Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn (2005)

This audio book sat in my car for the longest time, so I had no idea why I had chosen it. I haven't read any spy thrillers in a long time, I liked them back in high school, but this must have been suggested by Allison at Audiobooks, since it was about our post 9-11 "war on terror." I have to admit I quite enjoyed it, even if most of it centered on CIA's black operations, where they take the law into their own hands, circumventing diplomacy and world court procedures. The targets seem logical for elimination in the current atmosphere, but I know the CIA has made numerous dubious choices in the past, so I had to set aside this critical thinking to enjoy the read.

We get the story from various points of view, so it isn't a simple bad-guy, good guy set-up. Our "good guy" is Mitch Rapp, a CIA operative well know as a skilled assasin, who easily slips accross borders, and does his job without collateral damage. Back home he dearly loves his wife, a White House correspondant for TV. The CIA director, a woman, supports him, as does the president, since he has averted major terrorist attacks. The newly appointed head of what we know as Homeland Security gets in the way, and is one of the most negative characters, though we have heard the arguments in real life.

The we see the different layers of "bad guys." First of all there is the Saudi who hires an ex-East German spy to orchestrate the elimination of Rapp. This guy then hires a male-female couple of very skilled assasins to do the job. We get everyone's life story and how they fell into this line of business. For the couple this will be their last job before they retire, and settle down to raise a family. Maybe not. One of the things I liked was the comparison of the couples - each wants the best for their families, and the women add an element of humanity and vulnerability to our (anti)heroes.

This reminded me of the changes in our post 9-11 world, including our relation to the Saudis. I am not sure what the role of the CIA is or should be, but as I said, I just had to put all the philosphizing aside and enjoy the story.