Pocket, May 2004

Reviewed by Barbara Fielding

 

Mitch Rapp, CIA advisor to the President, is on his honeymoon on a remote Caribbean Island with his new bride, Anna Reilly, an NBC White House news correspondent. Mitch was a former Navy SEAL, but has finally settled down and retired from field work with the CIA. But as soon as he gets back to Washington he finds himself embroiled in the investigation of a covert mission that went awry.

 

While he was enjoying his honeymoon, two Navy SEALS were killed trying to rescue an American family being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf, a radical Muslim terrorist group operating in the Philippines. The mission to rescue the family was top secret, but somehow the SEAL team walked into an ambush. Now Mitch is involved in finding out who's responsible for the leak. Only the top State Department officials and cabinet members knew about the mission and Mitch is determined to make sure someone pays. After years of working covertly behind the scenes, Mitch is struggling to find a way to do his job in the glare of the media spotlight at the White House.

 

As Mitch grapples with this crisis another threat is brewing. A Palestinian terrorist, Jabril Khatiabi, also known as David, has hatched a lethal plot with a Saudi Prince. Their deadly plans fuel new hatred for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and put the US, France and Israel center stage in a desperate crisis.

 

EXECUTIVE POWER is Vince Flynn's fifth spy thriller featuring Mitch Rapp. In this high-speed political tale Mitch is making the transition from CIA assassin to White House advisor to the President. Mr. Flynn has done an incredible job of depicting behind the scenes goings on in Washington's halls of power as well as writing realistic military action. Mitch Rapp is well written as a solid, heroic character. His struggle to adapt from covert warrior to new husband and special advisor is compelling.  I also found Jabril Khatabi to be a fascinating villain. Both of these characters are delightfully complex and one of the things I enjoyed most is, it reminds you that all heroes and villains are a mixture of light and dark elements. Mitch Rapp and Jabril Khatabi are two such characters.

 

If you enjoy watching tv shows like The West Wing and 24 or you love reading Brian Haig or Tom Clancy, you will want to give this author a try. The novels featuring Mitch Rapp are: TERM LIMITS (1999), TRANSFER OF POWER (2000), THE THIRD OPTION (2001), SEPARATION OF POWER (2002), EXECUTIVE POWER (2003), and MEMORIAL DAY (2004).