Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp) [Hardcover]

Monday, March 19, 2012

Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp) [Hardcover]

Product Details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books; First Edition edition (February 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416595201
ISBN-13: 978-1416595205
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Vince Flynn
Price : $15.25
You Save : $12.74 (46%)

Customer Reviews

Kill Shot is the sequel to American Assassin, which itself was a prequel to the long running series featuring Mitch Rapp. This book contines the story of Rapp's development as an asset for the CIA. He has spent his first year "running solo" - infiltrating the world's terror cells and killing with purpose. The spree has not gone unnoticed and elements of the terrorist networks want the killing to stop.
The turning point is an attempt on a Libyan diplomat in Paris. The kill goes all wrong and Rapp must fight his way out - leaving behind carnage and a mess that needs accountability - from someone. Rapp is unwilling to trust his fellow spies at the CIA and his longtime nemesis, Stan Hurley, uses this to target Rapp as a problem that needs to be eliminated.
Flynn deftly tells his story, even though longtime readers can discern some of the outcome just by having read "future" installments. I did not know how he was going to weave a taut thriller with so much of the story having been already written - but he manages superbly. Flynn layers the past artfully, giving us pieces of the history that will make Rapp lethal.
The stand alone story within this prequel is full of duplicity and the reader must decide what is justified and how often does the official story deviate from the truth? But it is clear why Rapp forges his own moral code and trusts so few.

I was a little hesitant to purchase this due to the less than stellar reviews but Flynn's previous entry in the series, "American Assassin" also received mixed reviews and was very enjoyable so I took the plunge. Unfortunately, not only is most of this book mediocre, I felt cheated on the price. Don't be fooled by the length of the book - the story ends at 72% in. The rest of the 28% is excerpts from every other Vince Flynn book. The end result is a book I was able to finish in a few hours. I definitely expected more bang for my buck and feel cheated by the publisher and author.
As a previous reviewer stated, the plot was less than riveting and some parts of the plot just seem contrived and predictable because the author was at a loss how to move the story forward. The ending was rushed and abruptly dropped the entire story leaving me with a "that's it?" feeling. It feels like the Mitch Rapp series has met it's end and I will probably not be buying the next book unless it has stellar reviews.