THE UNIONS “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”- Napoleon. Welcome to the second story arc of the Mitch Rapp saga. I like to call this one the "matrimony arc", due to it spanning Mr Rapp's marriage. Don't worry though. White picket fences aren't for the war on terror's blunt instrument, and the three acts that make up this part of the series features some of the more severe threats Rapp encounters. Back in the day, before Al Quaeda and Daesh made the Middle East a constantly burning geopolitical hot spot, the main political problem in the region was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A lesson on how chronic backstabbing, cynicism and unhealthy levels of sometimes justifiable paranoia can screw up the best laid plans, and break the most wide-eyed idealists, even with more pressing issues taking the center stage, it continue on with no end in sight. Mr Flynn said Executive Power was a parable of sorts. Of how whatever moralizing and idealism had been sucked out of the war. And how the Palestinians had been reduced to nothing but a mere foreign policy implement by Middle Eastern nations who wished to use and abuse them as a cudgel to bash Israel. Now, the thing about this book is that it's actually two stories which are disconnected throughout much of the book. Normally such a disjointed feel would have brought down a lesser writer. But Mr Flynn saves it with some great plotting, and the introduction of a character who manages to steal the show from Mitch Rapp. Now to the review. Government assassins never die. But do they fade away? The novel begins in the Philippines. DEVGRU are attempting to make an insertion on an island. Unfortunately, they're rumbled, met with a welcome committee and forced to withdraw with casualties. Across the Pacific, the newly wed Mitch Rapp and his wife Ann relax on their honeymoon. While mostly happy, Rapp is still annoyed about having been burned in the last book. In Monte Carlo, a Palestinian agent provocateur meets with a patron he loathes to begin the implementation of a very complex business proposal. And back in Langley Virginia, DCI Irene Kennedy is working overtime on a special project, intending to make an example of those who forget "loose lips sink ships". These threads come together to create one of the more audacious schemes Mitch Rapp has faced. Okay, in terms of plot, Executive Power is a mixed bag. Primarily due to the anti-climax of the ending but mostly due to the previously mentioned disconnect between the two plotlines. For some, it can seem Flynn was trying to write two different stories. Nevertheless, one of them, featuring the Palestinian agent provocateur, is some of Flynn's best writing, while the other, Mitch Rapp's Philippine business trip, has a few good action scenes, despite being a bit more bland at times. The settings are also a bit more varied compared to later Mitch Rapp novels. Sure, Washington features, but a third of the book takes place in the Philippine jungle at night and the Gaza strip. Flynn successfully captures the claustrophobia of the former and the gritty wretchedness of the latter. As for the main research, it's once again classic Flynn. Some pretty exotic kit such as the excellent AS-VAL rifle and the classic, All-American Barett M82 feature prominently, along with jungle warfare/surveillance tactics. Now to the characters. Only two standouts this time around. First Mitch as always. This is the book where his "badass" credentials started to become more apparent, especially since this was his coming out the DC's legion of bureaucratic busy-bodies who would come to hate and fear him. From laying down the law on a hapless paper-pusher who catastrophically forgot about the things he wasn't supposed to have said, to taking on half the Abu Sayaf organization with nothing but a few friends and his suppressed Beretta 92FS, this is the book which signaled Mitch's evolution from just another government assassin, to the man who quite possibly inspired Jack Bauer. But unfortunately, Mitch was faced by someone who completely stole the show from him. And it's the antagonist of all people, a character who is by far the most sympathetic and complex villain in the Mitch Rapp series. Meet David, real name Jabril. He's an agent provocateur. While loathing Israel's law enforcement and intelligence community, he also despises the collection of terrorist organizations who have set up shop in his neck of the woods. So, following that timeless Middle Eastern proverb, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", he forms a short-lived partnership with Mossad to decapitate the terrorist leadership. He does his job but due to the jackass director general of Mossad cocking things up with an Apache helicopter, decides to go after Israel as well. Unlike your usual Middle Eastern villain, David isn't a homicidal mass murderer. He's got brains, and thinks up a far more brilliant and insidious scheme at getting even. By the end, near the climax, he manages to have his target teetering on the edge of diplomatic oblivion as their only ally considers throwing them under the bus for the Mossad director's mistake. It's tragic that Jabril and Rapp never got to have a confrontation, but it's also unfortunate that Flynn never again tried to make his antagonists as captivating or complex as David. So, Executive Power? Overall, it's a mixed bag. While the some of the story arcs drag the book down, it's saved by Mitch's evolution into the counter-terrorist operative we all know and love, along with Flynn's best antagonist executing the false flag operation to end all false flag operations. Moderately Recommended.
Executive Power by Vince Flynn,Few authors can put a story together like Vince Flynn, he's one of the elites up in the tier of Tom Clancy. What was up with Irene Kennedy going emotional and yelling at Rapp? I wish Flynn had kept Thomas Stansfield alive for a few more books, he was truly amazing in his spycraft and strategizing. Kennedy seems okay but not as good as Stansfield was. Rapp's wife: sigh, you know how I feel about her. She's married to someone that works at the CIA, needs to leave town without notice and can't talk about his work. She runs around the white house asking questions about where's Mitch? What's he doing? etc. Is there a better way to tip off any foreign agents that a CIA person is on a mission? I was really disappointed that Kennedy did not put her in her place. She is spoiled, self-centered and immature. Was Mitch soooo desperate for a "normal" life that he married her? Rapp acts totally whipped around her, he never stands up for himself and demands that she get over herself and her questions about his job. I don't get it. Please kill her off quickly. Once again the action and suspense was pretty good and I was entertained. I'm not sure this was as good as a couple of his other books but it kept me entertained on my daily commute.
What do You think about Executive Power (2004)?
Haven't been disappointed yet with Flynn's novels. Even though this was written years ago, earlier in this decade, much applies today to what is going on in the world. This was like a refresher history lesson for me, insofar as what has been going on for decades with Middle Eastern countries and the history between the Jews and the Arabs. I admit to being sick of the whole thing, and don't think there is hope for any peace between those countries. What pains me even more is the high cost we have paid (not all monetarily, but that too) in loss of life and casualties of war. After seeing the movie American Sniper, I'm even more convinced of this, and wish this war would end before my own budding soldier ends up over there.Flynn had a way of giving you much factual information about international relationships/incidents and doing so in an entertaining novel-format that doesn't sound like a history book. It is not classroom material, but much of it is facts. We have lost a brilliant writer in the loss of Vince Flynn.
—Gloria Bernal
I listened to this book on CD's on a long car trip. It is two stories in one - the first shows Mitch Rapp, former CIA assassin is now a special advisory to the President. Mitch takes a team to the Philippines to rescue a family held by terrorists. Then he must help find a Palestinian terrorist who is trying to force the world to accept a Palestinian state by murdering around the world. This is a thriller to be sure, lots of adrenaline. Mitch is newly married and having to juggle his need for secrecy with his bride's need to know what he's doing. That part of the book seemed contrived to me, like a need to make Mitch more human but only making him and his wife seem inexplicably unprepared for their marriage given that he is a spy who is regularly in danger.
—Peggy
CIA field agent Mitch Rapp receives public acknowledgement by the president for his role in the fight against terrorism. The spotlight blows his cover as a covert operator making him a target for eradication by terrorist. Rapp is forced to take an office job in an advisory position behind the lines.When a Navy Seal team is ambushed on a top-secret mission in the Philippines, it is suspected that a leak came from the State Department or in the diplomatic corps. At the same time another problem develops in the Middle East. One of their most powerful man and a ruthless assassin are composing a master plan to ensure that the Palestinians will get the land that they feel they are entitled to.With the world probing into every move, will Rapp be able to overcome all obstacles and keep the flames of war from raging?This is a fast paced political thriller that ran out of steam towards the end. The two plots are at the extreme limit of credibility, nevertheless quite clever. Although I have yet to figure out what the two have to do with one another. This book touches many of the relevant issues regarding the allowable limits of government confronted with terrorist threats. I was disappointed in the lack of charm and warmth portrayed by the main characters this time. Nevertheless I enjoyed reading this book and I am looking forward to the sequel.
—Toni Osborne
