Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp Books in Order (2024 Edition)

The Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn is about a CIA agent whose goal is to stop any terrorist attacks from happening in the USA.

The book series follows Mitch Rapp, a gifted college athlete who wanted revenge for a terrorist attack that resulted in the death of his girlfriend. He was recruited by the CIA and trained to take down terrorists before they could execute their missions.

However, there is a minor glaring issue with Mitch. He wants to stop these terrorist attacks through any means necessary, but as a government agent, there are laws and rules he must follow.

Vince Flynn is the author of this series, and he published the first book, Transfer of Power, in 1999. He’s written books for the series until 2012, when the thirteenth book, The Last Man, was published. Following the unfortunate death of Vince Flynn, author Kyle Mills took up the series and wrote a new book every year till 2023. His last book, titled Code Red, was released in 2023.

Now, a new author will be taking up the series. Author Don Bentley will take over the Mitch Rapp series in 2024 following the exit of author Kyle Mills.

How to Read Mitch Rapp Books in Order?

You can read the Mitch Rapp novels in two different ways, and I will tell you about them both below.

The first way to read the series is the publication order. You pick up the first book written by Vince Flynn and then make your way through the books published in the subsequent years.

The second way is the chronological order, where you read books based on the chronology of events taking place in the books.

However, before you start reading the Mitch Rapp book series, you should read Term Limits, which was Vince Flynn’s debut novel published in 1997.

This novel is a standalone story, but it is set in the Mitch Rapp universe. Although Mitch Rapp doesn’t appear in this novel, it is considered a starting point because of all the intricate world-building introduced and should be read before you start with the titular series.

Once you’ve read Term Limits, you can begin reading all of Vince Flynn books in one of the below orders.

Mitch Rapp Books in Order of Publication:

Mitch Rapp Books in Chronological Order:

Although the publication order is recommended when reading most books, you might want to consider reading Mitch Rapp novels in chronological order. The reason is that two novels, American Assassin, published in 2010, and Kill Shot, published in 2012, feel out of place in the narrative as they happen to be prequel stories.

These prequels go back in history to explore the origin story of Mitch Rapp, what happened to him, and how he became the skilled operative we know him to be. Reading the prequels before the remaining books will help you understand the character’s motivations for doing what he does and the context behind his risky actions.

American Assassin and Kill Shot are considered books one and two by almost everyone who’s read them and are the recommended starting points in the Mitch Rapp series.

All Mitch Rapp Books by Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills:

1. American Assassin (2010)

American Assassin by Vince Flynn explores the origins of Mitch Rapp and delves into his reason for becoming a hardened counterterrorism operative. Although this isn’t the first published book in the series, it is the best place to start reading all Mitch Rapp books in order.

Once upon a time, Mitch Rapp was just a normal college athlete. When a terrorist attack leads to over two hundred lives lost, including his girlfriend, Maureen Eliot, Mitch can only think of getting revenge for not only his girlfriend but his country as well.

He doesn’t hesitate to join a secret group that trains people to do whatever it takes to finish the mission and foil the terrorist’s plans. After training for six months, he starts going on mission after mission, which are all phenomenally successful, causing his reputation to grow.

The success comes to a screeching halt when Mitch gets to Beirut, where his latest mission is supposed to commence. Unbeknownst to him, the enemy has laid many traps across the city to stop the streak of success. It takes him by surprise but only makes him more determined to complete the mission and annihilate his enemies.

This book was so successful that it got a movie adaptation starring Dylan O’Brien and Michael Keaton as Mitch Rapp and his mentor Stan Hurley respectively!

2. Kill Shot (2012)

In Kill Shot, it’s been a year since the events in American Assassin, and Mitch is as deadly as ever. His latest mission has sent him to Paris. Everything is going fine until it isn’t. He is caught in another trap, which has led to nine people being killed, and that includes an oil minister from Libya.

When the news reaches the States, they decide having Mitch on their payroll will only lead to an international crisis. So, his handlers deem him a liability and cut him loose. However, this doesn’t do much in terms of damage control.

Not one to be deterred, Mitch goes into hiding and starts operating independently. He is determined to figure out who laid the trap for him, stop them in their tracks, and fix his fallen reputation in Washington.

3. Transfer of Power (1999)

Transfer of Power is the first book in the Mitch Rapp series published by Vince Flynn; however, it features an experienced Mitch Rapp, who’s already become one of the best counterterrorism operatives in the business.

When the White House is attacked, it results in deaths, and the hostages and the president’s life is put in danger. The only one who can do anything about this is Mitch Rapp. They call him in, and immediately, he doesn’t like what he sees.

He needs to hurry and not only save the hostages but also the president, who are all in danger of being killed by these terrorists. It’s not going to be an easy task as Mitch needs to somehow make his way into the White House without alerting the terrorists, as they won’t hesitate to take an innocent person’s life.

However, in his attempt to save lives, Mitch stumbles across a secret. Someone close to the situation wants him to fail. After discovering this, he is more determined to save everyone.

4. The Third Option (2000)

In Washington, a current power play is going down to see who will take over for the current CIA director, Thomas Stansfield. The choice is looking to be Irene Kennedy, but many people are unhappy about this and want to prevent her from taking the reins.

Mitch Rapp doesn’t give a hoot about politics. All he wants to do is his job. When he is called in to find and eliminate a German national who is alleged to be supplying a terror sponsor, he readily accepts. Mitch doesn’t suspect anything. He assumes this mission will be like any other mission he’s gone on, but then the mission goes awry, and his life is put in jeopardy.

To say he is taken aback by the turn of events is an understatement. After doing some digging, he discovers this failed mission is an attempt to prevent Dr. Kennedy from taking over as the new CIA director.

He doesn’t know who did this to him, but Mitch intends to find out and end this power grab once and for all.

5. Separation of Power (2001)

Just when Mitch Rapp thinks he can catch a breath, everything goes to hell. He thought things would calm down after Dr. Kennedy became the new CIA director, but this is far from the truth. Somewhere, a plot is brewing to end her and the president. It’s a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone type of situation.

To add to the already terrible situation, a nuclear war is on the horizon. The president immediately calls for Mitch to put a stop to these nukes being released.

It seems pretty straightforward, but there is a catch. Mitch only has a total of two weeks to make sure these nukes aren’t set off. If he fails, he can not only say goodbye to the President and Dr. Kennedy but also the world.

6. Executive Power (2003)

After the president publicly acknowledges what Mitch Rapp and his team have done, it annoys him. He is thrust into the public spotlight, a place where he is not accustomed to being. What makes it even worse is that he has plenty of enemies because of his covert work.

So, Mitch sees no choice but to step away from the front lines. He becomes an advisor to Irene Kennedy, the current CIA director. It’s not a role he is accustomed to, but he’s ready and willing to adjust to his new role.

Of course, nothing goes according to plan, which Mitch expects at this point. He is forced to get involved in the front lines again when a group of Navy Seals is killed after being sent to the Philippines to save an American family.

7. Memorial Day (2004)

It is Memorial Day, but instead of celebrating it in the States with family and friends, Mitch Rapp finds himself on the way to Afghanistan to lead a crew to attack an Al Qaeda stronghold just beyond a rural town.

He and his crew end up not only doing just that but also stopping plans for an attack on the capital of the United States of America.

However, some other kind of danger lurks just beyond the horizon. Mitch isn’t surprised because this is how it always is. America is always a target. Despite the uncertainty, Mitch is determined to put a stop to it, just like he has done with all the other attacks on his country.

Until the day he takes his last breath, Mitch Rapp will protect the USA and its people.

8. Consent to Kill (2005)

Mitch Rapp has saved the United States of America more times than he can count. He’s risked his life multiple times and would do so in a heartbeat.

When the father of one of the numerous terrorists he has killed comes forward and demands Mitch Rapp’s death, it sets off a chain reaction. All his enemies seem to come out of the woodwork, wanting only one thing: his death.

He expects his country, which he has bled for, to have his back and protect him. They end up doing the opposite and believe it is time for him to become a thing of the past. This forces him to run for his life and do whatever it takes to survive and get revenge!

9. Act of Treason (2006)

As the saying goes, there is always a calm before the storm. Things are going well in the world of politics. An election is on the horizon, and the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President are discussing national security at a press event.

Everything is going fine until Josh Alexander, a presidential candidate, is attacked. Just weeks later, he is elected president.

Rumors spread that the attack was by terrorists, but clues seem to point to the attackers being tied to Washington itself. This is where Mitch Rapp comes in. After the CIA director gives him the information, he sets off to find who had planned this attack on the former presidential candidate.

10. Protect and Defend (2007)

When Israel decides to attack Iran’s billion-dollar nuclear program, it sets off a chain of events that leads to Iran wanting to get revenge. To say this is a very tense situation is an understatement.

Washington and the rest of the world are unsure of how to proceed. One man, however, knows exactly what to do.

Mitch Rapp is back and has a plan to stop Iran in its tracks. He brings CIA director Irene Kennedy in, but everything goes awry when a meeting the director was involved in goes wrong.

Now Mitch has to stop everything from blowing up in their faces. To make matters work, he only has twenty-four hours!

11. Extreme Measures (2008)

In Extreme Measures, Mitch Rapp finds himself working with a partner named Mike Nash, a man who has worked alongside him in many counterterrorism missions.

The two find themselves working together when a terrorist cell is thought to be on the loose. Rap decides to work with Nash, as he will do whatever it takes to eliminate the enemy and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, just like Rapp.

Washington reacts poorly to the partnership and wants the pair reined in. When Washington is attacked, Rapp and Nash throw caution to the wind and do whatever they must to save their country.

They are more than ready to take extreme measures to make sure Washington doesn’t fall into a terror cell’s hands.

12. Pursuit of Honor (2009)

Mitch Rapp and Mike Nash find themselves in a difficult position after the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, DC, is attacked by terrorists. 185 people are killed in the attack, sending shockwaves throughout not only DC but also the entirety of the United States.

The counterattack on the group who did this must be swift and brutal. Rapp doesn’t care about politics and just wants to make sure that no more American lives are taken. However, the politicians fail to see it this way and seem more interested in playing politics.

At the same time, Nash is going through his issues after being witness to an attack by terrorists, who are all still on the run. Rapp has to not only help his friend but also try to once again put a stop to these terrorists at the same time.

13. The Last Man (2012)

The Last Man is the final book in the Mitch Rapp series that Vince Flynn wrote. After his unfortunate death in 2013, author Kyle Mills took over the series.

Mitch Rapp has once again found himself in the crosshairs of the US government, but it did not initially start that way.

First, Rapp was just trying to find his friend Joe Rickman, who had gone missing after being kidnapped in Afghanistan during a mission gone wrong. Also investigating is an FBI agent who, for some reason, wants to blame Rapp for what has happened to Joe Rickman.

This only puts Rapp on an even higher alert. He is determined to get to his friend before the FBI agent gets to him or before he is killed. It is important that he does because his friend knows a lot of secrets that the wrong people would love to get their hands on.

14. The Survivor (2015)

The Survivor is the first book in the Mitch Rapp series, which was written by Kyle Mills following Vince Flynn’s passing in 2013.

Mitch Rapp once considered Joe Rickman to be a good friend. However, that friendship is now deader than a doornail after Joe is accused of stealing classified documents. It forces Rapp to go after him, get the data back, and put him down once and for all.

Killing Joe does not put a stop to his threats because he had stored the data somewhere else. Only he knew, and with him dead, finding it is going to prove difficult.

Rapp knows he has no choice but to find it, no matter how. If he does not find the information first, it could fall into the hands of the Pakistanis, who are also searching for it.

Time is of the essence. Rapp cannot let those secrets get into the wrong hands because the United States will be at risk of all kinds of attacks if they do.

15. Order to Kill (2016)

America is again facing a threat that needs not only Mitch Rapp’s help but also his friend and colleague Scott Coleman’s. Together, they have to find Pakistani nukes and stop terrorists from getting them.

The two friends start traveling around the world, trying desperately to find the nukes. However, every lead they chase ends up with them finding nothing. Then, to make matters worse, something else seems to be brewing in Moscow, Russia. The country is looking forward to causing chaos in the Middle East, forcing Rapp to go undercover.

He needs to pose as an American who wants to join ISIS and make sure that his cover isn’t blown. If it is, then everything is going to go to hell.

16. Enemy of the State (2017)

Enemy of the State by Vince Flynn features Mitch Rapp in the middle of his most challenging mission yet. He has to deliver the Saudis a message so they understand that funding the terrorists who did 9/11 is not going to fly.

What makes it even more difficult is the USA doesn’t even want to publicly acknowledge that this mission is happening because they are supposed to be an ally of Saudi Arabia.

After quitting the CIA, Rapp is forced to travel to Saudi Arabia with a group of independent contractors. Things are going all right when the new head of Intelligence discovers this secret mission. He threatens to reveal it, which forces the US President to join forces with the Saudis to put Rapp down.

His only remaining allies are these independent contractors he barely knows or trusts. Only time will tell if Mitch Rapp, the former CIA operative, can make it out of this perilous situation.

17. Red War (2018)

Mitch Rapp is back in Red War, which brings him to Russia. Irene Kennedy has dispatched him to Russia after it’s learned that Maxim Krupin, the Russian president, is diagnosed with brain cancer. It will eventually kill him, so because he has nothing to lose, he decides to start a war with the West in a bid to keep clinging to power.

Rapp is tasked with taking down Maxim Krupin, the dangerous leader of Russia, a task that will certainly not be easy.

Somehow, he needs to get close to the president while avoiding his security teams. It’s going to take all the skills Rapp has learned over the years to be able to pull this mission off. However, he will do whatever it takes to complete it because if he doesn’t, the entire world will be at risk.

18. Lethal Agent (2019)

In Lethal Agent, Mitch Rapp finds himself against two different enemies: ISIS and the Mexican drug cartel that ISIS has hired.

It all started after a French microbiologist was kidnapped by ISIS and forced to manufacture anthrax. This is a massive problem because the closer he gets to finishing the project, the more the world is put at risk.

After rumors of the Mexican drug cartel smuggling the virus into the US reach the CIA’s ears, he is sent to stop them. However, what he and the CIA don’t know is that it’s just a diversion so they can keep them out of their way. When he discovers the truth, it’s a race to stop the bioweapon from being unleashed onto the public.

19. Total Power (2020)

Total Power focuses on a frustrated Mitch Rapp, who has failed to capture a man allegedly working with ISIS’s top technology expert. He finds himself angry and frustrated with how things have turned out and wants to stop this man at all costs.

He and his team work hard to figure out who this man is. However, it isn’t easy when the computers and all the other pieces of technology they rely on are down. This forces Rapp to go back to the basics to try to get everything back up and working again.

It’s only a matter of time before the current state of the USA plunges every American citizen into chaos. Rapp will do his best to ensure that doesn’t happen, but with the stakes higher than ever, he is unsure if he’ll be able to this time.

20. Enemy at the Gates (2021)

In Enemy at the Gates, Mitch Rapp is forced to protect Nicholas Ward, a man who has become Earth’s first trillionaire. The reason Kennedy assigned Rapp to protect him is that there is someone in the CIA who is trying to find sensitive information on the trillionaire, putting his life at significant risk.

So, Rapp needs to keep the man alive while looking for the one digging up the government secrets that need to stay hidden. However, what seems like an easy job ends up being anything but that. The enemies try attacking Nicholas repeatedly, with each attempt becoming more dangerous than the last.

He is soon pulled into a complex situation with the government and the rich. It’s not a situation he wants to be put in, but he was assigned this job and will complete it and do his best to keep Nicholas Ward alive.

21. Oath of Loyalty (2022)

In Oath of Loyalty, Mitch Rapp finds himself at odds with the current president, Anthony Cook, as he finds Rapp to be a considerable threat.

After his CIA director steps in, Rapp agrees to leave and let them keep an eye on him until Cook is no longer president. However, in return, Cook has to leave him alone.

Everything is going well until it isn’t. After someone starts whispering in Cook’s ear about Rapp betraying them, he finds a target on his back. To make matters work, he has to try to stop the killers who are targeting his partner, Claudia Gould, now that her identity is revealed.

The biggest threat is a group known as Legion. It’s a secretive organization that will stop at nothing to kill its targets. Rapp has to try to find this group and stop them from hurting anyone he cares about before it’s too late.

22. Code Red (2023)

In Code Red, the latest book in the series, Mitch Rapp finds himself doing a job for Damian Losa, the world’s most powerful crime lord, because he owes him a favor.

Damian wants Rapp to stop the distribution of a new narcotic developed by the Syrian government, as it will affect his business. So, Rapp makes his way to war-torn Syria to make good on his promise, but what he finds there is more shocking than he imagined.

The Syrian government isn’t producing this narcotic to fund the country’s falling finances, but it’s been developed by Russia’s warfare unit as a weapon to be used against the West. Although Rapp took this job to help out Damian, now there is much more at stake, and he will make sure that his beloved country isn’t harmed.

So, Rapp rounds up his team and starts working to foil the plan while making sure that Russia doesn’t discover his actions, as it would lead to an all-out war between the two countries.

FAQs About the Mitch Rapp Series in Order:

How Many Mitch Rapp Books Are There?

If you are wondering how many books are in the Mitch Rapp series, here’s the answer. There are a total of 22 books written so far in the series, with more on the way as the series is still ongoing.

How Many Mitch Rapp Books Has Vince Flynn Written?

Of these 22 books, 13 were written by Vince Flynn between 1999 and 2012.

How Many Mitch Rapp Books Has Kyle Mills Written?

Kyle Mills took over the series as an author following Vince Flynn’s passing in 2013. His first book was The Survivor, published in 2015, and his last was Code Red, published in 2023. In total, Kyle Mills has written 9 books for the Mitch Rapp series.

When Does the Next Mitch Rapp Book Come Out?

No date or title has been announced for the next book in the Mitch Rapp series. However, it is confirmed there will be a new book coming out soon. A new author, Don Bentley, will take up the series following Kyle Mills’ exit. As a new author has been revealed, details for the new book will soon be announced.

Conclusion

That brings us to the end of the article featuring all Mitch Rapp books in order! This series has spanned over two decades, with the first book published in 1999 and the latest coming out in 2023. And the series is not yet done, as new books written by a new author will soon hit the bookstores.

Created by the great Vince Flynn, who sadly passed away a decade ago, Kyle Mills gladly picked up the mantle in 2015, and Don Bentley will follow suit in taking the series forward with new Mitch Rapp books. The author did a great job of continuing the series, and hopefully, Don Bentley will prove to be a worthy replacement.

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