Characters must be given the opportunity to become the object of our emotions. In Executive Power, Vince Flynn gives Mitch Rabb a terrific triumphal scene (p. 319) to match his outsized, outrageous character. Rabb barges into a meeting of the National Security Council and first berates, then arrests the Assistant Secty of State whose email had caused the failure of an attempted hostage rescue and the deaths of two commandos. Realistic? Probably not, but who cares. The hero has been heroic, and his triumph in Washington is more important, for this reader, than his previous triumph on the battlefield.
Posts Tagged ‘Executive Power by Vince Flynn’
* “beginning” in Executive Power by Vince Flynn
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 1, 2009
I’ve read 32 pages and I’m hooked. Here’s how Flynn did it, scene by scene:
- SCENE 1. special op craft filled with Navy SEALS approaches an island in the Philippines, heavily armed, mission unstated; foreboding hook at end of scene: the mission has been fatally compromised by someone from their own country.
- SCENE 2. Mitch Rapp is enjoying the last day of his honeymoon; he is high-up CIA, they were married in the White House; he leads teams of commandos on secret and dangerous missions; he has scars; no hook at end.
- SCENE 3. back to the SEALS; mission explained: recue hostage US family; many details as they leave the support boat, rubber launch to the island, deploy; then they are attacked with major force; call in backup and evacuate; lose two men.
- SCENE 4. another boat in Monte Carlo; the assassin named David gos to meet his Arab sponsor, five hours early; insists that the man be awakened.
- SCENE 5. CIA HQ; Dr. Irene Kennedy, Director of CIA and Rabb’s direct boss, is furious that leaks have compromised the mission and caused two deaths; she knows who leaked, and is planning to make this information public; hook: Rabb is the only man in DC who can do the job.
It works for a thriller; can it work for a historical novel?
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