Transfer of Power
- Book Review,
by Vince Flynn
From Publishers Weekly
In this long political thriller staged almost entirely around a hostage standoff, Flynn makes maximum use of his White House setting, and mixes in a spicy broth of brutal terrorists, heroic commandos and enough secret agent hijinks to keep the confrontation bubbling until its flag-raising end. The villains are led by Rafique Aziz, a notorious Arab terrorist whose band of thugs takes over the White House by finding a weak point in American politics: they pose as wealthy campaign contributors and are welcomed through the front door. President Robert Hayes manages to escape to his bunker moments before the bloodbath, but religious zealot Aziz takes almost 100 hostages, seals off the White House and begins making demands, of which large sums of cash are just the beginning. With the president incommunicado and weak-willed yet power hungry Vice President Sherman Baxter in charge, the Pentagon and the CIA resort to their secret weapon: commando extraordinaire Mitch Rapp. After sneaking into the bowels of the Executive Mansion through an air duct, Rapp steadily disrupts the terrorists' well-laid plans. He finally calls in reinforcements when Aziz begins drilling into the president's bunker. It's a long haul to the finish, but Flynn (Term Limits) compensates for some stereotyping by creating dynamic tension between the main players, especially between military leaders and politicians, and between Rapp and Aziz. His description of the White House is impressive; readers will wonder if the secret passageways, hidden rooms and clever deception devices that help load this story with seemingly endless intrigue, really exist. Agent, Sloan Harris. 15-city author tour. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When terrorists crash White House security, the President is swept away to an isolated underground bunker, and the Vice President suddenly finds himself in charge. From the author of the best-selling Term Limits.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
TRANSFER OF POWER is a classic thriller, with CIA operative extraordinaire Mitch Rapp at its center. When terrorists capture the White House and President Hayes, Rapp must sneak in, figure out what is happening, and lead the assault to rescue the president. Nick Sullivan's reading is marvelous. Although his style is quite different from George Guidall's in EXECUTIVE ACTION, the book's sequel, Sullivan picks up speed, emotion, and intensity as events unfold. Sullivan is especially effective portraying key characters other than Rapp, including Vice President Baxter, who cares more about succeeding the president than saving him, and his slimy chief of staff, whose personality Sullivan nails. Although this is fiction, the story's premise-that the leader of the terrorists was backed by Saddam Hussein-has, to a large extent, been superseded by current events. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Since the dawn of the cold war, the idea of the U.S. being attacked by foreign terrorists has loomed as a constant threat, but since the World Trade Center bombing, it has become a chilling reality. Here, that reality is vaulted to a nightmarish new level when Arab terrorists invade Washington, D.C., and seize control of the White House. Chaos ensues as key administration personnel--some competent, most inept--vie to secure the release of more than 100 White House hostages, including the president himself. Heading up the CIA's Counterterrorism Center is Irene Kennedy, deft at penetrating the tangled terrorist psyche. Her top recruit is Mitch Rapp, a loner whose specialty is tracking down the most vicious terrorists and either kidnapping or assassinating them--unofficially, of course. His most recent nabbing proves to be a fount of knowledge, providing otherwise unattainable enemy intelligence. The question remains whether Mitch can use what he's learned before the crazed leader of the White House assault takes more casualties. In his second novel, following Term Limits (1998), Flynn delivers a riveting espionage thriller that will satisfy action fans who like Chuck Logan but won't alienate readers who want a little nuance with their suspense. Mary Frances Wilkens
From Kirkus Reviews
Second-novelist Flynn (Term Limits, 1998) returns, this time with an overstuffed political thriller about bad guys kidnaping the White House. With the President in itthough at first he's presumed safe, hunkered down in his custom-built bunker, having been spirited there just in time by the Secret Service. The main meanie is one Rafique Aziz, zealot, all-around nutcase, and valued henchman of Saddam Hussein. Rotten to the core understates it for Aziz. He won't even let his hostages go to the bathroom. He has over a hundred of them, and the deal is the US either complies with his demands(1) release Iraq's frozen assets, (2) end the onerous Iraqi blockade, and (3) support a free and autonomous Palestinian state now!or he shoots a hostage an hour. To demonstrate his bona fides, he dispatches a couple on national TV. It's a crisis that cries out for Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterintelligence operative, ``the most efficient and lethal killer in the modern era of the Agency.'' Mitch, code name Iron Man, who lost his high- school sweetheart in Pan Am flight 103 and has been relentlessly vengeful ever since, gains access to the White House. Bloody-minded Aziz booby-traps everything in sight. Meanwhile, power has now been transferred to the Vice President, who proves himself a double-dealing sneak and errant coward. Mitch rescues a female hostage and falls in love. A lot of people get their heads blown off by MP-5 submachine guns. When at last the President is saved, he tells Mitch and his mates how much the country owes them. The reply: ``I was just doing my duty.'' But where is the dastardly Aziz? Unfortunately, it takes an epilogue to do him in. The prose is pedestrian, the plotting predictable, the characters comic strip, and the end long in coming. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Pioneer Press (St. Paul) Flynn knows how to deliver action in his novels, and Transfer of Power has all the earmarks of a story headed for the movie screen.
Book Description
What if America's most powerful leader was also its prime target? On a busy Washington morning, the stately calm of the White House is shattered as terrorists gain control of the executive mansion, slaughtering dozens of people. The president is evacuated to an underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. One man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington's power elite had thought. Moving among the corridors of the White House, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government wants his rescue attempt to fail.
Download Description
On a busy Washington morning, amid the shuffle of tourists and the brisk rush of government officials, the stately calm of the White House is shattered in a hail of gunfire. A group of terrorists has descended on the Executive Mansion, and gained access by means of a violent massacre that has left dozens of innocent bystanders murdered. Through the quick actions of the Secret Service, the president is evacuated to his underground bunker, but not before almost one hundred hostages are taken. While the politicians and the military leaders argue over how to negotiate with the terrorists, one man is sent in to break through the barrage of panicked responses and political agendas surrounding the chaotic crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, makes his way into the White House and soon discovers that the president is not as safe as Washington's power elite had thought. Moving stealthily among the corridors and secret passageways of the White House, stepping terrifyingly close to the enemy, Rapp scrambles to save the hostages before the terrorists can extract the president from the safety of his bunker. In a race against time, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government is maneuvering in hopes that his rescue attempt will fail. With the crackling tension and explosive action that made Term Limits "a roller-coaster, edge-of-your-seat thriller" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune), Vince Flynn delivers Transfer of Power -- a blockbuster novel that carries us just beyond today's headlines.
About the Author
Vince Flynn is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Term Limits, currently available in paperback from Pocket Books. He lives in the Twin Cities, where he is working on a series of political thrillers.
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