Consent to Kill

written by Vince Flynn

So I was at this conference with my friend and colleague, Catherine, and after five days of absorbing all kinds of information about corporate universities and how we might help launch one, our eyes were bloodshot and our brains were reduced to pastey mush. As I prepared for my flight home, I was longing to self-medicate with a good mind-numbing novel, but foolishly had forgotten to bring any pleasure reading. Well, Cat had just the thing for me. She had finished Consent to Kill on the way to the conference, so that became my elixir on the ride back to Detroit. I was a little leery at first because, although Catherine raved about this book, she described it as a really great "suspenseful political thriller," which is not a genre that would normally hook me. See, I'm generally repelled by anything with the word "political" in it ... plus I'm not that great at keeping track of dozens of characters with lots of interrelationships and a complicated story line. Give me some intrigue, sure, but don't make me work too hard for it.

Well, now I'm a "suspenseful political thriller" convert and there's no going back. To use a cliché, I was riveted to this book until the last page. And I mean to the point of allowing the laundry to pile up and ignoring my family's pleas for dinner.

The novel is the latest in a series about a CIA "special operative" (read: hit man) named Mitch Rapp. Because he is reputed to be the killer of a fanatical Muslim terrorist (that story's covered in an earlier book, I believe), the terrorist's father, aided by a crooked Saudi prince, hires a pair of international assassins to do away with Rapp. Their plot is foiled when (stop reading if you don't want me to spoil the story for you!) they accidentally kill Rapp's newly pregnant wife but only injure Rapp himself. The story becomes more complicated when the assassins (a man and wife who are romantically involved) learn they too are expecting a child. The rest of the novel follows Rapp's maniacal quest to avenge his wife's death by finding and killing those responsible.

Really cool elements:

• You'll be engrossed in this story from the first page. Trust me. Flynn skillfully unpacks a complicated story line without losing my attention, which is no small feat.
• If you forget a name or a detail that was mentioned a hundred or so pages ago (which I am wont to do), no problem. Flynn very tactfully bakes in reminders of who's who so you don't get lost. It makes me feel much less mentally feeble about reading a book with a complex plot.
• The ending is very surprising. Rapp has a perfect opportunity to kill the assassins who murdered his wife, but he chooses to let them be. I'll let you read the book to find out why. It's a good twist.

Not-so-cool elements:

• I have almost no complaints, but there are several passages that detail graphic torture and violence. None of them seemed overdone or excessively long, but if that sort of thing bothers you, it might sour you on the book. Then again, what can you expect from a novel about professional assassins who are on the hunt to dust each other?