Product Description

What if America's most powerful leader was also its prime target?

On a busy Washington morning, the stately calm of the White House is shattered as terrorists gain control of the executive mansion, slaughtering dozens of people. The president is evacuated to an underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. One man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington's power elite had thought. Moving among the corridors of the White House, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government wants his rescue attempt to fail.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #557 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 592 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780671023201
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In this long political thriller staged almost entirely around a hostage standoff, Flynn makes maximum use of his White House setting, and mixes in a spicy broth of brutal terrorists, heroic commandos and enough secret agent hijinks to keep the confrontation bubbling until its flag-raising end. The villains are led by Rafique Aziz, a notorious Arab terrorist whose band of thugs takes over the White House by finding a weak point in American politics: they pose as wealthy campaign contributors and are welcomed through the front door. President Robert Hayes manages to escape to his bunker moments before the bloodbath, but religious zealot Aziz takes almost 100 hostages, seals off the White House and begins making demands, of which large sums of cash are just the beginning. With the president incommunicado and weak-willed yet power hungry Vice President Sherman Baxter in charge, the Pentagon and the CIA resort to their secret weapon: commando extraordinaire Mitch Rapp. After sneaking into the bowels of the Executive Mansion through an air duct, Rapp steadily disrupts the terrorists' well-laid plans. He finally calls in reinforcements when Aziz begins drilling into the president's bunker. It's a long haul to the finish, but Flynn (Term Limits) compensates for some stereotyping by creating dynamic tension between the main players, especially between military leaders and politicians, and between Rapp and Aziz. His description of the White House is impressive; readers will wonder if the secret passageways, hidden rooms and clever deception devices that help load this story with seemingly endless intrigue, really exist. Agent, Sloan Harris. 15-city author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When terrorists crash White House security, the President is swept away to an isolated underground bunker, and the Vice President suddenly finds himself in charge. From the author of the best-selling Term Limits.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Since the dawn of the cold war, the idea of the U.S. being attacked by foreign terrorists has loomed as a constant threat, but since the World Trade Center bombing, it has become a chilling reality. Here, that reality is vaulted to a nightmarish new level when Arab terrorists invade Washington, D.C., and seize control of the White House. Chaos ensues as key administration personnel--some competent, most inept--vie to secure the release of more than 100 White House hostages, including the president himself. Heading up the CIA's Counterterrorism Center is Irene Kennedy, deft at penetrating the tangled terrorist psyche. Her top recruit is Mitch Rapp, a loner whose specialty is tracking down the most vicious terrorists and either kidnapping or assassinating them--unofficially, of course. His most recent nabbing proves to be a fount of knowledge, providing otherwise unattainable enemy intelligence. The question remains whether Mitch can use what he's learned before the crazed leader of the White House assault takes more casualties. In his second novel, following Term Limits (1998), Flynn delivers a riveting espionage thriller that will satisfy action fans who like Chuck Logan but won't alienate readers who want a little nuance with their suspense. Mary Frances Wilkens

Customer Reviews

Vince Flynn is a total master of the political thriller
I've recently discovered Vince Flynn and his Mitch Rapp character. This is my third Mitch Rapp novel and my conclusion is that Vince Flynn is the leader of the pack when it comes to political thrillers. He has no close competition.

Mitch Rapp is a member of the Orion Team, a super-secret group with deniable connections to the CIA, White House and Congress. It's purpose is to eliminate terrorist threats to the United States without regard for anything but the danger they represent. Mitch Rapp is an "ordinary" guy, dedicated to extinguishing the terrorist threat without the messiness or hindrance of law. Find 'em, kill 'em and move on to the next one. Rapp is without a doubt the coolest super-hero to come down the pike in a long time. He has the freshness of the first incarnation of Clancy's Jack Ryan, the inventiveness of Clive Cussler's heroes and the philosophical bent of Barry Eisler's John Rain, who is the closest to Flynn's Mitch Rapp.

Flynn's take on politicians is devestating. He beautifully skewers the Democrats and their "peace at any price" acolytes. He sets up Robert Hayes as a "centrist" Democratic President. Hayes resembles no Democratic President of the past century. He is a reasonable, intelligent man without a radical political agenda. Surrounding him, however, are the products of Flynn's literary - and I do mean literary - genius. Venal, greedy, ignorant men and women of his party who put their own selfish interests far ahead of the nation; people who would prefer to live under the heel of the enemies of freedom rather than resist.

In "Transfer of Power," the chair of the Democratic National Committee has accepted a $500,000 "donation" in return for arranging a last-minute meeting between the donor, supposedly a Prince of Oman, and the President. President Hayes' chief of staff doesn't bother with the Secret Service security rules. After all, it is a donation of $500,000.

As the "Prince" is about to murder the President in the Oval Office, the Secret Service receives a call from Mitch Rapp who has just abducted a top Hezbollah leader in Iran. Under intensive interrogation, Rapp has learned that the White House is to be the target of a terrorist attack this very day. The President is saved for the moment with only seconds to spare. The "Prince," really a ruthless terrorist Rapp has been tracking for years, then proceeds to take over the White House. The attack relies heavily on information gleaned from another Democrat.

Almost a hundred hostages are taken. The Vice President assumes exeuctive power while the President is trapped incommuicado in a White House bunker. The White House is in control of the terrorists, its perimeter ringed with explosives. The terrorist leader makes a demand: release the Iranian billions siezed during the Carter-era hostage crisis or he will murder one hostage per hour. Transfer the money and he will let some hostages go.

The Vice President, a cowardly, but ambitious politician, takes counsel of his Attorney General, a woman with a preference for appeasement.

Quickly the situation deteriorates. Mitch Rapp is asked to get into the White House to reconnoiter. He does this with the help of Milt Adams, a retired Secret Service agent who knows more about the design of the White House then any living person. Rapp takes Adams with him, an unlikely, but ultimately highly effective pairing.

Flynn's plotting is an absolute delight. Everything flows smoothly from one tense moment to another. His characters are totally believable. Some, especially the weasly politicians, strongly resemble people we all have read about or seen on television. Rapp, the ordinary guy as super-hero, is exquisitely crafted and totally believable. The military personnel, the CIA directors, the Chiefs of Staff, the terrorists - every character is sharply drawn.

Much to his credit, Flynn manages to introduce a "romantic" element into this novel. I will not ruin the moment by describing how: it is simply to rich to have any of the surprise taken from it.

The action is non-stop. The climax is a complex ballet of brutal action.

Flynn is today's master of the political thriller. Clancy at his very best in "The Hunt For Red October" was terrific: but Flynn is better and he has been able to hold the Mitch Rapp character intact over a number of novels which Clancy was unable to do with Jack Ryan. In my opinion, every other political thriller novelist pales before Flynn. He is the master and of the three Mitch Rapp novels I've read to date, this is his best.

Jerry

Excellent!
I picked this book up because the title sounded interesting. I have never read a book by Flynn before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I read this book in two days. I simply couldn't put it down. Rapp was a very entertaining character to read about. And with the current situation with Iraq and religious extremists the book seemed even more real. The book was very suspenseful and left you wanting more when it was over. I look forward to reading other Flynn novels.

Excellent Book
I don't know what the "official" critics have against Mr. Flynn. The only thing I can think of is they are not reading the same books I am. I will admit that there are flaws within the book. But I would challenge those critics to try to fill almost 400 pages without having some flaws in your work.

I read Flynn's first book Term Limits just a few days ago. After reading it, I immediately went out and bought Transfer of Power. I found Transfer of Power to be just as entertaining as Flynn's first novel. In my opinion, both books have been well researched. The operations of the military's special forces units and also domestic law enforcement seem extremely realistic. I believe this is evidence that Flynn has really put time into researching the operations of these groups.

The characters in this book are all interesting and realistic. Just like his first book, the good v. evil plot makes the pages just fly by. The only criticism I have of the book is that the ending came a little fast. Other than that, it was an excellent book and I can not wait for Flynn's next book to hit the shelves.

Critics, open your eyes. Flynn is the real deal. I'm aware that you get paid to criticize the work of other people, but you need to find someone else to pick on. Flynn is not your man.