After meeting Stan Hurley in later books and witnessing his rapport with Rapp, I was surprised that Flynn set up Hurley as such a mean antagonist in Rapp's past. Knowing how everything would have to work out, this part of the story didn't hold my interest as much as Rapp building his reputation for assassinating individuals who were previously considered untouchable. In fact, I would have preferred that Flynn stuck to these missions and given them more time, as opposed to dealing with the rivalry between Hurley and Rapp.
With this book, I closed my streak of reading Flynn's Rapp books. I put it down knowing that the next book, "Last Man," which picks up with Rapp's present exploits, was due in paperback in August, while the sequel, "The Survivor" was scheduled for a hardcover release in December of 2013. I expected to read Rapp books with the same regularity that I do Child's Reacher books...
Then, in July of this year, I found out that Vince Flynn had passed away in June from prostate cancer. I had learned about his diagnosis on his site sometime in early April. In the most current message that I read, Flynn said that he was feeling good and looking forward to a recovery.
It is so sad that Flynn died, first because he leaves behind a family, and second because he also leaves an incomplete body of work. Flynn decided to pursue a writing career and did so with a rare tenacity. After receiving a round of rejections, he self-published his first book and sold it from the truck of his own car. His book ended up on a bestseller list, a publisher noticed, and Flynn got pulled into mainstream publishing. From there, Flynn regularly published a book a year, and each book was a best-seller. Without question, Flynn would have continued writing Rapp books; he was also scheduled to co-write another thriller series.
I am glad that I picked up Flynn's Rapp series, and I enjoyed binging books 1-12 in a five-week stretch. Flynn knew how to write a fun thriller built around a strong, controversial take on the necessity of the violent means available to our government in the pursuit of national security and defense. Flynn's books were an entertaining detour from my usual reading habits, and I applaud his accomplishments as an individual who wanted to give voice to his stories and share them with others.