36. Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn...

Well, after all the urban fantasy & sci-fi/YA I've been reading, I thought I'd give something else a try. Extreme Measures is a thriller with CIA operatives trying to find a terrorist cell planning an attack against the capital itself, while wrangling with politicians who are hell-bent on protecting prisoners' rights.

It starts with two prisoners at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Two CIA operatives glide in under the cover of night to "interview" these prisoners, without knowledge of the Base Commander. Unfortunately for them, somebody noticed the goings-on and one operative gets arrested so that the others can escape. Cue the next scene, where a terrorist cell is hiding in the jungles of South America, preparing for their attack on American soil. And cut to Washington, D.C., where the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman (Chairwoman?) is trying to rein in the extreme interrogation techniques used by the CIA.

Being a fan of early Clancy, Follett, and Ludlum, I had great hopes for this book. While it is well-written, it didn't grab me & suck me in. I thought Rapp and Nash were both great characters, however there was just too much focus on Nash's family life. It didn't pan out into anything much in this story, either. Maybe the author is putting that to use in the next book?

In any case, the storyline was predictable. See the terrorists. See the CIA operatives try to find the terrorists. See the politicians restrict the operatives' actions. See the terrorists blast their way into and in America. See the CIA show the politicians the error of their ways. And so on and so forth. It's all so very black and white. With Clancy, Follett, and Ludlum, at least you sometimes felt for the bad guys. They weren't just stereotypical caricatures to vilify.

Give it a go if you're a Flynn fan. I'd rather re-read Executive Orders.

Title: Extreme Measures
Author: Vince Flynn
ISBN-10: 0-743-27042-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-27042-7
Hardcover: 430 pages
Publisher: Atria Books, 2008