Consent to Kill

Plot summary

In Flynn's previous novel, Memorial Day, CIA counter-terror operative and assassin Mitch Rapp uncovered an Al-Qaeda plot to use a nuclear weapon obtained from abandoned Russian nuclear storage bunkers. The ultimate goal was the destruction of Washington, D.C., and Rapp was forced to torture the only man who knew the details of the plan: Waheed Abdullah. Rapp then faked Waheed's death to prevent the Saudi Government from learning of it and rescuing him, while preserving a useful source for himself. To keep Waheed from being discovered, Rapp puts him in an Afghan prison.

However, this plan backfires: Waheed's father, Saeed Ahmed Abdullah, a billionaire Saudi businessman and a jihadist himself,learns that Rapp has "killed" his son. He places a $20 million bounty on Rapp's head, and a former East German Stasi officer, Erich Abel, begins to hunt Rapp. Abel learns about Saeed and his son through Prince Muhammed bin Rashid, who convinced Saeed to kill Rapp. Abel, through his contacts, encounters two assassins, a husband and wife team, Louie Gould and Claudia Morrell. For $10 million, they agree to kill Rapp. Claudia, who is pregnant, specifically asks Louis not to kill Rapp's wife, as she is also pregnant. He agrees, and both leave for America.

In Washington, Rapp is angered by the new Director of National Intelligence, Mark Ross, who authorized surveillance of Rapp's co-worker and friend, former Navy SEAL Scott Coleman. Ross sends the IRS to investigate Coleman and requests Coleman's personnel file from the Navy. Ross has ambitions to the presidency and views his current position as a stepping stone to the White House. He has no respect for Rapp because of Rapp's reckless antics and, despite Rapp's contributions, wants to fire him. Rapp decides to visit Ross to stop his investigation of Coleman, but he loses his famous temper when he finds a satellite photo of Coleman and discovers his friend was a topic of interest. He physically holds the National Security adviser by the collar and slaps him with a folder holding Coleman's files, to the shock of his aid. Rapp warns him not to interfere with the War on Terror. His words fall on deaf ears, though, and Ross decides that he must fire Rapp; since the latter has the president's full support, he decides he has to do it carefully.

Later Rapp injures his left knee during a morning jog, and encounters the assassins Gould and Claudia, both dressed as bicyclists, examining his house. Rapp doesn't suspect anything and continues limping back towards his house. The next day, Rapp undergoes arthroscopic knee surgery. He and his wife Anna come home and as they settle down in their house, Louie detonates a bomb that kills Anna and throws a severely wounded Rapp into Cheasepeake Bay where he was saved by a nearby boater. The CIA fakes Rapp's death and takes him to a safehouse to recuperate. In a secret meeting with Irene Kennedy, Director of CIA, President Hayes tells Kennedy that Rapp has his consent to kill any and all people involved in the murder of his wife. Rashid, who is visiting U.S., finds out through Ross that Rapp is not yet dead and orders his assistant Saudi intelligence agent Nawaf Tayyib to kill Rapp and Abel. Tayib hires Latino gang leader Anibal Castillo to kill Rapp at the safehouse. He then goes hunting for Abel himself with two of his men.

Castillo and thirteen of his men attack the safehouse. Rapp kills all of Castillo's men, then wounds Castillo and brings him in to be questioned. Through different leads Rapp discovers Saeed as the one who put a bounty on his head. Rapp goes to Afghanistan and gets Waheed out of prison with Waheed being under the impression that it is a hostage exchange. Rapp has Waheed wear a vest full of explosives. As Waheed embraces his father in the street, Rapp pulls out a detonator and blows Saeed and Waheed and twelve of Saeed's bodyguards to pieces. The CIA in the meantime has found out about Erich Abel's role in hiring the assassins and sends Rapp to Abel's office. There Rapp finds Tayyib torturing Abel's secretary for information on Abel's whereabouts. Rapp kills Tayyib's men, then he and Coleman capture Tayyib. A guilty Claudia is revealed to be the one who gave the CIA information on Abel. Abel's secretary reveals to Rapp and Coleman that Abel is in Austria. Rapp flies there and captures Abel at his mountain retreat and tortures him for information. Abel reveals that Rashid was the mastermind behind the plot. He also gives information on the assassins. After hearing this, Rapp, who has become much more violent after the killing of his wife, burns Abel alive inside the house. He then travels to Spain where Rashid is staying. There Coleman bribes Rashid's guards, who are British SAS sympathetic to Rapp, to let them in. Rapp completely covers Tayyib with explosives and drops him off in front of the mosque where Rashid is staying. Once Rashid's personal guards have him in custody, Rapp detonates Tayyib's body, killing him and all the guards. Rapp finds Rashid and beats him severely before he puts a thermal grenade in his mouth and pulls the pin, melting Rashid's head.

In the epilogue, set nine months later, Rapp trails Louie and Claudia to Tahiti. Claudia has had her baby and Louie has retired. Rapp aims a gun at Louie Gould's head, but once he hears that the baby was named after his wife, he realizes she would not want her death avenged like this. He turns and leaves Louie, Claudia, and Anna unharmed. He then throws the gun into the ocean and continues walking down the boardwalk outside.

Film adaptation

In a radio interview on the Hugh Hewitt show on February 6, 2009, Vince Flynn disclosed that he has signed a movie deal for this book to be the first of the Mitch Rapp books to make it to the big screen. The screenplay was written by Jonathan Lemkin but it has not yet been picked up by a studio. On January 1, 2010, Variety announced that Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter, Olympus Has Fallen) will direct spy thriller Consent to Kill for CBS Films with Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Nick Wechsler producing.

CBS Films has expressed interest in Gerard Butler, Colin Farrell or Matthew Fox for the role of Mitch Rapp.