Book 50: Act of Treason

NUMBER: 50
TITLE: Act of Treason
AUTHOR: Vince Flynn
STARTED: August 25, 2007
FINISHED: September 3, 2007
PAGES: 415
GENRE: Fiction

FIRST SENTENCE: The motorcade rumbled down the cobblestone street.

SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] An attack on his motorcade lost Vice President Brian Baxter his wife but gained him the White House as sympathetic voters joined hands to give him a landslide victory. In the aftermath of Baxter's surprise ascension, one man is nursing grave doubts about the apparent assassination attempt. That one man is Mitch Rapp.

REASON FOR READING: I have a character crush on Mitch Rapp.

THOUGHTS: After hearing Vince Flynn speak at the National Book Festival last year, I found myself struggling to disconnect the author from his character, Mitch Rapp. There was just something in the tone of the writing and pacing of this book that had me thinking that Flynn was writing a book that was more "If-I-was-a-Super-Alpha-Military-Man-Who-has-my-Fingers-in -Politics" than a novel unto itself. While the book was entertaining, I struggled to recover the adoring love I once had for this series. Instead of gaining in strength, I believe the Rapp series is slowly going downhill. I think Flynn has been too swayed by his own political leanings and the current (political) mood of the era to actually write a decent, stand alone series. This saddens me because I do think that Flynn has a genuine talent for the political thriller genre. Despite my problems with this particular entry in the Rapp series, Flynn keeps his plot imaginative and his writing is, for the most part, taut and suspenseful.

Just as in the last Rapp book, Consent to Kill, I felt that the shades of gray were no longer present. [You hear me Flynn? Go grayer man! Bring back the fuzzy middle ground.] The books were more interesting when the good versus evil theme didn't wallop you over the head. Oi! I get it. Terrorists are bad - you don't have to drill it into my head anymore. Once again, Flynn writes Rapp as being the penultimate good guy. Since Rapp's "ends" are good and true, his "means" must be as well - even if said "means" are torture and murder. As with Consent to Kill, it took until the very end of the book for the shades of gray in the plots and characters to appear. I wish Flynn would write his books, then chop out the first 200 pages before editing and adding new content.

I also feel that the series' secondary characters are getting the short end of the stick. Rapp takes over the story and, while I understand that the series is about him, he was never the arrogant "celebrity" he comes across as in this book. Instead of Act of Treason focusing on Rapp, it is dominated by him. The secondary characters become mere set pieces for Rapp to use and dispose with at his pleasure. It was not until the very end of the book that CIA Director Irene Kennedy, one of the better characters in the series, did anything noteworthy. Most of the characters readers of the series have come to know simply flounder around in this book. These characters are better when their given breathing room and grow organically with the story instead of being imposed into the plot.

Despite all my misgivings, Flynn left enough enticing open plot lines to leave me wondering how things are going to pan out. The need to know even has me overlooking the obvious flaws in the slow and, sometimes, awkward pacing of this book. Even if I have problems with the book, if I want to read more, there must be some redeeming qualities to the story. I'll definitely read the next volume in the series - but I'm no longer chomping at the bit to get my hands on it.

MISCELLANEOUS: Matt Damon's Jason Bourne vs. Mitch Rapp in a fight to determine who is the most badass... I think it's an awesome idea.

RATING: 5/10 [Meh.]