NEVER DREAM OF DYING'It's all right,' he said in a clear voice as if explaining something to a child. 'It's quite all right. She's having a rest. We'll begoing on soon. There's no hurry. You see -' Bond's head sank down against hers and he whispered into her hair -'you see, we'vegot all the time in the world.'- Ian Fleming's James Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. “This creature softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for people.”- Josef Stalin Beware the vengeance of a retiring government assassin or spy. A legion of antagonists in spy fiction have never heeded this warning. And for each and every one of them, it has ended in unmitigated disaster. Missed gunshots, mistimed explosions and missed targets who inevitably come back after mourning with retribution on their minds, the list is endless. Consent To Kill is built around this theme. One of the best revenge tales ever written, I consider it the finest novel written by Vince Flynn and the point where he fully matured as a writer. Perfect pacing. Superb structure. There's not a word out of place unlike some of the earlier, clunkier books, the story arc is expertly executed and as for character development? This is the turning point in the Rapp series due to events which will change the main players forever, especially the Iron Man himself, Mitch Rapp. Unflappable and seemingly only married to the job, for the past few books, he's been trying to make an actual married life for himself. With varrying degrees of success due to the difficulty he has with reconciling his wife with the usual addiction to the thrill of the hunt. In Consent To Kill, he finally makes his decision, and at the worst possible moment some very mad men decide to plan his murder. Now to the review. What happens when the retirment plans of a government assassin explode? The novel begins with a Saudi businessman telling a friend he wants a man killed. The friend happens to run the Saudi Arabian religious police and happens to know someone who could broker a contract. Promising to get in touch, he makes a decision that kicks off the blood soaked saga. Meanwhile in Langley Virginia, Mitch Rapp and DCI Kennedy discuss the killing of a extremist Muslim Cleric in Canada. With the man's crimes piling up and even Canada's law enforcement itching to take a crack at him, she signs off on the operation. Rapp then flies up north and does what he does best, gutting the man like a fish and taking advantage of the target's lurid vices to create a false motive for the killing. Flying back to Washington, Rapp gets busy juggling several items on his agenda. First Irene sends him to negotiate with two senators to authorize the budget appropriations for the orion team project. Secondly, Rapp runs into the new DNI and has a small misunderstanding which escalates into a full blown inter-service rivalry fight. And finally, on the home front, his wife decides to reveal something significant which motivates him to make the most significant choice of his life. Meanwhile in Europe, a married couple who run their own contract killing business are roused for what might be their final contract, killing the CIA's resident hitman. All these threads come together in a tale of fire, forgiveness and vengeance, where the only certain thing is that death comes to all who cross Mitch Rapp. First the plot. It's a standard revenge story with the usual structure. But it's one that is so beautifully executed and written with great maturity and depth, that it effortlessly sweeps you up into the defining moment of Rapp's life, the point when the blunt instrument for the war on terror, decides to sacrifice the one thing that has truly meant something to him, rather than trying the futile dance, of having his cake and eating it as well. Which makes it all the more tragic with what ensures during the events of the novel. Next, the settings. From the corridors of the Office Of National Intelligence to the halls of power in Saudi Arabia, this is one of the more sweeping novels in the Mitch Rapp series, seemingly bigger in scope even without a time-sensitive scenario or "epic threat" to counter. Next, the action. From a discrete targeted killing in Canada to an attack on the CIA's countryside farm and a kidnapping in Vienna, Flynn expertly brings to life modern Post 9/11 counter-terrorist work. Efficient, well planned, unglamorous and practical. The violence isn't on the level of Transfer Of Power, but it's more realistic. No stylish gunfights. Only those who have the element of surprise come out on top. As a bonus, there's a certain "joke" from the previous book Memorial Day which finally receives its payoff in a most combustible fashion (read it and this to find out). Then, we have the themes. Quite a few in this book. First, there's Flynn's favorite, the perils of bureaucracy. He turns his guns on the Office Of National Intelligence, and considering many of his sources were former company men, that not surprising. Redundancy is bad when trying to effectively manage intelligence gathering and adding an extra organization on top doesn't make things better. Far from it, as it causes problems such as inter-service rivalry to erupt with a vengeance. Secondly, untrustworthy allies. Specifically the Saudi Arabians. Flynn explores how they sporadically dabble in sponsoring terrorism as a foreign policy implement, similar to the Iranians. He also explored the ongoing political dispute between the fanatics and the modernizers, a conflict which is one of the more important ones in Middle East and has caused headaches due to the oil reserve cudgel the Saudi's use to get any nuisances off their back. Thirdly, revenge and forgiveness. Lets face it, Mitch Rapp is an unforgiving person. The events of this novel will demonstrate that fact to you readers clearly. But what is the limit you can take vengeance and live with it? And is it possible that you could forgive anyone? Flynn explored this interesting theme through the dilemma faced by one of the central antagonists and the final choice Rapp makes when retribution is within his reach. Finally, we have the research. As always, Flynn continues to impress. Apart from portraying the darker side of Saudi Arabian politics and very well, we also get the usual look at the tactics and kit of 21st century espionage. A particular treat is the tracking techniques the two assassins use on Mr and Ms. Rapp. No fancy computer hacking gimmicks. Just a bit of money and a few phonecalls to the right overworked government agencies allow them to hunt down Rapp and find his house. Next, characters. Consent To Kill has more emphasis on characterization than in the previous books. So there are many standouts here. First, Mitch. Here he becomes a lot more well rounded. He's finally getting used to married life and is seemingly doing his best to manage his changed circumstances now that he's forced to reduce his usual workload as the CIA's resident hitman. For a man who for a decade has been married to his job, especially one which he loves, that's a big step to take. Unlike other spy fiction characters who faff about trying to have the best of both worlds (John Wells), he makes the decision without much hesitation. Which makes what happens to him all the more devestating. Has he gone soft? Nope. When all his dreams get blown to smithereens he returns to his role as the angel of death, bringing hellfire and damnnation to all who destroyed his chance at a normal life, and cemented his marriage to his job as the American Assassin. Secondly, Ann Rapp. While not my favorite character in the Rapp series, she's gradually matured over time, becoming much more accepting of her husband and his job. The character development helps give her final fate the extra impact and makes it one of the few genuinely sad moments in the Rapp series. Next the antagonists. Three standouts. First, Herr Abel. A former Stasi officer turned security consultant, he finds himself acting as the middle man in the plot to target Mitch Rapp. A smug snake who is too clever by half, he takes a gamble which does not pay off in the slightest. And when Abel tries to run from the inevitable, he becomes the star of what I consider the most satisfying killing executed by Mitch. Last we have the couple running the contract killing business. Vince expertly utilzed some dramatic irony using them. They're the mirror image of Mitc and Ann, being in a similar situation and having similar hopes and dreams. What makes them stand out is that they're the only people in the entire Rapp series to throw the usually unflappable Iron Man off his game, in a most horrific manner. They're also in the select club of antagonists created by Flynn who are well rounded and sympathetic to a degree. While not as relatable compared to Jabril from Executive Power, the couple are not cardboard cutouts or two dimensional smug jerks, being three dimensional and willing to accept what they initially think is an inescapable fate. In the final page of Consent To Kill, Rapp follows the tradition of most fictional hard men and throws away his gun. It's symbolic of him abandoning his hopes for a normal life and can be seen in some ways as a metaphor for him casting away the few things which have held him back. Consent To Kill is where the Mitch Rapp series kicks into high gear. This is Flynn's most mature book. The writing is by far the most crisp in the series. The plotting is executed to perfection. And the character development and interaction, which up till this book had been Flynn's main weak point, explodes like a firecracker going off in Congress. As a spy fiction novel it's good. As the only tragedy Flynn wrote, it's superb. But as the story of a extraordinary man on top of the world who gets brought crashing down to earth, it's one of the best I've seen.
Pop QuizTrue or False: I believe that aggressive use of overwhelming force is FREQUENTLY the ONLY means whereby evil men, their surrogates, and often, their governments, can be effectively controlled.True or False: I have previously, thoughtfully, considered the possibility that if confronted by someone who intended to, or had, harmed someone I love, I would not hesitate a single heartbeat before shooting said person or persons in the head, at close range, and that having done so, I would not suffer a moment’s remorse.If you, like I, can answer emphatically TRUE to both of these statements you will probably enjoy Vince Flynn’s Consent to Kill. Consent to Kill was an exciting page-turner where good triumphs and the bad guys get theirs. Who doesn’t find feel a certain primal satisfaction when evil men, real or fictional, meet a just and irrevocable demise? (Aside from the misguided pacifists who answered False above…)That said, I have to take off my testoste-rose colored glasses long enough to report that I found the authors writing style to be rather course and unrefined. In the first paragraph of the first chapter the narrator says, “Rapp stood in front of his boss’s desk. He’d been offered a chair but had declined... The file was an inch thick. It pissed him off.” Now don’t get me wrong, I am no prude. I don’t mind if a character is pissed off. The character can say, “I’m pissed off”. He can think, “I’m pissed off”. His friend or wife can say, “He’s pissed off”. But I’d rather not have to listen to a third person NARRATOR use vernacular, slang, or colloquialisms, a pattern that Mr. Flynn repeats throughout the book. (He uses the phrase “pissed off” alone no less than ten times in the book.) I also felt that the author relied too heavily on telling me how tough the characters were, rather than showing me. It may be a subtle distinction, but I guess that is my primary complaint with Flynn’s writing; it lacks subtlety. The story is rather clichéd and predictable. I mean, come on, who didn’t foresee the result of the explosive events on page 249 when they read the first paragraph in the book?All in all it’s not a bad read if you answered true to both questions in the pop quiz and enjoy the genre. There is plenty of violence and profanity, including the ones that would give your mother chest pains, so it’s certainly not for everyone, definitely not for the kids.
What do You think about Consent To Kill (2006)?
Mitch Rapp is one of the more interesting characters that I've come across in literature and Vince Flynn is an exceptional writer, so I had set a pretty high bar when I started reading Consent to Kill. Of the thrillers that I have read, Flynn has among the more realistic and gritty portrayals. Most international terrorist type novels are more fantasy than fiction. In Consent To Kill an ultra-rich Arab fundamentalist puts a massive bounty to have Mitch killed, bringing out some heavy hitters to participate in his assassination. When he survives the attempt, he is hell-bent on exacting revenge in the most ruthless fashion possible. Mitch is a pretty intense character to begin with, but he takes it to a new level in this novel. There was a high level of violence, so it's not for the squeamish, but it all added to the novel. He hunts down every single person who was involved in the attack, going off the grid. This may be the best of the Vince Flynn novels that I have read and I would highly recommend it.Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
—Carl Alves
Mitch Rapp is grumpy when he learns that he must get surgery on his left knee. Yet, the surgery is successful with 0 wait time and the best orthopedic surgeon in the country. But Mitch Rapp still goes home grumpy. So it's no surprise that after his home is blown up and he wakes up in hospital to learn that his wife Anna is dead that he is way beyond grumpy. Heads are going to roll literally. There is some in-depth character development and psychological analysis here of the main character Mitch Rapp here. Rapp is grief-stricken and in a rage like never before even worse than when his girlfriend Maureen is killed by terrorists in the Pan Am flight. By the end of the story Rapp has become dangerously close to some of the terrorists that he normally hunts to the point of which he doesn't really like himself anymore. It is at this point when Rapp starts to come round and pull himself back from the abyss. This is a longer book than usual for Vince Flynn-close to 700 pages. I have now read 6 Mitch Rapp books and this is one of the better ones. I still feel that Extreme Measures is tops thus far from what I have read. Mitch Rapp is the Gabriel Allon of America. I like Gabriel Allon a little better though, but Rapp has his moments.
—Jamie
This was probably the best Mitch Rapp book I've read (so far) since his introduction in Transfer of Power. For the first time in the series I felt that Rapp was a fully realized character and not just a bad-ass action hero. In the first half of the book, I actually found Rapp a little unlikeable, and in hind-sight I realize that was because Rapp was out of his element. (whether Vince Flynn intended this or not, I'm not sure of, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.) Rapp's blunt tactics in
—Kyle
