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Mitch Rapp #18
Lethal Agent
An unprecedented and terrifying bioterrorism plot threatens to kill millions in the midst of a divisive presidential election in this new thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series.
A toxic presidential election is underway in an America already badly weakened by internal divisions. While politicians focus entirely on maintaining their own power and privilege, ISIS kidnaps a brilliant French microbiologist and forces him to begin manufacturing anthrax. Slickly produced videos chronicling his progress and threatening an imminent attack are posted to the Internet, intensifying the hysteria gripping the US.
ISIS recruits a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle the bioweapon across the border, but it’s really just a diversion. The terrorist organization needs to keep Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy distracted long enough to weaponize a deadly virus that they stumbled upon in Yemen. If they succeed, they’ll trigger a pandemic that could rewrite the world order.
Rapp embarks on a mission to infiltrate the Mexican cartels and track down the ISIS leader who he failed to kill during their last confrontation. But with Washington’s political elite increasingly lined up against him, he knows he’ll be on his own.
“In the world of black-ops thrillers, Mitch Rapp remains the gold standard” ( Booklist , starred review).
A toxic presidential election is underway in an America already badly weakened by internal divisions. While politicians focus entirely on maintaining their own power and privilege, ISIS kidnaps a brilliant French microbiologist and forces him to begin manufacturing anthrax. Slickly produced videos chronicling his progress and threatening an imminent attack are posted to the Internet, intensifying the hysteria gripping the US.
ISIS recruits a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle the bioweapon across the border, but it’s really just a diversion. The terrorist organization needs to keep Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy distracted long enough to weaponize a deadly virus that they stumbled upon in Yemen. If they succeed, they’ll trigger a pandemic that could rewrite the world order.
Rapp embarks on a mission to infiltrate the Mexican cartels and track down the ISIS leader who he failed to kill during their last confrontation. But with Washington’s political elite increasingly lined up against him, he knows he’ll be on his own.
“In the world of black-ops thrillers, Mitch Rapp remains the gold standard” ( Booklist , starred review).
384 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2019
8222 people are currently reading
5030 people want to read
About the author
Kyle Mills
33 books2,517 followersI grew up in Oregon but have lived all over—D.C., Virginia, Maryland, London,
Wyoming. My father was an FBI agent and I was a bureau kid, which is similar to being an army brat. You tend to spend your time with other bureau kids and get transferred around a lot, though, I fared better on that front than many others.
One positive aspect of this lifestyle is that you can’t help but absorb an enormous amount about the FBI, CIA, Special Forces, etc. Like most young boys, I was endlessly fascinated with talk of chasing criminals and, of course, pictured it in the most romantic terms possible. Who would have thought that all this esoteric knowledge would end up being so useful?
I came into writing from kind of a strange angle. When I graduated from college in the late eighties, I had the same dream as everyone else at the time—a corporate job, a nice car, and a house with lots of square footage.
It turns out that none of that really suited me. While I did go for the corporate job, I
drove a beat-up Jeep and lived in a tiny house in a so-so Baltimore neighborhood. Most of the money I made just kind of accumulated in my checking account and I found myself increasingly drawn to the unconventional, artistic people who lived around me. I was completely enamored with anyone who could create something from nothing because I felt like it was beyond me.
Enter rock climbing. I’d read an article on climbing when I was in college and thought it looked like an incredible thing to do. Someday, I told myself, I would give it a try. So one weekend in the early ’90s, I packed up my car, drove to West Virginia, and spent a
weekend taking lessons. Unknown to me at the time, this would be the start of an
obsession that still hangs with me today. I began dating a girl who liked to climb and we decided we wanted to live somewhere with taller rocks and more open space.
Moving to Wyoming was the best decision we ever made. The place is full of the most amazing people. You might meet someone on a bike ride and find out they were in the Olympics, or climbed Everest, or just got back from two months trekking in Nepal. In a roundabout way, it was these people who made it possible for me to write a novel. They seemed to have no limitations. Everything was possible for them and I wanted to be that type of person, too.
I was working for a little bank in Jackson Hole, spending my days making business loans and my afternoons and weekends climbing. For some reason, it finally occurred to me that I’d never actually tried to be creative. Maybe I could make something from nothing. Why not give it a shot?
My first bright idea was to learn to build furniture. That plan had some drawbacks, the most obvious of which being that I’m not very handy. It was my wife who suggested I write a novel. It seemed like a dumb idea, though, since I majored in finance and had spent my entire college career avoiding English courses like the plague. Having said that, I couldn’t completely shake the idea. Eventually, it nagged at me long enough that I felt compelled to put pen to paper. Eight months later, I finished Rising Phoenix and about a year after that I managed to get it published.
The success of Rising Phoenix and my subsequent books has allowed me to make my living as a writer, which isn’t bad work if you can get it. Other than that, my life hasn’t changed all that much. Aging elbows have forced me to replace climbing with backcountry skiing and mountain bike racing. I got the not-so-smart idea of restoring an old pickup to replace the dying Jeep. And, I still live in Wyoming...
Wyoming. My father was an FBI agent and I was a bureau kid, which is similar to being an army brat. You tend to spend your time with other bureau kids and get transferred around a lot, though, I fared better on that front than many others.
One positive aspect of this lifestyle is that you can’t help but absorb an enormous amount about the FBI, CIA, Special Forces, etc. Like most young boys, I was endlessly fascinated with talk of chasing criminals and, of course, pictured it in the most romantic terms possible. Who would have thought that all this esoteric knowledge would end up being so useful?
I came into writing from kind of a strange angle. When I graduated from college in the late eighties, I had the same dream as everyone else at the time—a corporate job, a nice car, and a house with lots of square footage.
It turns out that none of that really suited me. While I did go for the corporate job, I
drove a beat-up Jeep and lived in a tiny house in a so-so Baltimore neighborhood. Most of the money I made just kind of accumulated in my checking account and I found myself increasingly drawn to the unconventional, artistic people who lived around me. I was completely enamored with anyone who could create something from nothing because I felt like it was beyond me.
Enter rock climbing. I’d read an article on climbing when I was in college and thought it looked like an incredible thing to do. Someday, I told myself, I would give it a try. So one weekend in the early ’90s, I packed up my car, drove to West Virginia, and spent a
weekend taking lessons. Unknown to me at the time, this would be the start of an
obsession that still hangs with me today. I began dating a girl who liked to climb and we decided we wanted to live somewhere with taller rocks and more open space.
Moving to Wyoming was the best decision we ever made. The place is full of the most amazing people. You might meet someone on a bike ride and find out they were in the Olympics, or climbed Everest, or just got back from two months trekking in Nepal. In a roundabout way, it was these people who made it possible for me to write a novel. They seemed to have no limitations. Everything was possible for them and I wanted to be that type of person, too.
I was working for a little bank in Jackson Hole, spending my days making business loans and my afternoons and weekends climbing. For some reason, it finally occurred to me that I’d never actually tried to be creative. Maybe I could make something from nothing. Why not give it a shot?
My first bright idea was to learn to build furniture. That plan had some drawbacks, the most obvious of which being that I’m not very handy. It was my wife who suggested I write a novel. It seemed like a dumb idea, though, since I majored in finance and had spent my entire college career avoiding English courses like the plague. Having said that, I couldn’t completely shake the idea. Eventually, it nagged at me long enough that I felt compelled to put pen to paper. Eight months later, I finished Rising Phoenix and about a year after that I managed to get it published.
The success of Rising Phoenix and my subsequent books has allowed me to make my living as a writer, which isn’t bad work if you can get it. Other than that, my life hasn’t changed all that much. Aging elbows have forced me to replace climbing with backcountry skiing and mountain bike racing. I got the not-so-smart idea of restoring an old pickup to replace the dying Jeep. And, I still live in Wyoming...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,067 reviews
October 5, 2019
Yikes. The longer this droned on, the lower my rating. Meager resemblance to the late Vince Flynn. 0 of 10 stars
October 30, 2019
Whoa! Lethal Agent is unbelievably prescient, especially considering it was planned, plotted, and published well in advance of this week. Sub in al-Baghdadi, a selected Senator or Congresswoman, and the U.S. special ops attack team of 70, and Kyle Mills forecasted the great ISIS terrorist take-down. (Or is predicting the need for another one.)
This speaks to his research, his sources, the way in which he has developed Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp character, and Mills' own superb writing.
The time to read this book is now! Highly, highly recommended to action/adventure, covert ops, Orion group, espionage, and political/military thriller readers. Mitch Rapp is, as always, his stunning Superman self.
This speaks to his research, his sources, the way in which he has developed Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp character, and Mills' own superb writing.
The time to read this book is now! Highly, highly recommended to action/adventure, covert ops, Orion group, espionage, and political/military thriller readers. Mitch Rapp is, as always, his stunning Superman self.
October 7, 2019
The latest novel in the Mitch Rapp series will leave long-time fans with a question or two, while newer recruits may be ready to dive right in. This is one of those ‘take-over’ series, to which I will refer later in the review. Such a series is not everyone’s cup of tea, putting the caliber of the overall product in jeopardy. When a former Saudi intelligence agent finds his way into Iraq and seeks to impress the ISIS hierarchy, Mitch Rapp is waiting to exterminate the man. However, Sayid Halabi did not get to where he was with dumb luck, evading capture and death, two marks against Rapp. While he was one of the CIA’s best former operatives, he now serves as a private contractor. Sneaking into Yemen, Halabi has plans to create a new weapon that will bring America to its knees, literally. He works with a handful of brilliant minds and uses a ruthlessness fuelled by hatred to get the weapons program on track. Back in the US, a heated primary season has begun for the American presidency, with one contender way ahead. It would seem that the CIA and its antics will soon find their way onto the chopping block, if changes are not made. Rapp is sent into Yemen to track down Halabi, only to discover the bioweapon that is in the making. An odd partnership with a Mexican drug cartel is what ISIS will need to bring their plan to fruition and Rapp is there to help stop it. Called back to handle the domestic end of things, Rapp flexes some muscle and tries weapon’s entry into the US, killing a few men on the ground in the ensuing fight. News of this leaks up the chain of command, putting Rapp and his boss, CIA Director Irene Kennedy, in the crosshairs of the Intelligence community and a bloodthirsty presidential candidate. While Rapp knows that he can be effective, without the outright protection of the CIA and Kennedy, he will have to make some choices that could turn out to be detrimental to all involved. Terror does not take a break when its greatest enemy is down and out, so something will soon have to give. One can only hope it is not America’s desire for domestic tranquility. An interesting novel that adds to the continuation of the series, which will surely captivate some and leave others wondering what’s next. Recommended to those who revel in terrorism thrillers and the reader who has followed Rapp through this long and bone-breaking journey.
I have enjoyed much of what Kyle Mills did when he took over the Mitch Rapp series, after the premature death of its creator, Vince Flynn. There is a certain sharpness to the writing and the style that keeps the reader wanting to know more. Rapp has long since abandoned the need for character development and he is so completely divorced from personal backstory that it is all the blood and grit before him that propels the story forward. Keen to keep his country safe, Rapp now has to manage working on the outside of official CIA circles, which means fewer chances for protection and more opportunity for capture or abandonment. Other characters in the story help push Rapp forward, be it in trying to protect him on the sly or seeking to have him hunted down and killed for the betterment of all. These characters work well the imbue the narrative with something exciting, making the story more than shooting and bombing on the other side of the world. The narrative remains well-paced and Mills keeps the Vince Flynn flavour to the writing, which has never been an issue. However, as I have mentioned before, the transition from one author to another brings about some inherent issues. Mills can sometimes stray away from where Flynn usually took things, but the current author is also shackled with some of the choices made by the series creator. (These books are not like a soap opera, where characters and plot lines can be altered four novels later, having people rise from the dead in a mistaken identity foible.) In reading how Mills depicts Mitch Rapp and the overall theme of the book, one can wonder if bones and joints are getting sore, if the lack of protection by his own country is becoming obvious, and if it might be time to put an end to the entire series and let anyone left sip drinks by a poolside. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the series and this was a great book, but all good things must come to an end when they lack the robustness fans have come to expect. Then again, I am simply a reviewer.
Kudos, Mr. Mills, for another great book in the series. I keep telling myself, I need to read some of your earlier work to see if it keeps me as connected to you.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I have enjoyed much of what Kyle Mills did when he took over the Mitch Rapp series, after the premature death of its creator, Vince Flynn. There is a certain sharpness to the writing and the style that keeps the reader wanting to know more. Rapp has long since abandoned the need for character development and he is so completely divorced from personal backstory that it is all the blood and grit before him that propels the story forward. Keen to keep his country safe, Rapp now has to manage working on the outside of official CIA circles, which means fewer chances for protection and more opportunity for capture or abandonment. Other characters in the story help push Rapp forward, be it in trying to protect him on the sly or seeking to have him hunted down and killed for the betterment of all. These characters work well the imbue the narrative with something exciting, making the story more than shooting and bombing on the other side of the world. The narrative remains well-paced and Mills keeps the Vince Flynn flavour to the writing, which has never been an issue. However, as I have mentioned before, the transition from one author to another brings about some inherent issues. Mills can sometimes stray away from where Flynn usually took things, but the current author is also shackled with some of the choices made by the series creator. (These books are not like a soap opera, where characters and plot lines can be altered four novels later, having people rise from the dead in a mistaken identity foible.) In reading how Mills depicts Mitch Rapp and the overall theme of the book, one can wonder if bones and joints are getting sore, if the lack of protection by his own country is becoming obvious, and if it might be time to put an end to the entire series and let anyone left sip drinks by a poolside. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the series and this was a great book, but all good things must come to an end when they lack the robustness fans have come to expect. Then again, I am simply a reviewer.
Kudos, Mr. Mills, for another great book in the series. I keep telling myself, I need to read some of your earlier work to see if it keeps me as connected to you.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
July 15, 2019
After a long career of killing bad guys and taking names, Mitch Rapp is finally faced with a scenario he may not be able to prevent when a dangerous bioterrorism attack threatens the United States of America.
A couple of books back, at the end of Enemy of the State (2017), Mitch Rapp happened across a cavern filled with high-ranking members of ISIS in Northern Iraq, including Mullah Sayid Halabi, their leader and the most wanted terrorist on the planet. After throwing a grenade into the cave, Rapp managed to kill nearly everyone present—and almost himself—after bringing rock and debris down on top of everyone. Mitch had been saved by Joe Maslick, who dug him out following the explosion, and until recently, the operation had been considered successful.
But now new intelligence suggests that Halabi is still alive, and when readers meet back up with Rapp in this one, the CIA man is in Yemen, bear crawling through another cave in hopes of finishing the job once and for all.
Instead, Halabi proves too elusive once again, unless he’s already dead. There are those in the intelligence community who believe the recently surfaced video footage of the terrorist is perhaps old, taken years back. But Rapp, along with CIA Director Irene Kennedy and trusted comrades Scott Coleman and his team of highly-trained men, knows better. Especially when credible reports suggest that ISIS kidnapped a brilliant French microbiologist and is forcing him to weaponize a . . .
Read the rest of this review here: https://therealbookspy.com/2019/07/14...
A couple of books back, at the end of Enemy of the State (2017), Mitch Rapp happened across a cavern filled with high-ranking members of ISIS in Northern Iraq, including Mullah Sayid Halabi, their leader and the most wanted terrorist on the planet. After throwing a grenade into the cave, Rapp managed to kill nearly everyone present—and almost himself—after bringing rock and debris down on top of everyone. Mitch had been saved by Joe Maslick, who dug him out following the explosion, and until recently, the operation had been considered successful.
But now new intelligence suggests that Halabi is still alive, and when readers meet back up with Rapp in this one, the CIA man is in Yemen, bear crawling through another cave in hopes of finishing the job once and for all.
Instead, Halabi proves too elusive once again, unless he’s already dead. There are those in the intelligence community who believe the recently surfaced video footage of the terrorist is perhaps old, taken years back. But Rapp, along with CIA Director Irene Kennedy and trusted comrades Scott Coleman and his team of highly-trained men, knows better. Especially when credible reports suggest that ISIS kidnapped a brilliant French microbiologist and is forcing him to weaponize a . . .
Read the rest of this review here: https://therealbookspy.com/2019/07/14...
September 9, 2019
My review of LETHAL AGENT can be found at High Fever Books.
Since Kyle Mills took over writing about Mitch Rapp in The Survivor after Vince Flynn’s passing, I’ve spent the last few books praising his rescuing of the character and his attempts at making Rapp into a protagonist that’s as compelling as he is violently entertaining. The more time Flynn spent writing these books, the more Rapp descended into parody and caricature, devolving into a raging id that wanted to kill anybody who dared disagree with him because he was just oh so patriotic. For the most part, Mills did a fine job scaling both Rapp and Flynn’s excesses back over the last four novels, and while Rapp was never going to become a bursting ray of sunshine, he was at least becoming somewhat redeemed and humanized under the guiding hand of a new creative.
Unfortunately, Lethal Agent is an odd regression for Mitch Rapp and Mills leans hard into those characteristics that Flynn increasingly relied upon to make this action hero remarkably unsympathetic and, at times, downright loathsome. It’s a strange relapse that, at times, feels like a book Mills rescued from Flynn’s trash can and repurposed. Rapp exhibits behaviors that are completely at odds with the growth Mills had tried so hard to invest in this figure since he was handed the reins. The Mitch Rapp we get here is completely disgusted with American excess, wondering why he continues to fight for a country whose populace is fat, bloated, and barely able to make it up a flight of stairs to save their own pathetic lives, and whose politicians betray and backstab him on the regular. This is a Mitch Rapp who stands idly by and watches a young Yemeni girl sold into sexual slavery and, later, sits idly by as an American actress is beaten by her boyfriend. The first he justifies to himself as a problem that can not only blow his cover but is also a predictable bit of victimization, so not his problem. The second he justifies to himself because the woman is just another rich Hollywood elite (ie, not a “real American”), and he only cares about her potentially being murdered under his watch because its interrupting his steak dinner. This is a Mitch Rapp who condescends to his girlfriend while she’s trying to warn him about a potentially lethal pathogen that could kill him, wishing he could just bark orders at her instead, and whose country is so far gone from the nation he remembers through rose-colored glasses that he almost pines for its destruction in order to make people see that there are consequences to their actions. It’s almost hilarious, in a pathetic sort of way, to see Rapp talking about actions having consequences without even a single hint of self-awareness. This is a dude who has never faced any consequences for his absolutely insane actions, even when he’s blackmailing government officials or killing prisoners, so this train of thought from him is especially ludicrous. This is a Mitch Rapp who naively longs for the good old days when all of America’s enemies were external and could be eradicated with a gun, as if America’s various roles in geopolitics were ever so clean and simple. This is Mitch Rapp that isn’t just sexist, arrogant, selfish, bullheaded, and narcissistic, but apparently stupid, too.
ISIS caliphate Halabi, on the other hand, is an interesting counterpart to Rapp. As a villain, he posses a keener sense of self-awareness than Rapp could ever fathom and has a clearer understanding, and firmer grasp, on American history and contemporary politics. He sees an America rotting from the inside, an enemy easy to kill now that it is so politically divided by Senator Christine Barnett, the GOP’s leading presidential candidate and shoe-in for the White House. Barnett is a Republican in the Trump mold, a woman who is brash and arrogant, who attacks our nation’s defense and intelligence agencies, and is more than willing to sell out the country wholesale to Halabi in order to solidify her power. She sees no problem dragging the CIA and Rapp through the mud in the midst of a potential terrorist attack simply to wreak havoc for Democratic President Alexander, all so she can gain some leverage and spin the Alexander administration as weak and inept. One interesting thing about all these characters is that they all seem to hate America for various reasons, and in Rapp’s case it’s an unseemly anomaly. He’s painted here as a figure that’s given up on his country and holds its citizens in as much disdain, if not more, than Halabi. Then again, with so much of the populace rooting for Barnett, a character that’s essentially Trump in drag, it’s perhaps easy to see why Rapp feels so betrayed, but Mills could have certainly done a much better job portraying the pathos of the assassin. Instead, he relies too heavily on Flynn’s notion of machismo, which boils down to Rapp being the only manly-man with a clue, surrounded by inept dullards to beat on. This is, oddly, the same kind of logic Barnett brings to the table and is vilified for. It’s understood that we’re expected to celebrate it here in Rapp because he’s a big bad man, and hate it in Barnett because she’s a woman. And yet, if these three characters weren’t so opposed to each other for ideological reasons, they might find a lot of uncomfortably common ground here. Rather than making for a compelling case of good versus evil, an examination of flawed morality, and a study on the sad and sorry state of current American affairs, it instead feels hackneyed. And yes, I’m probably putting way too much thought into this particular book, but that can happen when you’ve seen this particular framework done so much better elsewhere so many times before.
There’s a lot about Lethal Agent that feels weak and inept, frankly, and the Rapp series as a whole has seen better days under both Flynn and Mills. Its plot about ISIS using a Mexican drug cartel to sneak jihadists infected with a deadly disease across the American border has been done better elsewhere, but here feels like little more than a hodgepodge of contemporary thriller elements messily strung together. If you’re interested in reading about the contemporary state of American political relations with Mexico, it’s done a hell of a lot better and with more thoughtfulness and nuance in Don Winslow’s The Border. If you want a story about a terrorist organization looking to attack America with a new plague it’s snuck across the Mexican border, read Michael Laurence’s The Extinction Agenda. Or, hell, read Tom Clancy’s doorstopper, Executive Orders. You’ll get a similar story that’s better executed, has more compelling theatrics, the Jack Ryan protagonist is all-America hero that’s actually decent at his core and worth rooting for, the military and government agents are presented as capable professionals rather than power tripping thugs. And if you’re interested in reading about an American politician seeking to undermine and ruin Rapp himself, well, there’s plenty of earlier Vince Flynn books in this series to read given how frequently this particular plot point has been mined, reused, recycled, and repurposed.
Eighteen books in, the Rapp series is once again showing its age. Although I could forgive Flynn his overly dramatic tendencies and the ultra-conservative cartoon hero Rapp was progressively becoming, it was growing into too much of a schtick and one that got old fast, at that. Rapp as a character is also most certainly showing his age, and styled so heavily in the Flynn mold here, comes across as an artifact of a bygone era. Mills injected some fresh blood and some actual attempts at characterization over the course of his brief tenure, but now seems content to fall back on Flynn’s old crutches. While there was a lot of fist-pumping bravado you could cheer for in books like Transfer of Power, back when 9/11 was still fresh on our minds, Rapp’s progressively insane displays just feel disgusting and woefully out of touch here.
One could easily argue that Rapp was never meant to be seen as a hero. Although he’s the series protagonist, over time he’s increasingly grown into more of an antihero in the Vic Mackey or Dexter mold, a bad guy capable of doing good things. Rapp is basically a psychopathic, stone cold serial killer who’s found gainful employment in a government that can utilize his skills for its own end. It was entertaining for a while, but it’s a formula that comes across as creaky and aged here. His sociopathic tendencies were once excused under the guise of patriotism, to the point that if he were a comic book character he might be dubbed Captain Jignoism. With the country torn apart by politics and eager to elect people like Barnett, a sociopath of a different sort, Rapp holds his entire country in a state of disgust and contempt, prompting Claudia to remind him, “The country you love is gone, Mitch.” It’s a sentiment and plot device that mirrors our current real-world political climate, but neither Rapp nor Mills can muster enough justification for defending a nation that’s fallen so low. We’re told time and time again here that America is divided, but there’s no degree of exploration beneath these surface claims nor any suggestions on how to bridge such a divide, which ultimately gives Lethal Agent little reason to be read. For a book that’s built so heavily off contemporary political issues, it’s sadly hollow, politically muddled, and, ultimately, meaningless.
And perhaps, finally, I’ve simply outgrown the character of Mitch Rapp. I used to find his antics entertaining in a comic book fantasy kind of way, much like The Punisher, but over the course of this book I found his ultra-fundamentalist ‘Murica mentality increasingly wearying and, with Mills taking the character back to where Flynn left him, stultifying. Rapp, a killer and lover of torture who, in the past, routinely stomped on civil rights and notions of Constitutional protections and legality in a lawless, pro-Patriot Act, post-9/11 landscape, can’t seem to square his existence in the current socio-political landscape of 2019. Set against a real-life American government administration hellbent on similarly stomping on civil rights, Constitutional protections, and legalities, I’m not sure I can either.
[Note: I received an advance readers copy of this title from the publisher as part of the Mitch Rapp Ambassador program.]
Since Kyle Mills took over writing about Mitch Rapp in The Survivor after Vince Flynn’s passing, I’ve spent the last few books praising his rescuing of the character and his attempts at making Rapp into a protagonist that’s as compelling as he is violently entertaining. The more time Flynn spent writing these books, the more Rapp descended into parody and caricature, devolving into a raging id that wanted to kill anybody who dared disagree with him because he was just oh so patriotic. For the most part, Mills did a fine job scaling both Rapp and Flynn’s excesses back over the last four novels, and while Rapp was never going to become a bursting ray of sunshine, he was at least becoming somewhat redeemed and humanized under the guiding hand of a new creative.
Unfortunately, Lethal Agent is an odd regression for Mitch Rapp and Mills leans hard into those characteristics that Flynn increasingly relied upon to make this action hero remarkably unsympathetic and, at times, downright loathsome. It’s a strange relapse that, at times, feels like a book Mills rescued from Flynn’s trash can and repurposed. Rapp exhibits behaviors that are completely at odds with the growth Mills had tried so hard to invest in this figure since he was handed the reins. The Mitch Rapp we get here is completely disgusted with American excess, wondering why he continues to fight for a country whose populace is fat, bloated, and barely able to make it up a flight of stairs to save their own pathetic lives, and whose politicians betray and backstab him on the regular. This is a Mitch Rapp who stands idly by and watches a young Yemeni girl sold into sexual slavery and, later, sits idly by as an American actress is beaten by her boyfriend. The first he justifies to himself as a problem that can not only blow his cover but is also a predictable bit of victimization, so not his problem. The second he justifies to himself because the woman is just another rich Hollywood elite (ie, not a “real American”), and he only cares about her potentially being murdered under his watch because its interrupting his steak dinner. This is a Mitch Rapp who condescends to his girlfriend while she’s trying to warn him about a potentially lethal pathogen that could kill him, wishing he could just bark orders at her instead, and whose country is so far gone from the nation he remembers through rose-colored glasses that he almost pines for its destruction in order to make people see that there are consequences to their actions. It’s almost hilarious, in a pathetic sort of way, to see Rapp talking about actions having consequences without even a single hint of self-awareness. This is a dude who has never faced any consequences for his absolutely insane actions, even when he’s blackmailing government officials or killing prisoners, so this train of thought from him is especially ludicrous. This is a Mitch Rapp who naively longs for the good old days when all of America’s enemies were external and could be eradicated with a gun, as if America’s various roles in geopolitics were ever so clean and simple. This is Mitch Rapp that isn’t just sexist, arrogant, selfish, bullheaded, and narcissistic, but apparently stupid, too.
ISIS caliphate Halabi, on the other hand, is an interesting counterpart to Rapp. As a villain, he posses a keener sense of self-awareness than Rapp could ever fathom and has a clearer understanding, and firmer grasp, on American history and contemporary politics. He sees an America rotting from the inside, an enemy easy to kill now that it is so politically divided by Senator Christine Barnett, the GOP’s leading presidential candidate and shoe-in for the White House. Barnett is a Republican in the Trump mold, a woman who is brash and arrogant, who attacks our nation’s defense and intelligence agencies, and is more than willing to sell out the country wholesale to Halabi in order to solidify her power. She sees no problem dragging the CIA and Rapp through the mud in the midst of a potential terrorist attack simply to wreak havoc for Democratic President Alexander, all so she can gain some leverage and spin the Alexander administration as weak and inept. One interesting thing about all these characters is that they all seem to hate America for various reasons, and in Rapp’s case it’s an unseemly anomaly. He’s painted here as a figure that’s given up on his country and holds its citizens in as much disdain, if not more, than Halabi. Then again, with so much of the populace rooting for Barnett, a character that’s essentially Trump in drag, it’s perhaps easy to see why Rapp feels so betrayed, but Mills could have certainly done a much better job portraying the pathos of the assassin. Instead, he relies too heavily on Flynn’s notion of machismo, which boils down to Rapp being the only manly-man with a clue, surrounded by inept dullards to beat on. This is, oddly, the same kind of logic Barnett brings to the table and is vilified for. It’s understood that we’re expected to celebrate it here in Rapp because he’s a big bad man, and hate it in Barnett because she’s a woman. And yet, if these three characters weren’t so opposed to each other for ideological reasons, they might find a lot of uncomfortably common ground here. Rather than making for a compelling case of good versus evil, an examination of flawed morality, and a study on the sad and sorry state of current American affairs, it instead feels hackneyed. And yes, I’m probably putting way too much thought into this particular book, but that can happen when you’ve seen this particular framework done so much better elsewhere so many times before.
There’s a lot about Lethal Agent that feels weak and inept, frankly, and the Rapp series as a whole has seen better days under both Flynn and Mills. Its plot about ISIS using a Mexican drug cartel to sneak jihadists infected with a deadly disease across the American border has been done better elsewhere, but here feels like little more than a hodgepodge of contemporary thriller elements messily strung together. If you’re interested in reading about the contemporary state of American political relations with Mexico, it’s done a hell of a lot better and with more thoughtfulness and nuance in Don Winslow’s The Border. If you want a story about a terrorist organization looking to attack America with a new plague it’s snuck across the Mexican border, read Michael Laurence’s The Extinction Agenda. Or, hell, read Tom Clancy’s doorstopper, Executive Orders. You’ll get a similar story that’s better executed, has more compelling theatrics, the Jack Ryan protagonist is all-America hero that’s actually decent at his core and worth rooting for, the military and government agents are presented as capable professionals rather than power tripping thugs. And if you’re interested in reading about an American politician seeking to undermine and ruin Rapp himself, well, there’s plenty of earlier Vince Flynn books in this series to read given how frequently this particular plot point has been mined, reused, recycled, and repurposed.
Eighteen books in, the Rapp series is once again showing its age. Although I could forgive Flynn his overly dramatic tendencies and the ultra-conservative cartoon hero Rapp was progressively becoming, it was growing into too much of a schtick and one that got old fast, at that. Rapp as a character is also most certainly showing his age, and styled so heavily in the Flynn mold here, comes across as an artifact of a bygone era. Mills injected some fresh blood and some actual attempts at characterization over the course of his brief tenure, but now seems content to fall back on Flynn’s old crutches. While there was a lot of fist-pumping bravado you could cheer for in books like Transfer of Power, back when 9/11 was still fresh on our minds, Rapp’s progressively insane displays just feel disgusting and woefully out of touch here.
One could easily argue that Rapp was never meant to be seen as a hero. Although he’s the series protagonist, over time he’s increasingly grown into more of an antihero in the Vic Mackey or Dexter mold, a bad guy capable of doing good things. Rapp is basically a psychopathic, stone cold serial killer who’s found gainful employment in a government that can utilize his skills for its own end. It was entertaining for a while, but it’s a formula that comes across as creaky and aged here. His sociopathic tendencies were once excused under the guise of patriotism, to the point that if he were a comic book character he might be dubbed Captain Jignoism. With the country torn apart by politics and eager to elect people like Barnett, a sociopath of a different sort, Rapp holds his entire country in a state of disgust and contempt, prompting Claudia to remind him, “The country you love is gone, Mitch.” It’s a sentiment and plot device that mirrors our current real-world political climate, but neither Rapp nor Mills can muster enough justification for defending a nation that’s fallen so low. We’re told time and time again here that America is divided, but there’s no degree of exploration beneath these surface claims nor any suggestions on how to bridge such a divide, which ultimately gives Lethal Agent little reason to be read. For a book that’s built so heavily off contemporary political issues, it’s sadly hollow, politically muddled, and, ultimately, meaningless.
And perhaps, finally, I’ve simply outgrown the character of Mitch Rapp. I used to find his antics entertaining in a comic book fantasy kind of way, much like The Punisher, but over the course of this book I found his ultra-fundamentalist ‘Murica mentality increasingly wearying and, with Mills taking the character back to where Flynn left him, stultifying. Rapp, a killer and lover of torture who, in the past, routinely stomped on civil rights and notions of Constitutional protections and legality in a lawless, pro-Patriot Act, post-9/11 landscape, can’t seem to square his existence in the current socio-political landscape of 2019. Set against a real-life American government administration hellbent on similarly stomping on civil rights, Constitutional protections, and legalities, I’m not sure I can either.
[Note: I received an advance readers copy of this title from the publisher as part of the Mitch Rapp Ambassador program.]
September 23, 2019
Check out all of my reviews at: https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com
LETHAL AGENT (Mitch Rapp #18) is the fifth book by Kyle Mills in the world of Mitch Rapp started by author Vince Flynn. Mr. Mills has never disappointed me in his continued portrayal of Mitch and all the secondary characters that continue to surround him. While I am always intrigued and drawn into the chosen threat in each book, the thought of a bioterrorism attack has always terrified me more than any other.
Mullah Sayid Halabi survived Mitch Rapp’s last attempt to rid the world of the ISIS terrorist leader, while almost losing his own life in the process.
Halabi is back and has learned a few things since his near demise. Instead of and army of zealots, he now has a few well trained and trusted men around him and on-line around the world. He has kidnapped two doctors and a nurse from Doctors Without Borders who were fighting a virus similar to SARS in a Yemen village. One of the doctors is a brilliant French biochemist. Halabi releases a video to prove he is alive, has possession of the doctors and to tell the world he now has the means to produce anthrax and destroy the enemies of Allah.
As Mitch races against the clock to stop the terror plot, he finds that everything they believe is a red herring. Halabi’s true plot could end up destroying the America we know forever. And if that is not enough, at home Halabi’s threat stokes a Republican Senator’s campaign of fear and division to advance her campaign for President.
I read this book completely in one sitting! Mitch is a darker, harder character working alone once again, but it is necessary for this plot. As in all the books in this series the fight scenes are detailed and realistic. Mr. Mills had me feeling the dread of the possibility of a bioterrorism attack, anger at the political machinations in D.C. and contemplating the ethical issues that arise in the dark world that Mitch and all of his team dwell in.
This is another Mitch Rapp thriller that will leave you hyped, scared, exhausted and very satisfied in the end!
Thanks very much to Atria and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to be a Mitch Rapp Ambassador for another year and sending me an ARC of this book before publication.
LETHAL AGENT (Mitch Rapp #18) is the fifth book by Kyle Mills in the world of Mitch Rapp started by author Vince Flynn. Mr. Mills has never disappointed me in his continued portrayal of Mitch and all the secondary characters that continue to surround him. While I am always intrigued and drawn into the chosen threat in each book, the thought of a bioterrorism attack has always terrified me more than any other.
Mullah Sayid Halabi survived Mitch Rapp’s last attempt to rid the world of the ISIS terrorist leader, while almost losing his own life in the process.
Halabi is back and has learned a few things since his near demise. Instead of and army of zealots, he now has a few well trained and trusted men around him and on-line around the world. He has kidnapped two doctors and a nurse from Doctors Without Borders who were fighting a virus similar to SARS in a Yemen village. One of the doctors is a brilliant French biochemist. Halabi releases a video to prove he is alive, has possession of the doctors and to tell the world he now has the means to produce anthrax and destroy the enemies of Allah.
As Mitch races against the clock to stop the terror plot, he finds that everything they believe is a red herring. Halabi’s true plot could end up destroying the America we know forever. And if that is not enough, at home Halabi’s threat stokes a Republican Senator’s campaign of fear and division to advance her campaign for President.
I read this book completely in one sitting! Mitch is a darker, harder character working alone once again, but it is necessary for this plot. As in all the books in this series the fight scenes are detailed and realistic. Mr. Mills had me feeling the dread of the possibility of a bioterrorism attack, anger at the political machinations in D.C. and contemplating the ethical issues that arise in the dark world that Mitch and all of his team dwell in.
This is another Mitch Rapp thriller that will leave you hyped, scared, exhausted and very satisfied in the end!
Thanks very much to Atria and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to be a Mitch Rapp Ambassador for another year and sending me an ARC of this book before publication.
November 16, 2019
ISIS mastermind and psycho Sayid Halabi was left for dead in a cave in Northern Iraq; however, cockroaches are notoriously difficult to kill. He has two priorities in life: getting even with Mitch Rapp, and returning the world to the Dark Ages. So, he discovers a virulent disease in a remote area and attacks the Doctors without Borders post there to draw in Mitch Rapp and team. Halabi barely escapes with his life, and a disease specialist, whom he tortures to manufacture anthrax. Partnering with a drug cartel, the anthrax is smuggled to the U.S. Meanwhile, dirty politics in Washington by a power-hungry Senator endangers the current political leadership, including Irene Kennedy and Mitch. When Mitch figures out Halabi's real agenda, he goes undercover rogue. Lots of action and intrigue, but still not as good as Vince Flynn.
August 4, 2020
Well, I guess you could say that my review of the book is best summed up in the form of a limerick:
Deep in the Mexican jungle,
Rapp stirs up quite the rumble,
A book for our time,
Rapp peddles a dime,
A race for the border they tumble.
Fast-paced, action-packed,
Rapp's maneuvers got me jacked.
A sick kill with a crossbow,
a threat we now know,
With Mills the Rapp saga's intact.
Lethal Agent is among the best Rapp books. Period. No doubt that both our favorite special operator and author are both at the top of their game in this one. There's no better way to get ready for the release of Total Power on Sept. 15 than by re-reading Lethal Agent and tuning-in to No Limits: A Mitch Rapp Podcast!
Deep in the Mexican jungle,
Rapp stirs up quite the rumble,
A book for our time,
Rapp peddles a dime,
A race for the border they tumble.
Fast-paced, action-packed,
Rapp's maneuvers got me jacked.
A sick kill with a crossbow,
a threat we now know,
With Mills the Rapp saga's intact.
Lethal Agent is among the best Rapp books. Period. No doubt that both our favorite special operator and author are both at the top of their game in this one. There's no better way to get ready for the release of Total Power on Sept. 15 than by re-reading Lethal Agent and tuning-in to No Limits: A Mitch Rapp Podcast!
October 13, 2019
That ending!
Mitch Rapp gets things done to perfection.
Mitch Rapp gets things done to perfection.
August 24, 2019
Lethal Agent is a true Mitch Rapp novel in every mannerism, combining the best of cutthroat political insights of Mr. Flynn and the action spirited writing of Mr. Mills. As a Mitch Rapp fanatic, I am highly critical of seeing my hero shine in his novels and Lethal Agent undoubtedly blew past my expectations in ways I hadn’t even fathomed. With a realistically scary threat to mankind, dirty politics in Washington, and a Glock toting, neck breaking Mitch Rapp on the heels of a terrorist mastermind who had slipped Rapp’s grasps in Enemy of the State, this action thriller packs a powerful punch not just for Mitch Rapp fans, but for all the fans of the thriller genre.
While I personally loved Red War, there were complaints from readers that Mitch Rapp deserved more of a spotlight. With Lethal Agent, Mitch Rapp takes an even more central stage in the hunt for the nefarious terrorist, Halabi, who makes it his mission to unleash a deadly virus in America. With a shrewd politician hellbent on impeding Rapp’s mission to stop Halabi, Mitch Rapp has to go dark like never before, working his way through a Mexican cartel that has aligned itself with Halabi. I found it highly enjoyable and fresh to see Mitch Rapp operate in Mexico, seeing him adjust to his new operating theater in such a short time to accomplish such a critical mission. Even then, he pulls this task off flawlessly.
The action is fast and gritty, with detailed visuals of Mitch Rapp taking on his adversaries and finishing them off in the most badass of ways, whether through his custom Glock 19, or through an experimental stealthy crossbow, or even better, his bare hands. There is no shortage of moments of Mitch Rapp outsmarting his opponents in the classiest of ways.
Not only does Mitch Rapp shine through action set pieces, but he also delivers in his undercover conduct and his calm demeanor of warning off the bad guys, particularly politicians who worry more about saving their own hide. One of Mitch’s dialogues with Irene had a throwback to Transfer of Power, where Mitch clearly states his true designation as an operative who hunts terrorists, in front of the powers that be in Washington. Mills brought Mitch Rapp even closer to Vince Flynn’s Rapp, creating a beautiful tribute in yet another deeply rooted Mitch Rapp novel with Mr. Flynn’s spirit. There is no denying that Mitch Rapp holds a sense of authority and command in every sentence of the book he is in.
Mitch is joined by his team of badass operatives. Scott Coleman’s banter with Rapp truly feels like that of a true brotherhood, earning the emotional investment of the readers. Mitch’s relation with Claudia also develops further, which was an aspect I really loved. Seeing Mitch think about Claudia’s emotions as he risks his life gave the narrative an even more grounded feel of Mitch’s desire to go all in for his country, but also his desire to live a life with Claudia and her daughter Anna.
With the details apparent in weapon systems and biological warfare in the narrative, Mr. Mills deserves high praise for his due diligence and apt research that led to such an interesting read. Lethal Agent is a clear winner for me. It has all the ingredients of a phenomenal action thriller and it does not dial down on the action once it picks up, which is literally from the first moments of the book.
It is definitely a must read for all action thriller fans, looking for their next fast paced read with a strong story and grounded feel. Do not miss out on this. Mitch Rapp is Back!
While I personally loved Red War, there were complaints from readers that Mitch Rapp deserved more of a spotlight. With Lethal Agent, Mitch Rapp takes an even more central stage in the hunt for the nefarious terrorist, Halabi, who makes it his mission to unleash a deadly virus in America. With a shrewd politician hellbent on impeding Rapp’s mission to stop Halabi, Mitch Rapp has to go dark like never before, working his way through a Mexican cartel that has aligned itself with Halabi. I found it highly enjoyable and fresh to see Mitch Rapp operate in Mexico, seeing him adjust to his new operating theater in such a short time to accomplish such a critical mission. Even then, he pulls this task off flawlessly.
The action is fast and gritty, with detailed visuals of Mitch Rapp taking on his adversaries and finishing them off in the most badass of ways, whether through his custom Glock 19, or through an experimental stealthy crossbow, or even better, his bare hands. There is no shortage of moments of Mitch Rapp outsmarting his opponents in the classiest of ways.
Not only does Mitch Rapp shine through action set pieces, but he also delivers in his undercover conduct and his calm demeanor of warning off the bad guys, particularly politicians who worry more about saving their own hide. One of Mitch’s dialogues with Irene had a throwback to Transfer of Power, where Mitch clearly states his true designation as an operative who hunts terrorists, in front of the powers that be in Washington. Mills brought Mitch Rapp even closer to Vince Flynn’s Rapp, creating a beautiful tribute in yet another deeply rooted Mitch Rapp novel with Mr. Flynn’s spirit. There is no denying that Mitch Rapp holds a sense of authority and command in every sentence of the book he is in.
Mitch is joined by his team of badass operatives. Scott Coleman’s banter with Rapp truly feels like that of a true brotherhood, earning the emotional investment of the readers. Mitch’s relation with Claudia also develops further, which was an aspect I really loved. Seeing Mitch think about Claudia’s emotions as he risks his life gave the narrative an even more grounded feel of Mitch’s desire to go all in for his country, but also his desire to live a life with Claudia and her daughter Anna.
With the details apparent in weapon systems and biological warfare in the narrative, Mr. Mills deserves high praise for his due diligence and apt research that led to such an interesting read. Lethal Agent is a clear winner for me. It has all the ingredients of a phenomenal action thriller and it does not dial down on the action once it picks up, which is literally from the first moments of the book.
It is definitely a must read for all action thriller fans, looking for their next fast paced read with a strong story and grounded feel. Do not miss out on this. Mitch Rapp is Back!
October 7, 2019
Yay! Rapp is back and not as a secondary character as he was in the "Red War". I like the plot in Lethal Agent, a very possible and scary scenario. Something about Rapp and Claudia's relationship bugs me from day one and still does.
October 9, 2019
A so so Mitch Rapp thriller.
September 26, 2019
It seems with this book Mitch is questioning things. Questioning if his what he has done for his whole life worth it to anyone but himself. Of course where he was questioning it (while on a vapid body guard duty) made it seem worse than it was and quite frankly Mitch’s response to his clients was funny and deserved.
The rest of the book where once again Mitch takes care of business is some crazy off the books op is fun to read. Mitch is back in his normal element of catching the bad guys, yet a bit off due to where the action takes place, in Mexico. That didn’t stop him from finding an in and then dealing the with the wanna be drug kingpin. When things really ramped up and Mitch could have stayed safe he didn’t, he made a conscious choice that he would make sure the rest of us were safe.
The end of the book goes back to Mitch questioning things in the aftermath. You get the feeling that he just might make some safe choices in the future, or at least take a few minutes to think about the people depending on him before jumping in.
The rest of the book where once again Mitch takes care of business is some crazy off the books op is fun to read. Mitch is back in his normal element of catching the bad guys, yet a bit off due to where the action takes place, in Mexico. That didn’t stop him from finding an in and then dealing the with the wanna be drug kingpin. When things really ramped up and Mitch could have stayed safe he didn’t, he made a conscious choice that he would make sure the rest of us were safe.
The end of the book goes back to Mitch questioning things in the aftermath. You get the feeling that he just might make some safe choices in the future, or at least take a few minutes to think about the people depending on him before jumping in.
November 10, 2019
Male Bodice Ripper to the extreme, and I love it.
Now working unofficially for the CIA, Mitch is confronted with an enemy from his past. Mullah Sayid Halabi, thought dead and buried in a Northern Iraqi cave, has resurfaced. He has 2 goals in life-annihilate the western infidels and get hands on Rapp and torture him to the fringe of death.
Halabi was acquired a bio-weapon that could well accomplish the first, as for the second-we all know Mitch is not going down easy.
The Political Climate written reflects the real world state of affairs. Mills blends The Beltway nonsense and the unstable, infighting ABC agencies, and Congressional buffoons we deal with flawlessly. In another time his writing would make me shake my head and say "no way would that happen". HA! We know now it could!
With Vince Flynn's untimely passing, Kyle Mills took over the series. Five books in I am finally comfortable with his style and handling of the characters that Flynn had me loving. Mills has made Rapp a bit more human, and I adore the sense of humor that the character is showing.
If you love a good thriller, this one is great!
Now working unofficially for the CIA, Mitch is confronted with an enemy from his past. Mullah Sayid Halabi, thought dead and buried in a Northern Iraqi cave, has resurfaced. He has 2 goals in life-annihilate the western infidels and get hands on Rapp and torture him to the fringe of death.
Halabi was acquired a bio-weapon that could well accomplish the first, as for the second-we all know Mitch is not going down easy.
The Political Climate written reflects the real world state of affairs. Mills blends The Beltway nonsense and the unstable, infighting ABC agencies, and Congressional buffoons we deal with flawlessly. In another time his writing would make me shake my head and say "no way would that happen". HA! We know now it could!
With Vince Flynn's untimely passing, Kyle Mills took over the series. Five books in I am finally comfortable with his style and handling of the characters that Flynn had me loving. Mills has made Rapp a bit more human, and I adore the sense of humor that the character is showing.
If you love a good thriller, this one is great!
July 17, 2019
Mitch Rapp is back with a bang in Lethal Agent! It absolutely had a classic Vince Flynn feel to this one. Just imagine Memorial Day with the insane risks, and you have Lethal Agent.
I’ve always loved how Kyle Mills can weave humor in his Mitch Rapp books. It for sure eases some of my stress, and it adds a level of brotherhood with his teammates.
It was beyond terrifying how “ripped from the headlines” this one felt. That seems to be a common theme in today’s thrillers, but in this one we had south of the border and political story lines that had me wondering if Mills has a crystal ball! Also, I don’t know if we’ve ever seen Mitch is this dire of a situation! Be prepared to sweat! An absolute must read for any thriller fan!!
I’ve always loved how Kyle Mills can weave humor in his Mitch Rapp books. It for sure eases some of my stress, and it adds a level of brotherhood with his teammates.
It was beyond terrifying how “ripped from the headlines” this one felt. That seems to be a common theme in today’s thrillers, but in this one we had south of the border and political story lines that had me wondering if Mills has a crystal ball! Also, I don’t know if we’ve ever seen Mitch is this dire of a situation! Be prepared to sweat! An absolute must read for any thriller fan!!
December 14, 2021
There's a plot about a terrorist trying to spread death and destruction and capture Mitch Rapp for some torture sessions, but I was distracted by the fact that the protagonist is no longer actually Mitch Rapp. At least not the guy we know. This dad joke dude might be the Earth 2 version or something. I couldn't get past it.
September 23, 2019
Mitch Rapp has returned as deadly and devious as ever. Kyle Mills has returned to the style of Vince Flynn and has created a memorable story with a spectacular ending! Story opens with the reappearance of a previous nemesis that the world thought dead - Mullah Sayid Halabi. Like the phoenix arising from the ashes, Halabi reconstructs his battle harden followers into a smaller force with a large target - the attack on the American heartland itself with a bioweapon, through manipulation of Mexican cartels.
Like Thor's and Betley's geopolitical takes on Russia and Venezuela, Mills offers a concise analysis of the hell on earth that is today's Yemen. This is where the story unfolds. With new CIA video, Rapp realizes Halabi is still alive and goes on the hunt.Through Yemen and Somalia, multiple firefights with no success, but a chilling discovering -anthrax.
It's great to see the old wrecking crew, healthy, fit and back in action - Scott Coleman, Charlie Wicker, Joe Maslick and Bruno McGraw. Mitch's companion, Claudia Gould returns to handle the logistical side of Coleman's private contracting group that encompasses Rapp's posse, the pivotal factor of support to Mitch.
The CIA's Irene Kennedy is fighting her own survival battle. It's an election year with a lame duck president who after 8 years has lost the stomach to battle the Gorgons of Capital Hill. Political party manipulation of the american public and press dominates decision making in DC and Kennedy is left with few supporters, twisting in the wind. seen time and again, it's a variant of treason where party loyalty and control usurps patriotism and loyalty to country.
As expected, Halabi embraces the concept of modern asymmetrical warfare, utilizing this facet of public division to manipulate public opinion. Stoking the fire is a US Senator and presidential candidate who would rather attack the CIA and foreign policy, ignoring those responsible for the bioweapon threat.
Kyle Mills portrayal of DC politics is uncanny. He has his finger on the pulse of this unspoken war that has gone on for decades -- where power, control, and position are more important than the greater good of the nation. Where intelligence gathering assets are mere pawns of the political apparatus.
Without government support or back up, Rapp devises his own plan to assault Halabi's operation and it involves the manipulation of Mexican cartels and introducing a role that this character has never enacted before - that of spy.
The twists and turns of LETHAL AGENT's plot are surprising and the reader is fully engaged to the last page. The big question is - Who's left on the chessboard at the end of the match?
Mill's style of writing emulates that of Vince Flynn in creating a detailed "snapshot" of what a scene depicts. It's an easy reading style that allows quick assimilation of material. Find the time before you sit down with the last half of the book as you won't be able to put it down until the last page is turned. fight scenes explode off the pages and the ugliness of DC politicians is in full display. It's the truth as to how biowarfare is, and will be conducted.
Americans take it for granted the role Health officials play in defending our nation. Twenty years ago it was SARS. Now Ebola threatens. What comes next? Quick training prevented SARS on our doorstep. Yet not long ago an announcement was made about a flu virus that was genetically, part avian flu, part swine flu, and part human influenza. That's a bioweapon. The threat is real -are you prepared?
Like Thor's and Betley's geopolitical takes on Russia and Venezuela, Mills offers a concise analysis of the hell on earth that is today's Yemen. This is where the story unfolds. With new CIA video, Rapp realizes Halabi is still alive and goes on the hunt.Through Yemen and Somalia, multiple firefights with no success, but a chilling discovering -anthrax.
It's great to see the old wrecking crew, healthy, fit and back in action - Scott Coleman, Charlie Wicker, Joe Maslick and Bruno McGraw. Mitch's companion, Claudia Gould returns to handle the logistical side of Coleman's private contracting group that encompasses Rapp's posse, the pivotal factor of support to Mitch.
The CIA's Irene Kennedy is fighting her own survival battle. It's an election year with a lame duck president who after 8 years has lost the stomach to battle the Gorgons of Capital Hill. Political party manipulation of the american public and press dominates decision making in DC and Kennedy is left with few supporters, twisting in the wind. seen time and again, it's a variant of treason where party loyalty and control usurps patriotism and loyalty to country.
As expected, Halabi embraces the concept of modern asymmetrical warfare, utilizing this facet of public division to manipulate public opinion. Stoking the fire is a US Senator and presidential candidate who would rather attack the CIA and foreign policy, ignoring those responsible for the bioweapon threat.
Kyle Mills portrayal of DC politics is uncanny. He has his finger on the pulse of this unspoken war that has gone on for decades -- where power, control, and position are more important than the greater good of the nation. Where intelligence gathering assets are mere pawns of the political apparatus.
Without government support or back up, Rapp devises his own plan to assault Halabi's operation and it involves the manipulation of Mexican cartels and introducing a role that this character has never enacted before - that of spy.
The twists and turns of LETHAL AGENT's plot are surprising and the reader is fully engaged to the last page. The big question is - Who's left on the chessboard at the end of the match?
Mill's style of writing emulates that of Vince Flynn in creating a detailed "snapshot" of what a scene depicts. It's an easy reading style that allows quick assimilation of material. Find the time before you sit down with the last half of the book as you won't be able to put it down until the last page is turned. fight scenes explode off the pages and the ugliness of DC politicians is in full display. It's the truth as to how biowarfare is, and will be conducted.
Americans take it for granted the role Health officials play in defending our nation. Twenty years ago it was SARS. Now Ebola threatens. What comes next? Quick training prevented SARS on our doorstep. Yet not long ago an announcement was made about a flu virus that was genetically, part avian flu, part swine flu, and part human influenza. That's a bioweapon. The threat is real -are you prepared?
September 9, 2020
First of all I would like to thank Atria for this ARC as part of the Mitch Rapp Ambassador program.
I've been reading the exploits of Mitch Rapp for over a decade. Those books that Vince wrote in his prime were legendary. Although Kyle Mills will never be Vince (no one can be) he's done a really good job continuing the series. Although the previous entry, Red War, was kind of a miss for me. It tried to be something different, which I appreciate, but it felt like too much of a geo political Grisha Azarov story with Mitch as a supporting character.
Lethal Agent rights every single one of those wrongs in my opinion. It leaves Red War in the dust and acts more like a sequel to the much better Enemy of the State. Rapp is hot on the trail of the same villain we thought he vanquished at the end of that book. It's back to old school Rapp hunting terrorists and backstabbing politicians trying to undermine his efforts.
Mills pulls this off brilliantly. While it feels like an old school Rapp story he gives us a lot of new twists and angles by setting the book's plot in a new operating environment for Mitch and having the threat be biological in nature is also new. But the book's title doesn't just refer to the biological weapon. It clearly refers to Rapp himself as we get to see Mitch at his most unchained and deadly. Rapp stacks bodies in this book like I don't remember before.
If you're a fan of the series and maybe were a little disappointed by Red War go out and pick this one up because Mitch Rapp is definitely back.
I've been reading the exploits of Mitch Rapp for over a decade. Those books that Vince wrote in his prime were legendary. Although Kyle Mills will never be Vince (no one can be) he's done a really good job continuing the series. Although the previous entry, Red War, was kind of a miss for me. It tried to be something different, which I appreciate, but it felt like too much of a geo political Grisha Azarov story with Mitch as a supporting character.
Lethal Agent rights every single one of those wrongs in my opinion. It leaves Red War in the dust and acts more like a sequel to the much better Enemy of the State. Rapp is hot on the trail of the same villain we thought he vanquished at the end of that book. It's back to old school Rapp hunting terrorists and backstabbing politicians trying to undermine his efforts.
Mills pulls this off brilliantly. While it feels like an old school Rapp story he gives us a lot of new twists and angles by setting the book's plot in a new operating environment for Mitch and having the threat be biological in nature is also new. But the book's title doesn't just refer to the biological weapon. It clearly refers to Rapp himself as we get to see Mitch at his most unchained and deadly. Rapp stacks bodies in this book like I don't remember before.
If you're a fan of the series and maybe were a little disappointed by Red War go out and pick this one up because Mitch Rapp is definitely back.
January 3, 2020
Another swing and miss from Mills after what was one of my favorite installments in the series just two books ago. Talky, slow, not compelling. My hope is the series can be resurrected. Mitch Rapp was my first foray into this genre and so I still hold him as the benchmark in this genre. At this rate, he will soon be eclipsed by Coes, Thor and Taylor.
November 4, 2019
A good Mitch Rapp story...however the editing of the book was terrible in parts. A 4 star book reduced to 3 from bad editing.
September 13, 2019
“IN THE IRANIAN seaside city of Bandar Abbas an elderly man shuffled down a dusty street in his dirty white djellaba, a simple robe like garment that flowed from his shoulder to his ankles. A brown turban covered his head and face; a pair of worn leather sandals, his feet. The wind blew in off the Persian Gulf, and the night sky was filled with thick clouds.”
“The decrepit old man mumbled to himself in Farsi, the native language, as he went. Like so many things in his life, appearances could be deceiving. Underneath the rugged turban and djellaba was one-hundred ninety pounds of solid, lean muscle. Mitch Rapp, a thirty-one-year-old American, hadn’t showered in a week.”
TRANSFER OF POWER
By
Vince Flynn
Lethal AgentWhile reading Lethal Agent, the words above from Transfer of Power came to mind, these words, written by Vince Flynn introduced Mitch Rapp to the world. This is what I consider “classic” Mitch Rapp, being in a hostile environment, blending in, and doing what he does best, kill. In Lethal Agent, Mitch Rapp does just that. Finding himself behind enemy lines, being hunted. So, what does Rapp do? He turns the tide, evens the odds, the hunted becomes the hunter and Rapp does that better than anyone in the world.
This particular scene where Rapp finds himself in a jam, being hunted and on his own turns out to be over almost before it began. Leaving a huge void in wondering what happened. But, Kyle Mills does not disappoint, just a short while forward the events that took place are described in great detail from another perspective, the bad guys. For over two decades now, these jihadists have seen Rapp as a mythical “angel of death” and in this scene he brings death to them in huge numbers, further raising his persona, with the terrorist assholes describing Rapp as:
“This isn’t hardship for him, it’s his home. He’s spent his entire adult life fighting in places like this one. He could live out there for weeks. Perhaps months.”
This was absolutely epic in my opinion. Rapp on his own, no backup, no food and water, barely any ammunition left.
Vince Flynn was also very good at writing politically motivated scenes, and with a presidential election on the horizon in Lethal Agent, the pressure intensifies from opponents playing dirty in order to win. With Kyle Mills promising to bring us a “classic” Mitch Rapp novel, the brutal fighting here may lack bullets and blood. But the battles lines are drawn early on and the pressure is only intensified when aspiring politician use their influence to further their own grasp on power. What comes to mind here is Vince Flynn’s Memorial Day, where Rapp goes toe-to-toe with then White House Chief of Staff, Valerie Jones. In Lethal Agent, Rapp’s reputation on the home front is tarnished and these politicians eat it up and throw fuel on the fire.
My review has only covered a glimpse of the great read Kyle Mills delivers in Lethal Agent, an absolute classic Mitch Rapp novel that is a throwback to the legendary Vince Flynn. I am sure long-time fans of the series will love this new Mitch Rapp novel. With non-stop action, political conflicts and a terrorist plan that threatens millions of people, this novel will keep you at the edge of your seat.
“The decrepit old man mumbled to himself in Farsi, the native language, as he went. Like so many things in his life, appearances could be deceiving. Underneath the rugged turban and djellaba was one-hundred ninety pounds of solid, lean muscle. Mitch Rapp, a thirty-one-year-old American, hadn’t showered in a week.”
TRANSFER OF POWER
By
Vince Flynn
Lethal AgentWhile reading Lethal Agent, the words above from Transfer of Power came to mind, these words, written by Vince Flynn introduced Mitch Rapp to the world. This is what I consider “classic” Mitch Rapp, being in a hostile environment, blending in, and doing what he does best, kill. In Lethal Agent, Mitch Rapp does just that. Finding himself behind enemy lines, being hunted. So, what does Rapp do? He turns the tide, evens the odds, the hunted becomes the hunter and Rapp does that better than anyone in the world.
This particular scene where Rapp finds himself in a jam, being hunted and on his own turns out to be over almost before it began. Leaving a huge void in wondering what happened. But, Kyle Mills does not disappoint, just a short while forward the events that took place are described in great detail from another perspective, the bad guys. For over two decades now, these jihadists have seen Rapp as a mythical “angel of death” and in this scene he brings death to them in huge numbers, further raising his persona, with the terrorist assholes describing Rapp as:
“This isn’t hardship for him, it’s his home. He’s spent his entire adult life fighting in places like this one. He could live out there for weeks. Perhaps months.”
This was absolutely epic in my opinion. Rapp on his own, no backup, no food and water, barely any ammunition left.
Vince Flynn was also very good at writing politically motivated scenes, and with a presidential election on the horizon in Lethal Agent, the pressure intensifies from opponents playing dirty in order to win. With Kyle Mills promising to bring us a “classic” Mitch Rapp novel, the brutal fighting here may lack bullets and blood. But the battles lines are drawn early on and the pressure is only intensified when aspiring politician use their influence to further their own grasp on power. What comes to mind here is Vince Flynn’s Memorial Day, where Rapp goes toe-to-toe with then White House Chief of Staff, Valerie Jones. In Lethal Agent, Rapp’s reputation on the home front is tarnished and these politicians eat it up and throw fuel on the fire.
My review has only covered a glimpse of the great read Kyle Mills delivers in Lethal Agent, an absolute classic Mitch Rapp novel that is a throwback to the legendary Vince Flynn. I am sure long-time fans of the series will love this new Mitch Rapp novel. With non-stop action, political conflicts and a terrorist plan that threatens millions of people, this novel will keep you at the edge of your seat.
November 21, 2019
Rating of 4.5.
Prepare to dive into a thriller rife with action, political intrigue and a killer plot with the latest book in the long-running Mitch Rapp series, Lethal Agent.
For years, legendary CIA operative Mitch Rapp has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of America’s enemies, including numerous terrorists, fanatics, criminals and operatives of hostile foreign powers. Among those he believed he killed was the intelligent and dangerous leader of ISIS, Sayid Halabi. However, Halabi secretly managed to escape Rapp’s last attempt to kill him, and has been plotting in the shadows ever since, determined to find a way to strike back at Rapp and America.
Hiding out in Yemen, Halabi is able to capture a brilliant French microbiologist who has been working on a cure for a rare and deadly respiratory disease. Using the microbiologist to make anthrax, Halabi embarks on a campaign of terror, producing slick propaganda videos to create tension and panic within the United States. However, his real plan is to create a deadly bioweapon that will wipe out large swathes of the world’s population.
Rapp is determined to hunt Halabi down and end him once and for all, but he finds himself unable to act thanks to one enemy even he cannot defeat; politics. The upcoming battle for the presidency has become extremely ugly, and the leading candidate, Christine Barnett, is using Amercia’s fear of Halabi to make the current administration and the CIA look incompetent. She also has Rapp and his boss, Irene Kennedy, in her sights, and is determined to make them suffer for defying her. Hamstrung by the political atmosphere and no longer able to make an official move, Rapp is forced to go rogue and infiltrate a dangerous Mexican cartel who have been smuggling Halabi’s anthrax and operatives into the US. However, as Rapp moves closer to finding Halabi’s location and determining the nature of the bioweapon heading towards the states, he must deal with the fallout from Barnett’s political manoeuvring, which could end his life.
For the full review, click the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2019/11/21/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Prepare to dive into a thriller rife with action, political intrigue and a killer plot with the latest book in the long-running Mitch Rapp series, Lethal Agent.
For years, legendary CIA operative Mitch Rapp has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of America’s enemies, including numerous terrorists, fanatics, criminals and operatives of hostile foreign powers. Among those he believed he killed was the intelligent and dangerous leader of ISIS, Sayid Halabi. However, Halabi secretly managed to escape Rapp’s last attempt to kill him, and has been plotting in the shadows ever since, determined to find a way to strike back at Rapp and America.
Hiding out in Yemen, Halabi is able to capture a brilliant French microbiologist who has been working on a cure for a rare and deadly respiratory disease. Using the microbiologist to make anthrax, Halabi embarks on a campaign of terror, producing slick propaganda videos to create tension and panic within the United States. However, his real plan is to create a deadly bioweapon that will wipe out large swathes of the world’s population.
Rapp is determined to hunt Halabi down and end him once and for all, but he finds himself unable to act thanks to one enemy even he cannot defeat; politics. The upcoming battle for the presidency has become extremely ugly, and the leading candidate, Christine Barnett, is using Amercia’s fear of Halabi to make the current administration and the CIA look incompetent. She also has Rapp and his boss, Irene Kennedy, in her sights, and is determined to make them suffer for defying her. Hamstrung by the political atmosphere and no longer able to make an official move, Rapp is forced to go rogue and infiltrate a dangerous Mexican cartel who have been smuggling Halabi’s anthrax and operatives into the US. However, as Rapp moves closer to finding Halabi’s location and determining the nature of the bioweapon heading towards the states, he must deal with the fallout from Barnett’s political manoeuvring, which could end his life.
For the full review, click the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2019/11/21/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
July 10, 2021
A back-to-basics Rapp adventure. The politics are there, but little time is spent on the Kenedy character or her side of the plot. Everything is very Rapp focused. The American Assassin is back doing what he does best, and he gets most of the book for a change.
October 12, 2019
Messy
The tone and pacing changed drastically, almost as if the author stopped, then came back to it later. Unnecessarily complicated, 100 pages too long.
The tone and pacing changed drastically, almost as if the author stopped, then came back to it later. Unnecessarily complicated, 100 pages too long.
August 22, 2021
Another stellar Mitch Rapp installment! Could be taken from today’s headlines- art copying life. WOW! ELECTRIFYING!
October 20, 2020
I have mixed feelings about his book. I loved Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp and cast and feel Kyle Mills does not do the cast justice. The only feeling showed ever is hate. That is sad.
September 24, 2019
I was lucky, and thrilled, to be selected again as a Mitch Rapp Ambassador, which meant I was given the privilege to read the next installment in the Mitch Rapp saga, prior to the release date. To say that I was excited to read the new book, about one of the greatest characters in the thriller genre, is an understatement. I have been a HUGE Mitch Rapp fan since Vince Flynn introduced him to us in Transfer of Power. Vince, through 13 Mitch Rapp novels, elevated the thriller genre, and set the bar pretty high. After his untimely passing, Kyle Mills stepped in, and continued the series that has become a passion to many people. Mitch has continued to wreak havoc, against those who want to harm this Country, with Kyle at the keyboard for 5 books (this being the fifth). This one is probably his best outing yet. They have all been great, but this one is outstanding. What we got is a novel that reads like one of the original 13 that was written by Vince Flynn. Mitch is more badass, tougher and basically, Mitch. Very compelling and believable story that once started, was hard to put down. Lost some sleep on this one. Mr Mills, you found your own voice in the first four books, while honoring Vince’s style and characters. But in this one, you tapped into a dialect that has created a seamless portal into the past. Thank you from all of us Mitch Rapp fans for all you have done, and continue to do, to keep the series going. For the Mitch Rapp fans, you are gonna love this book. Great action and vintage Mitch. For those not initiated into the Mitch Rapp world, climb in, buckle up and be prepared for a kick ass ride.
October 27, 2019
When Clancy first had a female antagonist in a (almost) presidential position it was novel and fairly well done. And when Vince Flynn had some female government leaders as antagonists it wasn't novel but still believable.
With Kyle Mills treatment it is just misogynist and, frankly, sounds more like a Breitbart political screed, trying to scare the world that the apocalypse is coming because Hillary will allow free healthcare, than a realistic portrayal of American politics.
With Kyle Mills treatment it is just misogynist and, frankly, sounds more like a Breitbart political screed, trying to scare the world that the apocalypse is coming because Hillary will allow free healthcare, than a realistic portrayal of American politics.
October 1, 2019
Horrible,
The quality of the Mitch Rapp books have fallen off a cliff. Very disappointed in this author and the quality of the story line, characters, and lack of realism.
The quality of the Mitch Rapp books have fallen off a cliff. Very disappointed in this author and the quality of the story line, characters, and lack of realism.
October 9, 2019
It’s Mitch Rapp! Of course it gets five stars. 18th Rapp book and no let down. Kyle Mills has yet again faithfully continued Vince Flynn’s legacy.
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