Extreme Measures: A Thriller
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Vince Flynn List Price: $27.95 Our Price: $18.45 You Save: $9.50 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Hardcover 416 pages Release Date: 28 October 2008 Publisher: Atria Books ISBN: 0743270428 Rating:   Sales Rank: 627 | | Look for similar books by subject:
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| | Customer Reviews: Extreme Measures (06 January 2009)I read the book and the available reviews at the time. I would say Extreme Measures was on par with the rest of Flynn's work. Having said that, I do enjoy the Mitch Rapp character more than Mike Nash family man. Rapp works better alone. Just turn him lose and he'll take care of it. Flynn hits another one out of the park! (06 January 2009)We have enjoyed all of Vince Flynn's previous Mitch Rapp books and this one is no exception. He's added new characters to consider, a new attitude for Mitch and the same no-b.s. attitude for Kennedy. We recommend this book loud and often. Excellent job, Mr. Flynn! exciting! (06 January 2009)This was a great gift for my husband who loves historical fiction. The Author obviously did a lot of research about terrorism and the history of terrorism. Extreme Measures (Torture)--When It is Justified and When It Is Not... (04 January 2009)Vince Flynn's exciting new novel--and aren't all of his books exciting!!--doesn't seek to answer that question philosophically, just on a case-by-case example, and he does so very effectively, from the family level to to the level of national security. The issues are the same, only the consequences differ. This book is a very real scenario of what could happen if the "do-gooders" ever get control of Washington and make us try to live like lambs in the very real, sometimes scary and terrifiing world. It would be a mistake to label the characters in this book as Republican or Democratic/liberal or conservative. Flynn, appropriately, does a good job of emphasizing that there are people of both pursuasions on both sides of the aisle. This book is about the all-too-real scenario of torture/not to torture when the nation is in immediate danger. Not much philosophy here, just what could be the real scenario. In a surprising twist, Mitch Rapp doesn't win this one, but the stage is set for a dramatic sequal. The addition of Mike Nash gives even more depth, substance and personality to an already terrifying CIA encounter with terrorism. Vince Flynn is A-One , and this is just another in a long line of outstanding reads. And a word to Mitch Rapp: "Get that sonavabitch!!!" Should we use torture in the fight against terrorism? (04 January 2009)In "Extreme Measures," author Vince Flynn uses fiction to answer some very tough questions: "Is torture ever justified? And if so, who gets to make that decision?" Our main character, once again, is CIA operative Mitch Rapp. We join Rapp and his buddy Mike Nash at Bagram Air Force Base in eastern Afghanistan, where they are conducting an unauthorized interrogation of some captured bad guys. Meanwhile, a secret terrorist cell is training in the jungles of Paraguay to attack Washington, D.C. The clock is ticking. This novel is essentially a "set piece" -- a predictable plot following a pre-existing formula. Flynn's characters are basically cardboard cutouts whose main purpose is to promote his view on torture. Tough guy Mitch Rapp is the Oliver North of his world, boldly defying authority at almost every level to protect his homeland. Nash is the somewhat more hesitant family man with conflicted feelings. They're opposed by a liberal U.S. senator modeled on Barbara Boxer, as well as several lesser lights in the military and CIA chain of command. Following the scandal at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, the political types are trying to reign in the use of torture. In contrast, Rapp's heroic actions "prove" that such "legalistic" thinking is foolish, hypocritical or suicidal. OK, so when should torture be used? Only operatives in the field, Rapp says, are qualified to make that judgment. The story unfolds in the usual way -- tension builds steadily until Mitch Rapp comes to the rescue. Hurrah! Now we can see the Truth. By the end of the novel, even our liberal senator is convinced that torturing captured jihadists is just fine and dandy. Don't worry about those secret CIA prisons (black sites), water boarding, stress positions, psyops torture and extraordinary rendition (kidnapping). Vince Flynn says we don't really need that musty old Constitution -- it just gets in the way! A more convincing novel would examine the issue of torture without this kind a comic book mentality where everything is either "us vs. them" or "wise conservative vs. stupid liberal." That's the difference between a master spy novelist like John le Carre and a pulp writer like Vince Flynn. Read le Carre's "Most Wanted Man" for a more sophisticated - and insightful - look at the role of torture in modern society. You won't be sorry... | |
