Let's start with Mitch Rapp's college fiancée who we never meet. We know two things about her: Mitch loved her and planned to marry her; her death on the Lockerbie flight caused by the direct act of terrorists was the impetus that produced the best operator/assassin America had yet to see.
Let's go next to Irene Kennedy, brilliant discoverer of Mitch Rapp who believed in him from the beginning, argued with Stan Hurley about him and always defended Rapp even when he became his "own" man and operator and chose to go off-script. For the longest time, Irene was the only person in the world (besides his mother) who he could trust. And although in his current life he no longer works for Irene and the CIA, their mutual respect and love for each other as longtime friends with the bonds that risking lives and saving lives form, Irene remains close to him even when he might wish to distance himself from what she knows only he can accomplish.
We learn much later about an agent from another country with whom Rapp had a serious passionate affair. She was a wild thing, good at what she did, beautiful and sexy. A thrilling combination for the young Mitch Rapp.
Then came the woman he married. In many ways the opposite of Mitch politically, she was intelligent, opinionated and with that outspoken. Personally, I never liked her character. But apparently this is the kind of woman Rapp prefers, and their sad story broke him for a time, leaving a deep scar. He finally began the long healing process by the end of my favorite of all the Mitch Rapp stories, Consent to Kill.
(Old cover pictured here.)
Now there is Claudia, a strong and outspoken French woman, who Mitch has been with for some time after the death of her criminal partner and father of her daughter, who is now 10 years old. Mitch first saw Claudia in a stunning scene in Consent to Kill. Claudia's intense skills have helped out with Mitch's missions and Irene's planning and she and Irene have become good friends. Claudia's connections with a criminal underworld from her past occasionally provide valuable information and asset availability - for the right price of course. Rapp is sliding in and out of seeing a real future with Claudia to the point of walking her daughter down the aisle one day. I think his attraction to Claudia was of course a passionate one but also a respect for her intelligence and abilities. He's become very protective of his "adopted" family, but he still wavers and waffles about ultimate commitment which is probably his way of justifying their protection. People attached to his kind tend to disappear.
I have the perfect woman for Mitch Rapp designed in my mind, how they meet, her profession, his reaction, but, alas, it'll probably stay where it is: in my imagination. Sigh.
Father, please continue to provide Mitch Rapp stories that minister. So far, they've been thrilling, poignant, and covered real characterizations of operators and politicians. It would be especially powerful to have the spiritual component included in a dynamic fashion. Only you, Lord. Thank you for Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills, and the entire staff who've brought this amazing series to readers. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.