Act of Treason by Vince Flynn

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

April 6, 2026

Act of Treason is the 9th book in the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn, which begins with American Assassin.

In this one, President Hayes’ term is nearly two weeks away from ending. He’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and won’t be seeking re-election.

The next Democratic candidates—Josh Alexander and his running mate Mark Ross—are lagging in polls and have no chance of winning the Presidential election. But then, Alexander’s wife is blown up in a terrorist attack that was seemingly meant to target the presidential candidates. To everyone’s surprise, Alexander and Ross surge ahead in the polls and sweep the nation in a remarkable underdog victory.

At first, it seems like the terrorist attack was carried out by Al-Qaeda or another Middle Eastern terrorist group. But something seems amiss, and CIA director Irene Kennedy is intent on finding out what.

Irene calls Mitch Rapp for help with getting to the bottom of finding out who coordinated the terrorist attack, and why. Having lost his own wife in an assassin-related bombing, Mitch has no problem putting his life on the line to nail the monsters who organized it.

Act of Treason is one of the more fast-paced books in this series. It flows and reads so easily. The entire story takes place within a few days, as Mitch and Irene must work quickly to solve their case before the new POTUS and his VP are officially sworn in.

Flynn introduces a new character in this one—a Secret Service agent named Maria Rivera. Rivera is key to the story, as she’s the only witness who saw the hired assassin detonate the bomb that killed Alexander’s wife. But she ends up playing a small role in the story, which is disappointing because she’s bad-ass and I think she’d make a great love interest for Rapp.

I also like how Rivera is described near the beginning of the book:

She was a walking contradiction—understated yet beautiful, graceful yet athletic.

I like that quote because it applies to many people I’ve observed in life—and it’s a perfect description. Rivera sounds intriguing to me, so I’m bummed she wasn’t featured more.

I got into the Mitch Rapp series during COVID, along with thousands of other readers whose interest in politics also surged during that time. Vince Flynn’s backlist couldn’t be found in used bookstores anywhere! I actually had a conversation about this with a man in the bookstore who was looking for the same exact titles.

One thing I particularly like about Vince Flynn’s writing is that his books contain no fluff. There are no erratic, long-winded descriptions about things that aren’t relevant to the story, and no unnecessary information. It certainly makes the reading experience more worthwhile—you feel as though the book isn’t wasting your time.

Sometimes I think about which Hollywood actor would best portray the main character in a series like this one. Taylor Kitsch is my Mitch Rapp, especially after watching him in Dark Wolf.

The books that come after Act of Treason in this series are:

#10 – Protect and Defend (2007)
#11 – Extreme Measures (2008)
#12 – Pursuit of Honor (2008)

What did you think about Act of Treason, or about the Mitch Rapp series in general?

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