In a review last fall for "Pursuit of Honor," I described Vince Flynn's CIA counter-terrorism operative Mitch Rapp as extreme beyond what would result if Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh had a love child who was rasied by rabid wolves and later adopted by Dick Cheney. Wouldn't you know, Flynn's publishers took me up on that challenge and have a dust jacket, blurb from Glenn Beck calling this latest Mitch Rapp venture "captivating." If Ahbu Ghraib and Guantanamo are your idea of captivating, then Glenn Beck is RIGHT on the money.

In "American Assassin" Flynn gives us "Mitch Rapp the Early Years." Message: an american assassin is born not made. An interesting counterpoint to the envisioning of terrorists as being made (by their religion or circumstances) and not born.

Flynn is a compelling writer and he never cheats on plot. Flynn is this century's Tom Clancy, where revenge and pyrotechnics are far more important than intrigue and rational thought. No wonder Glenn Beck likes what he sees.