Authors like Vince Flynn
Looking for an author like Vince Flynn?
Try A.M. Khalifa. If you’ve worked your way through Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels, and the books Kyle Mills and Don Bentley have written since, Terminal Rage gives you the same charge: terrorism on American soil, Washington power games and a hero who won’t let go.
What they share
Terror at home
Transfer of Power opens with terrorists seizing the White House. Terminal Rage opens with a man seizing a Manhattan office tower and refusing to talk to anyone but Alexander Blackwell.
Conspiracies that reach Washington
Flynn loved the politics behind the action. In Terminal Rage, the hostage standoff opens onto a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of government.
The one they call when it goes wrong
Rapp is the operative Washington turns to when the rules fail. Blackwell is the negotiator the FBI lost after a hostage case went wrong, and the only one this hostage-taker will speak to.
Where they differ
Rapp settles things with a gun. Blackwell’s weapon is talk: he is a negotiator, and much of the tension comes from what he says, what he hears and what he works out about the man on the other end of the line. The action still comes, and it travels from New York to Cairo, Rome, Naples, Sydney and the Caribbean.
The Middle East is also seen from more than one side. A.M. Khalifa is an Egyptian writer based in Rome, raised in a diplomatic corps family across more than fifteen countries, and the only Egyptian writing commercial espionage fiction in English. More on that.
Terminal Rage received a starred review from Booklist, has sold more than 500,000 copies, and is narrated on audio by Scott Brick. It contains violence and sexual content, and is meant for adult readers.
More authors like Vince Flynn
- A.M. Khalifa: start with Terminal Rage, a hostage standoff in Manhattan that opens onto a conspiracy reaching Washington.
- Brad Thor: the Scot Harvath series, about a former Navy SEAL turned counterterrorism operative.
- Jack Carr: the James Reece series, starting with The Terminal List.
- Mark Greaney: the Gray Man series, about a freelance assassin and former CIA operative.
- Tom Clancy: the Jack Ryan novels, the books that defined the modern techno-thriller.
Questions
Which authors write like Vince Flynn?
Readers of Vince Flynn often move on to Brad Thor, Jack Carr, Mark Greaney and Tom Clancy. A.M. Khalifa is a strong pick if you want the same mix of terrorism and Washington conspiracy with a fresh angle: his hero is a hostage negotiator, and he writes the Middle East as an Egyptian who knows it first-hand.
Is Terminal Rage like the Mitch Rapp books?
It shares their territory: terrorism, Washington politics and a hero pulled into a crisis that goes all the way up. Its hero is a hostage negotiator rather than an assassin, so the tension builds through talk as well as action.
What should I read after Mitch Rapp?
If you want another counterterrorism thriller with a conspiracy at its heart, try Terminal Rage by A.M. Khalifa, the first in a series. The second, Terminal Deception, is coming soon.
Is Terminal Rage violent?
Yes. It contains violence and sexual content, handled without being gratuitous, and is meant for adult readers.
Is there an audiobook?
Yes. Scott Brick narrates the unabridged audiobook, about 10.5 hours long.