Transfer of Power [Mass Market Paperback]

Vince Flynn (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket Star (2003)
• ASIN: B001MMYERA
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (312 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,829,980 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 lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children.
Works by Flynn include Transfer of Power, The Third Option, Separation of Power , Executive Power , Memorial Day, Consent to Kill, Act of Treason, and Extreme Measures.
Influences: Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gore Vidal, and John Irving
Transfer of Power The Third Option Separation of Power Executive Power Influences:Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gore Vidal and John Irving

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

138 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vince Flynn is a total master of the political thriller, September 9, 2005

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp, Book 1) (Hardcover)

I've recently discovered Vince Flynn and his Mitch Rapp character. This is my third Mitch Rapp novel and my conclusion is that Vince Flynn is the leader of the pack when it comes to political thrillers. He has no close competition.

Mitch Rapp is a member of the Orion Team, a super-secret group with deniable connections to the CIA, White House and Congress. It's purpose is to eliminate terrorist threats to the United States without regard for anything but the danger they represent. Mitch Rapp is an "ordinary" guy, dedicated to extinguishing the terrorist threat without the messiness or hindrance of law. Find 'em, kill 'em and move on to the next one. Rapp is without a doubt the coolest super-hero to come down the pike in a long time. He has the freshness of the first incarnation of Clancy's Jack Ryan, the inventiveness of Clive Cussler's heroes and the philosophical bent of Barry Eisler's John Rain, who is the closest to Flynn's Mitch Rapp.

Flynn's take on politicians is devestating. He beautifully skewers the Democrats and their "peace at any price" acolytes. He sets up Robert Hayes as a "centrist" Democratic President. Hayes resembles no Democratic President of the past century. He is a reasonable, intelligent man without a radical political agenda. Surrounding him, however, are the products of Flynn's literary - and I do mean literary - genius. Venal, greedy, ignorant men and women of his party who put their own selfish interests far ahead of the nation; people who would prefer to live under the heel of the enemies of freedom rather than resist.

In "Transfer of Power," the chair of the Democratic National Committee has accepted a $500,000 "donation" in return for arranging a last-minute meeting between the donor, supposedly a Prince of Oman, and the President. President Hayes' chief of staff doesn't bother with the Secret Service security rules. After all, it is a donation of $500,000.

As the "Prince" is about to murder the President in the Oval Office, the Secret Service receives a call from Mitch Rapp who has just abducted a top Hezbollah leader in Iran. Under intensive interrogation, Rapp has learned that the White House is to be the target of a terrorist attack this very day. The President is saved for the moment with only seconds to spare. The "Prince," really a ruthless terrorist Rapp has been tracking for years, then proceeds to take over the White House. The attack relies heavily on information gleaned from another Democrat.

Almost a hundred hostages are taken. The Vice President assumes exeuctive power while the President is trapped incommuicado in a White House bunker. The White House is in control of the terrorists, its perimeter ringed with explosives. The terrorist leader makes a demand: release the Iranian billions siezed during the Carter-era hostage crisis or he will murder one hostage per hour. Transfer the money and he will let some hostages go.

The Vice President, a cowardly, but ambitious politician, takes counsel of his Attorney General, a woman with a preference for appeasement.

Quickly the situation deteriorates. Mitch Rapp is asked to get into the White House to reconnoiter. He does this with the help of Milt Adams, a retired Secret Service agent who knows more about the design of the White House then any living person. Rapp takes Adams with him, an unlikely, but ultimately highly effective pairing.

Flynn's plotting is an absolute delight. Everything flows smoothly from one tense moment to another. His characters are totally believable. Some, especially the weasly politicians, strongly resemble people we all have read about or seen on television. Rapp, the ordinary guy as super-hero, is exquisitely crafted and totally believable. The military personnel, the CIA directors, the Chiefs of Staff, the terrorists - every character is sharply drawn.

Much to his credit, Flynn manages to introduce a "romantic" element into this novel. I will not ruin the moment by describing how: it is simply to rich to have any of the surprise taken from it.

The action is non-stop. The climax is a complex ballet of brutal action.

Flynn is today's master of the political thriller. Clancy at his very best in "The Hunt For Red October" was terrific: but Flynn is better and he has been able to hold the Mitch Rapp character intact over a number of novels which Clancy was unable to do with Jack Ryan. In my opinion, every other political thriller novelist pales before Flynn. He is the master and of the three Mitch Rapp novels I've read to date, this is his best.

Jerry

61 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 12, 2003

By 

Drak "gusgus88" (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transfer of Power (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book up because the title sounded interesting. I have never read a book by Flynn before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I read this book in two days. I simply couldn't put it down. Rapp was a very entertaining character to read about. And with the current situation with Iraq and religious extremists the book seemed even more real. The book was very suspenseful and left you wanting more when it was over. I look forward to reading other Flynn novels.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, August 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp, Book 1) (Hardcover)

I don't know what the "official" critics have against Mr. Flynn. The only thing I can think of is they are not reading the same books I am. I will admit that there are flaws within the book. But I would challenge those critics to try to fill almost 400 pages without having some flaws in your work.

I read Flynn's first book Term Limits just a few days ago. After reading it, I immediately went out and bought Transfer of Power. I found Transfer of Power to be just as entertaining as Flynn's first novel. In my opinion, both books have been well researched. The operations of the military's special forces units and also domestic law enforcement seem extremely realistic. I believe this is evidence that Flynn has really put time into researching the operations of these groups.

The characters in this book are all interesting and realistic. Just like his first book, the good v. evil plot makes the pages just fly by. The only criticism I have of the book is that the ending came a little fast. Other than that, it was an excellent book and I can not wait for Flynn's next book to hit the shelves.

Critics, open your eyes. Flynn is the real deal. I'm aware that you get paid to criticize the work of other people, but you need to find someone else to pick on. Flynn is not your man.