This book is the origin story of the character of Mitch Rapp, created by Novelist Vince Flynn. For those who are familiar with Flynn's work, he started writing a series of novels, starting with the novel Transfer of Power, which was set around a spy (Rapp) in the prime of his career who took down terrorists much like the character Jack-Bauer did in the series 24. In fact, Flynn consulted on the series 24 in later seasons of the show. As he published more Mitch Rapp stories, fans clamored for an origin story for the character, and American Assassin was created. So, if you read the books in chronological order, this is Book 1. If you read them in release/publication order, this is Book 11.
The basic storyline is that Rapp's girlfriend was killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie Scottland. He is subsequently recruited into the CIA by Irene Kennedy, and trained (reluctantly), by an aging CIA Agent Stan Hurley. Rapp's skills are beyond his years and beyond his lack of conventional training. The last third of the book involves a mission to save Hurley from kidnappers and at the end, Rapp decides to go on a revenge mission to find the members of the terror cell behind the bombing of Pan Am 103.
I had never read any of Vince Flynn's novels before (I had heard him interviewed on our local sports talk station many times before his death, and intended to start reading the books, but never got around to it until now), so I decided to go in chronological order to see the development of the character from the start. As is usually the case, the book is much better than the movie (which changes the storyline from the book significantly). It is well-written and the story flows very well. It does jump back and forth in the timeline of events a little, but not so much that it makes following the story hard. In fact, the book is a pretty easy read, even being about 430 pages long, and can be read in a day or two depending on how fast you read and how much time you have to read. The chapters are fairly short so there are a lot of natural stopping points, which is definitely helpful for longer novels. So, if you are a fan of spy novels, this is a very good one to check out.
The basic storyline is that Rapp's girlfriend was killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie Scottland. He is subsequently recruited into the CIA by Irene Kennedy, and trained (reluctantly), by an aging CIA Agent Stan Hurley. Rapp's skills are beyond his years and beyond his lack of conventional training. The last third of the book involves a mission to save Hurley from kidnappers and at the end, Rapp decides to go on a revenge mission to find the members of the terror cell behind the bombing of Pan Am 103.
I had never read any of Vince Flynn's novels before (I had heard him interviewed on our local sports talk station many times before his death, and intended to start reading the books, but never got around to it until now), so I decided to go in chronological order to see the development of the character from the start. As is usually the case, the book is much better than the movie (which changes the storyline from the book significantly). It is well-written and the story flows very well. It does jump back and forth in the timeline of events a little, but not so much that it makes following the story hard. In fact, the book is a pretty easy read, even being about 430 pages long, and can be read in a day or two depending on how fast you read and how much time you have to read. The chapters are fairly short so there are a lot of natural stopping points, which is definitely helpful for longer novels. So, if you are a fan of spy novels, this is a very good one to check out.
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