Vince Flynn

Vince Flynn (1966 – 2013) was a New York Times bestselling thriller author of his Mitch Rapp series, featuring a CIA counterterrorist agent about whom the author managed to write 13 books in his book list before passing away. With the series becoming as popular as it got, it was later on continued by the author Kyle Mills, who is also known for his Mark Beamon series.

Here are the Vince Flynn books in order for our beloved Mitch Rapp novels.

The Mitch Rapp series is continued after the author’s death by Kyle Mills.

Mitch Rapp Series in Reading Order

1. American Assassin, 2010
2. Kill Shot, 2012
3. Transfer of Power, 1999
4. The Third Option, 2000
5. Separation of Power, 2001
6. Executive Power, 2003
7. Memorial Day, 2004
8. Consent to Kill, 2005
9. Act of Treason, 2006
10. Protect and Defend, 2007
11. Extreme Measures, 2008
12. Pursuit of Honor, 2009
13. The Last Man, 2012

Mitch Rapp Series in Order of Publication

1. Transfer of Power, 1999
2. The Third Option, 2000
3. Separation of Power, 2001
4. Executive Power, 2003
5. Memorial Day, 2004
6. Consent to Kill, 2005
7. Act of Treason, 2006
8. Protect and Defend, 2007
9. Extreme Measures, 2008
10. Pursuit of Honor, 2009
11. American Assassin, 2010
12. Kill Shot, 2012
13. The Last Man, 2012

Standalone Vince Flynn Books

• Term Limits, 1997

Who Is Mitch Rapp?

Mitch Rapp is the hero of the Vince Flynn books. He came together based on several people that Vince Flynn met over the years, including some Special Forces guys who went on to work for the CIA, and some cops as well. The name was put together based on the name of a friend from college, Eric Rapp, although the author wanted it to be monosyllabic, so Mitch Rapp was born.

Mitch grew up on the East Coast, attended Syracuse University, he has thick black hair, is 6-foot-2, and he is now a counter-terrorism operative employed by the CIA. His first big love, high-school sweetheart Maureen Eliot, was killed during the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. Just one year later, Mitch Rapp was recruited by the CIA under Irene Kennedy. After rigorous training, he became an operative of the Orion Team. This secret operational team is not strictly attached to the CIA, but it’s supported by it.

Over the years, working as the Orion Team’s most efficient and important operative, Mitch Rapp worked in several countries in Europe, Middle East, as well as South-East Asia.

After the death of the author Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills picked up the Mitch Rapp series and continued fleshing out the character and bringing him into dire situations to keep America safe from terrorist attacks.

Vince Flynn Biography

Vince Flynn was born in 1966, in St. Paul, Minnesota to a big Midwestern family as the fifth of seven children. His father was an English teacher and sports coach at St. Thomas Academy, and his mother a wildlife artist. As a child, Vince struggled with dyslexia, for which he had to enroll in special classes in second and third grade. Because of this issue, he didn’t pick up a book to read until he was in college during his sophomore year, at the age of 19.

He attended St. Thomas Academy, an all-male, Catholic military school, from where he graduated in 1984, following which he enrolled at the University of St. Thomas, graduating in 1988 with a degree in economics. Already by then he had this idea in his mind that he wanted to write a book. But not just yet.

After graduating from college, he began working for Kraft Foods, working as an account and sales marketing specialist. He remained there for two years and in 1990 he went to join the United States Marine Corps. Never could never finish the Marine Aviation Program because he got disqualified on medical reasons due to concussions and convulsive seizure that he had since growing up.

Next, he decided to write a book, although this was not an easy feat at all, since Vince Flynn was also dyslexic, having been diagnosed as such in grade school. In the meantime, however, to pay the bills, he began working for United Properties, a commercial real estate company in the Twin Cities and began working on his first novel in his free time. After two years, as he was already working on his book, he decided to stop working at a 9-5 job and focus instead fully on finishing his novel. Thus, he left his job and moved to Colorado where he took the odd bartending job to pay his bills.

Five years later and numerous rejection letters later, he eventually finished his debut novel, which got the title Term Limits and was published in 1997. Initially, he self-published it since he couldn’t get publishers to print his story. This was before the Kindle time, so he hand-sold it from shop to shop. He went to bookstores, grocery stores, you name it. He sold every piece by hand.  but after publication, once it became number one in the Twin Cities, publishing houses took notice. It only took him one week for an agent to contact him and give him a two-book deal with Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint.

After the debut novel, which featured Scott Coleman, Vince Flynn continued to write, this time focusing on a new hero, Mitch Rapp, who initially featured in Transfer of Power, published in 1999.

All Vince Flynn political thrillers focus on the post-9/11 time that centers around terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. His books are so well-researched and well-crafted that more than one president has read at least some of them, and influential politicians have picked them up as well. During the run of the TV show 24, Vince Flynn was also a consultant for the show’s fifth season.

Many political thriller authors are Republicans by political party, and Vince Flynn was no different. He openly admitted to being a Republican, although with a democratic tendency. He would say he was “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” As to Mitch Rapp’s political views, he seems to be neutral. He just goes after terrorists and bad guys, regardless of their political affiliations.

Vince Flynn passed away in 2013 at the very young age of 47, when he lost his long-time battle with prostate cancer. During his lifetime, the Vince Flynn books sold 15 million copies, which were translated into several languages all over the world.

The movie American Assassin, that premiered in 2017, is based on the same-titled Vince Flynn book, which is the prequel to the entire series.

Praise for Vince Flynn Books

Sizzles with inside information and CIA secrets (Dan Brown)

Action-packed, in-your-face, adrenalin-pumped super-hero macho escapist fiction that does exactly what it says on the label (Iris Independent)

You’ll be hooked….Move over, Jack Ryan! (Portland Oregonian)

Mitch Rapp is a great character who always leaves the bad guys either very sorry for themselves or very dead (Guardian)

A cracking, uncompromising yarn that literally takes no prisoners (The Times)

Flynn has never been better (Providence Journal)

Endless intrigue…Flynn mixes in a spicy broth of brutal terrorists, heroic commandos, and enough secret-agent hijinks to keep the confrontation bubbling until its flag-raising end (Publishers Weekly)

References

• Official Vince Flynn author website
• Mitch Rapp Wikipedia page
• Hugh Hewitt Vince Flynn interview

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