The Third Option by Vince Flynn

Regular readers of this blog (and I know you're out there!) will notice that my reading list has been a bit...heavy of late. The last couple of months I've read books on such cheery topics as war, the meaninglessness of (secular) life, and the end of Western civilization as we know it. Now all I need is a Russian history book to make my grim list complete.

So where do I turn for some lighter fare? Well, to a spy novel, of course: There's nothing quite like conspiracies and political intrigue to brighten the mood. So it's too bad that, as spy thrillers go, Vince Flynn's The Third Option is decidedly bland. The protagonist is CIA operative Mitch Rapp, the US government's most skilled assassin. Rapp and his fellow shadow warriors are the government's "third option;" when the first two options of diplomacy and military action are ineffective, they get the call. At a moment's notice, Rapp is ready to be plunged into a world where he can trust no one, and where any wrong move might be his last.

Sound familiar? That's because those sentences could be used to describe just about every spy novel ever written. The constant maneuverings of betrayal and counter-betrayal have all been done before, but usually much better than in The Third Option. It is hard to get excited about yet another "twist" where yet another hitman is hired to silence the hitman who killed the other side's hitman...and on and on it goes. For a truly suspenseful and unpredictable spy novel, try anything by Robert Ludlum. This was my first foray into Mr. Flynn's work, and I don't plan on returning.