Keeping the Vince Flynn legacy alive, Kyle Mills has written Enemy at the Gates, the big Number 20 in the Mitch Rapp Novels.
There's a new formidable president in the White House (Anthony Cook) and between him and his brainy, conniving wife, they epitomize what members of a cabal would look like. Their lust for power and the accompanying wealth that power engineers drive them. In the wake of the major electrical grid failure depicted in Total Power, the Cooks have been selected as the young and ambitious couple to lead the recovering United States of America. What voters couldn't have - or didn't - anticipate would be their desires to overhaul the Republic and fill it with devotees to their renovations.
That objective would see to the need of acquiring those who would adhere to their "associations" and arrangements with certain other countries to accomplish their dirty deeds. And eliminate those who they know would be unwilling to comply - like CIA Director Irene Kennedy and her top operative who no longer works for her, the indomitable Mitch Rapp.
Irene's closest assistant Mike Nash, longtime friend of Mitch Rapp, seems to have embraced the energy of the Cook's while Irene continues to wage her quiet, austere judgment.
A compound in Uganda built by the world's first trillionaire (Nicholas Ward) for the research done by a genius doctor (David Chism) is attacked and overrun by the minions of a cult leader, a self-identified demi-god (Gideon Auma) who is known for his vicious practices and captures of young girls for sex-slaves and young boys he can drug to be adoring soldiers to his cause.
Trying to figure out the hows and whys of the attack on the compound requires astute examination by Irene Kennedy. David Chism is assumed to have died in the attack, but his body hasn't been found. Nicholas Ward wants to make sure and assumes he's alive. The only way Irene can figure to do this is to get Rapp involved, knowing he will use Scott Coleman and the crew and all will be paid handsomely by the mega-money man. Rapp is unconvinced the doctor survived but will gather the team to concoct a plan.
When crazy plans prove beneficial, there's another hitch to be reckoned with, and this time it's far too close to home for Irene to ignore. It requires every measure of her clandestine abilities to discover what exactly is happening and to clue Rapp in without anyone being aware of it.
As everything becomes far more complex than could be imagined, Rapp's "retirement" plans in South Africa seem once again distant.
There's a fair amount of philosophizing in this novel. Rapp's is internal, some things he's been seriously contemplating for a while, plus he's had to listen to the naïveté of a man who's acquired untold wealth because of personal genius, and his intent to "save the world" make him believe there's no other way to think "rightly" than his. The Cook's aims are simple and as old as evil, but their enthusiasm and acquired connections present certain others with a desire to buy into their thinking and actions.
Enemy at the Gates is powerfully written with plenty of vintage Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy. I've never been particularly fond of Mike Nash from the beginning although he's had his good points. Scott Coleman and his team are steady as always, and Claudia is who she is. Both David Chism and Nicholas Ward are interesting, although I admit that I found Ward to be a bit sanctimonious in a couple of his discussions with Rapp. This book doesn't give us that "easy" ending nor allow us to feel comfortable about what either Mitch or Irene will face next.
(Plenty of profanity present.)
Father, I pray you would continue to bless Kyle as he creates these powerful stories with this legendary character. Thank you for his expertise and may you give him all he needs to write those stories you have just for him to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.