Vince Flynn
Vince Flynn is a consummate political thriller author. His characters are realistic, well developed, and charismatic. His plots are compelling, believable, and underscores the War on Terror as an intelligence war. Readers should start a Vince Flynn novel when they have a lot of time because they will not want to put the book down.
MyShelf:
Why did you choose to write the prequel now?
Vince Flynn: I have wanted to write it since 1998
when I finished Transfer
of Power, the first Mitch Rapp book. The longer I went
on writing more novels the farther I became removed from the
beginning. I was drawn to tell the story of how it all got started.
MyShelf: The main characters of the series are Mitch
Rapp, a “grade A” CIA operative, Irene Kennedy,
who heads an anti-terrorist secret program, and Thomas Stansfield,
head of CIA operations who becomes CIA Director. Did you feel
a bond with any of these characters?
Flynn:
The characters mean so much to me. I teared up when Stansfield
died. In this book Kennedy and Rapp are both fairly young. He
is 23 and she is 28. I wanted to have the characters feel like
I did. There is nothing more motivating than when you suffer
that personal tragedy. Kennedy was brought into the agency for
many of the same reasons Rapp was brought into it. They both
lost somebody that they love to terrorism (Kennedy her father
in the 1983 US embassy Lebanon bombing and Rapp in the downing
of Pan Am Flight 103.) Now they are motivated to go out there
and defend America.
MyShelf:
Will the next books in the trilogy have a more political undertone?
Flynn:
Yes. I wanted this first book to be more personal. As you know
I am very hard with my beliefs. This is a good old fashioned
thriller. However, in the next two books the politics will come
into play as Rapp moves up the food chain and Stansfield will
take more of an active role.
Flynn: He is an old school guy. He is out there on the cutting edge and has no patience for political correctness. He wants to take the fight to the terrorists.
MyShelf: The antagonists in the book are America’s old adversary, Russia and its new adversary, the Terrorists. Can you elaborate?
Flynn: I wanted to tie the Cold War into the new war. Look at the Russian country today. The common thread for top tier guys is that they all worked for the former KGB.
MyShelf: A good quote in the book is that America should not play defense and that “weakness breeds contempt… I want these guys looking over their shoulders wondering if they’re next.” Please comment.
Flynn: A good football team plays offense and defense. You have to be aggressive and disrupt. Look at Fort Hood where political correctness affected our national security. We should take a lesson.
MyShelf:
Are you going to continue the prequel in future books?
Flynn: Because I am immersed in this time period I want to continue this story line. I am thinking of writing an American Assassin series, a trilogy.
MyShelf: The Rapp-Kennedy series consists of eleven books including American Assassin. Should people that have not read any books start with Transfer of Power after reading American Assassin?
Vince Flynn: Yes, definitely. I am thinking of numbering
the books on the website. This series has gotten so big it would
help track the order.
Myshelf wants to thank the author for answering Elise's questions.
Read Elise's review of The American Assassin
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