A Mitch Rapp Story of the Search for Bin Laden

BOOK REVIEW: Capture of Kill: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Don Bentley

By Don Bentley/ Atria

Reviewed by: Robert Richer

The Reviewer — Robert Richer served as a former Associate Deputy Director for Operations at the CIA.  He also served as Chief of the Near East and South Asia Division, responsible for Clandestine Service Operations throughout the Middle East and South Asia. Mr. Richer currently consults on Middle East and national security issues and is a senior partner with International Advisory Partners.

REVIEW — This is the second time I’ve had the opportunity to review the first novel in the “Mitch Rapp” series by authors honoring the late Vince Flynn’s writing.  Like Kyle Mills, who first took up the Rapp mantle, the author of this newest book in the Rapp series, Capture or Kill, Don Bentley, keeps to the heart of Vince’s writing as he outlines a story set in the days preceding the May 2, 2011, operation that killed Osama bin Laden.  

The story in this novel begins in Iran.  A senior Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) official, concerned with the threat posed by even more radical clerics on the Iranian Guardian Council supporting a plot conceived by a Quds Force Colonel, makes the decision to reach out to Mitch Rapp, the “Angel of Death,” as he is known, in effort to defuse the potentially regionally destabilizing plot and ensure some protection for the MOIS officer’s family in return.

The narrative flows from Iran to Pakistan and Afghanistan.   A compromised raid by Army Rangers hunting a leader of the Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin network (HIG) leads to the capture of one of the Rangers requiring Rapp and his team of former special operations personnel to locate and rescue the Ranger.  Like most of Rapp’s efforts, the rescue does not go as planned, leading to an interesting set of circumstances for both Rapp and the Ranger.

The story continues with political and operational developments in Pakistan touching on both the Quds Force plot and the search for Bin Laden, CRANKSHAFT, the code name used by the author in the book.   The author deftly weaves the Quds plot into the search for CRANKSHAFT culminating in a fast-paced conclusion.  

Mr. Bentley does a solid job in bringing the story together.  He brings in many of those familiar to previous Rapp books including Stan Hurley, Mitch Rapp’s mentor, Rapp’s team of former special operators headed by Scott Coleman, Irene Kennedy and Mike Nash from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A female Non-Official Cover (NOC) officer of the CIA is introduced as well.

In itself, the novel captures a critical period in the war on terror.   It well notes the political necessity and concerns of the Bin Laden operation, as well as the potential for failure.   I’ve read several of Mr. Bentley’s earlier and unrelated novels.  He is gifted in bringing multi-dimensions to his stories and his characters and he can interject humor into situations that help make rather complex and almost unbelievable situations believable and entertaining.   Capture or Kill is a worthy addition to Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp legacy and a read that will both entertain and also leave more than a few “what if” thoughts with readers.

Capture or Kill earns a solid 3 out of 4 trench coats

3

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