I started reading thriller novels in 1989 when my high school “Literary Masterpieces” instructor pushed us through the assigned curriculum early, and let us spend the last three weeks of class reading a thriller by either Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum.
I chose the novel “Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy. It was a really fun way to end spring semester.
Over the course of the summer, I tore through “The Hunt for Red October,” “Cardinal of the Kremlin” and “Clear and Present Danger.”
The breed of geopolitical thriller Clancy made popular remains the type of novel I prefer. In the intervening years, I’ve discovered a new generation of writers who — like me — grew up reading the likes of Clancy and Ludlum.
One of those writers is Vince Flynn.
Flynn was the first of the “new breed” of geopolitical thriller writers I discovered in the early 2000s (the first Flynn novel I read was “Memorial Day” in 2006). As the years have progressed, Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels have remained favorites.
Flynn died from prostate cancer in 2013. He was 47 — way too young to go.
This month I had the honor of being profiled on Flynn’s website in the “What’s Your Story” section — where fans of the author’s books are profiled.
Read the Q&A here: www.vinceflynn.com/fan-profiles/1-19-jon
Bridget and I quickly staged the photo you see above (which I think turned out well).
It’s so cool that we live in a world where book fans can interact with writers they enjoy on places like Twitter and Facebook. I’ve had the good fortune to meet Vince Flynn fans from all over the world.
It’s definitely made reading more fun in the 21st century.
Since Flynn’s death, Kyle Mills has taken the helm of writing Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels. I’ve reviewed the first three books Mills has written in the series — “The Survivor,” “Order to Kill,” and “Enemy of the State” — and hope to read and review “Red War” in February.
It is cool that Flynn’s family decided to keep the series going. When I discovered Mills would be writing the novels going forward, I was very pleased.
Mills’ father was the inspiration for the Dan Murray character in Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” novels.
Interesting connections like that make me thankful my 10th grade English teacher introduced us to these sorts of thrillers. It’s fun to read novelists who grew up consuming the same novels.
If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to try one of Vince Flynn’s novels (I’d recommend you start with the first Mitch Rapp thriller “Transfer of Power”).
I want to express my sincere “thanks” to the folks behind vinceflynn.com for profiling me this month.
Previous post: “Thoughts On ‘Crushing It’ By Gary Vaynerchuk”
No comments:
Post a Comment