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He has specific goals in mind and he does not intend to blow himself up along with his hostages unless the U.S. Those just discovering the Mitch Rapp series are likely to find the earliest novels in the series (this one was published in 1999) to be even more poignant than those who read them prior to the murders of September 11, 2001. Sherman Baxter is the worst kind of politician, a weak-willed, almost cowardly man with an intense desire to be President of the United States. Although President Robert Hayes makes it to the relative safety of his basement security bunker, he is, in effect, trapped inside the building along with at least 80 other hostages.
If the President and other hostages are to be rescued, it will have to happen without the knowledge or cooperation of the Vice President. The country can only watch in horror as Aziz executes a man and a woman on live television and promises to kill one additional hostage each hour until his demands are met by the United States government. Rafique Aziz is no ordinary terrorist. "Transfer of Power," Vince Flynn's second novel, introduces Mitch Rapp, the CIA counterterrorist who has since been the main character in another nine Flynn thrillers. "Transfer of Power" is a good political thriller and Vince Flynn successfully increases the reader's tension as the book draws nearer and nearer its exciting conclusion. And in the person of Vice President Sherman Baxter, now acting President, Aziz has just the man in place to make it all work out just as he planned it.
He wants to appear strong but he is afraid to make any kind of mistake because he realizes that his handling of the hostage standoff will very likely make or break his political career. Much to the disgust of the Pentagon, FBI and CIA, Baxter is more willing to listen to advice from his amoral chief-of-staff than he is to what his counterterrorist experts tell him.
The action does stall on occasion, however, because of the excessive amount of technical detail Flynn includes about weaponry and the like, detail that, though it may add authenticity to the storyline, will be meaningless (or even boring) to most readers. New readers will also notice how Flynn's style has changed over the years as he, thankfully, lost most of his "Tom Clancy style" and streamlined his novels into even better thrillers.The White House is under the control of a small band of Arab terrorists led by the notorious Rafique Aziz.
Vice President Baxter agrees to allow Mitch Rapp, an "off the books" CIA counterterrorism operative, to sneak into the White House but, when Rapp reports that the White House will have to be taken back by force, and soon, the Vice President refuses to give the order to do so. military attempts to retake the White House by force.
Aziz understands that most ordinary Americans, and some inside the government, have no stomach for witnessing the systematic slaughter of another 80 hostages, and he counts on the media to apply so much pressure on the government to negotiate that all of his demands will be met. Rapp, along with a civilian volunteer and a female hostage he manages to snatch from her captors, negotiates his way through secret passages, tunnels and hidden rooms inside the White House gathering the intelligence needed by those planning the President's rescue.
Despite this handicap, something the later Mitch Rapp books do not suffer as much from, "Transfer of Power" is a satisfying thriller that clearly displays the promise of a decade-younger Vince Flynn.
I picked up this book on the vacation from hell. Trust me. I even got my 88 year old father, who has NEVER read a book, into this series.
I found this book in the ship's library and it saved my sanity. But Transfer of Power was the best of the series so far. Stuck on a small boat after a death, there was no escape.
Everyone I have recommended it to has loved it and continued on with the other Rapp books. I could not put it down. It was exciting, interesting, compelling reading.
Really fantastic. :-)
Transfer of Power is a great read, the pacing and the way all the events wrap up into a climactic end shows off the authors talent. If you like Brad Thor, Clancy, or A.J. Tata, you will enjoy this book. You know a book is good when you refuse to put it down so you can finish just "one more chapter".
The only thing I can say about this book is. I think I enjoy Vince's books so much because I really hope that we have guys like Mitch Rapp working deep-deep-deep undercover to keep American unmolested from the pathetic lowlifes who want to see us dead. This man has been called every synonym for "thriller" there is, so I won't bore you with adding to it. Once again, I was in one of my "this happens way too often book funks" when I decided to read this one by Mr. Mitch is the man and Vince is the man behind the man. the story hums along like the Concord.Mitch Rapp again brings his special brand of terrorist-killing and USA-protecting, while dancing around the idiot politicians who want to do EVERYTHING except the right thing when it comes to guarding the United States against the unmistakable and obvious hatred from terrorist cowards.
And in my hands it would have been, but in Vince's.
DAMN.
The adrenaline, the action, the backroom politics, the weapons, the honor among our military, the secret intelligence, the fun.
Flynn.
Lord knows we have enough `Vice President Baxter's' in our government to make me puke food I ate in 1986.
The premise itself seems totally ridiculous and WAAAAY over the top: terrorist take over the White House and a super-agent is sent in to get it back and save the President.
Heck, even as I type that it seems comical.
yeah.
Party on Garth.
A co-worker lent me one of Vince Flynn's books to read a couple of years ago, and I just got hooked, he does a great job of writting a stor that keeps you excited to find time to read, I have a very busy schedule but I have been carring the book with me every where I go so that I might find time to read it. All I have to say is way to go Mr. Flynn what a great story.LAJ
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