Separation Of Power

Rating:
Summary: Great fiction
Review: A great political thriller. This novel, in my opinion, puts Vince Flynn in the big leagues with Ludlum and Clancy.

CIA director Thomas Stansfield has died. In line to get his job is Dr. Irene Kennedy, who is currently heading the CIA's counter-terrorism unit. There are some powerful people who do not want to see Kennedy become director. In the meantime, Mitch Rapp, a 32-year-old operative, is on a mission to try to find out who tried to have him killed when he was in Germany. This leads him to Italy where he looks up an old girlfriend/assassin. This is where the bodies start piling up. On his return to the USA, he's asked to do a final job. He accepts. Through information from the Mossad, it is learned that Saddam Hussein has three working nuclear weapons. These weapons are hidden under a large hospital in Baghdad. Rapp's job is to destroy or steal these weapons without innocent casualties.

With a rather complex plot that creates wars between different politicians, as well as other countries, Vince Flynn has delivered a fantastic story. Everything is covered. From Arab-Israeli relations to the powerful workings of Washington D.C. From the Mossad to Saddam Hussein and his family. A well rounded, fast-paced, well written novel.

Highly recommended

Rating:
Summary: Damn good!
Review: I just picked up Vince Flynn off the bookshelf and i sure must say i loved every bit of it. Without wasting any more time, i'll give you a brief introduction:

Mitch Rapp is the CIA's best weapon. He's all set to retire and get married to his long-time girlfriend Anna Reilly. But before that, Mitch has to fly to Milan to meet up with his ex-lover to find out about the last failed mission in Germany (where Mitch almost got killed through an act of double-crossing).

As expected, trouble brews up in Milan with Mitch saving his ex-lover and bringing her to safety. Anna blows her top and leaves Mitch for good! But Mitch cannot allow himself to loose his cool, he cannot ditch the CIA as his lover did to him.

Add to this, the complication of a nuclear bomb that Iraq has accquired (which Mitch must stop) and corrupt politicians and you have a non-stop page turning read, an amazing political thriller.

Vince Flynn does it again and i'm eager to go back & read Mitch's previous adventures before starting off on his new one (The Executive Power)....

Rating:
Summary: Not A Bad "Rapp"
Review: Super-agent Mitch Rapp is back in "Separation of Power" and once again trying to save the world from those nasty evil doers. I read an earlier Rapp novel ("Transfer of Power") but did not do my research and realized shortly after I had started that "The Third Option" fell between these two "Power" books. So while I was at a bit of a loss at times, "Separation" gives you enough information to fill in some of gaps since Rapp re-claimed the White House from a gang of terrorists at the end of "Transfer."

In "Separation," Vince Flynn creates another work that is strikingly close to today's "real world" events. Rapp's latest mission, among other things, to uncover and destroy Saddam Hussein's (with help from the North Koreans no less!) secret cache of nuclear weapons. Throw in the setting of Washington DC where backstabbing, blackmail, and murder all seem part of a normal day and you have a highly readable, entertaining, and, at times, very relevant piece of fiction.

My one quibble is Rapp's love life as his relationship with Anna Reilly continues to be a weak point for me in this series. With Rapp being more James Bond than a Clancy Jack Ryan-type, it is hard to fathom him all googly-eyed in love and considering marriage. While the pair's "damsel in distress" meeting in "Transfer" held some appeal, there is simply not much to even like about Anna this time around, much of it caused by her own stubbornness and inability to understand/accept Rapp's "job." Reilly was an unnecessary third wheel in this novel, with two other female characters -- CIA director-elect Irene Kennedy and fellow spy (and Rapp's ex-lover to boot) Donatella Rahn - being far more engaging.

I will definitely be reading more Flynn is the future - hopefully he will just shelf the romance and stick with the action.