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ACT OF TREASON, Vince Flynn's latest (and best) novel featuring maverick CIA agent Mitch Rapp, is properly classified as a thriller. But Flynn plays with the concept of the genre here, rearranging the blocks, if you will, with electrifying and riveting results.
The story does not concern a terrorist plot about to take place that will change the course of the nation and that must be discovered and prevented before all is lost. Instead, the major action --- an explosive attack upon a motorcade carrying presidential candidate Josh Alexander, his wife and vice-presidential candidate Mark Ross --- is successfully carried out at the very beginning of the book. Alexander's wife is killed, and Alexander and Ross, behind in the polls with the election only weeks away, are unexpectedly swept to victory by a sympathetic electorate.
When the identity of the bomber is revealed through a combination of luck, dogged investigation and high technology, Rapp leads a team of CIA agents to capture him, only to discover that the apprehension of the assassin is but one thread in a tapestry that presents a picture of deceit and dishonor that leads to the highest corridors of the White House.
There aren't many secrets in ACT OF TREASON --- it becomes fairly obvious early on where Flynn is going with this --- but the unknown factors, such as what Rapp will discover, how he will do so, and, ultimately, what he is going to do about it, is what makes the book a finger-burning page-turner. His major strengths --- plotting and pacing --- are let out at full throttle so that the 400+ story-packed pages literally fly by.
Flynn's profile rises with the publication of each new novel, and there is no doubt that ACT OF TREASON will bring him to even loftier heights. Rapp is a hero for our age, a rougher, more independent and ultimately more effective Jack Ryan for the 21st century. He may, or may not, exist as a clandestine force in the real world; here's hoping that he does. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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