Book Review: Capture or Kill (Mitch Rapp Series #13 Chronological Order; #23 Publication Order)

 

Capture or Kill, published in 2024, is the newest entry in the Mitch Rapp series of novels created by the late author Vince Flynn. It was written by Don Bentley, who took over the series from Kyle Mills, who, of course, took it over after Vince Flynn's death. The book is set back in 2011, between the events of the last two novels that Vince Flynn finished, Pursuit of Honor and The Last Man. Therefore, the book is now the 13th book in the series if you read the books in chronological order. The plot initially involves Rapp going after more of the terrorists who had captured and tortured Irene Kennedy. That mission is interrupted when he discovers that a bunch of shoulder-fired missiles have been stolen and are to be used against American targets. As Flynn and Mills often did in their novels, Bentley also weaves the fictional storyline with real-world events. Here, while in the process of trying to track down the missiles, Rapp learns of and assists in the lead-up to the mission that would kill Osama Bin Laden.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 470 pages. Ultimately, the book is an excellent action thriller. Bentley, a long-time fan of the Mitch Rapp series, was able to emulate the style and tone of the prior novels yet make it his own. And because the events are set in the past, Bentley could incorporate characters (some directly and some by name) who had not been in the more recent novels. If you enjoy the series, this is an excellent addition. Bentley does an outstanding job with the characters and honors and preserves the work done by Flynn and (to a lesser extent) Mills. It is a great first outing for Bentley. It will be interesting to see if he does more stories set between prior novels or returns the storyline to the present. It is definitely worth the time to read.

Book Series Review: Vince Flynn's Novels

 

Vince Flynn was an author who lived in the Twin Cities and wrote 14 books in total, 13 of them centered around the character of Mitch Rapp, a terrorist hunter who, at the beginning of his career, worked as an off-the-books black-ops assassin. Flynn, through Rapps narratives in the books, made it clear that Rapp was not a spy. He did not gather intel or work as an analyst. He went after and killed bad guys.

Flynn's first novel was 1997's Term Limits, which was the only book he wrote that was not part of the Mitch Rapp series, although it did feature some of the characters who would become regulars in the series. It was also probably Flynn's most political book, as it had Scott Coleman killing corrupt politicians and warning the government that more would die if a law was not passed to protect the economy from cratering. The character of Coleman would be rewritten to omit his acts of domestic terrorism in the Rapp novels. 

The Rapp series started with the Transfer of Power, which was published in 1999. In that novel, Rapp had been working as a terrorist hunter for about a decade. He learns of an attack on the White House, and much of the book is set with Rapp sneaking around the White House taking out the terrorists who are trying to get the President (fictional President Hayes) out of the bunker. Fans of the series 24 (which Flynn actually consulted on for a couple of seasons) will recognize a similar storyline being incorporated into one of the later seasons of the show, and it is clear that the character of Jack Bauer was based at least in part on Mitch Rapp.

The first four books in the series were set around Iraq being the primary threat to the US, and then, after real life happened in the form of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the remaining novels would be set against the backdrop of radical Islam and many of the plotlines focused on the aftermath of 9/11. After the 10th book in the series, Pursuit of Honor was published in 2009, Flynn wrote two prequel novels, American Assassin and Kill Shot, which fleshed out the details of how Rapp was recruited into the CIA and his early career, which had only been hinted at up to that point in the books. In 2010, Flynn would be diagnosed with an aggressive form of Prostate Cancer, and, unfortunately, passed away in 2013 (almost 10 years to the day as of this writing) at the age of 47 after finishing the novel, The Last Man, which brought the series back to the present day. Flynn started working on the next book, The Survivor but had only finished a few chapters before he died. Flynn's estate and his publisher commissioned Kyle Mills (who wrote books in the same genre) to finish The Suvivior, and Mills would be brought back to write several more books in the series.

My exposure to Flynn was through his appearances on the Dan Barrerrio afternoon radio show in the Twin Cities. Flynn would come on not only to promote his books but generally talk politics and local sports with Barrerrio. Flynn actually named a minor character in one of his books after Barrerrio. Flynn was certainly a conservative Republican, and his conservative viewpoint, especially when it came to the issue of torture, and whether the enhanced interrogation techniques approved by the Bush Administration amounted to torture, was present in the books. Flynn had the viewpoint that enhanced interrogation worked, which is debatable, as people like FBI agent Ali Soufan, who had interrogated many Al-Qeada members said it did not. Flynn also did not like that the Obama administration was investigating CIA personnel (and charging some) who were told during the Bush Administration that the enhanced interrogation techniques were legal. However, Flynn made it clear both in his interviews and the books that he was not a fan of politics or politicians in general, and some of the bad guys in the novels were actually Republican politicians. 

Flynn was also pals with Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, who were (and still are in Beck's case), in my opinion, two of the biggest pieces of shit in recent human history. While I never listened to his interviews on their shows, Flynn never struck me as being as nuts as Beck, Limbaugh, and their ilk. Of course, Flynn died before the whole t***p takeover of the Republican party, so we will never know if Flynn would have been one in the ranks of the sane (e.g., the "never t***pers") or if he would have become one of the cult members. But, given that he took a couple of shots at t***p in one of his books, I suspect Flynn would not have been a fan. And, I am sure that Flynn would not like the idea of book bans that we are seeing a decade after his death as I remember him saying that the Harry Potter novels (which have been caught up in some book bans) were perfectly fine for kids.

Overall, Flynn's Rapp series is a very well-written blend of action and suspense. Flynn was very much anti-political correctness and used Rapp's bluntness to present an in-your-face view of the very real threats to the US. And given that both Bill Clinton and Rush Limbaugh were fans of Flynn's books, they can certainly be enjoyed regardless of your political persuasion, even if you do not agree with Flynn's politics or every point of view expressed in the books. 

Book Review: The Survivor: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 14)

 

The Survivor, published in 2015, is the 14th book in the Mitch Rapp series of novels, and the sequel to the 2012 novel, The Last Man. The fate of this book was in limbo for a long time because Vince Flynn passed away in 2013. He had started writing the novel but had only written a few chapters before he was too sick to finish it. Flynn's estate and publisher commissioned author Kyle Mills (who had written several books in the same genre as the Rapp series) to finish this book and write another in the series. Of course, as most fans of the series know, Mills stayed on to write several additional novels.

The focus of this book is on the fallout from Joe Rickman's betrayal of the CIA, as videos that he made in the event of his death revealing the identities of various CIA assets around the world begin to leak out. The "real world" storyline from the book is about Pakistan, and how the country is a tenuous ally with the US. And, in continuing Flynn's tradition of having antagonist politicians, the role of Senator Ferris is greatly expanded in this book. 

The book is another very good one in the Mitch Rapp series. When it was announced that Mills would finish the book, many people were skeptical of whether Kyle Mills could take up the mantle of writing the characters that Flynn popularized, and write them as well as Flynn did. Mills apparently re-read all of Flynn's books to prepare for finishing this book and taking meticulous notes on Flynn's wording choices and overall style, and as a result, you cannot tell where what Flynn wrote ends and what Mills wrote starts. Mills stayed true to the characters and the tone that Flynn had set over the course of the prior 13 books and told a very good story. This is definitely worth reading.

Book Review: Term Limits

 

Term Limits, published in 1997, was the first novel written by the late author, Vince Flynn, who would go on to write 13 more books before his death in 2013 centered around the character of Mitch Rapp. While this book is not a part of the Mitch Rapp series, it is tangential to it, as some of the characters that would appear in the Rapp novels (main and ancillary characters), such as Thomas Stansfield, Irene Kennedy, and Jack Warch) do appear in this book.

Term Limits has a similar pacing and tone as the Rapp novels, although this one is almost exclusively a political thriller. The story involves the killings of four corrupt members of Congress and a threat that more corrupt politicians will be killed unless the President and Congress enact reforms to prevent the US economy from collapsing. The book definitely leans on the theme of the crushing national debt, which at the time Flynn wrote the book was not nearly as bad as it is now, and definitely takes a conservative bent (as Flynn was a conservative). But, Flynn did not make Republicans the good guys and Democrats the bad guys. Indeed, almost every character in the book was at least morally ambiguous, and Flynn wrote it so that members of both parties were to blame for the financial condition of the country. It is a book where even the "good guys" do bad things and the disdain that Flynn seemed to have for politics in real life definitely came through.

Overall, the book is a decent thriller with a lot of action and intrigue. I do not think it is as good as the best books in the Mitch Rapp series, but the story flows well and there is a good balance of action and political intrigue. It is interesting that Flynn never went back to any of the plot points, but I think he may have wanted to repackage one of the characters in the book that would appear in several of the Rapp novels. The book is just over 400 pages but is a pretty easy read. It is a book that people who read relatively fast should be able to get through in a couple of days. I would call it an interesting read for people who have read the books in the Mitch Rapp series if nothing else to see how Flynn's writing style evolved over the course of time, but the book does not really tie into the other books (at least not the ones that Flynn wrote before he died) so it is not a must-read. I am not sure if Kyle Mills (who took over the Rapp series after Flynn passed away) ever referenced the events of this book since I have not read those yet, but nothing in the book impacts any of the novels up through The Last Man, which was the last full novel that Flynn finished. 

Book Review: The Last Man: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 13)

 

The Last Man is the 13th book in the Mitch Rapp series of novels, regardless of whether you start reading the books in chronological or publication order. The book was published in 2012 after Vince Flynn had written the two prequel novels, American Assassin and Kill Shot, in which he went back and told the story of Rapp's early career. This would also, sadly, be the last complete novel in the series written by Flynn who would pass away a year later after battling cancer for three years. Flynn actually worked a cancer storyline into this book by giving one of the characters a terminal diagnosis.

The Last Man does another reset of the story, while still including characters from the prior novels and referring to old storylines. The crux of the story in this novel is that a CIA analyst in Afghanistan is kidnapped, and Rapp is dispatched to find him. While investigating the kidnapping, Rapp, Scott Coleman, and Mike Nash uncover a larger conspiracy.  He also weaves in some real-world elements like the animosity between the CIA and the FBI, corruption and anti-American sentiments in the governments of countries that are ostensibly an ally of America, and the like.

After Flynn passed away, it was initially unclear whether the series would go on. As most are aware, the series was passed to author Kyle Mills, who would complete the next book (which Flynn had started before he died) and write many additional novels. The book is moderately long at just over 400 pages, but it reads pretty quickly. and is hard to put down. If you are a fast reader, you can get through it in a few days or less. If you have been a fan of the prior novels, you will probably like or love this one. 

Book Review: Pursuit of Honor: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 12 Chronological Order; Book 10 Publication Order)

 

Pursuit of Honor was, at the time it was published in 2009, the 10th book in the series of spy/terrorist hunter novels written by the late author, Vince Flynn, set around the character of Mitch Rapp. It is the 12th book in the series if you read them in chronological order.

This book is set approximately a week after the events in the prior novel, Extreme Measures, and the story is partly to finish off the storyline that began in Extreme Measures and partly to set up the prequel novel that Flynn was to write next, titled American Assassin, which was going to essentially tell Mitch Rapp's origin story. So, Flynn threw in details about Rapp's training with Stan Hurley and expanded Hurley's role in this novel. Flynn also did wrap up the previous storyline, bringing that to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.

Ultimately, the story is very good, and Flynn does continue with many of the themes that he had used in the prior book, probably most notably, bringing the whole are enhanced interrogation techniques torture, and does it work debate into the storyline. As most are aware, Flynn was a conservative and definitely brought the conservative viewpoint and talking points into the story. He probably did so more in this novel than he did in the prior books in the series, but he still had the character of Rapp be disgusted with pretty much all of the politicians in the story, regardless of what side of the aisle they were on, which from what I remember of his interviews in the twin cities on the local sports talk station, pretty close to Flynn's own view of politicians. But, Flynn does prove he is not immune to nonsensical arguments by trying to equate partial-birth abortion, which is not a thing in real-life and only exists in conservative fever dreams, to torture. 

The book is an intermediate length at a little over 400 pages, but like the other books in the series reads pretty quickly. So, if you have read any of the other books, this one will probably take you about the same amount of time to get through. Chances are, whether you are reading this as the 10th book or the 12th, you are a fan of the series and the characters. If you have liked the prior books you will probably like this one. If the prior books have done nothing for you, then this one is not likely to change your mind.

Book Review: Extreme Measures: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 11 Chronological Order; Book 9 Publication Order)

 

Extreme Measures is the 11th book in the prolific Mitch Rapp series of spy/political thriller/terrorist hunter novels written by Twin Cities author, Vince Flynn (if you read the books chronologically). If you read the books in publication order, it is the 9th book. It was published in 2008 as the public opinion tide of the war on terror had started to shift as the "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the domestic spying programs had become public. Those concepts are definitely themes of this book, with the Bush Administration's position that the enhanced interrogation techniques were not torture and were necessary to keep Americans safe presented through Mitch Rapp, and the other point of view, that it was torture and was ineffective was presented through the new political adversary of Rapp and the CIA, namely a senator named Barbara Lonsdale. A middle-of-the-road view was presented through a new character named Mike Nash, who was the head of the domestic spying program. Nash did not rough up detainees, but would not stop Rapp from doing so.

The book starts out with Rapp and Nash impersonating Navy officers in Afghanistan in order to interrogate a couple of high-level Taliban and Al-Qaeda members in order to try and track down and stop a terrorist cell that was going to be a part of three coordinated attacks in the US. They are discovered, Rapp is arrested, and the rest of the story plays out from there. Most of the book can be summarized as Rapp versus Congress (and more specifically, Lonsdale), with Lonsdale trying to get Rapp to incriminate himself during congressional testimony. The last few chapters have the action that the prior novels in the series are known for, and there are also a couple of side stories.  And, fans of Twin Cities sports radio will recognize that Flynn gave a shout-out to Dan Barreiro (who had Flynn on his show several times over the course of many years), naming one of the characters Joe Barreiro. 

The book has a similar tone and flow as the previous books in the series. Even though Flynn was a pretty staunch conservative, and definitely writes the character of Rapp with an a-political yet conservative viewpoint, he does not make all Democrats bad and all Republicans good. In the interviews I heard with him, Flynn did not seem to be particularly fond of politicians overall and tended to write them as greedy, amoral, and/or stupid, regardless of their party affiliation. The book is moderately long, a little over 400 pages, but it reads fairly quickly. I do not think it is the best book in the series (of those I have read), but it is still very good, and worth reading if you have liked the other books (which are definitely helpful to read, although you can follow the story even if you have not read the previous books) or are fans of the genre.  

Book Review: Protect and Defend: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 10 Chronological Order; Book 8 Publication Order)

 

Protect and Defend is the 10th book in the Mitch Rapp series of spy/terrorist hunter novels by the late author Vince Flynn (if you read the books in chronological order) and the 8th if you read them in publication order. This book was published in 2007 and set about a year after the events of the prior novel, Act of Treason. The first few chapters are spent alternating between wrapping up the storyline from the prior novel and introducing the main storyline of this book, namely, the destruction of a nuclear facility in Iran. Of course, Rapp (and Irene Kennedy) get brought into the Iran storyline as the events of the novel play out.

As is the case with his other books, Flynn included some real-world concepts into the largely fictional storyline. For example, working the Abu Ghraib prison story and the effect that it had on the intelligence community into the storyline. The book has a good blend of action and suspense and flows very well. And, this time, the political intrigue storyline did not involve members of the US government, but members of the Iranian government. 

The book is a moderate length, at just over 400 pages but is a pretty easy read. If you are a fast reader you can easily finish it in a few days or less (depending, of course, on how much time you have to devote to reading). 

Overall, if you have liked the other books in the series you will probably like this one. Unlike some of the prior novels in the series, the story in this one is totally resolved by the end of the book, although it is possible that events from this book could influence future books. It is definitely worth the read.

Book Review: Act of Treason: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 9 Chronological Order; Book 7 Publication Order)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior novel, Consent to Kill+++

Act of Treason, published in 2006, is the follow-up to the novel Consent to Kill written by Vince Flynn and continues the story of CIA counter-terrorism operative, Mitch Rapp. In this book, Mitch is dealing with, or not dealing with, the death of Anna, basically drinking himself into oblivion until he gets wrapped up in the investigation of a bombing that kills the wife of a presidential candidate just before the election. The book starts out in October and then does a time jump to early January just before the President-elect Josh Alexander and Vice President-elect Mark Ross, who was introduced in Consent to Kill are ready to replace President Hayes, who announced he would not seek another term because of his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Rapp discovers that responsibility for the attack is pointing away from it being an Al Qaeda operation as everyone assumes, and is instead pointing toward domestic terrorism.

By this point, Flynn had written six novels in the Mitch Rapp story and had really developed his style and tone. This one has a similar blend of action and suspense, with political gamesmanship and corruption interweaved throughout. The book is 415 pages but is a pretty quick and easy read. If you read fast, you can easily finish the book in a day or two. The story is mostly self-contained and resolved by the end of the novel. Flynn does introduce some new characters who could potentially be included in later novels and also uses some of the characters from the prior books. So, if you have liked Flynn's prior novels, you will probably like, or love, this one. 

Book Review: Consent to Kill: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 8 Chronological Order; Book 6 Publication Order)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior book, but no major spoilers from this book+++

Consent to Kill is set (mostly) six months after the events that occurred in the book Memorial Day in which Mitch helped stop Al-Qaeda terrorists from setting off nuclear bombs in New York and Washington as follow-ups to the 9/11 attacks. This is basically a revenge story in which the father of one of the terrorists that Rapp killed and tortured for information puts a twenty-million dollar bounty on Rapp's head. It is impossible to go into too much detail about what is in the book without giving away major spoilers, but the highlights are that Mitch butts heads (yet again) with another member of President Hayes' cabinet, this time the Director of National Intelligence, Mark Ross, Anna has a much more prominent role in the book than she did in Memorial Day, and the book definitely provides a transition point (at least a potential one) for the overall story and for the character of Mitch Rapp.

Flynn's style remains consistent in this book, including a good blend of action, political backbiting, and intrigue. He keeps the story moving along well, and does keep the readers on the edge of their seats. Without getting too spoilerish, I think it would have been more effective to end the story about 2/3 of the way in, which would basically have ended it at a major spoiler point, and then tell the final 1/3 of the story in a subsequent book, adding in more details. But, like the other novels in the series, the story in the book is self-contained but will definitely influence future novels. 

This is actually the 6th book in the Mitch Rapp series if you read them as they were published. I think the prior book, Memorial Day, is the book in which Flynn really hit his stride working out the various kinks and figuring out what he wanted to do with the story, and this one builds on that book and keeps getting better.  So, if you liked (or loved) the prior books in the series, you will probably like (or love) this one. 

You can tell that Flynn had a pretty big dislike for politics and politicians of both parties, even though he was a conservative. It would have been interesting to see where he would have landed during the 2016 election and the clear divide in the Republican party with the batshit crazy nutcases who lick the balls of the Orange Genital Wart (whom Flynn actually takes a swipe at in this novel), and the "traditional" republicans who finally started to separate themselves from the monster they created and either left the party or are trying to take the party back. From the interviews I heard with Flynn on the radio here in the Twin Cities, I would think he would have landed with the latter group, but he was also pals with people like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck (who were and are huge pieces of shit), so it is hard to tell. 

Book Review: Memorial Day: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 7 Chronological Order; Book 5 Publication Order)

 

At the time it was written, this was the fifth novel in the Mitch Rapp series of spy/assassin novels by Vince Flynn. It is the seventh book if you read the series chronologically, and the second book in the series written after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While the prior novel, Executive Power, did mention the 9/11 attacks, this was the first novel in which Flynn built the storyline around the fallout from the attacks. The plot of this book is that what was left of Al Qaeda planned another attack using a cell located in the United States to launch another attack on the country, this time using a nuclear bomb. Rapp discovers the plot when he is helping clear out a stronghold in Pakistan and then has to return to the US to attempt to foil the plot. 

The book is fairly fast-paced with an engaging story. Flynn does introduce a couple of new characters in this novel, the most prominent of which is Peggy Stealey, who is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of Counterterrorism, who, of course, butts heads with Rapp, and her boss, the Attorney General, Martin Stokes, who is angling to replace the Vice President on the ticket. Mitch's wife, Anna, is mostly absent during the events of this book, essentially written out as visiting her family in Wisconsin for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.  

In my opinion, this was the best book in the series (up to that point), and I think told a much more realistic story than Flynn's prior novels did (in which Iraq was made out to be a much larger threat than it really was). Of course, the plot and the characters were made up (he even refrained from using the names of the real Al Qaeda leadership), but Flynn again blended elements of real life into his story, including the controversy over whether torture (or the threat of it) should be used to interrogate terrorists at a time when the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used in real life were coming to light. Flynn does, despite the fact that he himself was a conservative, remain mostly apolitical in the storytelling and includes characters from both sides of the political spectrum, writing Rapp to pretty much despise all politicians and especially their hangers-on.  The story in the book is mostly self-contained, but there are definitely elements in the book that could be brought into the plots of the subsequent books. I started reading the books in chronological order, so this is the farthest in the timeline I have gotten, so I am not sure how much from this book will carry over into the other books, but it definitely seems like Flynn was setting some things up in this book that will pay off down the line. It is definitely worth reading if you liked the prior novels in the series. 

Book Review: Executive Power: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 6 Chronological Order; Book 4 Publication Order)

 

This is a continuation of the spy thriller/political thriller series of novels by the late Vince Flynn set around the character of Mitch Rapp. It is set down the line from the events of the prior novel, Separation of Power, in which Rapp was outed as a CIA asset by President Hayes after the mission in Iraq. Now, Mitch is basically saddled with an office job working for Irene Kennedy at the CIA, but he still manages to get into the thick of things (much to the displeasure of his boss, Irene Kennedy, and his wife, Anna). 

This novel has a couple of different storylines going on. The beginning of the book centers around an operation in the Philippines involving a corrupt general and a family of Americans being held hostage by terrorists. The main storyline in the novel is a plot that involves a Saudi Arabian prince who is working with a Palestinian assassin (who is also working with Ben Friedman, the fictional head of the Mossad, who has been a major character in the prior novels) in a scheme to get the UN to set up a Palestinian state.

In this novel, which is the fourth in the series if you read the books in order of publication, Flynn again blends real life with his fictional world. This was the first novel that was written after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and while Flynn does refer to the attacks, and does a play on names of one of the real 9/11 hijackers in naming one of his fictional terrorists, he does not extensively work the events of 9/11 into the book. Flynn also gives a nod to his Twin Cities roots by naming a character after a local reporter/talk show host. 

Overall, the book is another good action thriller. While I do not think the overall story is as good as the stories in Transfer of Power, The Third Option, and Separation of Power, it has a similar tone to all of those books there were just too many stretches in the book in which Rapp was absent or on the sidelines. That said, it is still worth reading.

Book Review: Separation of Power: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 5 Chronological Order; Book 3 Publication Order)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior novel, The Third Option, but does not contain major giveaways from this book+++

Separation of Power is set a few weeks after the events of The Third Option, with Mitch having saved Anna from the hitmen hired by Cameron to take him out, Stanfield having died of cancer, and Irene Kenndy set to be nominated for director of the CIA. Mitch wants out of the spy life, but before he retires he wants to figure out who hired Cameron to kill him, which means a trip to Italy to track down Donatella, the former model turned spy who took Cameron out. Further complicating things is Mitch's plan to propose to Anna in Italy after he handles some business, that he of course cannot tell her about. That storyline heavily involves Senator Clark, the Arizona Republican (who is basically the main antagonist of the book) who is using the Democratic Congressman Rudin (who hates Kennedy and the CIA in general) to derail Kennedy's nomination without getting his own hands dirty.

The other major plotline of the novel is that the US finds out that Iraq is weeks away from developing three functional nuclear weapons hidden in a bunker under a hospital, requiring President Hayes, the CIA, and the Military to make a decision about how to prevent Saddam Hussein from finishing them.  As you would expect, both storylines intertwine toward the end of the book.

Overall, the book is a very good mix of spy action and political intrigue. The tone is very similar to the novels Transfer of Power and The Third Option, which were the first two books featuring Rapp that Vince Flynn wrote back in the late 1990s. The political storyline has a bit of a "House of Cards" feel to it, and the stuff directly involving Rapp has a very "24" feel to it. It also seems that members of George W. Bush's administration were reading this as a non-fiction book because much of the justification they used for invading Iraq a year or so after this was published seemed like it was taken directly from the pages of the book. That said, it is a good work of spy-thriller fiction with a story that flows very well and keeps readers engaged throughout. The book is just over 350 pages but reads pretty quickly, so if you are a relatively fast reader it can easily be finished in a few days. So, if you like spy novels and liked the books Transfer of Power and The Third Option (and American Assassin and Kill Shot if you are reading the books in chronological order), this is definitely worth reading.

Book Review: The Third Option (Mitch Rapp Series Book 4 Chronological Order; Book 2 Publication Order)

 

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.

Book Review: Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp Series Book 3 Chronological Order; Book 1 Publication Order)

 

Transfer of Power is the first novel in the series of spy novels centered on the character of Mitch Rapp, written by Vince Flynn in 1999. It was actually his second book, a quasi-follow-up to the novel Term Limits, which features some of the characters that would appear throughout the Mitch Rapp series, but not Rapp himself. In chronological order, this is the third book in the series, following American Assassin and Kill Shot, which were prequel novels that Flynn wrote after having written several novels involving the older, more experienced Rapp. In this book, Rapp is 31 years old and a seasoned terrorist hunter, so the events in this book are probably set around 6-7 years, give or take, after the events of the novel Kill Shot.

The book starts out with a team of CIA agents led by Mitch Rapp capturing a terrorist in Iran, only to discover a potential terrorist attack on Washington D.C. The attack involves a terrorist named Rafique Aziz and a team of terrorists capturing the White House, with the intention of taking the President (a fictional President named Hayes) hostage. Rapp has to infiltrate the White House which is under terrorist control and attempt to save the President and several other people being held hostage, all while having to deal with the political machinery with politicians, the military, and law enforcement all trying to figure out how to resolve the crisis.

For those who read American Assassin and Kill Shot first, this novel does not resolve things that were left open at the end of Kill Shot. Of course, at that time Flynn had not come up with those stories (just Rapp's backstory) and there is no mention of Stan Hurley and some of the other characters that appear in the first two novels. Although Irene Kennedy and Thomas Stansfield are prominently featured in this book. And we know that Rapp has been single for several years, so something happened to end his relationship with Greta. I have not read the novels that were written after Kill Shot (that resumed the story with an older Rapp), so I am not sure if there are tiebacks to either American Assassin or Kill Shot to fill in a bit of that time jump, but if you are reading the novels in publication order, it is not really an issue.

The book is a moderate length, just under 400 pages, but like American Assassin and Kill Shot, it reads fairly easily and quickly. It has a good blend of action and suspense and even a new love interest (new if you have read American Assassin and Kill Shot) for Rapp. It does seem that Flynn was still developing his writing style (which makes sense since this was the second novel he had ever written), but it is similar in style and tone to the later books.

And for those who may be curious, while Flynn was a fairly prominent conservative, his political leanings (beyond his general dislike for politicians as a whole) do not really come through in the book. In real-life Flynn was friends with Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, two of the most worthless pieces of shit ever in my opinion, but having heard Flynn interviewed on a local radio station here in the Twin Cities on a show that he appeared on regularly with a guy who was not a right-wing nut job, Flynn came off as a reasonable, more moderate conservative than the whack jobs that have taken over the Republican party. But, like I said, the book is more of an action and suspense thriller than it is a political novel (although there is some political intrigue and backbiting in the book). Unfortunately, since the American Assassin movie flopped, this story will probably never make it to the big screen, but a version of the storyline was adapted in the seventh season of 24. Even though Flynn was no longer a consultant on 24 at that point, it is clear that this novel served as inspiration for that storyline, as the character of Mitch Rapp did for the character of Jack Bauer, overall. So, if you are a fan of spy novels, this is a good one and is even a bit prophetic given things that happened in the lead-up to, and including the 9/11 attacks.

Book Review: Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp Series Book 2 Chronological Order; Book 12 Publication Order)

 

Kill Shot is the second book in the Mitch Rapp series of spy novels written by the late author Vince Flynn (if you read them chronologically). If you read the books in publication order it is the twelfth book in the series. The events in the book are set a year after those in the American Assassin novel, and the majority of the action in this novel takes place in Paris. We find that Rapp has been working his way through a list of terrorists involved in the planning and execution of the Pan Am 103 bombing, in which his ex-girlfriend was killed. While taking out a person on the list, he is ambushed and quickly concludes that he was set up by someone and tries to discover, of the small number of people who knew the targets on the list, and in what order Rapp would go after them, who set him up.

So far, I have only read one other book in the series, American Assassin, and found the tone and pacing of this novel to be very similar. Flynn balances out the action and suspense with some excellent detective work by Rapp, throws in some sex between Rapp and his love interest from the first novel, Greta, and bounces between what Rapp is doing in Paris with what the CIA characters like Irene Kennedy, Stan Hurley, and Thomas Stansfield are doing in Virginia trying to figure out if Rapp has gone Rouge. There are definitely tie-ins with the story from American Assassin and a side plot that involves a French police officer and a member of France's DGSE (Directorate General for External Security), their equivalent of the CIA.

This book, published in 2012, would be the second to last full novel that Flynn would finish before his death in 2013. In fact, in the forward, he discusses his treatment and thanks his medical team, and dedicated the book to his doctors and his wife. As most know, Flynn started writing the Mitch Rapp character in the novel Transfer Of Power (which was technically the second novel of Flynn's career published in 1999), when Rapp was well into his career as a terrorist hunter for the CIA. American Assassin and Kill Shot were prequel novels that Flynn wrote when fans started clamoring for a Rapp origin story.  While I cannot say that everyone who likes or loves the original novels (because, as I have said, I have not read them yet) centered around the older version of Rapp, I can say that if you liked the American Assassin novel then you will probably like this one. 

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.