Protect and Defend: A Thriller
by Vince Flynn
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Book Reviews of Protect and Defend: A Thriller
Book Review: Did not realize story's potential
Summary: 4 Stars
Flynn has a great story to tell. Iran's nuclear ambitions and its ultimate effect on the world--a military confrontation with the U.S.
Protect and Defend, the sequel to Act of Treason starts off at a fast pace. The plot revolves around Iran's nuclear facilities at Isfahan and Natanz. In the story, Natanz is a stalking horse, and the real uranium enrichment centrifuge facility is located in Isfahan. Good twist, since there is probably a hidden enrichment centrifuge facility somewhere in Iran. In the real world, the fictional nuclear reactor--a heavy water breeder reactor that produces plutonium--is actually located near Arak.
Someone has to take out the enrichment facility, but who? How? Ah, that is part of the plot. The solution is creative, but the choice of thermobaric explosives is questionable for technical reasons. None the less, the concept is doable if preformed linear shaped charges are used. Flynn does a great job describing the attack on the facility and the bomb damage assessment.
I especially enjoyed Flynn's development of the Iranian president's character, President Ahmadinejad, opps, I mean President Amatullah. The Supreme Leader's character is another story. Iran's Supreme Leader is depicted as a remote spiritual leader who stays above the day to day dirty work. Actually, the Islamic Republic of Iran has had two Supreme Leaders: Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (1979-1989) and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseinl Khamenei (1989- current). Neither resemble Flynn's Supreme Leader character.
Flynn includes several memorable antidotes. I especially loved the one about the King of Saudi Arabia having a hotel suite in Tehran redecorated for his short stay. Gotta spend those U.S. dollars somewhere.
Protect and Defend is a page turning thriller with lots of well written action scenes, but it could have been more. Flynn almost reaches Clancy's lofty perch as he develops the conflict between Iran and the U.S. Flynn does a masterful job of depicting how the Iranians don't understand the West, the power of the U.S., and make decisions based upon emotion and "Persian pride." Unlike Clancy, Flynn does not allow the conflict to occur.
At the last moment, the Supreme Leader and the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Najar, step in to avoid conflict, and the story is reduced to a vehicle for Mitch Rapp to do his macho thing with the terrorists. I have no problem with Rapp's interrogation methods, but there could have been much more to the story. I have listened to Vince Flynn on the Glenn Beck Show and found him to be very knowledgeable of the issues facing the West. Perhaps his publisher's PC police prevented Flynn from to telling a better story. For example, the comment on page 185, "Men who were frightened to read the entire Koran because they knew they would be confronted with the words of a prophet who would never condone their actions." This statement is at odds with the Qur'an and I suspect it was inserted by an editor or the PC police. Read Muhammad's last recitation, the ninth surah. Nothing peaceful there.
In my second novel, I chose to follow the formula Clancy used in The Bear and the Dragon (Jack Ryan), and allow the conflict to occur.
Book Review: If only Mitch Rapp existed
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sure that there are many of a particular political orientation who would be revulsed by Vince Flynn's heroic character Mitch Rapp.
Mitch Rapp, you see, is an real American. He recognizes that the United States is inherently good and that there are truly evil people in the world. Like the mythical heroes of the Old West, Mitch Rapp will not let himself be constrained by mere laws: he will do what he thinks is best to, well, protect and defend the United States of America and its people.
Rapp is not for the lily-livered, like those U. S. State Department Foreign Service employees, well-paid with incredible fringe benefits, who disregard their oath and will not voluntarily serve in Iraq.
Mitch Rapp is an intelligent guy who doesn't shrink from violence.
In this particular episode, an Iranian President has told the world of his nation's plans to develop nuclear resources and destroy Israel. He brings in a Hezbollah terrorist to assess the security of one of Iran's nuclear processing facilities. Through very clever means which I will not divulge here, the nuclear facility is destroyed and certain Iranians pledge retribution against the United States and Israel.
Mitch Rapp figures out what has happened and convinces the President not to pander to the wishy-washy Europeans and instead take an aggressive stance against the Iranians at the UN. Mitch Rapp - statesman. But fear not, for our American hero has already dispatched one bad guy early in the book and will kill many more before the last page.
CIA Director Irene Kennedy is dispatched to the MidEast to meet a high Iranian official. Disaster looms when Kennedy is kidnapped.
Knowing what happened years before when Hezbollah kidnapped a CIA station chief for a year before hanging him, Mitch is determined to rescue Kennedy no matter what.
Mitch never misses a beat as he decimates the bad guys as he works his way toward the big cahuna. And Vince Flynn never lets up on the tension. Flynn is, in my opinion, the best thriller writer in the business today. His characters are totally believable, his plotting just about perfect.
Anyone who cares about the United States will wish that Mitch Rapp was real. He pays no attention to the cowards and pencil-pushers, the time servers and political opportunists who populate Washington. Rapp doesn't care about the foolish laws that keep him from protecting the nation.
Nothing stops Mitch Rapp - and that's why "Protect And Defend" is a total page-turner. It's just a plain old-school American hero novel - and it is absolutely terriffic.
Jerry
Book Review: Vince Flynn is back on his game.
Summary: 4 Stars
After "Act of Treason," which I found disappointing, I was concerned that Vince Flynn's newest offering might also fall short of his earlier Mitch Rapp novels. Fortunately, Vince Flynn is back in the saddle and has delivered yet another good book - not up to his best efforts, but good nonetheless.
I just love Mitch Rapp. He's a terrific character unburdened by PC constraints. The remarkable thing about Mitch Rapp is that this outrageously un-PC protagonist was conceived BEFORE 9-11!! Mitch Rapp was killing Islamic terrorists in at least three books before 9-11. While most of us were contentedly sitting back and enjoying our lives oblivious to the extremes to which Islam and its adherents would eventually take us Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp was fighting the good fight. To say that Vince Flynn was prescient would be an understatement.
In Flynn's previous novel, "Act of Treason" there were a few loose ends that needed to be wrapped up. "Protect and Defend" begins with the simultaneous resolution of those loose ends as well the present day conundrum of what to do with the Iranian nuclear capability. Flynn's writing style is engaging as always and draws the reader rapidly into the story line. If you like Jack Bauer from "24" you will love Mitch Rapp.
In "Protect and Defend" the indomitable Mitch Rapp is enlisted by CIA director Irene Kennedy to investigate the destruction of Iran's nuclear production facility. The usual intrigue ensues and Kennedy and Rapp end up traveling to Iran to defuse a geopolitical crisis. Kennedy is abducted, and in Rapp's indomitable manner she is rescued. Rapp, as is usual, is willing to do anything to protect his country and those with whom his loyalties lie.
Again, absolutely no sop to PC aficionados in this book or from this character who Flynn has developed over several books. I guess you could argue that Flynn's books and Rapp are somewhat predictable, but I don't care one iota.
The book is a relatively short read and the story moves at a rapid pace from beginning to end. Due to its brevity, you kind of get the idea that Flynn is once again mining the Rapp franchise for all it is worth, but in this case the book manages to deliver. While not quite as good as his earliest efforts it is a good read.
Book Review: Rushed job on Protect and Defend
Summary: 1 Stars
I'll begin this review by stating that I've been a Vince Flynn reader since 'Term Limits' and have found his books range from simply 'good' to 'excellent.' But I must say that his latest work, 'Protect and Defend,' falls far short of anyone's reasonable expectations. First (and of least import), is the editing. Anyone who has written using a word processor knows how easy it is to leave out an article here and there, but this book appears to have been edited in forty-five minutes. Editing errors abound throughout, with an occasional 'wrong word' salted in for flavor (wrong words would be accidental misspellings that create real words which, in turn, are not detected by a spell checker). Additionally, Flynn's dealing with dialogue, especially within the first 200 pages, is simply terrible; I suspected that the author might have allowed his teenage daughter to write parts of it...it was just that awkward (e.g. Rapp, trying to be clever, refers to a couple of men as 'mongo' and 'loid'...get it?) And Flynn also tries to be 'hip' by having Rapp adapt the old 'Treasure of the Sierra Madres' line..."we don't need no stinkin' badges", which fails miserably. Dialogue between the Iranian villains is heavy-handed and unbelievable, totally destroying what little verisimilitude the passage still possessed. In one passage, he has an Iranian cleric in the middle of a meeting "staring off into space with a crazed smile on his face" while purportedly pondering the evil deeds afoot...just think about that one for a second, folks. Like I said...heavy-handed.
Will I stop reading Flynn? No. I thought several of his early books absolutely riveting; and, to give him his due, even in the woeful 'Protect and Defend', the last 150 pages or so did improve. But I will stop buying them on the day they're issued. I'll pick up a copy of his next book at the library; the waiting list will undoubtedly be much shorter.
Book Review: "The Good The Bad and The Ugly!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Isreal, Iran, USA, Hezbollah, Militia Groups and more...the real question to ask is..what could possibly go right??? Those of you whom have have red this novel might be reminded of the "Good The Bad and the Ugly." Mitch Rapp is back, and truly badder than ever. In Vince Flynn's arguably most realistic book yet, the furnace has been turned on, and war seems to be all but unavoidable.
After the Isrealies sabotage a known nuclear facility in Iran, Iran is hard pressed to blame both Israel and the States for the cause of the destruction. Bringing their claims in front of the UN, and demanding retrobution, the CIA goes on the hunt for the truth, with Rapp leading the way. After the Iranians sink one of their own ships and kidnap's someone very dear and close to Rapp, things are completely flipped over.
Protect and Defend is filled with many plausible and believable scenarios, that we just don't hear about. Whether you agree that war is just or not, try to put your opinions aside, and read this book for what it is. It is filled with very real people, put in howling situations, and all putting their lives on the line for something greater then them. "Act of Treason" left us off with some loose ends. Such as new administration, new players, and new plot plausibilities. Thankfully, Vince Flynn ties these up almost immediately, as we come to know what kind of "new" administration we have.
Compared to the other works of Vince Flynn, this one is the best written, quickest paced book to date. The story moves, tensions heat, and war is all but there. The only down side, which I felt, was that the book ended on a short note. I believe some excellent new characters were developed, that should've been taken into Rapp's next story, but all in all, solid work. Vince Flynn has set us up for future novels to come. You won't be disappointed in "Protect and Defend."