Thriller Spotlight with Joel C. Rosenberg

The thriller genre is very much a protagonist-driven medium. Even more than following an author, thriller readers will follow a character. This is evidenced by the book in this month’s “Thriller Spotlight,” Vince Flynn’s Oath of Loyalty. In 1999, Flynn launched the career of the CIA’s agent extraordinaire, Mitch Rapp. Rapp is one of the original heroes of the modern-day thriller genre, and there are tens of thousands of readers who have been following him from book one.

Sadly, while working on the fourteenth in the Mitch Rapp series, Flynn died of prostate cancer at the age of forty-seven. It was a blow when we lost Vince. As I’ve said before, he took a chance with me, endorsing my first thriller, The Last Jihad. For fans of his writing, although they were forced to let Vince go, they weren’t ready to lose Mitch Rapp, too. Flynn’s estate recognized this and brought on Kyle Mills to take over. Mills had already published eleven novels of his own and had proven his ability to continue a posthumous series by writing three books in Robert Ludlum’s Covert-One series.

Kyle Mills is a great guy and a fantastic writer. He’s done a tremendous job with the Mitch Rapp series and Oath of Loyalty is no exception. Picking up where the previous book, Enemy at the Gates, left off, Mitch and his new family are forced to deal with the reality that when a president of the United States is after you, life can get very uncomfortable very quickly. Mills is a master at describing action and he leaves you with the feeling that Rapp wins his fights not because he is some kind of superhero, but because he is smarter and deadlier than anyone else alive.

The inclusion of Claudia Gould as Rapp’s love interest has been a welcome addition, humanizing the harsh former agent. His interactions with Gould’s young daughter as he tries to figure out how to communicate with her are humorous and endearing. But don’t think that this is a kinder, gentler Mitch. He is still as lethal as he has always been. And the president just might discover that truth for himself if he doesn’t watch his step.

Oath of Loyalty is certainly worth the read, particularly if you are a Mitch Rapp fan. There is occasional swearing, but less than in most books of the genre. This is a thriller I can definitely recommend.

—Joel C. Rosenberg