Book Review: American Assassin by Vince Flynn

When I began reading Vince Flynn’s series of Mitch Rapp novels, I read them in no particular order. It didn’t matter if I was reading them in the order Flynn had written them. I simply enjoyed the read, the action, intrigue and the very interesting characters. American Assassin has the energy and excitement of all of the other Vince Flynn books.

As I read Flynn’s books, I didn’t know how Mitch Rapp had gotten into the CIA or anything about his training, I just liked reading about Mitch because he was that he was one of the good guys and he always got the bad-guys. I have always considered Mitch Rapp to be a literary version of 24’s Jack Bauer, unwavering in his view of what is right and wrong. I like that moral certainty that Rapp and Bauer exhibit.

In American Assassin we learn why Mitch had joined the CIA and how he had become the feared weapon he was in other books. Without giving away any of the enjoyment of reading the book, Mitch was a very good athlete in college. He had his life all laid out before him – wife, family and home. That well-planned life he had was turned up-side down when his recently engaged girl-friend was killed in a terrorist bombing of a passenger airline. After that, he focused all of his energy and frustration on getting back at the terrorists who had killed her. He didn’t want revenge, but to right a terrible wrong. Well, maybe there was just a little bit of revenge.

American Assassin takes the reader on a fast-paced journey through the CIA training facility, in Virginia, to Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, and finally Lebanon, as he gets the terrorists responsible for killing his fiancé. In doing so, the legend of Mitch Rapp was born.

I highly recommend the book. It is a good read.

Bill Kercher