Novels No. 58 (LL376)

 

Kyle Mills. Vince Flynn, Enemy at the Gates, a Mitch Rapp novel. USA: Emily Bestler Books/ Atria, 2021.

Scrounging books is looking better and better. Change of pace to a satisfying action plot overlaid with political chicanery and global biological importance. American President Anthony Cook has just been installed after a near-disaster terrorist attack on the nation. CIA Director Irene Kennedy is one official who doesn't trust Cook; her right-hand man Mike Nash is more tactful. Brilliant scientist David Chism has gone missing after his research lab—secreted deep in Uganda's roughest country—was destroyed by lunatic Gideon Auma's fierce rebel cult. Influential "trillionaire" Nick Ward, the lab's financial supporter, expects an official American search effort, but privately he gets the best: he persuades agent extraordinaire Mitch Rapp to undertake the search, with Kennedy's implied agreement. President Cook tells no one that the American task force he quietly sends out is deliberately composed of soldiers hopelessly untrained for jungle and guerrilla conditions.

Rapp is ex-CIA, on the verge of retirement. Sprinkled references to his past show that this man has history with enormously successful espionage missions for the U.S. They don't interrupt the plot for the reader, but can encourage a look at earlier novels in the series originated by Vince Flynn and carried forward by Kyle Mills. Rapp happens to be good buds with Mike Nash and also has a loyal team on call led by Scott Coleman.

Chism is alive but Rapp keeps it secret—the rescue op presents absolutely breathtaking moments, the first of many to follow—so that Chism's crucial, life-saving research can continue. But no rest for Rapp as he and Ward work together to force Auma's secret manipulators into the open. Even Rapp's wife Claudia can deliver major resources of her own for desperate measures. The action and suspense never lag in Africa and the Middle East: ingenious schemes changing on a whim, mercenary kidnappings real or faked, elaborate coverups, power abuses. It's a cynical world, yet not without a skilled sense of humour, thoroughly hooked me. The book is not only satisfying—characters sharpened by dialogue, vividly felt locations—it also resonates in today's murky geopolitics.

Washington DC Voices

▪ Did the White House figure he was so blinded by the radiance of Anthony Cook that he wanted to get his ass shot off? (51)

▪ Ward's research into renewables was accelerating the collapse of the Middle Eastern energy industry just as Chism's research was undermining the royalty's heavy bets on the pharmaceutical industry. (120)

▪ At least Isis maintained the pretense of remaining faithful to Allah. Gideon Auma adopted any and all belief systems that suited him. (152)

▪ The existence of the Cooks' spectacularly botched rescue effort was still under wraps and neither Coleman nor Ward was the type to run his mouth unnecessarily. (186)

Chism

▪ The potential contribution to mankind was incredible, with the possibility that a single vaccine could wipe out the entire coronavirus category. (4)

▪ If Chism let himself fall into their hands, they could ransom him back to Nick Ward. And that'd be real money. (36)

▪ "They've come to save us," she said. "Mr. Ward sent them, yes? It has to be. Gideon Auma has no helicopters." (91)

Ward

▪ He was a genius in every sense of the word who had stepped back from controlling his business empire to run a massive foundation that he'd charged with nothing less ambitious than solving the problems of humanity. (19)

▪ His involvement in telecom, space exploration, energy, and artificial intelligence was critical to America's national security and economy. (142)

▪ Ward shook his head. "I can't order people dead and then pay mercenaries to make it happen." (198)

▪ "If you expect me to just sit here for the next year watching everything I've built collapse, you might want to shoot me now." (293)

Rapp

▪ And America? It was being taken over by corrupt politicians, a mainstream media bent on whipping up divisions, and an Internet full of crazies. (32)

▪ In all likelihood, they were whacked out on ajali, a locally produced narcotic that acted like a ten-foot line of PCP-laced cocaine. (114)

▪ "But Auma's a bad combination of smart and insane. And his people are happy to die for him." (128)

Alex Lake. The Choice. UK: HarperCollins, 2020.

Traditional fare here in the psychological suspense vein. Matt Westbrook's car is stolen one evening outside a convenience store; his three young children were in it. As the bewildered man tries to explain to his wife Annabelle at home, the bizarre truth is gradually texted to him: your children will be returned if you deliver your wife as ransom! Instructions forbid police contact or the kids will never be seen again. Talk about anxiety—after hours of heartrending concerns, including input from Annabelle's brother Mike, Matt's sister Tessa, and a trusted ex-cop, all sworn to secrecy, Annabelle realizes her only real option is to give herself up. When the exchange is made, with children safely returned, it's time for distraught Matt to call the police; DI Wynne and DS Dudek take the case. But Matt has lost the getaway trail they were desperately attempting to follow.

No spoiler, but we meet the kidnapper mid-way. The Westbrooks, a happy couple totally committed to each other, had scoured their pasts trying to guess who would plan this, and why. Friends and acquaintances from university days right up to the present are introduced in scenes from the past; the police begin personal interviews. Only one person seemed off—Matt's long-ago ex-girlfriend Lindsey had had an unhealthy obsession for him, tried to trap him into marriage. But Lindsey has a decent alibi. More disturbing for the detectives are the numbers of anonymous fans who admire Annabelle as a mystery novelist; any one of them could be a potential maniac kidnapper.

My initial reaction to the short chapters—sometimes choppy, often emotionally repetitive—was impatience (admit it, I like fewer narrators), but the style from one character to another serves very well to ratchet the tension once the intended hostage is taken. A quibble, why not? ... Lack of medical attention seems drastically out of place, but we're dealing with an irrational weirdo, right? Otherwise, well done.

Past

▪ "Is that what's going on here? You're breaking up with me for some university slag." (65)

▪ "You're pathetic. I can't believe you're going to be the father of my child." (94)

▪ "So go home and do what you need to do. And when the dust settles we'll see where we are." (96)

▪ "Nothing could keep us apart, Matt. Nothing." (138)

Present

▪ "Do you think it's possible to follow me with a drone?" Annabelle said. (163)

▪ "So he comes to the pub," Dudek said. "To switch vehicles." (256)

▪ For Matt, everything was suspended, but out there people were getting into car accidents and having babies and living and dying as they always did. (287)

▪ She tried to push past him and he grabbed her by the elbow and twisted. The pain bloomed through her shoulder and she screamed. (310)

▪ "Why my DNA, if I may ask?" If there had been hesitation or concern, it was gone. (386)

Psycho

▪ Once you have earned somebody's trust it is the easiest thing in the world to abuse it. (19)

▪ To pull this off required preparation and time. And a vastly superior nerve and intelligence. Let's not forget that. (36)

▪ Her children are a burden; pretending to love them is a chore. Only I know that, which is why I am doing this for her. (148)

▪ She will have to change her appearance. I have a plan for that, though. It will be hard and painful, but she will accept it. (327)

▪ It will take time for her to realize what she has been missing. In a way, it is like deprogramming someone from a cult, but I have time. (350)