The Third Option

Rating:
Summary: The beginning of a major storyline
Review: In THE THIRD OPTION, Vince Flynn brings back his character of Mitch Rapp, whom he made famous in TRANSFER OF POWER. In this novel, Rapp is sent to assassinate a German citizen by order of the President of the United States. It is a top-secret mission for which the President will have total deniability should be Mitch be exposed to the situation. Things do not go quite as plan and Mitch manages to escape from Germany without being caught.

Flynn exposes a Washington conspiracy in which certain individuals want to embarrass the President as well as the CIA. The head of the CIA is dying of cancer and the Senate and the House of Representatives are discrediting his chosen successor. The action in this book is taut and suspenseful. I enjoyed it.

The author brings backs characters from his previous works and have them play important roles in the novel. He is preparing them up for the continuation of the storyline, which I assume will be reflected in SEPARATION OF POWER. This story does have a self-contained beginning and end, but some readers might not like that the main villain does not get his comeuppance. I think it is important just to meet the character, see what he is capable off and hope that he gets his 'just desserts' in the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Five Full Stars
Review: Mitch Rapp is back in the Third Option along with Anna, the girl he fell in love with in "Transfer of Power." He is sent on a mission to assignate an German industrialist who is selling nuclear weapons to international terrorists. He is planning to make this his last mission when he realizes he has been set up and nearly killed by those supposedly helping him with the hit. The suspense is intense as he returns to the United States and makes his way to Dr. Irene Kennedy and Thomas Stansfield to find out if they have betrayed him. Stansfield, the director of the CIA is dying of cancer and has arranged for Dr. Kennedy to be named his successor. She is an unpopular choice and there are conspiracies within the conspiracies as her enemies attempt to discredit her. None of the id's are foolproof and Mitch works along with his old friend and colleague Scott Coleman to find the answers. Vince Flynn prepares the way for another book in the end as one of the really bad guys...a master manipulator... outsmarts the others. Mitch Rapp will be back and it can't be soon enough. This was a great read.

Rating:
Summary: this isn't his best work
Review: ok I accidently read this after Executive Decision so I already knew the ending but I think this books sequal was much better. Flynn is a great author though and if you have read this book by him only you owe it to yourself to read the others they are much better. I would recomend this book but you can skip it and just read Executive Decission

Rating:
Summary: No Options Here - Just Keep Reading
Review: Oh, how we yearn these days to believe that our CIA has such people working for it as Mitch Rapp, a member of the Orion Team who has become a legend within The Agency. Code named Ironman, it looks as though Rapp has ended his service to our country, when after taking out a German industrialist who was aiding Sadaam Hussein to build weapons of mass destruction, his partner in the hit, turns her gun on Rapp and fires two bullets into his chest at point blank range.

Through the miracle of Kevlar, Rapp survives (although few others do) and spends the rest of the book trying to figure out who wanted him dead and why.

Deftly written, Flynn makes his characters very believeable and the scenarios they encounter more than plausable. His use of dialogue, something I admire in any gifted writer, is excellent and you are drawn through the pages at a pace which does damage to your sleep time, but which leaves you looking forward to the knowledge that there is a sequel to this book, Separation of Power, waiting in your "books to be read pile." I discovered the author Jan Karon, after she had written five of her books in the Mitford series and had the luxury of reading them seriatum. I am equally fortunate with Mr. Flynn and only hope that his imagination and his energy level remain high, so that he can keep drawing us through his world of danger, espionage and intrigue.

Rating:
Summary: Mmm¿ Are you sure you wanna read this?
Review: I got this book after reading "transfer of power" by the same author. What a disappointment. Skip this one, there are much better examples of the genre out there.

Rating:
Summary: Mid Series
Review: Not having read any of these before, this entry feels just like beginning a movie an hour into it. Passable action but does not really stand alone.

Rating:
Summary: this book has negatives and positives
Review: From the beggining you are enticed into a growing plot with "IRON MAN". Another book with a supposedly "normal" himan being .If this book is so realistic as some would say.Then why is he perfect, at least give him some sort of defect Mr. Flynn. There is no human alive with such mind boggling talents. I was expecting him to possess at least one defect.

This book was to fantasy for my taste. If you like SCI-Fi fantasy political thrillers it would be your book. This book was to my satifaction addicting. It did not possess brilliant writing or a realistic plot. Lacking so much you must think why im giving it a 3 on 5. I gave it 3 stars because he wrote the book so you could relate to rapp's pursuit of the people who wrongly acused him. In my mind the ending just made the mediocre novel worse. I did not pay for no ending. Some would say greed is the right term for such madness. Others would say it was a cliff hanger. I did not pay money so I could read a cliff hanger novel. I hope this review informed the people of the world.

Rating:
Summary: A terrible letdown
Review: Although many characters are stereotypes, plot and pacing got me hooked...until the end, which is a non-end. I was shocked that major issues were not resolved. For instance, we know the Bad Guy, but there's no intimation of whether or how he gets his comeuppance. I felt like writing the author and saying, "If it's not too much trouble -- and doesn't cost anything extra --would you mind mailing me the ending of the story?" Can't remember being treated this way by an author -- or being so disappointed in a promising story that starts with a bang and ends in a Black Hole.

Rating:
Summary: Better than average
Review: I've read all five of Mr. Flynn's books, and would rate this one as fourth on the list, but it's still a great read - Flynn is a great suspense / action writer. Even the fifth on my list of his five, which happens to be his most recent novel, is a really good read.

Much of what I would say about this book and the Mitch Rapp character has been covered by other reviewers, but I must add this: do NOT read "Separation of Power" before this one. "Separation of Power" is somewhat better than this book, but is clearly "part two." This is "part one" of a "to be continued" - it stands up well om its own, but if you read "Separation of Power" before this one, you'll kick yourself for weeks.

If you want to know whether this book and "Separation of Power" are worth your while, just pick up Flynn's second novel, "Transfer of Power." You'll likely be hooked very quickly. After "Transfer of Power," don't forget the required order - read this book and then "Separation of Power."

Rating:
Summary: Great storyline.
Review: The "Third Option" refers to the options of fighting terrorism. The first: diplomacy. The second: war. The third option: targeted assasinations.

In this novel, Mitch Rapp is part of an operation to assassinate a wealthy German who has been providing aid to Saddam Hussein. During the assassination, his two co-assassins turn on him, and leave him for dead at the scene (of course, he survives).

The rest of the book is Rapp's search to find out who was behind double-crossing him, and why.

This is the third book of Flynn's I have read. The others I don't think it's necessarily an issue if you read them "out of order," but in this case, I think you need to have read the others to really understand what's going on here. The order is thus: Term Limits, Transfer of Power, The Third Option, Separation of Power.

As in his other books, the only complaints I really have about this book is the totally unnecessary vulgar language, and also the way he seems to end the book too abruptly. I won't spoil the story for other readers, but at the end of the book there is still a BIG loose end yet to be tied up. Maybe it'll happen in the next in the "series. . ."

This book was hard for me to put down. Lots of action, and accurate (as far as I know!) in its details.