Red War (17) (A Mitch Rapp Novel) Paperback – August 3, 2021

Mitch Rapp is back in Red War in what I believe to be Kyle Mills’ best work yet. A task I didn’t think was possible after my personal favorite Order to Kill since taking over writing duties in 2014 for the series. Red War starts off with the Russian President Maxim Krupin watching his country evolve into something a little more daring, something that just a few years ago would have been unthinkable. The “pampered” new generation is growing stronger and their numbers increasing while Krupin barely sees through blurred vision and the increasing waves of nausea he keeps experiencing literally force him to sit down as he loses his balance. All due to health issues he is forced to hide from his country, his government, even those closest to him as to not show any weakness they may be able to exploit. All of this to paint a desperate man utilizing drastic measures to cling to power.Starting off with Grisha Azarov, the Russian super-soldier created by Kyle Mills in OTK returns and is quite a changed man. No longer is he taking performance enhancing drugs and training regularly, no longer is he a calculating killer we met in OTK. Still very dangerous, but clearly not in peak physical shape. Or I should say not in the peak physical shape he is used to. Once in the book, due to all the events that have occurred, Grisha is questioning his ability to operate. Mitch is trying to get to the bottom of it, attempting to see if this is pure mental drawback or if he is truly lacking in the physical arena. So, Mitch asks him something along the lines of… “What are we talking about here, Grisha. Could you still run a marathon? Grisha responds with “Of Course.” “How fast?” Mitch asks. Grisha does his terminator thing and calculates a precise time that is literally 50% faster than the average time of U.S. marathon runs in 2016, and 13 minutes slower than the current marathon record holder. (yes, I googled that for this review). Suffice to say, he is still one of the top operators in the world and I look forward to more of Grisha Azarov in future Mitch Rapp thrillers.Now, on to the main guy, Mitch. Kyle does a wonderful job keeping the attention on him and keeping our favorite American Assassin at the top of his game. In Red War, we get to see Mitch do something he hasn’t done in a very long time. He goes toe-to-toe with a very strong adversary, and our hero does not disappoint. All that training we read about so long ago in American Assassin, then mentioned briefly again in Act of Treason, his skills are still there, and Kyle does not disappoint. His humor, his tactics, his training are all explored and there is absolutely no sign of him slowing down any time soon.Irene Kennedy is of course back, and she deserves a shout out due to a very impressive spy maneuver she executes that I did not see coming. When I am reading, there is nothing more fulfilling then being surprised in a scene. Kyle manages to do that quite a few times in Red War, however one of the most surprising scenes involve Irene visiting a traveling Russian politician in his hotel room.Red War is a fast moving, action filled thriller that takes us from the jungles of Costa Rica, to the beaches in Latvia, to the dangerous terrains in Russia’s mountainous no man’s land while delivering constant surprises, action, and suspense. Kyle Mills has once again delivered what I believe to be this year’s number one thriller. Pre-order your copy today and set aside a day, this is one of those must-read thrillers that you cannot put down and must finish in one sitting.

I didn't love this book, but it held my interest and had a few surprises and suspenseful moments. While the plot may seem far-fetched, it looks somewhat plausible in light of the war in Ukraine. "Maxim Krupin" shared a lot of characteristics with "Vladimir Putin".I don't get the reviews that say "Rapp is barely in this book". I half expected that to be the case as I started reading, but did not find that to be true. The book featured shifting viewpoints in much the same way all the Rapp novels have done. Rapp is definitely the main character.When Grisha Azarov was introduced a few books ago, I wondered if Kyle Mills was planning to make Mitch a more behind the scenes character with Azarov becoming a more active field agent. Rapp must be 50-ish by now and is not getting any younger. Daniel Silva had to put Gabriel Allon in the Mossad planning role because that character is now in his early 60's and can't get beaten up in every novel any longer. I don't know how long Mitch will remain a field agent, but I doubt that Azarov will take his place. For one thing, he's a fairly boring character. Because Azarov is a PED enhanced agent, he has no personality and and lacks actual skills when he is not on the PEDs. There are several moments in this book in which Mitch worries that Azarov can't hold it together enough to complete the assignment. Maybe as the stories go on, they will just hope we don't think about how old Rapp is getting?Speaking of "far-fetched", one thing that bothered me is that when Rapp and Azarov are undercover as wolf habitat researchers in Russia, Rapp has "Mitch" as his undercover first name. I know Vince Flynn came up with "Mitch Kruse" as Rapp's alias, but at this point in Rapp's career EVERYBODY seems to know who Mitch Rapp is. If a Russian agent is on the lookout for spies, and one of them is named "Mitch" and he played Lacrosse in college, that's an obvious red flag.I have not given up on the series yet, and am starting the next book already. No, the books are not quite what they were when Vince wrote them, but I still like the viewpoint of the books and will probably keep reading them.

Mitch Rapp books are always well written and enthralling. Fast-paced, thrilling action makes them hard to put down. The ending is great, but it makes me want to quickly pick up another Mitch Rapp book.

great read and ending

I liked the way Mills worked the current world situations into the story.

The whole of the Mitch Rapp series has been a fantastic distraction for me during the pandemicFound the books absorbing and so prophetic as to what had gone on and Is still going on in the world of US and international politicsMany of the plots are totally believable and I can only assume the authors must have a gigantic crystal ball to be able to predict where the next story line is going and that Mitch will be there to save us all

A very well developed story showing the danger of a lunatic with all power in his hands. Absorbing and a good suspense story

Fast paced story, easy to read, some very interesting ideas about the military options of the Baltic states. Read it..looking forward to the next Mitch Rapp story

Great book, Kyle Mills is doing the late Vince Flynn proud with the writings of Mitch Rapp. Great work Kyle! Keep it going!