Seperation of Power by Vince Flynn

Paperback 544 pages

Thriller

2001

Synopsis:

A changing of the guard at the CIA attracts some corrupt politicians with eyes on the White House. Unfortunately for the bad guys, upright CIA agent Dr. Irene Kennedy is tapped to replace her dead boss, thwarting their illicit fund-raising plans. Sen. Hank Clark enlists Irene's second in command to discredit her and the president. Clark and his cronies are also eager to deal with CIA special ops assassin Mitch Rapp, who's stuck on desk duty after nearly losing his life on a previous assignment and seems ripe to be taken out. Mitch accompanies his girlfriend, White House reporter Anna Rielly, to Italy, where he meets up with his former lover, freelance assassin Donatella Rahn. When Rahn is shot, Mitch uncovers a plot linked to the men behind the threats to Irene and the CIA. Meanwhile, reports surface that Saddam Hussein has acquired nuclear weapon components from North Koreans, who are assembling them in a factory buried beneath a Baghdad hospital. This calls for a gutsy mission, one that entails stopping Saddam while avoiding the PR nightmare that bombing a hospital would cause. Irene pulls Mitch into the plan to deal with Baghdad while she grapples with Congress.

My Take:

Great book from page one. You can't help but wonder if the politicians in Washington behave the way Flynn portrays them. Unfortunately, after seeing what is going on with the current Health Care debate, I have to say yes. You get it all in this book. Political intrigue, military suspense, and personal drama. A top notch read that I highly recommend. But with Flynn, you need to start with his very first novel. So if you haven't read Flynn before, don't start with this one.

I rate this novel a 9.1