Enemy Of The State

Enemy of the State (2017) is a spy novel and the sixteenth book to star CIA super-spy Mitch Rapp. The book is credited to both Vince Flynn, who created the character and wrote most of the books featuring him, and Kyle Mills, who took over writing duties for the series following Flynn’s death in 2013. In the story, longtime CIA agent Rapp quits the agency so he can investigate Saudi ties to September 11 and the Islamic State.

CIA agent Mitch Rapp is known for being aggressive and willing to do whatever it takes to thwart terrorists. He is driven in large part by the loss of his high school sweetheart, Maureen, who was killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in 1988. This leads to his recruitment by the CIA at the age of twenty-three, just one week after graduating from Syracuse University with a major in international business and a minor in French. Rather than being trained with other CIA agents at its Virginia facility, Rapp experiences an unorthodox training regimen led by Stan Hurley, teaching him a broad set of skills that make him dangerous to anyone he needs to take down. In addition to his combat skills, Rapp is fluent in many languages including French, German, Italian, Urdu, and Pashto.

The roots of the conflict in Enemy of the State lie in a supposed cover-up of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in funding the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The United States, the book states, engaged in a deal that denied the evidence that pointed to Saudi Arabia’s involvement in return for sweetheart deals on oil produced in the region by Saudi Arabia. King Faisal, the sovereign leader of Saudi Arabia, pledges to hunt down and punish his powerful comrades.



However, American President Alexander begins to doubt King Faisal’s commitment to punishing the 9/11 conspirators. This commitment is even more in doubt after it becomes clear that Faisal’s own nephew, Prince Talal bin Musaid, is a major funding source for the Islamic State or ISIS. Because the United States and Saudi Arabia are technically allies and are engaged in an extremely lucrative oil deal, the Americans cannot make a move against Faisal or other powerful Saudis—at least not in public. Therefore, after disavowing him from the CIA, series protagonist Mitch Rapp is tasked with leading the assault against the Saudi terrorists on his own, forced to rely on a ragtag team of mercenaries, and with no support from the United States government or the CIA.

Already faced with a challenging situation, things get even worse for Rapp when the Saudi government discovers his plans. Fearing repercussions against the powerful and moneyed Saudi figures responsible for 9/11, the Saudi head of the Enemy of the State (2017) is a spy novel and the sixteenth book to star CIA super-spy Mitch Rapp. The book is credited to both Vince Flynn, who created the character and wrote most of the books featuring him, and Kyle Mills, who took over writing duties for the series following Flynn’s death in 2013. In the story, longtime CIA agent Rapp quits the agency so he can investigate Saudi ties to September 11 and the Islamic State.

CIA agent Mitch Rapp is known for being aggressive and willing to do whatever it takes to thwart terrorists. He is driven in large part by the loss of his high school sweetheart, Maureen, who was killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in 1988. This leads to his recruitment by the CIA at the age of twenty-three, just one week after graduating from Syracuse University with a major in international business and a minor in French. Rather than being trained with other CIA agents at its Virginia facility, Rapp experiences an unorthodox training regimen led by Stan Hurley, teaching him a broad set of skills that make him dangerous to anyone he needs to take down. In addition to his combat skills, Rapp is fluent in many languages including French, German, Italian, Urdu, and Pashto.



The roots of the conflict in Enemy of the State lie in a supposed cover-up of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in funding the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The United States, the book states, engaged in a deal that denied the evidence that pointed to Saudi Arabia’s involvement in return for sweetheart deals on oil produced in the region by Saudi Arabia. King Faisal, the sovereign leader of Saudi Arabia, pledges to hunt down and punish his powerful comrades.

However, American President Alexander begins to doubt King Faisal’s commitment to punishing the 9/11 conspirators. This commitment is even more in doubt after it becomes clear that Faisal’s own nephew, Prince Talal bin Musaid, is a major funding source for the Islamic State or ISIS. Because the United States and Saudi Arabia are technically allies and are engaged in an extremely lucrative oil deal, the Americans cannot make a move against Faisal or other powerful Saudis—at least not in public. Therefore, after disavowing him from the CIA, series protagonist Mitch Rapp is tasked with leading the assault against the Saudi terrorists on his own, forced to rely on a ragtag team of mercenaries, and with no support from the United States government or the CIA.

Already faced with a challenging situation, things get even worse for Rapp when the Saudi government discovers his plans. Fearing repercussions against the powerful and moneyed Saudi figures responsible for 9/11, the Saudi head of the Directorate of Intelligence tells the American president he will publicly reveal the dastardly “blood-for-oil” deal struck between the two countries if something isn’t done about Rapp. Consequently, Rapp’s position is no longer just unofficial and unsupported. Rather, the United States government now actively pursues his capture or death, rendering him the titular “Enemy of the State.”



Rapp’s group of mercenary rogues includes the agent’s “most dangerous opponent,” the Russian Grisha Azarov. Logistically, the team is led by Claudia Gould, Rapp’s sometime lover. In fact, near the beginning of the book, Rapp spends an attenuated vacation with Gould but, bored with domestic life, decides to return to the field.  Eventually, they make their way through to bin Musaid, amassing a very large body count in the process.

With wall-to-wall action, this New York Times bestseller isn’t terribly deep, but it is quite topical and exciting from moment to moment.
tells the American president he will publicly reveal the dastardly “blood-for-oil” deal struck between the two countries if something isn’t done about Rapp. Consequently, Rapp’s position is no longer just unofficial and unsupported. Rather, the United States government now actively pursues his capture or death, rendering him the titular “Enemy of the State.”

Rapp’s group of mercenary rogues includes the agent’s “most dangerous opponent,” the Russian Grisha Azarov. Logistically, the team is led by Claudia Gould, Rapp’s sometime lover. In fact, near the beginning of the book Rapp spends an attenuated vacation with Gould but, bored with domestic life, decides to return to the field.  Eventually, they make their way through to bin Musaid, amassing a very large body count in the process.



With wall-to-wall action, this New York Times bestseller isn’t terribly deep, but it is quite topical and exciting from moment to moment.