PROTECT AND DEFEND

Vince Flynn’s ninth novel (but 8^th to feature Mitch Rapp) is as topical as it is violent – featuring special operations agent Mitch Rapp investigating the powerplay between Iran and Israel as the war on terror goes nuclear. Mossad - Israeli intelligence have a man on the inside at Iran’s covert nuclear facility. The agent sets off a device that not only destroys the facility but makes the area a radioactive no-go zone. The Iranians are enraged and threaten retaliation against the US as they believe it was America who backed the attack. Rapp is already working on a plan to destabilise the Iranian hawks, but just as the world shifts closer to the brink of geo-warfare, CIA Director Irene Kennedy meets a moderate Iranian powerbroker in Mosul Iraq. However Kennedy gets kidnapped after the meeting by a Hezbollah rogue terrorist. The only man who can get to the bottom of the mess is dispatched - Mitch Rapp. The violence and action is full on, as Rapp takes no prisoners. There is timely debate about the effectiveness of torture [aka Rendition] as well as the usual double-dealing when Middle-Eastern politics are the focus of a thriller. The pace makes this a very short read, and if political correctness is important to you, then this book will offend.