Book Review: American Assassin (Mitch Rapp Series Book 1 Chronological Order; Book 11 Publication Order)

 

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.

Book Review: The Kremlin's Candidate

 

This is the final novel in the Red Sparrow series of spy novels involving the Russian double agent Dominika Egorova. There is a time jump from the end of the second novel, and now Dominika is in the running to become the new head of the SVR. This means she will have unparalleled access to information to feed to the Americans, but it also puts her in more danger as it becomes much harder for her to pass the information along to the CIA. The main plot of the novel is that there is a Russian mole, code-named Magnit, who is in line to become the new director of the CIA after the death of the current director. Of course, if the mole becomes the director, Dominika's identity immediately becomes known to the Russians and she would be sent off to a Gulag and killed. So, there is a race to uncover the identity of the mole and prevent the mole from being confirmed as director, and it, of course, includes the usual spy thriller twists and turns with nearly every main character in danger at some point.

The book clocks in at about 430 pages. It is not an extremely fast read (it took me 21 days to get through it, and I am a fairly quick reader), but how quickly you can get through it really depends on how much time you can devote to reading it. The chapters are fairly short, anywhere from five to ten pages on average, so there are plenty of natural stopping points if you read just an hour or two at a time. There are a few new characters in the book, but the focus is mostly on the established characters, especially Dominika and Nate, and Putin plays a very large role in this novel, much moreso than he did in the prior two. The ending does leave open the possibility of additional stories, but the tone would definitely be changed somewhat because the characters definitely end up in a very different place from where they started. Chances are, it will be the end of the story, however, especially since the Red Sparrow movie pretty much flopped and there is not any pressure to keep a movie franchise alive. If you liked the prior novels, this is definitely worth reading.

Book Review: Palace of Treason

 

This is the second in the trilogy of Red Sparrow novels by ex-CIA agent Jason Matthews. It continues the story of Dominika acting as a double agent for the USA against Russia. The plot involves a new boss that wants her out of the way, an Iranian nuclear facility that the Americans want to sabotage, and Dominika becoming a favorite of Putin. There is also the discovery of another mole for Russia inside the US government who presents a threat to Dominika's cover.

This is a very good middle portion of the story. It has a lot of action and does not get bogged down like a lot of middle installments of trilogies do. It does continue the complicated romance story between Nate and Dominika, but that part does not dominate the book so much that it gets annoying or slows down the plot. The pace of the story is much like the first book, and like in the first book, the end of each chapter includes a recipe for some dish that was mentioned in the chapter.

Overall, if you like spy thriller novels, and you liked the first book, you will probably like this one. On the other hand, if you did not get into the first book, this one is not likely to do much for you. The only thing I would caution is that if you did not like the movie Red Sparrow, do not let that dissuade you from reading the books if you are generally a fan of spy thrillers because the books are much better than the movie adaptation.

Book Review: Red Sparrow

 

Red Sparrow is a spy thriller set in Eastern Europe. It is centered around a former ballerina named Dominika who, after an injury is forced out of ballet, and thanks to the connections of her uncle who is a top member of the Russian SVR, ends up going to "Sparrow School." The intention is for her to use her sexuality to seduce and/or blackmail targets of the SVR. She ends up becoming a much more accomplished agent and becomes entwined in a plot that involves moles for both the United States and Russia and essentially a game of chess between the CIA and the SVR.

The book, as most know, was adapted into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence. While I do not think the movie was horrible, too much of the book had to be cut out, and things like the inner monologues of characters that really advanced the plot of the book, could not translate easily to film, and hence were removed. So, the motivations of the characters that we learn in the book are missing from the movie. I think finding a way to get much of that into the movie would have helped it. Thus, as is almost always the case, the book ends up being better than the movie.

Overall, the book is well-written and easy to read with a plot that flows well. The author is an ex-CIA agent who was stationed in that part of the world and draws on his experience, which gives a lot of authenticity to the story even though it is fictional. Each chapter ends with a recipe for some food item that was mentioned in that chapter. They are not key to the story in any way but are a unique addition to the book. It is a mix of action thriller, espionage, with a bit of sex thrown in. It is definitely worth reading, especially if you have seen the movie.