Book Review: The Survivor by Kyle Mills

When Vince Flynn tragically passed away from prostate cancer, it appeared most likely that Flynn’s great invention, tough-as-nails CIA deniable operator Mitch Rapp, would never again step into the breach to protect America against foreign and domestic enemies.

Imagine my delight, then, when it was announced that rising author Kyle Mills had been hired to write at least two more Rapp novels, following the trail blazed by Tom Clancy’s publishers, who have hired authors to continue the Jack Ryan novels. Those new novels are pretty good, and I had the same hopes for Mills and his continuation of the Mitch Rapp world.

As September turned to October, I realised that I’d scarcely been so excited for the release of a book. And when I finally got my hands on a copy of The Survivor, literally minutes after it’s electronic release – thanks, Amazon! – I just about locked myself away from the rest of the world to delve into Rapp’s latest adventure.

Less than two days later, I’d finished, and I was in awe. Not only has Kyle Mills written Rapp and all the other familiar characters – Irene Kennedy, Mike Nash, Scott Coleman and Stan Hurley – as close to the way Flynn did that, without Mills’ name adorning the front cover, you’d swear this was Vince’s own work, but he’s written a pulsating and complex thriller that draws on real-world political tension to craft a book that races along, and drops Rapp into the middle of all sorts of trouble.

Following on from Flynn’s last book, The Last Man, Rapp and the CIA are still hamstrung by the brilliant turncoat agent Joseph ‘Rick’ Rickman, who engineered a plot with Pakistani intelligence agents from ISI to fake his own torture, and to turn over classified CIA data. Yes, the traitorous Rickman is dead, executed by Mitch Rapp at the conclusion of The Last Man, but he has set up a system where classified information is leaked at varying intervals, throwing the CIA into chaos. Too many covert agents are uncovered, resulting in the deaths of dozens, and extreme political embarrassment for the United States.

Enter Rapp and co, who must race around the globe in order to find the hacker who is aiding Rickman in this enterprise. And they must do it quickly, whilst Pakistani intelligence and over-zealous American politicians close in, looking to discredit Rapp, Kennedy and the rest of the CIA and, in the case of the Pakistanis, engineer a world-changing conclusion.

Throughout the book, there is an overriding sense of tension, and with every release of a classified file, you can really feel the room closing in around Rapp and his colleagues, the noose tightening around the CIA’s collective neck, whilst the factions of the ISI look to further their own plans. It’s gripping stuff!

The only disappointing thing about reading The Survivor so quickly is that I was left wanting more – much more! But, if this debut novel is anything to go by, Kyle Mills will be writing excellent Mitch Rapp novels for a long time to come.