American Assassin by Vince Flynn (Book Review + Movie News)
Hey guys.
I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about American Assassin. You can read my review of the book below, but I wanted to give you a little background on what led me to want to read this book. Because it might seem like it’s out of my normal reading range to you, but in truth, it’s really not.
You see, I have always loved military, political, and spy thrillers. I first found them when I was getting my bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and continued reading them all through college. Somewhere along the way though, I wound up reading a host of other genres, so much so that this particular genre fell a bit by the wayside for me. Until a few weeks ago, that is. When I heard they were making American Assassin into a movie and that it would star Dylan O’Brien (Deepwater Horizon, The Maze Runner, Stiles on Teen Wolf) as Mitch Rapp and Michael Keaton as Stan Hurley, the man who trains Rapp. From there, a quick search lead me to discover that, though this book was written well after the series started, it is actually the first book in the series, the book that gives the background on Mitch Rapp and his training as an assassin. The summary of the book caught my eye pretty quick and before I knew it, I’d bought the trade paperback on Amazon. And I am very glad I did, too. Because I loved the book and I absolutely cannot wait to see the movie, which actually just started filming (or maybe just pre-production?) this month.
I will no doubt be posting more about this series as I work my way through the rest of the books (and possibly the movie as more comes out about it’s filming). If you’ve read this series, or you decide to read it now, please come back and comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, and what you think about the casting choices. I could totally see Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp after reading this book. I honestly can’t wait to see the intensity he’ll no doubt bring to the role.
Here’s some first look photos of Dylan as Mitch Rapp for those interested in reading more about the movie. You can find more details about the book (along with my review) and the rest of the series below-including how to pre-order the newest release in the series, book fifteen, Order To Kill.
American Assassin
Vince Flynn
Mitch Rapp #1
Pocket Books
Trade Paperback
435 Pages
Published: August 30th 2013
(First Published: October 12th 2010 by Atria Books)
Source: Amazon Purchase
Book Summary
#1 New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn returns with yet another explosive thriller, introducing the young Mitch Rapp, as he takes on his first assignment.
Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist’s worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world . . . and then tragedy struck.
Two decades of cutthroat, partisan politics has left the CIA and the country in an increasingly vulnerable position. Cold War veteran and CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield knows he must prepare his people for the next war. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America’s shores. Stansfield directs his protégée, Irene Kennedy, and his old Cold War colleague, Stan Hurley, to form a new group of clandestine operatives who will work outside the normal chain of command—men who do not exist.
What type of man is willing to kill for his country without putting on a uniform? Kennedy finds him in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. Two-hundred and seventy souls perished that cold December night, and thousands of family and friends were left searching for comfort. Mitch Rapp was one of them, but he was not interested in comfort. He wanted retribution.
Six months of intense training has prepared him to bring the war to the enemy’s doorstep, and he does so with brutal efficiency. Rapp starts in Istanbul, where he assassinates the Turkish arms dealer who sold the explosives used in the Pan Am attack. Rapp then moves onto Hamburg with his team and across Europe, leaving a trail of bodies. All roads lead to Beirut, though, and what Rapp doesn’t know is that the enemy is aware of his existence and has prepared a trap. The hunter is about to become the hunted, and Rapp will need every ounce of skill and cunning if he is to survive the war-ravaged city and its various terrorist factions.
As action-packed, fast-paced, and brutally realistic as it gets, Flynn’s latest page-turner shows readers how it all began. Behind the steely gaze of the nation’s ultimate hero is a young man primed to become an American Assassin.
Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
My Thoughts
*Amazon Purchase*
American Assassin is my first Mitch Rapp and Vince Flynn read. I was intrigued about the books when I heard it was being made into a movie and after a quick Goodreads search on it, I determined it was a book I was intrigued enough about to order, which I did. And once I started reading it, I was hooked on the story and the character of Mitch Rapp.
Mitch Rapp is one of those characters that immediately draws you in and keeps you invested in his story. He’s intense, driven, extremely intelligent, highly logical and observant, and immensely skilled at what he does. This particular book takes readers through how Rapp got his start as an assassin, going into who he is and where he came from while also showing how he became the man he (seemingly) becomes throughout the rest of the series.
Once Mitch Rapp is recruited by Irene Kennedy and taken to meet Stan Hurley at the start of American Assassin, we start to see how Rapp is different from the others who came before him. All those qualities I listed above start to show themselves in varying different ways, each of which confuse and intrigue the people who either want him to succeed or want him to fail. He’s unlike anyone else, and that makes him as unpredictable as it does dangerous. Which seems like perfectly good traits for an assassin.
This book takes you through Rapp’s training into his first forays into field work and every single bit of it compelled me to read on. I couldn’t put it down once I started it, and I was never so glad to have made the snap decision to buy the second book in the series before I’d read the first as I was when I finished this book. I was also glad I’d chosen to buy both of books in print because there’s something extremely satisfying about turning the pages on this one. It’s a book that stayed me with, and made me want to go out and buy every single one of the books in the series because of how much I loved reading this one.
If you’re looking for an entertaining and compelling espionage read you can escape into for a while, definitely pick up a copy of American Assassin by Vince Flynn. I am going to go out on a limb and recommend getting it in print, too, because if you’re anything like me, this is a series you’re going to want to own in print.
Final Analysis
Top Shelf Read!
5 “Obsessively Read This One” Stars
Other Books in the Mitch Rapp Series
* Find them all on Goodreads here *
American Assassin (Mitch Rapp #1) (2010)
Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp #2) (February 7, 2012)
Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp #3) (1999)
The Third Option (Mitch Rapp #4) (2000)
Separation of Power (Mitch Rapp #5) (2001)
Executive Power (Mitch Rapp #6) (2002)
Memorial Day (Mitch Rapp #7) (2004)
Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp #8) (2005)
Act of Treason (Mitch Rapp #9) (2006)
Protect and Defend (Mitch Rapp #10) (2007)
Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp #11) (2008)
Pursuit of Honor (Mitch Rapp #12) (2009)
The Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) (2012)
The Survivor (Mitch Rapp #14) (2015)
And coming soon…
ORDER TO KILL
Vince Flynn
Kyle Mills
(Mitch Rapp #15)
400 pages
Releasing October 11th 2016
In the next thrilling novel in the #1 New York Timesbestselling Mitch Rapp series, the anti-terrorism operative heads to Pakistan to confront a mortal threat he may not be prepared for. In fact, this time he might have met his match.
Mitch Rapp is used to winning.
But in this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling The Survivor, the CIA operative finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Together with friend and colleague Scott Coleman, Rapp struggles to prevent the loss of these lethal weapons, particularly because Russia is also interested in the nukes, though not for the same reason as Rapp and Coleman.
Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit. There, he uncovers a plan much more dangerous and insidious than he ever expected, one that could have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences.
Written with the same breathless tension and heart-racing action as Vince Flynn’s greatest novels, Mitch Rapp’s latest adventure is as timely and provocative as ever.
Pre-Order Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | GooglePlay
About the Author
Vince Flynn died June 19, 2013 after losing his battle with prostate cancer.
The fifth of seven children, Vince Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1966. He graduated from the St. Thomas Academy in 1984, and the University of St. Thomas with a degree in economics in 1988. After college he went to work for Kraft General Foods where he was an account and sales marketing specialist. In 1990 he left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps. One week before leaving for Officers Candidate School, he was medically disqualified from the Marine Aviation Program, due to several concussions and convulsive seizures he suffered growing up. While trying to obtain a medical waiver for his condition, he started thinking about writing a book. This was a very unusual choice for Flynn since he had been diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and had struggled with reading and writing all his life.
Having been stymied by the Marine Corps, Flynn returned to the nine-to-five grind and took a job with United Properties, a commercial real estate company in the Twin Cities. During his spare time he worked on an idea he had for a book. After two years with United Properties he decided to take a big gamble. He quit his job, moved to Colorado, and began working full time on what would eventually become Term Limits . Like many struggling artists before him, he was a bartender at night and wrote during the day. Five years and more than sixty rejection letters later he took the unusual step of self-publishing his first novel. The book went to number one in the Twin Cities, and within a week had a new agent and two-book deal with Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint.
Term Limits hit the New York Times bestseller list in paperback and started a trend for all of Flynn’s novels. Since then, his books have become perennial bestsellers in both paperback and hardcover, and he has become known for his research and prescient warnings about the rise of Islamic Radical Fundamentalism and terrorism. Read by current and former presidents, foreign heads of state, and intelligence professionals around the world, Flynn’s novels are taken so seriously one high-ranking CIA official told his people, “I want you to read Flynn’s books and start thinking about how we can more effectively wage this war on terror.”
October 2007 marked another milestone in Flynn’s career when his ninth political thriller, Protect and Defend, became a #1 New York Times bestseller. A few months later, CBS Films optioned the rights for Flynn’s Mitch Rapp character with the intention of creating a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who previously launched the Harry Potter and Matrix films as head of production at Warner Bros., and Nick Wechsler (We Own the Night, Reservation Road) will produce the films.
Flynn lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children.
Works by Flynn include Transfer of Power, The Third Option, Separation of Power , Executive Power , Memorial Day, Consent to Kill, Act of Treason, and Extreme Measures.
— Atria Books (2008)
You can learn more about Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series at his website: http://www.vinceflynn.com
After author Vince Flynn’s death in 2013, author Kyle Mills began writing the Mitch Rapp series with The Survivor (October 6th 2015 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books) and the not yet released Order to Kill (available on October 11th 2016 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books).
You can learn more about Kyle Mills and his role in continuing the Mitch Rapp series at his website: http://www.kylemills.com