Executive Power [Hardcover]

Vince Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

Mitch Rapp's cover has been blown. After leading a team of commandos deep into Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from joining the nuclear arms race, he has been publicly hailed by the president as the single most important person in the war against terrorism. After years of working covertly behind the scenes, Rapp is now in the glare of the public spotlight, marked by every terrorist from Jakarta to London, who now know his identity. Consequently, Rapp is resigned to leaving the front line. That is, until a platoon of Navy SEALs on a covert mission to the Philippines suffers a surprise attack. All evidence concludes that the source of the mission's leak lies in the US State Department and the Philippine embassy. But a greater threat still lurks - an unknown assassin working closely with the highest powers in the Middle East bent on igniting war. Now, with the world probing into his every move, will Rapp be able to overcome this anonymous foe and once again protect the world from the threat of international terrorism?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Packed with likable characters and undergirded by an in-depth understanding of the tangled politics of the 21st-century Middle East, Flynn's latest spy thriller (after the bestselling Separation of Power) can rightly be termed a post-September 11 espionage novel. Mitch Rapp is the CIA's number one assassin, recently lauded by the president as "the single most important person in America's fight against terrorism." Recently married to a high-profile anchorwoman and given a desk job, Mitch is having a hard time settling into the brain center of the CIA and giving up the gritty end of operations. He can't seem to resist seeking hands-on involvement in his latest assignment: unraveling a murky plot to create a Palestinian state. A mysterious operative, "David," plans to assassinate the heads of the major terrorist groups in the region and pin the deaths on Israel, simultaneously creating sympathy for the Palestinian cause while striking a fatal blow against terrorism, which he despises. Though the novel never strays far from the many conventions of the genre-a cadre of international agents, pedantic bureaucrats, spoiled sheikhs, and a U.S. president and military unfailingly portrayed as noble-Flynn spins an entertaining narrative. Though the book deals with an Iraq still firmly under Saddam's control, it should appeal to Americans' burgeoning awareness of-and interest in-the complex affairs of the Middle East. Perhaps the book's greatest accomplishment is its oblique questioning of the politics of vengeance. "The only way to make them stop is to hit them harder than they hit us," says the leader of Israel's intelligence agency. As Flynn's book demonstrates, the tragedy is that those same words could easily come from either side.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

After the events in Separation of Power (2001), Mitch Rapp's identity as a covert CIA operative (read assassin) is more overt than covert, and in the public eye is the last place he wants to be. In spite of his promises to his wife that he'll take a desk job now that his anonymity has been compromised, Mitch doesn't hesitate to tackle another covert mission involving the rescue of a family being held hostage in the Middle East. With his mentor, Irene Kennedy, now heading the CIA and with President Hayes' supreme trust, Mitch has more leeway than ever in his operation, and rather than sit back and watch his team at work, Mitch puts himself on the front line. Flynn's timing with these thrillers is uncanny (even though his reference to Saddam Hussein as a key villain here is a beat or two late). Another explosive tale of international intrigue from a master of the high-concept thriller. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743231600
• ISBN-13: 978-0743231602
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,503,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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 bartended 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's 10th hardcover, Extreme Measures, was published in October 2008. It was also a #1 New York Times bestseller. His most recent novel, Kill Shot, was published in Fenbruary 2012.

The Mitch Rapp story begins with American Assassin, followed by Kill Shot Transfer of Power, The Third Option, Separation of Power, Executive Power, Memorial Day, Consent to Kill, Act of Treason, Protect and Defend, Extreme Measures and Pursuit of Honor.

Influences: Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gore Vidal, and John Irving. Flynn lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Executive Power Proves That Flynn Is A Master, May 9, 2003

By 

Rob Kramer (Sebring, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Executive Power (Hardcover)

For those who love the geopolitical accuracy of Tom Clancy and the high-flying suspensful action of Robert Ludlum, Vince Flynn successfully creates a balance of the two in his latest novel, Executive Power.
Executive Power brings Mitch Rapp back once more, but this time around, things are much different. Not only has his cover as an assassin and counterterrorism operative been blown, but he's also married to an inquisitive and beautiful reporter who wants nothing more than her new husband to leave his dangerous life at the CIA behind.
Flynn's latest novel, which is among his best to date (the best, in my opinion, being The Third Option), involves two different scenarios: an American family taken hostage by Muslim radicals in the Phillipines, and an honorable but ruthless assassin playing a deadly geopolitical game, his ultimate goal being the establishment of a free and peaceful Palestinian state.
Our hero Rapp, of course, eventually becomes involved with both. Bullets fly when he attempts a hostage rescue in the Phillipines, and terrorists sweat when he tries to get to the bottom of a string of assassinations reaching from Israel to the US.
Executive Power is an incredibly well-written novel that blends incredible accuracy and amazing action and keeps the reader turning pages. My only complaint is that the novel ended too soon; one can only hope that Mitch Rapp will return soon enough to avert disaster once again.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm ready for the next one!, June 9, 2003

By 

'70s survivor (South Dakota,United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Executive Power (Hardcover)

As always, a great stand-alone story. However, if you're familiar with all of the Mitch Rapp stories and characters, you'll enjoy it even more. So happy to see Scott Coleman back, he's one of my favorites. I was hoping Donatella would make an appearance...maybe next time.
Wow, this story moves quickly so hang on. You are everywhere. I appreciate Mr. Flynn's 'history in a capsule' so you become familiar with his situations, i.e. the U.S. and Phillipines relations as well as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This is not a 5 star book compared to his others, but still a very good political thriller. I'm already looking forward to the next installment!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling, high speed rollercoaster ride from Vince Flynn!, May 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Executive Power (Hardcover)

I read this terrific book while flying coast to coast, and it was the best few hours of air travel I've ever had! What a great read. EXECUTIVE POWER is Vince Flynn at his best -- fast-paced, action-packed writing with great characters, in particular my favorite CIA super agent, Mitch Rapp. For anyone who enjoys the work of writers like David Baldacci, Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, and Tom Clancy, EXECUTIVE POWER is a MUST read.