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Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:#1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon Vince Flynn delivers a white-knuckled rollercoaster ride of a novel featuring "the best hero the thriller genre has to offer" (The Real Book Spy) as Mitch Rapp wages a war against a new enemy with the help of a fellow soldier as dedicated�??and as lethal�??as they come. Counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp and his colleague Mike Nash may have finally met their match. The CIA has intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third�??led by a dangerous mastermind determined to become al-Qaeda's new leader�??is believed to be on the loose. With such a terrifyingly deadly enemy out there, Rapp needs the best of the best by his side and he believes he has that with Nash. Together, they have made careers out of meeting violence with extreme violence and have never wavered in the top-secret fight against the war on terrorism. Both have been forced to lie to virtually every single person they care about, and both have soldiered on with the knowledge that their lethal tactics have saved thousands of lives. But certain leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing to have men like Rapp and Nash put on a short leash. And then one spring afternoon in Washington, DC, everything changes. With nonstop action and ripped-from-the-headlines writing, Extreme Measures is the political thriller of our time and proves once again that, "in the world of black-ops thrillers, Mitch Rapp continues to be among the best of the best" (Booklist, star… (more)
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Pure Dick Fic – and a sure favourite of those who enjoy Jack
Murderous jihadists have infiltrated the US and are prepared to rain death on thousands: the agency tries desperately to prevent the carnage but they are reigned in by misguided humanitarians and uncaring ambition. A wonderful escapist adventure.
One more note: For some time, Flynn has felt a need to preach to readers his views on torture and aggressive actions to combat terrorism and his disdain for those in government who disagree with his views. That's fine. I agree with some of his views and disagree with others (although, I'd like to think that I can see the world with a bit more nuance and more shades of gray). So, to the extent that Rapp wants to talk or think about his own worldview, I understand that as part of the character. Unfortunately, in recent books, the expression of worldview has become a bit too preachy for me and there is simply too much of it. I read Flynn because he has a great character and tells great stories, not to learn his worldview. I'll take a little preaching to get to the story that I enjoy, but when the story becomes an afterthought for the preaching, then I'm not sure how interested I'll remain in the story.
The story whizzes along and draws on enough American fears to keep the pages turning. I found the characterisation a little weak. The cover blurb implies Mitch Rapp is the central hero, but I found his supposed sidekick Mike Nash to be the more finely drawn character and to be more central to the action. He has a real life, outside interests and a less black-and-white approach to his job.
The book touches on important themes. In defending America, or attacking America’s enemies, how far is too far? This book argues that the ‘line’ is way beyond the boundaries set by the Geneva Conventions for the treatment of prisoners and portrays America’s clandestine operators as heroes for being prepared to go so far. In a particularly weak section the book unconvincingly tries to argue that torture is OK if you don’t actually plan to extensively harm or kill the victim. So, simulated drowning is reasonable because the drowner knows that he is not actually going to allow the victim to drown. Maybe drownees are just too soft. This is compared to the Saudi terrorist who actually causes direct physical harm to the CIA agent he tortures.
As a piece of light adventure reading for the airport this is well written, pacey and, overall, worth the effort. My concern is it will be read as reportage rather than fiction and reinforce those stereotypical views that might is always right, especially when it is American might. It is clear from the current political situation that Americans hate and want to destroy each other, so how can we stop them doing the same or worse to everyone else?
other than that it was great.
For me, Extreme Measures didn't live up to any of my expectations. Because I've read so many of Flynn's books, I know that they won't be particularly well-written, nor will there be a lot of character development. However, what I do count on is to escape to a parallel (and probably not very real) world full of spies and bad guys, and a novel with a lot of plot-driven action. Extreme Measures fails on both counts. After the initial scenes with Rapp and Nash interrogating the suspects, Flynn spends much of the middle section of the book dealing with Mike Nash's home life and the politics of torture - and it's incredibly boring. When the third cell finally gets moving, things pick up, but about 150 pages in the middle seem to have been wasted on Flynn's thinly-veiled opinions about our government (which seems to be filled with men who are "pussies" and women who are "ball-breakers). I'm just glad I got this book from the library, because I'd be pretty peeved if I had spent any money on it. And I'm not quite sure what the deal was with Irene Kennedy. As one of Flynn's only believable female characters, I like to follow what's going on with her. Flynn made a few comments about how she was "not herself" and not happy, but he never followed up on it. Perhaps, if the next book deals with Kennedy, I may read it, but otherwise I think I'm done with Flynn for awhile.
Now, with Rapp away on assignment in Pakistan, CIA Director Irene Kennedy turns to his protégée Mike Nash. Nash has served his government honorably for sixteen years -- first as an officer in the Marine Corps and then as an operative in an elite counterterrorism team run by none other than Mitch Rapp. He has met violence with extreme violence and has never wavered in his fight against the jihads and their culture of death.
Nash has fought the war on terrorism in secret without accolades or acknowledgement of his personal sacrifice. He has been forced to lie to virtually every single person he cares about, including his wife and children, but he has soldiered on with the knowledge that his hard work and lethal tactics has saved thousands of lives. But the one thing he never saw coming was that his own government was about to turn on him.
The main characters of this series are people that are doing the right thing for the right reason and are not looking to become famous or rich from their actions. They are simply trying to keep the nation safe and are willing to do what
This was pretty boring for the first half of the book. There was a ton of plodding setup, including characters who ended up really having nothing to do with main plot. Things got rolling at about 53%, and then it felt more like the Mitch Rapp books I'm used to.
Over-the-top in a couple places and the sappiest of the series so far, but terrific story!