Kill Shot (original 2012; edition 2012)

Another awesome Mitch Rapp novel.

Whilst compared to the genre of thrillers/spy thrillers this book is excellent, however compared to the likes of The Third Option & Transfer of Power the book is a little lacking. ( )

Just when I thought all Vince Flynn books were great, I read Kill Shot. This book was OK, nowhere near as great as the other two books I'd read. A sluggish plot that didn't pull me in. ( )

Book 12, in the Mitch Rapp series

This is yet another thriller that is very exciting and captivating in which the pages seem to turn themselves. This is the second novel “The American Assassin” was the first to revisit Mitch Rapp’s time in the CIA and his early years when he branched out on his own and became a drifter enforcing his own code of justice helping others who have been shorthanded by the legal system.

For months, Mitch has been avenging the death of his girlfriend in the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing. He has been steadily working his way through a list of people eliminating one by one those responsible for the slaughter of 270 innocent civilians. Mitch’s latest target is a Libyan diplomat currently staying in a posh hotel room in Paris. His plan is simple eliminate the man while he is asleep but all hell breaks loose when others kick open the door and catch him red handed and the hunter becomes the hunted fighting for his own survival.

French authorities are quickly put on high alert when they discover innocent people and a high ranking Oil Minister have been killed on their soil with the world watching.

With this unexpected nasty turn of events and fingers pointing at Mitch, he soon discovers there is a traitor behind the lines and the CIA quickly cuts any ties with him in an attempt to distance themselves from the botch mission. Out in the cold and not knowing who he can trust Mitch’s training goes into high gear. Alert and staying one step ahead becomes his only means of survival.

If you like thrillers that are fast moving with crisp writing and decent prose and plenty of intriguing characters, “Kill Shot” has it all. It is filled with captivating espionage and the best double dealing a spy world novel can deliver. Mr. Flynn has a knack of setting a scene and immersing his readers in the middle of the action while he expertly explains and dissects all the fast moving events around them.

I like this series, every one of the tales has given me many hours of reading pleasure. ( )

It was an okay book. The action scenes are fantastic. Didn't get much into the Rapp psychology which is too bad. The back story on Victor was kind of cool. All that said, I think an editor could have challenged some of the story lines a bit more. ( )

After being excited about “American Assassin,” (I gave it four stars), I was looking forward to reading the next story in the prequel series of Mitch Rapp’s career. Unfortunately, “Kill Shot” wasn’t as good as its predecessor—nor as good as the originals.

“Kill Shot” didn’t have a lot of action, wasn’t very suspenseful, and contained few surprises. Yes, Vince Flynn still impresses with his knowledge of spycraft, but at this point we’re pretty used to that. And of course this one suffers from the same thing “American Assassin”—and any prequel—does. That is, a knowledge that the recurring character is in no danger of death. What can make a prequel work, however, is character development. Here, we get little of it. It’s just a story of a job Rapp was to take care of that goes wrong. Sure, there' s a beautiful girl involved. But all guys like beautiful women, so really, is that character development?

Rapp’s got a hit list and in this book, he’s to take out the Libyan oil minister. He does this, but rather rudely finds out there are others there too—and they’re there to take Rapp out. So Rapp’s not sure how he got sold out and suspects anyone and everyone from Kennedy, to Stansfield, to Hurley, to Hurley’s bulldog of an agent Victor. The bulk of the book is Rapp trying to figure out who’s after him. Meanwhile, we find out others at Langley are trying to work their way up the ladder in a rather treasonous way.

There is obviously at least one more book in the prequel series but I’m not holding out much hope it’ll be good. At this point, it’s basically going to be a revenge-type sequel. Been there, done that. I think Flynn needs to take a break from Rapp and find another character to create. Don’t misunderstand; Flynn’s great at what he does. But the Rapp character has played out—actually quite some time ago. I think Flynn was hoping to discover more about Rapp by going back in time, but it’s not worked out very well here.

I also feel I need to comment on the fact that we’re not really told when the events of the book are occurring. While I understand this book takes place not long after the events of “American Assassin,” I also know I can’t remember specifics a year after reading a book. It’s obviously pre-9/11, but new readers might not know this—especially if they’ve not read “American Assassin.” Giving the reader some clues on the year would have been helpful not only from a geopolitical perspective but from a technological one as well. ( )