Term Limits [Paperback]

Vince Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 29, 2009

Taking America back . . . one politician at a time.

In one bloody night, three of Washington’s most powerful politicians are executed with surgical precision. Their assassins then deliver a shocking ultimatum to the American government: set aside partisan politics and restore power to the people. No one, they warn, is out of their reach—not even the president. A joint FBI-CIA task force reveals the killers are elite military commandos, but no one knows exactly who they are or when they will strike next. Only Michael O’Rourke, a former U.S. Marine and freshman congressman, holds a clue to the violence: a haunting incident in his own past with explosive implications for his country’s future. . . .

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439148104
• ISBN-13: 978-1439148105
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (518 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Adequate production values and a serviceable reading by James Naughton cannot save this audiobook from a truly awful story that tries to pass off a rightist political manifesto with Fascist underpinnings as an entertaining thriller. The silly plot focuses on our hero, a macho U.S. Congressman, who punches out the National Security Advisor in the President's presence, spouts that slain U.S. Congressmen got what they deserved, calls Congressmen who oppose his agenda "pansies," and, finally, joins a plot to kill another Fed with assassins who just happen to include an old Marine buddy and the Congressman's own grandfather. The assassins are all just good Americans, demanding at one point that the President sponsor a crime bill, of all things, or else! They are noble reformers, with a dirty job to do, rubbing out corrupt politicians. This reactionary diatribe is not recommended.?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

An underwhelming first technothrilleroriginally self-published. ``One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter,'' says Michael O'Rourke to his girlfriend, thus justifying the triple murder of a US senator and a pair of congressmen. They didn't deserve to live, he further insists, guilty as they were of mismanaging their country's business. In fact, virtually all politicians--Republicans and Democrats alike--are similarly guilty. Still, the assassinations are meant not merely as punishment but as a warning. Politicians had better shape up, be upright, set aside partisanship, and balance the budget. Or else. Young Michael, the hero of Flynn's dismal fable, is himself a congressman--the exception that proves the rule. He's sore at his government and has his reasons. His parents were killed in an automobile accident; the driver of the other car, it turned out, was a drunk, a repeat offender, who should have been off the streets, in jail. Due to the aforementioned mismanagement, however, the government can't build enough prisons. Nor is this mismanagement accidental; rather, its the inevitable result of self-serving cabals and wicked conspiracies. And as a variety of the aforesaid cabals maneuver to stop the terrorists, Michael finds himself caught squarely in the middle, very much on his own. While there are conspiracies galore here, much of the novel has an undercrafted feel to it: one-dimensional types, clumsy, often careless writing. (Flynn's heroine has ``big brown eyes''; a ``freedom fighter'' has ``bright blue eyes''--information delivered frequently, each time as if newly minted.) At length, the cabal is thwarted, the once misunderstood terrorist vindicated. ``You're not going to believe what's on this,'' Michael says, handing over the tape that reveals the depth of the conspiracy. He's right. A sure-fire hit for readers who share Flynns political outlook--the government as ogre. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439148104
• ISBN-13: 978-1439148105
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (518 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,375 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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#61 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#13 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#15 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

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

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

#22 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#13 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#15 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

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

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

#22 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

275 of 288 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The beginnings of the master of the political thriller September 24, 2005

By Jerry Saperstein HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

By my count, Vince Flynn has written six poliical thrillers to date with a seventh due in October, 2005. I have now read all six published works in no particular order. "Term Limits" was, I believe, Flynn's debut work. Having read it last provides, I think, an interesting perspective on Flynn's work.

Five of the six Flynn novels feature Mitch Rapp, a very skillful assasin. "Term Limits" doesn't have Mitch Rapp, but it does feature many of the characters found in his later novels.

Straight out of the box, Flynn gives a unique voice to the political thriller. In his Washington, the politicians are generally loathsome, self-serving creatures lacking basic integrity, morality and values. All they live for are their greed and swaggering egos.

The book opens with the murder of Senator Fitzgerald, an obese, alcoholic senator intent on projecting his own power even when, as in this case, it leads to the deaths of American solidiers.

Fitzgerald's neck is expertly broken in his home. Within hours two other equally corrupt politicians are murdered. The murderers issue a set of demands calling for the executive and legislative branches to acheive certain political goals. As in all Flynn novels, these goals resonate with ordinary Americans.

The CIA and FBI come into play to solve the crimes. But President Stevens' Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor don't necessarily want the murders solved. In fact, they think more murders would help President Stevens achieve re-election.

Michael O'Rourke, a first-term Congressman from Minnesota has alrady turned down the President's invitation to vote for his overblown, bloated budget. O'Rourke, a decent man, has an idea of who the assasins might be.... A former Marine he recognizes the killing techniques as those American Special Forces might use.

Director Stansfield of the CIA and his assistant Irene Kennedy, head of counter terrorism efforts pursue the leads in conjunction with Director Roach of the FBI and Special Agent McMahon. All of these characters live on in Flynn's subsequent novels and I am glad they do.

The suspense is riveting. Is the President involved in the brutal murders of Senator Olson and a "clean polirtics" Representative? Will the White House succeed in its attempts to manipulate public opinion?

Flynn's Washington is a place of distrust, dishonor, duplicity, hypocrisy and murder. He is, in my opinion, the best crafter of political thrillers in the business today, putting Tom Clancy (except for "Red October") to shame.

In "Term Limits," we see Flynn gathering his strength for later efforts. In all the other Flynn novels, the characters literally jump off the page. "Term Limits" has one minor character who doesn't quite have it. The political cynicism of Flynn's subsequent novels are sharply drawn: you can recognize many of the repulsive characters as being modeled on politicians whom we are all too familiar with from the daily news. In "Term Limits" only one politician, the alcoholic, self-interested, hypocritical, immoral Senator whose death opens the book triggers immediate recognition with its real prototype.

The plot is tight. Flynn simply doesn't require that his characters have fortuitous, unbelievable inventions to adcvance the story. His plots are simply exquisite. (One of my particular irritants are authors who use scenes involving food and drink as bridges to let the characters expound. Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler in their latest novels overuse these devices: Flynn simply doesn't need them.)

"Term Limits" is a true page-turner. I intended to spend an hour with it as bedtime reading --- and it kept me glued till dawm. What higher compliment can I pay to Vince Flynn? Oh yes, the same thing happened when I read his other five novels.

Jerry Read more ›

112 of 127 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Plausible in every way! May 31, 2004

By Victoria Tarrani

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Term Limits is fast paced and filled with scenarios that both can and probably have happened. This realistic view of political power makes events that seem impossible to the once naïve public feasible and all too real.

Assassinations rock the U. S. President, Secret Service, Cabinet, FBI, and CIA when three are carried out on a single night. Ignoring the ultimatum issued by the "terrorists" causes a fourth man to die and puts the President in the line of fire. Fear triggers tempers as the administration determines if it should make changes that yield to blackmail? Then two more men are murdered, but where only the four specific targets were taken out in the first wave, these also include law enforcement guards.

Questions power the plot; drama moves it forward; action demands reading even though your eyes are tired and burn; the characters are interesting and multi-dimensional.
* Why isn't the budget balanced?
* Why do the Republicans and Democrats care more about special interest groups than the constituents who voted them in?
* Who has the power in the White House?
* Who runs Black Ops, and what power is used to maintain the secrecy of an organization in their clandestine operations.
* Is anyone capable of controlling them, and are personal agendas the root of military and covert actions?
* Is this story too real to be ignored?
* How many groups are behind the assassinations?

Any spare minute found me reading this novel. When I finished it, I was satisfied. The story was complete, the questions answered, I am interested in what's next for these characters -- they became real. Five stars to Vince Flynn, and the knowledge that I will buy more of his books.

Victoria Tarrani

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Action Packed. November 4, 2000

By Christopher B. Jonnes

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Vince Flynn manages to keep the action moving at break-neck speed for over 600 pages. There are practically no slow spots. The premise is fairly preposterous, and the climax totally unbelievable, but who cares? This is fiction, and an exciting and enjoyable read. There are more plot twists than a Clinton Presidency and more shoot-'em-ups than a Clint Eastwood movie. Vince doesn't even slow down long enough for any kissy-face.

The comparison to Tom Clancy is inescapable, so here goes. While the writing quality in Term Limits is professional, I have the sense after reading numerous Clancy novels that his language skills are bit more high brow. There is a higher level of sophistication in Clancy books. And while Flynn obviously did a lot of research, Clancy does more. But for that reason, many readers will prefer Flynn's books. Clancy tends to focus more on technology; Flynn goes right for the gut. Action, action, action.

This is a must-read for political thriller lovers, and a good choice for all other suspense fiction readers. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

37 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A good first effort May 27, 2002

By Eric Gudorf

Format:Mass Market Paperback

In reviewing this book, I found it hard to properly rate it using Amazon's 5 star system (IMDb.com's scale of 1-10 for rating movies is, IMHO, much better) because I honestly want to give it 3 ½ stars, but can't. It is a good book (especially for a rookie) nonetheless it has some real flaws. The best parts? In the Tom Clancy/Robert Ludlum tradition, the plot is fast paced and the writing is tight. At no point is the reader bored. It is the literary equivalent of the movie "Mad Max", i.e., lots of action and thrills, albeit somewhat rough around the edges. If you look beyond the action, you notice that the main characters are somewhat one or two dimensional (a common complaint in the techno/spy thriller genre) and, worse, the plot itself is rather contrived. I mean, does anyone REALLY believe that a handful of former Navy SEALs would plot to kill prominent politicians because they refuse to cut spending and balance the budget? Yet that is the central premise of this book. There is a more credible subplot, in which the SEALs assassinate one Senator (a dead ringer for Ted Kennedy) because the stupid fool let slip a vital piece of info while drinking at a local bar, this info ended up in enemy hands, resulting in said former SEAL team leader having half his men killed because the terrorists knew they were coming. At any rate, you don't have to be a tax and spend liberal Democrat to find the notion of using assassination (technically, not terrorism, since the SEALs refuse to kill any "civilians", just the politicians) as a tool to change political policy rather disturbing. I mean, I'm as much in favor of cutting all the waste and bloat out of the government as the next guy, but the "solution" proposed here smacks a bit too much of Timothy McVeigh.... That aside, there's an interesting plot twist in which the president's unscrupulous Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor team up with a shady former CIA figure to stage additional assassinations to draw public support away from the SEALs, who have gone public with their demands, and whose actions in bumping off several sleazy politicians has actually aroused considerable sympathy. This leads to the final showdown, with a series of fast paced actions that threaten to blow the whole Administration apart if the shady machinations with the former CIA man are revealed. So, the bottom line is this: if you like Clancy (especially his early stuff) or Ludlum, and enjoy a plot with lots of paranoia and anti-government skullduggery, then you will get an entertaining read. Just don't expect a whole lot in the credibility dept. Read more ›