma he had unsuccessfully been trying to escape. Either way, the emotional and physical pain radiating from her was undeniable. And so, when Wall Street next popped off, Harvath didn’t even think. He just reacted. Standing up, he walked over to their table. Her problem had just become his problem. “That’s enough,” he said. “Come again?” the man replied, an angry look on his face as he rose to confront Harvath. “You heard me. Leave the lady alone.” “Mind your own business,” Wall Street snapped, giving him a shove. That was when Harvath laid him out. It was a dramatic escalation of the situation and drew a collective gasp from the other guests. The punch could have killed him. Or, he could have hit his head on one of the tables as he fell. A million and one th