The Third Option (Mitch Rapp Series #2) »

Vince Flynn is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nine previous thrillers, including Consent to Kill, Act of Treason, and Protect and Defend. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children. Visit his website at www.vinceflynn.com.

When diplomacy has failed and military intervention is deemed inappropriate, our leaders often turn to a silent and dark community for results. This is a course of action not always taken by wise and honorable men. In certain circles it is known as

Fresh from retaking a battle-scarred White House after a vicious terrorist attack on the president, Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, is sent on his final mission. His target: a well-known German industrialist who has been selling highly sensitive equipment to one of the world's most notorious sponsors of terrorism. As Rapp meticulously prepares to take the man out, he has no idea hat there are forces within his own government that are plotting to use him.

The conspirators have devised a bold plan that will damamge the president and ruin the career of the incoming director of the CIA's Counter-terrorism Center. Unfortunately, they have made one horrible miscalculation:...

Publishers Weekly

A CIA counterterrorist gets caught in the middle of a deadly Beltway power play in Flynn's (Balance of Power) latest political thriller. Long on one-dimensional characters, action scenes and espionage details, it falls short on comprehensible plotting. Battle-scarred protagonist Mitch Rapp returns to take on a sensitive new assignment in Europe, only to have things go awry when his two CIA colleagues turn on him following the assassination of a wealthy German count who has been selling arms to Saddam Hussein. Rapp survives their double-dealing, but he is forced to go underground to decipher the labyrinthine chain of political connections and to learn who was trying to have him killed. Back in Washington, a similar game of spy-versus-spy is being conducted by the elderly, dying director of the CIA and his chosen successor. Rapp eventually surfaces to help his bosses, but things get personal for the ace counterterrorist when Rapp's bride-to-be is kidnapped as part of the ongoing political maneuvers. Flynn sweats the small stuff to bring his conspiracy to life, but he also introduces enough secondary characters to populate two novels, and he frequently stalls the narrative momentum by providing an overwhelming level of detail regarding various high-tech gadgets and espionage operations. The biggest disappointment, though, comes at the end, when the book is exposed as a shameless setup for a sequel. Flynn is a popular writer, but his third thriller won't do much to enhance his critical reputation or his sales. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.