American Assassin by Vince Flynn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First of all, let me say that every book written deserves 3 stars, provided it is relatively free of mistakes, misspelled and missing words, etc. Errors happen with even the best of authors. After that, everything else comes down to personal taste; therefore, my rating system is as follows:

3 stars - Did not like the book
4 stars - I Liked it
5 stars - Really liked the book.

That being said, American Assassin gets 4 stars.

The story started out really good, hooking me on the main character, but not so much the plot. Toward the middle, I lost interest, but not enough to make me stop reading. There was a resurgence of character development (I saw a more personal side to Mitch Rapp) before the climax. Overall, a good story if one is looking for action.

I did not like...

1. Elevated foul language. I found myself inserting other words for the F-bombs and other swear words. It was annoying.

2. It was constantly drilled into me that the main character was great, wonderful, superior, highly-skilled, a world-class athlete, etc. I would have preferred a more down-to-earth protagonist whose skills were SHOWN gradually over the course of the book. A little too unrealistic.

3. The climax was...well...my response at the end of the book was, "That's it? It's over?" I'm used to an ending that's a little more drawn out.

I'm not sure I'll read the next book in the series. I liked American Assassin, but it could have been better. Of course, all of this is merely my opinion. The author is talented and knows how to write a book. Like with anything in life, not everyone is going to fall in love with one's work.

If you like action & adventure, thrillers and don't mind the language, you'll enjoy this book. If you prefer a personable character you can relate to, who makes mistakes (like we all do), you might want to look elsewhere.

P.S. There were NO graphic sex scenes.



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