Enemy of the State, by Kyle Mills

I am a fan of Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series and have been please with the way Kyle Mills picked up the torch and has continued the series.  Enemy of the State, the newest title, published in September of 2017, continues the Rapp saga.  However, Mills cuts off any restraints that may have been in place before and lets the Rapp vehicle careen wildly out of control!

In many ways, this is a typical Rapp story.  Rapp always does what he thinks is best and doesn't hesitate to buck authority if conditions warrant it.  In Enemy of the State, the president calls Rapp to a clandestine meeting and, in an oblique, fully deniable manner, asks Rapp to take out an opponent.  ISIS is teaming up with Saudi officials, intending to bring down the Saudi monarchy and expand ISIS's power throughout the world.  Rapp keeps his new "orders" to himself, quits his post with the CIA, and goes dark.

Rapp assembles a new team, with his housemate/girlfriend, whose late husband killed Rapp's family, and a couple of former foes.  It's a rag-tag, A-team kind of group with deadly skills and seemingly unlimited mobility and resources.  This is what bothered me about the story.  Rapp and his allies always have all the money in the world, it seems, even though they are cut off from the U.S. government's resources.  We hear, vaguely, about Mitch's brother's investment prowess and great wealth.  And they manage to hack their opponent's bank accounts so they have his Saudi millions at their disposal.  But it's always just too easy.  Having that kind of cash is one thing, but accessing and spending it in far-flung countries without secure banks is another.

And they always seem to magically obtain transportation to get where they want, when they want.  Border checks?  Flight plans?  Pilots to fly them?  Rental car agencies?  Never a problem.  I know, I know, Rapp is so smart he has cash and IDs stashed in every major city, but that's just assumed.  The result is a story that seems like a better fit for "Agents of Shield" than Vince Flynn.  I still enjoyed Enemy of the State and as soon as Mills's next Mitch Rapp book comes out, I'll gobble it up like any fan.  But I'm a little disappointed in the turn he has taken with the personality of the story.