Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6874 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Synopsis
Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, is sent on what is designed to be his final mission: to eliminate a European industrialist who has been selling sensitive equipment to one of terrorism's most notorious sponsors. But he doesn't know that the ultimate target of this mission is himself. Set up by forces within the US who do not want the next Director-elect of the CIA to take over, and therefore need a disaster for the present regime, Mitch thwarts the operation by refusing to die ...The conspirators have made an awful miscalculation. They have enraged one of the most lethal and efficient killers the CIA has ever produced. Now they will pay.

Customer Reviews

Good Book But...
A while ago, a colleague loaned me a copy of 'Consent To Kill'. Having enjoyed that book, I decided to start reading all the Vince Flynn books in chronological order.

I really enjoyed 'Term Limits' and I thought 'Transfer Of Power' was better still. But I felt that in some parts 'The Third Option' didn't have the same pace as the earlier books.

What I did enjoy about this book was the way Flynn pulled together all the characters from the first two books. The main characters in Term Limits are Scott Coleman and Michael O'Rourke. Mitch Rapp doesn't appear in Term Limits, the first book he features in is Transfer Of Power.

Another reviewer critiscised the book for having too much unnecessary detail. I didn't think it was that bad. But having said that, there were some areas where Flynn makes reference to the previous novels, to explain Rapp's relationship with the other characters. For me these areas were a little bit too detailed. Sometimes I thought he came close to revealing some of the plot of the earlier novels.

Early on in the book, I found it a little convenient the way Mitch Rapp did half a job of keping his girlfriend Anna Riely safe. Ultimatley it leads to one of the better action sequences in the book, but I couldn't help thinking that it was avoidable.

I was a little bit dissapointed with the ending of the book as well. I just felt it was a little bit inconclusive. For me there was a bit of a loose end left. Maybe it will get resolved in one of the later books.

While Vince Flynn's books are stand alone, if you intend to read them all, I'd recommend reading them in chronological order. I take this view with most books which are part of a series. I just prefer to follow the life of the charcters in the correct sequence. Having already read 'Consent To Kill' which is book number seven, there are things I know now, which I'd prefer not to know until after I'd read the first six books.

almost an excellent follow-up
As with most other readers, I expect, I had previously read the earlier novels featuring the new super-hero Mitchell Rapp, so I was looking forward to this one. Slightly disappointed. It's a good story and it's well written and it does stand alone for those not having read 'Transfer of Power'. But, for me, there were rather too many pages with unnecessary detail, as though all thriller writers have to achieve 500 pages regardless.
The book, too, brings into focus quite a number of other characters who seem rather stupid, given half the world knows what Rapp does for a living. Rapp features in only about half the book. I think this slows down the action, though I hope that the next story is able to move on at a faster pace now that all this is out of the way.

Make sure you have time to set aside!
Make sure you have time set aside to read this because once started you will not want to put it down.

I was always a great fan of Tom Clancy but reading Vince Flynn's work to-date has changed my definition of a book that I just can't put down. Along with Patrick Robinson, Vince Flynn has been my favourite author of the past twelve months and I trust he will keep his brain cells busy to come up with more like this one.

Tom Clancy writes some great stuff but occassionally can get a bit bogged down with technical details whereas the flow of Vince Flynn's work is fast and furious throughout without losing a sense that the events that unfold could really happen.

You needn't have read his previous works Term Limits & Transfer of Power as this a great read in its own right but I loved the way this book brought strands together from both of these books which previously were almost entirely independent. By the end of the book I wanted more and was glad to see that the follow up to this, Balance of Power, had been released in hardback which I ordered immediately. This is also a cracking read!

My only slight criticism as a reader of the previous books and this applies to his latest one as well, is the slight repetition of background information which I found slightly tedious. However, I can fully forgive Mr Flynn as he has done this to enable to the books to be read by first timers and this is a great advantage to them.

Reading both The Third Option and Balance of Power in a week left me very tired from staying up late reading but more of the same from Vince Flynn is definitely in order!