Probably closer to a 2.5. So, yeah, I started with the 5th book in the series because it was the one I happened to have on my shelf. Maybe if I started at the beginning I'd feel different, but I didn't, so I don't. Yes, redundancy is fun. Anyway, we have a super spy assassin type guy who for the first half of the book runs around talking about his feelings and generally not doing much at all. Actually, for at least the first half of the book no one does much of anything. A lot of taking and politics and crap I don't care about. I thought this was a spy novel with a great leading character in the vein of Jack Reacher, or John Corey, etc, not only does Mitch Rapp not stack up to either of those guys, or any other of my favorite characters, but the authors style of writing doesn't compare to others either. This book almost felt like a chore to get through. Every characters every move and every thought is explained in painstaking detail, which is completely unnecessary and almost makes reading the book feel like a chore. ( )

This was a reread ....

It was better the second time around, as this book is pretty much a continuation from the previous in the series .....

---- first review below ---
First in the Mitch Rapp series I have read - not as much action as expected, but still good. A little heavy on the politics. Maybe if I had started at book 1, this would have been better, but, like I say, still a great story.

( )

Cool!
Mitch might be the best bad-ass out there. ( )

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Title: Separation of Power
Series: Mitch Rapp #3
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 378
Words: 133.5K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

About a month after the events in the previous book, CIA Director Thomas Stansfield has succumbed to cancer and has chosen Dr. Irene Kennedy, The director of the CIA's counterterrorism center, to take his place as director. Meanwhile, Henry "Hank" Clark, a corrupt Republican senator and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is making plans to prevent Kennedy from becoming the director of the CIA. His plan involves embarrassing her before she can be confirmed for the position, and handpick a new director and have them open up "ECHELON", a global surveillance program, and give its secrets to his investors in Silicon Valley, who will then help him get elected to become president. His original plan to kill Rapp and embarrass the CIA failed, so he begins the process of his new plan.

Mitch Rapp is called in to visit Kennedy to talk about Peter Cameron, the CIA officer who attempted to have him killed in Germany, but was killed by an assassin before Rapp could capture him. He and Kennedy watch surveillance footage that captured the face of the assassin. Rapp realizes that the assassin is Donatella Rahn, an Israeli assassin and Rapp's ex-girlfriend. Kennedy instructs him to take his girlfriend, Anna Rielley, to Milan and propose to her, and then go visit Donatella to learn who hired her to kill Peter Cameron. Meanwhile, Clark visits his accomplice, Mossad director Ben Freidman at the Israeli Embassy, who has been helping him become president in exchange for more aid to Israel. At the meeting, Clark orders Ben to assassinate Donatella, who he hired to kill Peter.

Later that day, Ben visits President Xavier Hayes, Kennedy, and General Flood, the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of staff, at the White House. It is there he informs them that Saddam Hussein, with the help of North Korea, is only a few weeks away from acquiring three functioning nuclear weapons. He also informs them that the facility for making these weapons is hidden under a massive hospital in Baghdad, and that if the Americans won't take action, than they will do it themselves. Seeing as how an Israeli response could lead to nuclear war, The President and his team start to come up with ways to destroy the facility and the nukes.

At the same time, Mitch and Anna arrive in Milan, and after a day of touring the city, Rapp goes to visit Donatella. In Washington, Clark persuades his accomplice, Albert Rudin, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to investigate Kennedy for corruption and promises him evidence before her confirmation ceremony. In Milan, Rapp can't get Donatella to tell him who hired her, but realizes they are being followed. When they arrive at her apartment, Donatella is ambushed by awaiting Mossad operatives, but manages to kill them thanks to Rapp's warning. After Rapp promises her protection in America, Donatella confesses that Ben had hired her to kill Peter. Rapp brings Donatella to he and Anna's hotel room, where she accuses Rapp of having an affair,and she storms off before he can explain.

In Washington, D.C., General Flood concocts a plan to insert a Delta Force team into Baghdad, disguised as a presidential motorcade, and infiltrate the facility under the cover of a U.S bombing campaign across Iraq in order to steal the nukes. But Kennedy strongly recommends Rapp to lead the operation. Elsewhere in Washington, Jonathan Brown, deputy director of the CIA, meets with Norb Steveken, the head of an investigative firm hired by hank and Rudin to investigate Kennedy. Brown hands off classified information on Orion Team, a secret counterterrorism team led by Kennedy, who Rapp is a member of. Rapp returns to America and is read in on the plan to infiltrate Baghdad. He agrees to the mission and comes up with the idea of impersonating Uday Hussein, Saddam's favorite son, in order to gain access to the facility. As they prepare for the mission, Rudin reveals the existence of Mitch Rapp and the Orion Team on Meet The press and implicates Kennedy of violating international law, throwing the confirmation process into chaos.

President Hayes orders the bombing campaign against Iraq, which helps Rapp and the Delta team to successfully enters Baghdad. Rapp and the Delta team, disguised as SRG soldiers, are able to enter the facility and steal the nukes. As they fend off enemy fire, they destroy the facility, kidnap the head North Korean scientist, and escape Iraq with the nukes. After they return to the U.S safely, President Hayes reveals the success of the operation and confirms Rapp's existence by explaining Rapp's action in Iraq. Rapp returns to his home and apologizes to Anna, and after he does this, he retires from his role as an assassin and proposes to her. His plan having failed due to the fact Kennedy is looked at as a hero, Clark kills Rudin by pushing him off his balcony, making it look like a suicide.

When the Israeli prime minister comes to Washington with Ben Freidman and Yasser Arafat, Rapp and the president interrogate Ben and threaten to kill him. As a result of this, Ben reveals Clarks role in the week's events. Several weeks after this, Clark is killed by Rapp and Donatella at a bar in D.C, making it look like an apparent heart attack.

My Thoughts:

This was a good wrapup to the initial Mitch Rapp trilogy. Senator Clark (what's with bad senators? They make horrible presidents and should know better than to try to be president. A senator is a pack group animal, while a president is a lone wolf with the decisions resting squarely on his shoulders) and his plans to discredit the current administration no matter the cost fails and in the end Rapp takes care of him. Permanently. It was satisfying to read.

The thing that I enjoyed that I didn't think I would was the relational drama between Rapp and his girlfriend. She's a big time reporter and has to stick her nose into everything and Rapp is beyond secretive about everything on general principle. It comes to a head here and they have a stormy stomp off the stage I'm not going to marry you scene. I really liked how the author brought these conflicting personality types and responsibilities against each other. They are real issues these 2 are going to have to deal with if they want their marriage to last. What I didn't like was how feelingz and wuv, true wuv overcame all in the end as they get engaged. What these 2 characters need is some serious marriage counseling, as their life paths are going to continue to clash if they can't figure out how to make it work. I wanted to shake both of them by the scruff of their necks and tell them to go to Pastor Peckham. Here's to hoping the author uses this dustup to make them examine the issues in their lives and not just as fodder. * fingers crossed *

If the series had ended right here, I would have been satisfied. However, I am very glad that the adventures continue. I need some macho man reading without asshattery arrogance and Mitch Rapp fits the bill perfectly.

There is a movie called American Assassin but it appears to be based on book 10 or 11 of the series, so I'm not even tempted to watch it yet. Who know what kind of spoilers, and probably WRONG spoilers to boot, it contains? I'll wait til I've read the book and then see if my library or Prime has it.

★★★✬☆ ( )

This was MUCH better than the previous book. The story here starts almost immediately after the end of The Third Option, and really could be considered Part 2 of that book. This one is more action-packed and has much more Mitch in it.

And I really, really dislike Anna. ( )