Enemy Of The State

Rapp On The Head

Vince Flynn, who created the character of CIA spy and assassin Mitch Rapp passed away leaving the fourteenth book—The Survivor-- in the series incomplete. Kyle Mills was assigned to complete this book and write two more. (It is a publishing trend now to keep bestselling characters alive, when the original writes dies.)

Enemy Of The State is the sixteenth book starring Mitch Rapp (in the film,American Assassin, Dylan O’Brien plays Rapp), who is legendary in espionage circles for having carried out many successful hits and also being virtually indestructible. He is a patriot and will go to any lengths to destroy enemies of the US and protect his country, for which he has the support of his boss, Irene Kennedy. Rapp lost his pregnant wife in an attack on his life and is just about settling down with his new flame Claudia (she has a back story to do with espionage too) and her daughter Anna, when he is thrown into a cauldron by American President, Joshua Alexander.

Saudi prince, Prince Talal bin Musaid, nephew of the old and toothless King Faisal gets mixed up with the ISIS. He is an entitled fool, who takes his position for granted. But he is spotted handing over money to an ISIS courier, and alarm bells ring in the US.  Meanwhile, Saudi Intelligence chief, Aali Nassar, is plotting and scheming a coup to seize control on the Middle East with the help of the ISIS head Mullah Sayid Halabi.

Alexander summons Rapp for a secret meeting and tells him to deal with the problem and prevent their post 9/11 alliance with the Saudis from being exposed. The problem is that he has to do it unofficially, so if he is caught or killed, the US would disown him. Rapp resigns from the CIA and forms his own rogue group with erstwhile Russian foe Grisha Azarov, former model and lover Donatella Rahn and gun-running sniper Kent Black; Claudia comes in as the logistics expert.

A lot of the action takes place in dusty South Sudan, taking in Iraq, Morocco, Monaco, Paris and Brussels as the gang rushes about trying to douse the fires Nassar has lit.  Nassar puts an old FBI investigator Joel Wilson on the job to trace Rapp, well aware that the man hates Rapp with a passion.

It is all fast-paced fun, if the racism can be tolerated; the book makes no bones about making the Americans look like the smartest, bravest people on the planet.

Enemy Of The State

By Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills

Publisher: Atria

Pages: 400