Mitch Rapp Books in Order: How to read Vince Flynn’s series (including American Assassin)?

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Written by Vince Flynn until his death (Kyle Mills is the author now), those novels are about an undercover CIA counterterrorism agent named Mitch Rapp, as you may have guessed. Recommended for mature audiences, the Mitch Rapp Series is about stopping terrorist attacks on the United States.

Rapp is willing to take measures that might be considered more extreme than he should. Obviously, he gets results, but his road is paved with a lot of frustrations. A movie titled American Assassin was based on the Mitch Rapp series with actor Dylan O’Brien playing the main character next to Michael Keaton.

How to read The Mitch Rapp Series in Order?

There are two ways to read the Mitch Rapp book series in Order, by following the chronological reading order or the publication order. You’ll find the two below. Vince Flynn wrote the first 13 books in the Mitch Rapp series. Then, writer Kyle Mills took over.

The Mitch Rapp Series in Chronological Reading Order:

  1. American Assassin – Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world … and then tragedy struck. Terrorists attacked innocent American citizens, and Rapp’s girlfriend was among the murdered. Two hundred and seventy souls perished on that cold December night, and thousands of families and friends were left searching for comfort. Mitch Rapp was one of them, but he was not interested in comfort. Now he wants retribution.
  2. Kill Shot – In the year since the CIA trained and then unleashed him, Mitch Rapp has dismantled the network of monsters behind the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. The hunt leads to Paris, where a deadly trap is sprung as the bullet leaves Rapp’s silenced pistol. Washington wants no part of the international crisis, and Rapp is deemed a liability.
  3. Transfer of Power – Mitch makes his way to the White House and discovers the president is not as safe as Washington’s power elite thought. Mitch rushes to save the hostages before the terrorists can extract the president from his bunker.
  1. The Third Option – Mitch Rapp is sent on a mission to eliminate a European industrialist who has been supplying highly sensitive equipment to one of the world’s most notorious sponsors of terrorism. He doesn’t know that the ultimate target of this mission is himself.
  2. Separation of Power – Newly appointed CIA director Dr. Irene Kennedy is the target of an inside plot to destroy her and prematurely end the American president’s term. To make matters worse, Saddam Hussein is close to entering the nuclear arms race. With the haunting specter of World War III looming, the president calls on Mitch Rapp.
  3. Executive Power – Mitch Rapp’s cover has been blown. After leading a team of commandos deep into Iraq, he has been publicly hailed by the president as the single most important person in the war against terrorism.
  1. Memorial Day – When a spike in CIA intelligence suggests a terrorist attack planned for Memorial Day, the president orders Mitch Rapp, his top counterterrorism operative, to pull out all the stops.
  2. Consent to Kill – For years Mitch Rapp has been on the frontline of the war against terror. His bold actions have saved the lives of thousands – but in the process his list of enemies has grown inexorably. There are even those within his own government who would like to see him eliminated.
  3. Act of Treason – Two weeks before the election – and presidential candidate Josh Alexander’s motorcade is decimated by a terrorist bomb. Alexander survives the attack, although members of his entourage are not so lucky. It appears to be the work of al-Qaeda. But then CIA director Irene Kennedy is presented with toxic classified information.
  1. Protect and Defend – No longer willing to wait, Israel brings down Iran’s nuclear program. The attack leaves a disaster in its wake, and has Iranian calling for blood. Mitch Rapp devises a brilliant plan to humiliate Iran’s government and push the nation to the brink of revolution.
  2. Extreme Measures – A lethal terrorist cell is about to descend on America – and Mitch Rapp needs his best man to take on this threat. Former Marine Corps officer Mike Nash, who has served his government honorably for 16 years, is Rapp’s choice. The one thing Nash never saw coming was that his own government was about to turn on him.
  3. Pursuit of Honor – Mitch Rapp is on the trail of the traitor within. In this action-packed novel Flynn returns to the secretive world of fearless Americans who must risk their lives for their country’s security, fighting a covert war that can never be discussed, even with their own political leaders.
  1. The Last Man – The head of clandestine operations in Afghanistan has been kidnapped, his four bodyguards executed in cold blood. Rapp is dispatched to find his missing friend, Joe Rickman, at all costs. He isn’t the only one looking for Rickman; an FBI special agent is at his heels, determined to blame Rapp for the bloody debacle.
  2. The Survivor – When Joe Rickman steals a massive amount of the Agency’s most classified documents, CIA director has no choice but to send Mitch Rapp after him. Rapp quickly dispatches the traitor, but Rickman proves to be a deadly threat to America even from beyond the grave.
  3. Order To Kill – Mitch Rapp finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit.
  1. Enemy of the State – After 9/11, the U.S. one of the most secretive and dangerous deals in its history. The evidence against the powerful Saudis who coordinated the attack would be buried. In return, King Faisal would promise to keep the oil flowing and deal with the conspirators in his midst. When the king’s own nephew is discovered funding ISIS, the president suspects, he decides that the royalty needs to be sent a message and that Mitch Rapp is just the man to deliver it.
  2. Red War – When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he’s determined to cling to power. Soon, though, his illness becomes serious enough to require a dramatic diversion-war with the West. Upon learning of Krupin’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation is to send Mitch Rapp.
  3. Lethal Agent – A toxic presidential election is underway in an America already badly weakened by internal divisions. While politicians focus entirely on maintaining their own power and privilege, ISIS kidnaps a brilliant French microbiologist and forces him to begin manufacturing anthrax. Slickly produced videos chronicling his progress and threatening an imminent attack are posted to the Internet, intensifying the hysteria gripping the US.
  1. Total Power – When Mitch Rapp captures ISIS’s top technology expert, he reveals that he was on his way to meet a man who claims to have the ability to bring down America’s power grid. Rapp is determined to eliminate this shadowy figure, but the CIA’s trap fails.
  2. Enemy at the Gates – Mitch Rapp has worked for a number of presidents over his career, but Anthony Cook is unlike any he’s encountered before. Cunning and autocratic, he feels no loyalty to America’s institutions and is distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington. Meanwhile, when Kennedy discovers evidence of a mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire, she convinces Rapp to take a job protecting him.
  3. Oath of Loyalty – With President Anthony Cook convinced that Mitch Rapp poses a mortal threat to him, CIA Director Irene Kennedy is forced to construct a truce between the two men. The terms are simple: Rapp agrees to leave the country and stay in plain sight for as long as Cook controls the White House. In exchange, the administration agrees not to make any moves against him.

  1. Code Red – Mitch Rapp owes powerful criminal Damian Losa a favor, and it’s being called in. With no choice other than to honor his agreement, Rapp heads to Syria to stop a new designer drug from spreading into Losa’s territory. When he discovers the true culprit – someone with far bigger goals than just Syria – the scale of his mission grows. But Rapp and his team are operating in an incredibly volatile country where the US has few assets and allegiances shift almost daily. And just one false move would set off an international confrontation that could easily spin out of control and rewrite the world order…

The Mitch Rapp Series in Order of Publication:

Everything started with Transfer of Power. Ten years later, Flynn decided to go back to the beginning with two prequels. Because of that, it can be confusing if you read the series in publication order, but here it is anyway:

  1. Transfer of Power
  2. The Third Option
  3. Separation of Power
  4. Executive Power
  5. Memorial Day
  6. Consent to Kill
  7. Act of Treason
  8. Protect and Defend
  9. Extreme Measures
  10. Pursuit of Honor
  11. American Assassin
  12. Kill Shot
  13. The Last Man
  14. The Survivor
  15. Order To Kill
  16. Enemy of the State
  17. Red War
  18. Lethal Agent
  19. Total Power
  20. Enemy at the Gates
  21. Oath of Loyalty
  22. Code Red

If you like our article about the Mitch Rapp reading order, you may also want to see our the Jack Carr series, or Stephen Hunter’s Bob Lee Swagger series.

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20 Comments

  1. These books are fantastic and I am working my way through the series currently on number 9. All I can say absolutely brilliant, has me riveted to each book and desperate to move onto the next after finishing the book. Impossible to put down.

  2. Thank you very much for posting this list. I just finished reading ‘American Assassin’ and loved it. Wasn’t sure which one to read next, but that didn’t stop me from buying a ten others in the collection before I was done the first one. This was very helpful.

    1. The order that you mentioned to read the Mitch Rapp books isn’t quite correct.
      If you look on Vince Flynn,s website the Third Option is before Separation of Power.

  3. If you haven’t started or just started the series, you should read Term Limits first. It says it is not a part of the Mitch Rapp series, but it comes into play in the series. Plus it is a real good read.

    1. I absolutey agree. Term Limits is a must read, if not first before American Assassin, then it should be number 2 on the list. It will clear up a lot of questions

  4. Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels are a thoroughly enjoyable read. However, subsequent to his very sad demise, I’m afraid the author chosen to continue the Mitch Rapp saga has not (for me) been able to recreate the punch and ferocity that was present in bucketloads in the Mitch Rapp novels up to “The Last Man”. I still read the Mitch Rapp books but the Kyle Mills storylines just do not have the “difficult to put down” quality present in Vince Flynn’s books.

  5. Fantastic series of books by Vince Flynn and now continued by Kyle Mills, just got the new book Lethal Agent and will start reading it this weekend.

  6. Superb books. What a shame the film American Assassin was absolute garbage. Woeful casting (except for Keaton) and does the book a disservice. Read, don’t watch.

    1. I totally agree.Whomever did the casting needs to be fired and never work in Hollywood again! Although Micheal Keaton did ok, Willem Defoe (in my humble opinion) would have been better as Hurley.Emily Blunt as Irene Kennedy, Christopher Plummer as Thomas Stansfield, I could go on and on.Vince Flynn IS missed and always will be. Take time and look up his interviews on Fox. A true gentleman and a fine human being.

  7. I too think this is a fantastic series of books by Vince Flynn and now continued by Kyle Mills. I will not pit one author aganst the other, I like them both and I am on my third time through the series. I can’t wait for Kyles next book to come out in September. I am trying to go through the whole set on autio. You would be surprised how fast a trip from Connenticut to Pennsylvania and back goes listening to any of these stories..

  8. Absolutely loving the Mitch Rapp books am missing a couple from Extreme Measure to Kill shot so am checking out 2nd book shops to see if they have them

  9. I have read them all but American Assassin was a prequel and when I bought it I heard that Vince Flynn had lost his fight for life. I kept the book unread for 6 months as I thought once I read it Vince is really gone. I still have the book and will never part with it. Sorry Kyle, you are good but the Vince-ness isn’t there.

  10. Loved Lethal Agent. I want to read the rest but will never again use Amazon after theyve ripped me off.
    Is there another way I can get the books electronically? Otherwise advise where in Australia I can buy hard copy, which is my preferred method of reading. Regards. Fred Kleckham.

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