What We're
Reading
Vince Flynn,
Transfer
of
Power
 Reviewed
by
Maria
Kruger
Office
of
Career
Services
Much of
what
I
read
is
fiction by authors such
as Nora Roberts, James
Patterson, John Grisham
and, yes, Danielle Steele.
I also love biographies.
So I agonized over which
book to choose to review.
I
narrowed
it down to three choices.
One choice included James
Patterson’s Suzanne’s
Diary for Nicholas,
a complete opposite of
what he normally writes.
It was touching, hopeful
and had me so glued to
every page that I stayed
up all night to finish
reading it. Another choice
was the new biography
by Bob Schieffer titled This
Just In: What I Could
Not Tell You on TV about
his experiences in the
world of journalism.
Bob Schieffer is currently
well-known as the host
for Face The Nation on
CBS but has a long history
as one of America’s
most respected newspersons.
Instead, I chose to review
an author that has embarked
on a series of political
thrillers that have grabbed
my interest primarily
because of current world
events. Surprisingly,
I first read two from
the series before the
United States had entered
the War on Terror.
 The
author is Vince Flynn. He has written a political thriller
series, much like Tom Clancy’s work, with character
Jack Ryan. Instead of the Cold War, Flynn focuses on the Middle
East, specifically Iraq, and the connections with the United
States, the CIA and terrorists. The first book of the series
is titled Transfer
of Power and is a page-turning fictional account
of a terrorist takeover of the White House funded by Saddam
Hussein. I first read this book in 1999 and was fascinated
with the detailed information Flynn created on secret passageways
and the technological innovations created to ensure the safety
of the U.S. President. He also does an unbelievable job of
providing a great amount of technical information without
losing the reader. The primary character of Flynn’s
stories is a super agent named Mitch Rapp, code named "Iron
Man." Rapp is one of the CIA’s top counterterrorism
specialists and the head of a group known to a select few
as the Orion Team. The book follows Rapp through the political
bureaucracy, power struggles between Congress and the Executive
Branch, and the decision-making of covert operations. Much
of what Rapp must accomplish means saving the lives of several
hostages and the President before terrorists extricate him
from his new underground bunker. The mastermind of the White
House takeover is Rafique Aziz, a character well known to
Rapp. As he faces both the mental and physical challenge of
trying to outwit Aziz, Rapp must deal with his own values
of human life and making choices about when humanity supercedes
his job. The story moves quickly and keeps you guessing as
to what will happen next and how it will be resolved.
The subsequent books in the series follow each other by weeks
of time with regards to the storylines. Flynn provides enough
detail from the previous account to give you a historical
and contextual perspective for much of what happens throughout
Rapp’s missions. In addition, Flynn has included a romantic
element created in Transfer of Power that creates
an intriguing inner conflict between Rapp’s desire to
serve his country and his desire to leave the dangerous setting
of field operations to begin a family.
Following Transfer of Power comes The Third Option,
then Separation of Power, Executive Power, Memorial
Day, and the recent Consent to Kill. Separation
of Power is perhaps most relevant considering world events
because it focuses on both the plot to derail the confirmation
of the first woman to be named Director of the CIA and the
need to rid Saddam Hussein of nuclear weapons.
If you love suspenseful
books as I do, you will
not be disappointed with
this series, especially
the first one. Flynn
has developed strong
characters that engage
the reader and keep you
wanting more. He does
a great job of weaving
an intricate tale where
everything is not always
what it seems.
What
We're
Reading features
reviews
by
members
of
the
Southwestern
University
community.
Some
reviews
were
previously
published
in
the
Library's
annual Summer
Reading
List. Read
more reviews.
What
We're Reading is a regular
feature of the A.
Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center. |
