Memorial Day

Fearless counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp is called upon to fight against the world's most deadly terrorists in this harrowing political thriller by New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn.

It's just seven days before Memorial Day, and the nation's capital is buzzing with last-minute preparations for the unveiling of the magnificent new memorial honoring the men and women who fought in World War II. Despite the hopeful energy of the city, Mitch Rapp senses trouble. A spike in CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States. Now it's up to Rapp to pull out all the stops.

Rapp immediately leaves for Afghanistan, where he leads a special forces unit on a daring commando raid across the border into a remote Pakistani village. Their target: an al Qaeda stronghold. Within a subterranean room, Rapp and his team discover a treasure trove of maps, computers, files, and bills of lading for multiple freighters heading to U.S. ports — all pointing to plans for a catastrophic nuclear attack on Washington, DC.

Information is quickly relayed back to CIA headquarters, and a nuclear emergency support team scrambles to the scene. In a few hours, the freighters have been located and disarmed and the danger has been averted. Or has it?

Despite all the backslapping and congratulations, Mitch Rapp can't shake the feeling that the operation seemed just a bit too easy. Rapp follows his instincts on a quest to unearth the whole truth. What he finds is truly terrifying, and with Memorial Day closing fast, Rapp must find a way to prevent a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

Packed with the heartstopping action and political intrigue that Vince Flynn's fans love, here is a stylish thriller exalting America's past battles for freedom as well as its continued fight for peace.

"The latest entry in Flynn's popular Mitch Rapp series (after 2003's Executive Power) offers a gripping look at what could transpire if a terrorist group were to sneak a nuclear weapon into the U.S. Rapp, the relentless, marble-hearted CIA assassin and terrorist hunter, would never let that happen, of course, and Flynn's description of the process of bringing a nuke ashore and the lengths to which the government's counterterrorism force will go to prevent harm to U.S. citizens add up to another page-flipping extravaganza. Rapp, back in the field after a long stint on desk duty for insubordination, unearths the bomb plot during a daring commando raid on an al-Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan. A U.S. strike force manages to intercept and disarm the nuke moments after it arrives by freighter in Charleston, S.C. Everyone, including series stalwart President Robert Hayes, congratulates themselves on a job well done, but Rapp isn't convinced; he believes al-Qaeda leader Mustafa al-Yamani has smuggled a second nuke into the country and plans to detonate it in Washington, D.C., during Memorial Day celebrations. Rapp, a ruthless terrorist pursuer by temperament and training, turns it up several notches this time around, following al-Yamani's scent with feverish abandon. Flynn trots out his usual assortment of characters to keep the action tense — wishy-washy cabinet members, political climbers, invective-spewing terrorists and a selected assortment of ice queens who use sex as a weapon. Yet his skillful use of converging plots, particularly the panic created by having a nuke on the loose, is enough to keep Flynn's growing fan base more than willing to overlook the formulaic components. Agent, Sloan Harris. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Vince Flynn's new thriller features a terrorist attack on Washington and is very much in the Tom Clancy tradition, which is to say that Flynn is more skilled at dealing with military matters than with politics." Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post Book World

Learning about an imminent terrorist attack, CIA operative Mitch Rapp takes the lead in a commando raid into northern Pakistan, where he obtains information about a planned nuclear attack but suspects that a greater threat exists.

When a spike in CIA intelligence suggests a major terrorist attack planned for Memorial Day, the President orders Mitch Rapp, his top counterterrorism operative, to pull out all the stops.