When the country that Mitch Rapp has loved and defended for more than two decades suddenly turns on him, he must find a way to protect those around him at all costs in this electrifying new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kyle Mills.
When he was twenty-two years old, Mitch Rapp joined the CIA and never looked back. At thirty-one, he infiltrated the White House after it was overrun by terrorists in an effort to save the president. At thirty-four, Rapp put it all on the line to piece together a plot to smuggle a nuclear weapon into the United States. At forty-three, following several explosions in Washington D.C., Rapp was tasked with hunting down the mastermind and making them pay for their sins.
And those are just a few of the highlights.
Now, though, after a distinguished, selfless career—and more than twenty years of standing on the front lines against the war or terror—Mitch Rapp has been betrayed, and forced to go on the run from the President of the United States of America.
Anthony Cook wasn’t his party’s first choice to occupy the Oval Office. But after the front-runner was found dead, Cook ascended his way to the top, running on a plethora of radical ideas that he promises will fundamentally change America forever. First, though, he has to clean house, ensuring that everyone in his administration is loyal both to him and his cause.
Picking up from where a pivotal scene left off in last year’s Enemy at the Gates (2021), Rapp is confronted with the ugly truth that one of the people closest to him has crossed him. In an emotional opening that’ll leave diehard fans of the scenes rattled, Rapp is warned not to mess with President Cook, a man too powerful for even him to lock horns with. The president, Rapp is told, will stop at nothing to see his agenda pushed through, and with things already in place, change is coming. It’s too late to stop it.
Cook, meanwhile, with the help of his manipulative security advisor, becomes convinced that Rapp is far too great a liability, not to mention a threat, to leave alive. And even though Cook and Rapp both agree to stand down, POTUS can’t seem to get Mitch off his mind. In hopes of neutralizing the American assassin once and for all, Cook signs off on numerous contracts, including one with a shadowy group known only as Legion—a team of killers who specialize in taking out their targets in ways that make their deaths look like accidents.
No longer willing to sit back and play defense, Rapp, desperate to protect those around him, goes on offense . . . and once the action starts, it never lets up for a second—leading to a nail-biting final act that readers won’t soon forget.
As the real world continues to evolve from where it was back in 2013 when series creator Vince Flynn passed away, Kyle Mills has the challenging task of addressing threats that are relevant today, bringing the series forward in time. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing a better job than Mills, who continues to consistently nail Mitch Rapp, keeping the character true to who fans love, while changing everything around him to better reflect potential threats in 2022. That’s a tall order, and while some readers may complain that Rapp is no longer hunting down Middle Eastern terrorists exclusively, that subtle shift brings a whole new energy to the series, while also giving Rapp his biggest, and most powerful, adversary to date. The end result is nothing short of brilliant.
Masterfully plotted and packed with tons of hard-hitting action, including one scene that feels ripped from John Wick’s playbook, Oath of Loyalty is the best Mitch Rapp novel since Consent to Kill. Jack Carr and Mark Greaney are both having incredible years, but Kyle Mills just delivered the book to beat with this statement-making thriller.
Mitch Rapp is still the genre’s most badass character, and as long as Mills is on board, that doesn’t appear likely to change anytime soon.
Book Details
Author: Kyle Mills
Series: Mitch Rapp #21
Pages: 368 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1982164913
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Release Date: September 13, 2022
Real Book Spy Rating: 9.5/10
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and co-hosts the ThrillerTalk podcast when he’s not streaming and hanging out with his growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” comes out on September 6, 2022. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook.