The Third Option is the third book written by Vince Flynn, and the second novel to feature the character Mitch Rapp (if you read the novels in the order they were published). If you read the series in chronological order it is the fourth in the Mitch Rapp series.
This novel is set sometime after the events of Transfer of Power, with Mitch wanting to get out of his clandestine work with the CIA and settle down with Anna, the reporter whose life he saved in the first book. He decides that his current mission, to assassinate a German arms dealer who has been selling weapons to Sadaam Hussein will be his last. The mission goes sideways when the people he is working with turn on him, causing Rapp to try and figure out who tried to take him out.
Most of the events in the book are set in Washington D.C. Most of the major characters from Transfer of Power return in this book, and there are a few new major characters that are introduced. Some of whom will clearly be integral to later novels. Most of the story is wrapped up by the end of the book, but it is clear from reading the book that the story told in this one will play out over at least one additional book.
It is interesting reading Flynn's work while looking through the lens of history. His first books were written in the late 1990s and this one was published in 2000. In the real world Al-Queda was becoming the major terroristic threat, yet in Flynn's novels, Sadaam Hussein was much more of a threat than he was in reality. I am interested to see whether that changes at some point after the events of September 11, 2001. I am reading the books in chronological order so I have only read American Assassin, Kill Shot, Transfer of Power, and now this book.
Overall, the book is very entertaining, with a nice blend of action and suspense. It does have a bit more political intrigue and behind-the-scenes backbiting and maneuvering than Transfer of Power Had. Even though Flynn was a pretty staunch conservative, he has no problem having bad guys in either party. If you ever listened to him being interviewed, he often sounded exasperated with politicians in general, regardless of party (at least the interviews that he did on local Twin Cities talk radio), and that sentiment does come through in this book. It is definitely a good read, and a must-read if you are into the spy novel genre.
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