Grade: A
The political thriller has taken a beating over the past decade. What was once a creative genre has become, unfortunately, pretty one-dimensional.
Reflecting the world we live in these days, most authors turned their focus squarely to the Middle East and terrorism. The problem is that most of the time, these books end up reading the same: terrorist from (insert usually fictional country here), affiliated with (fictional Al Qaeda clone) prepares to attack (U.S. landmark).
Luckily, there is still one author who does it right -- Vince Flynn. Despite writing about topics that are all too familiar, he brings a fresh voice and crackling writing style that moves the books, featuring Mitch Rapp, along at breakneck speed.
His newest, American Assassin, goes a step further. As if recognizing how stale the genre has become, Flynn takes us back to the beginning of Rapp's career. It's the early '90s and Rapp is taking to the streets of Beirut in his first mission. It's an exciting world of post-Cold War uncertainty.
My only quibble is that it seems Flynn has taken some liberties with the timeline. Time seems a little too compressed from the Lockerbie bombing (which spurred Rapp's career) to the fall of the Soviet Empire, but that's a minor issue.
So many authors who once wrote great stories of government intrigue are writing their version of the war on terror and falling flat. Flynn is still the master of the genre.
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