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Title: American Assassin
Series: Mitch Rapp #11
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 381
Words: 125K
| Synopsis: |
From the Publishers
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.
| My Thoughts: |
You know, I think this was one of the best Mitch Rapp novels so far. His college sweetheart is already dead, his future wife hasn’t entered the picture yet and we get to see the forging of an unparalleled weapon.
THIS is what I wanted from the get-go. A man unfettered by human connection, touched by tragedy but with an uncorrupted moral compass. A weapon with a conscience, as it were. If Mitch has to have a companion, he needs someone compatible. He’s a Desert Eagle 357 Magnum. His dead wife was a glass of whiskey. Those 2 things aren’t inherently compatible. What Mitch’s gun needs is either a matching gun or a security case where it can rest until needed. I don’t think that’s going to happen though.
Being a prequel, we know that Mitch isn’t going to fail and as such some of the tension is gone but the action keeps up the tempo and this is a thrill a minute. I also wondered if it would be a good thing to start the series here, but I am in the camp of reading a series in which the author wrote it and despite how good I think this book is, nothing about it changed my thoughts on the reading order.
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
I don’t think it being a prequel is any kind of spoiler that “Mitch Rapp” isn’t going to fail . . .
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Yeah, he’s the perfect main character as far as I’m concerned. Exactly what I want to read about in my books 😀
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‘He’s a Desert Eagle 357 Magnum. His dead wife was a glass of whiskey.’
What kind of drink are you and why?
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I’m a C4: Bombsicle energy drink because I’m little but pack a wallop…
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I always wonder why authors don’t write the first story first, they must have a characters back story before they begin. But so long as you’re happy that’s the main thing!
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I wonder that too. Most of it I suspect is that they have an idea for the first book and want to write that story. Then as time goes on and the character becomes established they can think about writing earlier stuff.
I agree overall though, I DO wish that things were written chronologically from the get-go…
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Gosh, book no 11! Glad you’re enjoying the series, though. Wasn’t this made into a movie or something?
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I went and looked and yep, this particular book was made into a movie. From what the reviewers on amazon have to say, it sounds like hollywood did the usual hatchet job and completely butchered it. So much so that any chance of turning it into a franchise died on delivery.
I’ll probably still watch it at some point if it ever goes free on Prime though 😀
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Ohhh I remember when the trailer for the movie based on this book dropped. If you gave it 4 stars, I can understand why they’d adapt this one in particular. However… I don’t know if the movie would be as good as the book though
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From the reviews for the movie, it sounds like they butchered it as only Hollywood could and removed every good point Flynn was making.
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