Rating: 
Summary: The usual Vince Flynn high standard.
Review: Vince Flynn's "Executive Power" could easily become the lead story on tomorrow's news. This tale is prescient in its take on the tangled politics of today's Middle East, terrorism and counter-terrorism. The CIA's most efficient field agent (assassin) Mitch Rapp has been called in from the cold and is supposed to become a desk jockey. Situations change, and Mitch takes hands on leadership of a SEAL op to rescue an American family taken hostage in the Philippines by radical Islamic terrorists. The first attempt was blown by leaks traced to the State Department and the Filipino embassy. In a parallel plot we follow Palestinian assassin, David's, crafty strategy to eliminate the heads of numerous Islamic terrorist organizations, the Saudi Ambassador to the U.N. and a Palestinian Ambassador...to throw the blame on the Israelis in order to establish sympathy for establishment of a Palestine state. David and Rapp's paths eventually converge and collide. Mitch is resolute, ruthless, self-assured, indifferent to politics, interested only in getting the mission accomplished. He is fully supported his boss (a strong CIA head) and a heroic POTUS. Rapp's inability to suffer the methodical bureaucrats gets the job done...forget PC. An incredibly accurate portrayal of the politics of retribution filled with intense suspense. A political thriller on the cutting edge that you will be unable to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful -- 4 - 1/2 stars
Review: With Executive Power, Vince Flynn presents his readers with another very strong effort. Picking up where Separation of Power left off, Mitch Rapp and Dr. Irene Kennedy are back, along with the other characters from his previous three books, in a very compelling political thriller. Rapp has recently returned from his honeymoon, only to be thrust into another perilous situation - much to the dismay of his new bride. Terrorism, Middle East turmoil and the Palestine question are at the center of the story. As is his trademark, Flynn grabs the ready early, sets the hook and does not let go. Executive Power is another fast-paced page-turner, filled with plenty of action, suspense, and geopolitical intrigue. If you are a fan of Flynn's previous works, you will not be disappointed with the latest effort.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER HIT
Review: THIS IS ONE GREAT BOOK. NOT AS GOOD AS THE OTHERS BUT STILL A GREAT READ. DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE OTHERS WHO SAY IT WAS ALL BAD, MAYBE THEY HAD A BAD DAY. I DO RECOMEND THIS BOOK.
Rating: 
Summary: Wake Me When It Gets Good....
Review: The problem with thrillers these days is that so many are dreadfully formulaic. Superman type hero, crazy assassin killer, throw in some geo-politics and international locales, and you have your modern thriller. A few authors today know how to buck this conventional trend, and Vince Flynn used to be one of them. Term Limits, his first novel, was an extremely exciting and unique book with a really engaging storyline. His next couple of efforts were also top notch, as they introduced the character of CIA operative Mitch Rapp, who brought along quite the colorful assortment of enemies. The publishers were pushing Flynn as a Daniel Silva type superstar, and I waited with much anticipation for the further adventures of Mr. Rapp. All for naught. Instead of another intriguing addition to the saga of Rapp, Executive Power is a barely readable bore of a book. With this tome, we find Mitch Rapp as a horribly conventional type of CIA officer. Fresh off his daring exploits in Iraq, Rapp is a now a nationally recognized celebrity. Even worse than that, Rapp has gotten married, a plot point that annoys the reader to no end. Agent Rapp, or "Ironman", was a great character because of his loner personality and his deadly ferocity. Now we find him cooking pasta for his returning wife. Of course, Flynn finds some exciting things for his domesticated hit man to do, but it is just not the same. Well, I thought, maybe the storyline can carry the new characterization of Rapp. Failure again. Two story arcs struggle throughout the 377-page work, searching for some kind of synchronization and sophistication, but they never even get close. The minor arch deals with fighting terrorists in the Philippines, a story which never even peaked any excitement from this eager reader. It seems like Flynn got bored with that tale, and moved on to one concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The villain in this one is the mysterious Palestinian terrorist known as David (ironic, huh?). David has some kind of amazing plan that he only hints at at first, and by the time it is revealed in all its illogical glory, the reader barely cares anymore. Never mind the fact that the story and the plan make little sense, it is just lackluster writing anyway. This book has a lot of problems. The first is that Middle Eastern thrillers these days have to rise above a certain threshold of believability these days, and Executive Power fails to even approach it. Even an amateur student of current events should recognize the flaws in a lot of the plot "twists". The characters are a very tedious bunch, with Rapp's new wife leading the pack of wearisome cutouts. She is the hip network reporter who will not stand for her husband's lies and wants the scoop on everything he does. How original. The President's chief of staff is a conniving operative who will sell out her country in order to protect her career. Come on Vince, now you are just copying yourself. We have the mysterious assassin/terrorist, and his drunken billionaire Saudi sponsor. Little insight into the motives or background of any of these characters is given, and the reader could care less how they end up. The dialogue throughout the story is uninspired at best, cringe worthy at worst. Mr. and Mrs. Rapp deliver some of the most ludicrous pillow talk I have ever heard. The book has a few attributes. Try as he might, Flynn just cannot seem to make Rapp boring. Nothing like a deadly CIA assassin with a 9mm Beretta pistol to get a thriller aficionados blood pumping. The actions and exploits of the Navy SEAL team are also fairly stimulating. However, the reader just gets the constant feeling that Flynn is just going through some motions, trying to make his characters and the dreadful world they inhabit matter in our eyes. It is a shame, because Mr. Flynn seems to be, from his other novels, a promising young author. Hopefully he can recover in his next book, after Rapp gets a divorce, of course.
Rating:
Summary: no-brainer
Review: This book was kind of fun, but only when I kept my brain switched off. Clunky writing and shallow characters are expected in a genre book like this, but there were two points that really didn't work for me. First, the Phillipines and Palestinian plots were totally unrelated. Almost as if he took two incomplete book outlines and shoved them together to make deadline. Lazy lazy lazy. The worst for me was the alternating self-righteousness of the main character about thoughtless Washinton bureaucrats who thought they were above the rules and are therefore bad, as compared with the self-righteousness of the main character about his own definition of his own rules to govern his own actions which must be good. It's ok for him to reveal details about his operations to his wife, for instance.
Rating:
Summary: Relentless pacing with nonstop action
Review: The hero of this superb series of political thrillers, CIA agent Mitch Rapp, has two problems to deal with. First of all, an American family is being held hostage by rebels in the Philippines. The Philippine government appears unable or unwilling to help. After a Navy SEALs team is ambushed while attempting the rescue, Rapp decides to attempt the rescue while exacting revenge on those who are responsible for the leak causing the ambush.
The second problem concerns a Palestinian assassin attempting to force Israeli concessions for a rapid peace by taking out top Arab leaders while making it look like the Israelis are involved. The question is: who is the assassin and who is he working for? The result of his actions might lead to war.
What sets Vince Flynn's thrillers apart from most others is the timeliness of the topics and the realistic and plausible settings. There is little doubt that any of these events could occur in the very near future. Rapp is an ideal thriller super hero, yet, he appears more human than most. As with all of Vince Flynn's thrillers, the pacing is relentless, the action nonstop and the length perfect for entertainment on a long flight or an afternoon at the beach. All his books are highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: an enjoying read -- just don't question. :)
Review: a surprisingly good effort from flynn (All Is Relative, of course). he still can't correctly use semi-colons to save his life (to him, they're synonymous with commas), and sometimes it's painfully obvious when he rediscovers a "big" word: "vaunted" will appear twice in two pages and then never reappear in the book. but mitch rapp and irene kennedy are always good for a thriller, and add a mitch-like palestinian assassin named david/jabril, some corrupt members of the house of saud, an abu sayyaf hostage situation in the phillipines, and you've got a good yarn going. unlike flynn's previous efforts, this novel didn't flag and fold before the denouement. flynn seems to be improving??
Rating:
Summary: Mitch Rapp struggles with career and marriage, and succeeds.
Review: Mitch Rapp, a CIA SuperAgent is entering a new phase on his personal life and his career. Previously he was a secret assassin, and had just thwarted an attempt by Iraq to procure nuclear weapons. In "Executive Power", we find that Rapp's exploits have been (partially) leaked to the press. Now he must deal with being a well known entity as well adjust to life as husband to Anna Reilly, a national news reporter based in Washington DC.
Despite promising Anna to give up his high risk career, Rapp quickly involves himself in a hostage rescue of an American family that has been kidnapped and is being held in the Philippines by terrorists. He sustains an injury which infuriates his new bride, and requires the intervention of his boss, CIA Director Irene Kennedy, in order to placate his wife's sullen mood. But Rapp is soon deeply involved in tracking another mystery involving Middle-East terrorists, Israeli strongmen, and a hedonistic Saudi Prince. Before long Rapp is advising the highest levels of our government, including the Executive Branch. As a complex plot of the Palestinian and Israeli power struggle reaches a climax, Rapp is soon exercising his power to carry out lethal justice in order to restore some sense of peace in a turmoil filled world.
This is Flynn's 5th novel with Mitch Rapp. I appreciate Rapp's steely resolve, and the gradual character development - now involving marriage to a liberal news reporter. I also like Flynn's realistic presentation of how the world really works - behind the scenes. But in "Executive Power" the final story line wraps up rather quickly. And the reader may feel overly immersed in the Palestinian/Isralei conflict, which is so vividly reported on in the real world. Also, the reader may be left wondering if Rapp is still an unflappable assassin trying to right some of the world's wrongs, or just a politically expendable killer that is having a hard time putting his gun down. I prefer to believe the former. I'm already looking forward to Flynn's next installment in this series.
Rating:
Summary: TOTALLY HOOKED ON VINCE FLYNN!
Review: This was the first book I bought by Vince Flynn...I was bit reluctant and after reading a 100 pages the day I bought it I was hooked. The characters are so real its scary. Mitch Rapp is without a doubt the best character I have ever read about and the detail about weapons, espionage, and the training is so real that I have bought every other book with this character. Its not fun reading the books backwards but each one is more enlightening...I can't wait for the next one...I only have one more left to read...
Rating:
Summary: Page turner that disappoints only at the end
Review: A friend gave me EXECUTIVE POWER, a political thriller
by Vince Flynn . . . he said it was a real page turner, and
though I'm not a big fan of books about CIA superagents
(in this case, a character named Mitch Rapp), I decided
to give it a try. I'm glad I did, too . . . I quickly became interested in
Rapp's character, particularly because he had a human
side to him . . . he even gets married, and some of the
troubles that this causes him actually had me
chucking . . . such as: how do you explain a bullet
wound to your bum when you've supposedly been on
the sidelines directing a rescue attempt? My only disappointment was in the way that the other
major character, an unknown assassin, gets written out of the
story toward the very end . . . nice guy that I am, I won't mention
how . . . yet when that happened, I somewhat lost interest . . . the
ending also left something to be desired, in that it attempted to
bring together several subplots in too abrupt a fashion.
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