Memorial Day [Mass Market Paperback]

Vince Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 19, 2005

Fighting terrorism on foreign ground, CIA superagent Mitch Rapp does whatever it takes to protect American freedom.

MEMORIAL DAY

CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States, just as the nation's capital prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an al Queda stronghold in a remote border village -- and defuses plans for a nuclear strike on Washington. The crisis averted, the special ops work is done. But Rapp knows, in the face of a new kind of enemy, nothing is as it seems -- and it's up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest entry in Flynn's popular Mitch Rapp series (after 2003's Executive Power) offers a gripping look at what could transpire if a terrorist group were to sneak a nuclear weapon into the U.S. Rapp, the relentless, marble-hearted CIA assassin and terrorist hunter, would never let that happen, of course, and Flynn's description of the process of bringing a nuke ashore and the lengths to which the government's counterterrorism force will go to prevent harm to U.S. citizens add up to another page-flipping extravaganza. Rapp, back in the field after a long stint on desk duty for insubordination, unearths the bomb plot during a daring commando raid on an al-Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan. A U.S. strike force manages to intercept and disarm the nuke moments after it arrives by freighter in Charleston, S.C. Everyone, including series stalwart President Robert Hayes, congratulates themselves on a job well done, but Rapp isn't convinced; he believes al-Qaeda leader Mustafa al-Yamani has smuggled a second nuke into the country and plans to detonate it in Washington, D.C., during Memorial Day celebrations. Rapp, a ruthless terrorist pursuer by temperament and training, turns it up several notches this time around, following al-Yamani's scent with feverish abandon. Flynn trots out his usual assortment of characters to keep the action tense—wishy-washy cabinet members, political climbers, invective-spewing terrorists and a selected assortment of ice queens who use sex as a weapon. Yet his skillful use of converging plots, particularly the panic created by having a nuke on the loose, is enough to keep Flynn's growing fan base more than willing to overlook the formulaic components.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The king of high-concept political intrigue." -- Dan Brown

"You'll be hooked....Move over, Jack Ryan!" -- Portland Oregonian

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 574 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (July 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743453980
• ISBN-13: 978-0743453981
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (270 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,151 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.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#65 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#12 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#17 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#18 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#12 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#17 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#18 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 116 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorable and Terrifying - Flynn Scores Again May 18, 2004

By John R. Linnell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Vince Flynn's books are essentially primers on what is needed to combat and defeat terrorisim and the "bad guys." It will not be everyone's cup of tea, because it is painfully honest in it's assessment of where our problems lie and unfortunately they often lie with some of us. If you genuflect to the altar of political correctness, this will be a tough read.

Mitch Rapp returns. Flynn introduces him bluntly to those who have not read his prior novels as he prepares to interrogate five al Qaeda operatives who have been captured in a raid on a secret stronghold: "Calling Rapp a counterterrorism operative was essentially a polite way of ducking the truth. When everything was stripped away, the reality was that that he was an assassin. He has killed, and killed often, for his country, and in his mind 9/11 was proof that he hadn't killed enough."

His interrogation produces the picture of a terrorist attack on the United States that involves a nuclear weapon. The picture is clear enough to cause alarm, but fuzzy enough to make the entire plan a puzzle.

Slowly the puzzle seems to be solved and just when it looks like the threat is past, well, it isn't.

This is vintage Flynn. It is an absolute page turner. It will make you think. It may cause some angst. It should. This is a realistic picture of where we are and what we are doing, both the good and the bad. That's where the angst comes in.

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very impressed with Vince Flynn. October 31, 2004

By Brad Cooper

Format:Hardcover

Although I had heard of Vince Flynn's series of novels featuring Mitch Rapp, MEMORIAL DAY is the first one I decided to take for a test run. What I found what an action-packed thriller set at a blistering pace and a main character that may not stay inside the box that the government would like for him to, but you like him anyway. You have to...he does things the way you'd like to see them done and he gets results.

MEMORIAL DAY is also a prime example of the way that the CIA/Spy/International Thriller genre is headed in a post-9/11 world. In the 80s, the villians tended to be Russian. Now, the targets have become Al-Qaeda and those countries that harbor and support them. Not to worry...there are still plenty of Russian villians running loose in popular fiction. MEMORIAL DAY's premise begins with Mitch Rapp foiling an attempt to smuggle a nuclear weapon onto American soil, and right around one of the biggest tourist holidays on the calendar. This plot element alone makes the entire storyline plausible. This is something that every American citizen fears whenever there is a large event planned. New Year's Eve in Times Square...the Super Bowl...the World Series...name it. I won't go into any more detail on the plot...you'll just have to read it.

I was very impressed with the writing as well. Sharp, concise, and to the point but not over the top vocabulary. Everything is organized well and easy to follow for any reader.

All in all, I was very impressed with this very enjoyable read and look forward to checking out the rest of the Mitch Rapp series...not to mention the next installment.

72 of 84 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars strong action thriller May 5, 2004

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

Intel learns that countries harboring terrorists are transferring their stock and bonds into gold while at a top-secret installation a Pakistani terrorist is being interrogated by CIA black ops agent Mitch Rapp. Intel finds out that Al Qaeda is preparing to strike at the United States, making the World Trade Towers destruction seem like a child destroying a toy. Mitch and a group of commandos raid a small Pakistani mountain town where they find proof that Al Qaeda is getting ready to attack America.

Going through the documents and the computer disks, Mitch and other operatives believe that the terrorist group is trying to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the United States. Through diligent effort and good investigative work, they are able to locate the bomb which was being shipped into the country by boat. Further Intel lead Mitch to believe that a second bomb has already been smuggled into the country and it is set to go off at the White House festivities on Memorial Day if Mitch can't locate it in time.

Vince Flynn is one of the best writers of action thrillers on the world scene today. His protagonist is a true patriot, willing to get his hands dirty if it means saving innocent lives. He can't stand or deal with the politics that get in the way of catching terrorists and believes the legal rights belonging to ordinary people should be suspended for active terrorists. Readers won't know until the last paragraph if the hero finds the nuclear bomb and is able to prevent it from going off. MEMORIAL DAY is more frightening than a horror tale because the premise of the story is all too plausible.

Harriet Klausner