Customer Reviews

Executive Power

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Vince Flynn's fourth installment in the Mitch Rapp series, finds the recently outed Rapp moving from CIA operative duties to that of a counter-terrorism bureaucrat. But this leopard cannot change his spots and he quickly finds himself back in the wet work business after two American diplomats' loose lips cause a SEAL hostage rescue to go deadly wrong. Rapp leads a team to avenge that loss by defeating the Philippine terrorist network that killed two SEAL team members and rescuing the American hostages. In order to successfully accomplish this mission he must keep its existence from the turncoats who once betrayed those who went before him. The coincidental plotline has forces plotting to upset the tenuous balance in the Middle East's geopolitical situation. A flamboyant Saudi Prince, who is banished from the Kingdom, elicits the help of a Palestinian assassin to murder the leaders of Islamic terrorist cells and Saudi and Palestinian Ambassadors in the hopes of dissolving US support for Israel and the eventual establishment of an official Palestinian state.

Flynn writes with his standard action-packed flair and inserts numerous details regarding the weapons, tactics, and technology being employed. The book's pace keeps your interest throughout and completes the storyline in a concise epilogue. He does a better job developing some of his characters than in pervious works and paints Prince Omar as an exquisitely conniving antagonist.

On the critical side, the tension between Rapp and the politicos is overdone and comes off as contrived. I found the two plot lines to be mini-stories and generally distinct from each other except for Rapp and the involvement of the Executive Branch of the US government. The first was Rapp's elaborate tactical mission and the second a strategic political saga with current international implications. A more complex and interwoven plotline would have been a salient improvement. Flynn rightfully down plays Rapp's wife's role in this book but it is still grating when she appears and continually forces Rapp to cast off the shackles of domestication.

While a good summertime read and an improvement from his last Rapp story, this book was not Flynn's best. Flynn fans will most likely find "Executive Power" representative of his recent books, adequate but wanting more. Overall, it was a ubiquitous techo-thriller and a respectable offering until his next blockbuster. I hope Flynn takes his time to do a better job developing and intertwining his plotlines in "Memorial Day" and "Consent to Kill" and reclaims his all-star status.

A worthwhile read.

This is my second Vince Flynn book and I seem to be reading them in reverse order. However two I've read are thrilling, action filled stories that could have come right out of today's headlines. We are treated to the machinations of high level Washington politics, down and dirty intelligence activities and some hard core direct military action. This is one of the best action/thriller series around today, much better than some of the more famous established writers of the genre. Mitch Rapp is almost a 21st century James Bond, but without the cartoonish escapades of 007. Flynn touches on many issues germaine to the real world of terrorism and world politics. Highly recommended.

Notwithstanding what some others here think, in my humble opinion, Vince Flynn has not written a dissapointing novel yet. If you have not read any of his "Mitch Rapp" novels yet, it would behoove you to start and the beginning and move forward. While this novel deals with an Iraq still controlled by Sadaam, the story loses nothing in that regard and the essential points made by the story that is laid out for the reader is sure to leave you waiting for the next installment. I will be looking forward to it.

Following his last assignment, preventing Saddam Hussein from obtaining nuclear weapons, CIA field agent Mitch Rapp receives public acknowledgment by the president in response to the latest Congressional leak to the media. Though the praise is of the highest quality, singled out as the most important person in the fight to counter terrorism, the President might as well have placed a bulls-eye on Rapp's chest and that of his loved ones. The spotlight makes the former covert operator an ideal international target for eradication by terrorists as the symbol he has become.

As special advisor on counterterrorism to CIA director Dr. Irene Kennedy, Rapp uncomfortably sits in an office. However, everything changes when radical Islamic terrorists ambush Navy SEALS on a top-secret rescue mission in the Philippines. The leak had to be in either the State Department or the Philippine diplomatic corps, but nobody knows for sure. However, worse yet is that someone is trying to cause a Jihad on a scale never before seen and that unknown invisible individual is close to achieving the goal with only a too visible Rapp in the way.

This reviewer plans to obtain previous tales of Vince Flynn because EXECUTIVE POWER is political thriller at its best and it is clear that this author has much writing talent. The story line is non stop action and Mitch is a great protagonist as he struggles with a fame that he does not want at the cost of his first love field work. No bums rap: this winner may prove to be the political thriller of the year.

Harriet Klausner

I'm a fan of Tom Clancy and David Baldacci, and this was my first time reading a Vince Flynn novel. WOW! All I can say is that it was a thrill ride from start to finish, and I felt like I came away from it knowing a little more about world politics and terrorism than I did before. Plus it's a fun read -- Mitch Rapp is a CIA agent who kicks some serious butt, doing somethings a lot of us wish we could do. Talk about wish fulfillment! If you haven't read Flynn before, this is one to pick up. I enjoyed it more than the past few Clancy novels, I've got to admit. This writer is definitely one to watch.

Just as he did in Separation of Power with Uday Hussein and the war on Iraq, Vince Flynn once again predicts the future by telling the story of a terrorist from the House of Saud and then days later seeing the real thing happen in Saudi Arabia. Not only that, but as with most of Flynn's amazing books, this one is suspenseful, yet not dissapointing. Mixing both conservative and liberal views, this book does not have the same violent passion for violence that Clancy's do. Also, unlike Clancy, Flynn makes the technical aspects of the military tools sound fun and exciting. Vince Flynn is back!! Buy this book and you won't regret it.

Vince Flynn's latest thriller has government assassin Mitch Rapp taking on terrorists in a novel that is unevenly paced but is nonetheless a fun read.

The plot has a Palestinian terrorist named David creating an escalating series of events with the intent of forcing the creation of a Palestinian state. While in certain ways a man of integrity (he does not directly target innocents), he also is aware that his acts will beget additional, less discriminate violence. Meanwhile, Rapp is off in the Philippines, taking on different Islamic terrorists who are holding a family hostage and have already killed members of a previous rescue mission.

Flynn keeps things moving, but the big flaw in the story is the pacing. The rescue/revenge mission in the Philippines is clearly a secondary (and independent) plot, yet it dominates over half the book. By the time Rapp gets involved in the main story, it is already around page 300. That's a long time to get the story to kick into full gear, and it's only Flynn's adept writing that is able to overcome this problem.

While it is not essential, it is helpful to have read the other in the Mitch Rapp series to fully enjoy this book. While not exceptional enough to merit five stars, this novel is a solid four star effort and a good way to be entertained for a few hours.