Protect and Defend: A Thriller

Protect and Defend: A Thriller (Mitch Rapp #10)

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4.24 of 5 stars 4.24  ·  rating details  ·  9,444 ratings  ·  439 reviews
New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn returns with his most explosive political thriller yet. A tour de force of action-packed suspense, Protect and Defend delivers an all-too-realistic and utterly compelling vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue. A true "heavyweight in the political thriller arena" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), Vince F...more
ebook, 416 pages
Published October 30th 2007 by Atria Books (first published 2007)
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Mark Fallon
Mitch Rapp kills a lot of bad guys.
Carol Hunter
I posted the incorrect author when I read this book. Thanks to Karon who informed me of this mistake. This is the same review that I posted earlier for a book by Patterson with this same title. OOOPS!

This is a typical political thriller book with takes place in Iran after an attack destroys its nuclear facility. Israel and the U.S. are both blamed and Iran is working to "spin" this event to their country benefis. It is fascinating to watch the hardliners and the moderates at war within Iran. It...more
Jenny
This is, without question, the worst book I have read in memory. (Needless to say I never would have picked it up on my own - it is part of the ongoing LJK mandatory book club.) Everything about this book was terrible: the writing was laughably bad, the plot was simple in the worst way, the characters were hatefully macho, and the "moral" - if you can call it that - is that torture and violence get results, and therefore are acceptable as a means to an end. I denounce this book! And it gets no s...more
Toni Osborne
Book 8 of the Mitch Rapp series

In the heart of Iran, billions of dollars are spent on the development of a nuclear program. Israel is eager to stop its development and launches one of the most daring espionage operations ever conceived, the attack leaves an environmental disaster in the middle of Iran's largest city.

The Iranian government is outraged and blames both Israel and the United States for the destruction and demands retribution. CIA director Irene Kennedy is dispatched to the region to...more
Roberta
The cover of my version of this book is slightly different, but it's the only one with the same title & date so I assume it's one & the same.

Excellent/well written/informative/educational book. If one wants to learn about activity behind the scenes in the intelligence communities of Middle East countries, this is the book to read. Though it's a work of fiction, the handling of some incidents probably comes close to the truth. What I found to be most interesting was how these countries li...more
Jim Laubach
I'm not going to rehash the plot here. Read the dustcover or the back cover of the paperback at your local B&N, or the synopsis on Amazon.com if that's what you're after.

What I will do is tell you that Vince Flynn gets my vote for the best writer of spy novels/political thrillers in America. And that's saying a lot, given Tom Clancy and Richard Marcinko.

Yes, Clancy's good. He has excellent sources in the espionage and national security business, and at least used to be able to write compelli...more
Tim
I read this book right after Executive Power, which as it turns out is Rapp 6, and this is Rapp 10. So there was some filling in the blanks as I tried to figure out what happened to whom in the book. Eventually, Mr Flynn, explains it, but the first few chapters had me wondering what was going on. When you pick up a book it doesn't say - Mitch Rapp 10 or 9 or 1 on it, so one does not know where in sequence one is; interestingly the first chapter of this book is at the end of Executive Power so on...more
D. Jason
Iran's nuclear weapons program comes crashing down, quite literally, and the country's peacock of a president sees the very public destruction as an opportunity to turn world opinion against the USA and Israel. While the president is escalating international tensions, the head of Iran's intelligence services quietly meets with the director of the CIA in an attempt to defuse the situation.

And then things go pear-shaped to such a degree that only Mitch Rapp can put them right.

This is one of Vince...more
Chuck
In some ways, I'm glad I read this novel with two other Vince Flynn tomes in the same week (Thank you, Christmas Vacation). This novel reminds me of everything that I really like about Vince Flynn books--why I started reading them, why I have bought all his novels, and why, until a few years ago, I would miss any of them.

Unfortunately, it also dramatically illustrtates how Vince had gotten off course in the last two books.

The novel is a textbook example of what Vince Flynn does best. Multiple c...more
Jerome
I liked this. i haven't read many thrillers were Hezbollah and the Iranian government are the antagonists.The novel is a textbook example of what Vince Flynn does best. Multiple characters in multiple settings living out multiple plot lines, all deftly brought together at the end. Rapp, Flynn's series hero, is more beleiveable and more likeable in ths book than he is in others. He is still headstrong, a wild card, and is totally committed to defending his country regardless of the cost. But in t...more
Greg Gountanis
CIA counterterrorism agent Mitch Rapp is back in Protect and Defend, this time investigating the destruction of a nuclear facility in Iran. Rapp suspects it's an inside job courtesy of the Israelis. The Iranians blame the United States. When Rapp and CIA director Irene Keneddy fly to Iraq to have a sit-down and discuss the hatrid spewing from both sides, Kennedy is abducted. Rapp must beat the clock and find Kennedy before she breaks and reveals intel that could set the U.S. back in the war on t...more
Kip
Was at the airport facing an unknown-but-at-least-two-hour delay before my flight home. Have read a couple Flynn books before, even one of the previous Mitch Rapp stories, so picked it up.

A great page-turner and thriller. Can of course see where things are headed in the end, but still worth reading. Didn't even consider stopping (well, when the plane landed and I had to drive home) until the last 50 pages or so when the end game became too obvious.

Interesting, timely premise for me as I'm having...more
Sean Menon
Jun 18, 2011 Sean Menon rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Americans
Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn is a great book that kept (me) reading until the end. First, a nuclear plant in Iran is secretly at risk because of an Israeli spy in the building. After a year of waiting for the right moment, the spy bombs the nuclear "power plant". Naturally, Iran and it's rulers both publically complain to the UN and blame both the United States and Israel for the attack even without any proof. Iran's dictator closes many of the surrounding seas around Iran off to US and Isr...more
Benjamin Thomas
I've chosen to read the Mitch Rapp books in the order they were published rather than chronologically. I usually do that because "prequel" stories are often better when you know what characters eventually become and it is fun to see how they got there. So in this case, I have not yet read the "first" two books, in the way Goodreads orders them but they will be bubbling up soon.

This book continues the story of Rapp and his role in America's defense. I've based my rating on the story itself and am...more
Burt
I'm not certain that I would call this book amazing, but that's the working definition that Goodreads gives us to work with. That said, it was a really good read. In thias story, Flynn has provided as close to a really believable international political scenario in the vein of terrorism as I have read in a long time. At the same time, he has held his very likable character Mitch Rapp to a very believable set of human emotions embroiled with a necessary degree of professionalism with maybe a smal...more
Gail Cohen
After a hard week this is a fast read. I have read many of Flynn's books. they are all the same plot. super CIA special ops spy finds and kills the bad guys. I really enjoy them. I learned that I hope there are guys like this Mitch Rapp character in real life, although I doubt it.
Mike
This one is all about Iran, their nuclear program, an Israeli plan to end that program, and some old bad blood between Mitch Rapp and a Hezbollah baddie. The usual intrigue ensues. A good read.
Steve
mitch rapp *8
I just finished it and i wanted to write something before i started another book.
Vince Flynn's style is terrific and there is a vicarious sense of raw justice but i'm too much of an arm chair softy (such as some of the bureaucrats he described) to be able to read the brutality that may or does go on behind closed cell doors.
Vince definately helps define the characters/caricatures of world stage leaders and their puppets.
this story is not for the faint of heart.
the concept of mitch r...more
Abram
Feb 18, 2009 Abram rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: sick twisted freaks
Recommended to Abram by: My good friend Larry
Honestly, I almost didn't finish this book. I had finished about half the book in about a week of evening reading and was at the point where I wanted to move on to something else more intriguing, But Flynn had come so highly recommended by so many of my sick twisted friends I decided to give it one more chance, and so i picked it up about 11:00pm with the intention of possibly finishing another chapter, around 3:00am I closed the book on the last page and realized I was totally tense from the ac...more
Doug
Dec 22, 2007 Doug rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: 24 fans, Republicans
Shelves: fic-v-flynn
Another excellent installment in the Mitch Rapp series. Flynn has pulled out all the stops on this one. Highly recommended to everyone but the most liberal of Democrats.
Keith
If you’re looking for an action packed political thriller this is the book for you. CIA super-agent and maverick Mitch Rapp takes on Hezbollah’s fanatical top master spy and assassin as well as the power hungry politicians behind Iran’s corrupt theocracy. Although Rapp’s immediate and violent solutions to all issues never fail and therefore are a little difficult to buy, this is high-minded political intrigue that falls right out of today’s headlines and does provide a scenario for what could ha...more
Katherine
This book is a Lorna Landvik for those who like spy/crime/torture novels. It's l-i-t-e reading with lots of blood and bad guys. There are more guns per page in this book than any book I've ever read.I will not be seeking to read additional Flynn books, however I didn't hate the book. It's just not my thing. I must say, it was interesting to have read it right before Osama bin Laden was killed. He's not in it, but it does take place in the Middle East and has that "go get 'em" kind of flavor. Why...more
Moby
I haven't read many suspense books like this, and have never read a Vince Flynn book. My stepdad recommended this, and I thought at first it would be boring. Nothing could be less true! It took a little while to set up events for the story, and the protagonist's initial action didn't further the story much. But after a few chapters, the book really took off and never stopped. I was enthralled and riveted to the pages. Flynn obviously did his research, and the small details he included about the...more
Drick
This is part of the Mitch Rapp Series. Rapp works for the CIA's calndestien operations unit and plays by his own rules. Flynn writes a good story that shows the violence and gruesomeness of the spy business without glorifying it. He also portrays the "enemy" somewhat sympathetically, although his characters are pretty steereotypical. Rapp is the get-it-done type, politicians and bureucrats are wimps who like to talk and not act, bad guys are very bad. In this case the U.S. almost goes to war wit...more
Tracy Cobb
OK, Vince is another of my favorite authors. I have read all his books but there are so many I don't want to list them individually. His books are political / military thrillers with Mitch Rapp as the main character. His books are read by the Pentagon and the Secret Service. I highly recommend all his books but I would read them in the order they were written as they do build on each other. Not that you would feel out of place starting in the middle of the series but you might wonder who people...more
Damien
I had to give this book three stars. It took half the book to actually get good, the beginning filled with too much political filler. Unlike Flynn's previous few books, Protect and Defend was rather predictable and boring in regards to plot. He managed to keep the action going in the second half however. It took me a good week to force myself through the first half of this book, simply because of lack of interest to keep reading, and then only a few hours to get through the rest once Flynn illus...more
Beth
Feb 01, 2009 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone but especially my husband
Recommended to Beth by: can't remember
OMG! This was a great book! This is a book about our world, the CIA & what it really means to protect our way of life in a messed up world! This is fiction with a whole lot of truth taken from real life & made into a story. It made me really stop & think about our Constitution & how the rest of the world does NOT play by our rules & why the CIA is so important!

I'm spoiled now. I began reading another book by Brad Meltzer & so far it just doesn't measure up to Vince Flynn...more
Michael
Although this story was written in '07, it certainly applies in 2013. But I should stay on point...
I liked the approach of the "new" President, Alexander. Seems he will get along just fine with Mitch Rapp. And I look forward to following the relationship that seems to be somewhat changing with Rapp and his Boss....lets see what unfolds...
Protect and Defend is a fast read, at least it was for me. Action and intrigue on almost every page. Rapp the superhuman CIA operative is showing more chinks...more
Jim
A decent enough Mitch Rapp outing, but quite a bit light on the plot side of things. Essentially, the Iranians are getting chippy and kidnap Rapp's boss, which sets the stage for the majority of the story. There is some Israeli involvement early on in the form of the destruction of an Iranian nuclear facility, but that potentially very interesting side of the equation is summarily dropped early on in the novel. That, combined with the rather hasty conclusion, makes me wonder if there wasn't a bi...more
Patty
Not my favorite Mitch Rapp book but I gave it 4 stars instead of 3 because unlike many authors with recurring characters, Flynn does remain true to Mitch. The weakness inthis story was Flynn rushed it too much. It was a little to easy for the bad guys to work their plan and I really didn't like having Kennedy in the field.I've come to expect her cool and calm actions and while it's okay to show her vulnerable I really felt there were better ways to do it. I'm still a huge fan though and Mitch re...more
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The Vince Flynn Story

The fifth of seven children, Vince Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1966. He graduated from the St. Thomas Academy in 1984, and the University of St. Thomas with a degree in economics in 1988. After college he went to work for Kraft General Foods where he was an account and sales marketing specialist. In 1990 he left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the...more
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“I don't want to hear another word about my attitude. i don't want anyone looking over my shoulder, and I sure as hell don't want anyone second-guessing what I do. (Mitch Rapp)” 6 people liked it
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