American Assassin
Before he was considered a CIA-super agent, before he was thought of as a terrorist's worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a star college athlete with an untapped instinct for violence. Tensions in the Middle East are simmering when Central Intelligence Angency Director Irene Kennedy pays a visit to Syracuse University, where she hopes to recruit none other than Mitch Rapp, a student who has quickly climbed up the academic and athletic ranks. At first glance, he appears like any other smart, good-looking American college kid. Under the surface, however, a tempest rages. Tragedy entered Mitch's life a year before when 35 of his classmates, including his girlfriend, perished on Pan Am flight 103. Since then, Mitch has grieved their senseless deaths and has felt helpless in his desire for revenge. When Kennedy arrives on campus, his career path is suddenly laid out for him. Nine months later, after gruelling training, Mitch finds himself in Istanbul on his first assignment, which is to assassinate the Turkish arms dealer who sold the explosives used in the Pan Am attack. Mitch hits his target but quickly sees, for t
Where American Assassin keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about American Assassin
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A young man whose girlfriend was killed in a Pan Am bombing is recruited off the grid by the CIA to train for a new kind of black-ops counterterrorism. First in the Mitch Rapp series.
American Assassin is the prequel to Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp thriller series, depicting Rapp's recruitment and training. It was published in 2010 but is the chronological starting point. New readers can begin here or with the original first novel, Transfer of Power.
Yes. A 2017 film adaptation starring Dylan O'Brien as Mitch Rapp and Michael Keaton as Stan Hurley was released. The film makes significant changes from the novel but covers the core training and first mission arc.
American Assassin was written by Vince Flynn, published in 2010 by Pocket Books.
American Assassin is 435 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, American Assassin takes most readers 7 to 9 hours to finish.
American Assassin is a standalone novel by Vince Flynn, not part of a series.
American Assassin is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
