If you’re looking for the correct order of Vince Flynn books, look no further. We got everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Vince Flynn and the Mitch Rapp Series below. Including three reading orders!

Vincent Joseph Flynn is an American author. We know him best for his political thriller series. He also consulted on the fifth season of the hit television show 24. 

The fifth of seven children, Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1966. He graduated from the St. Thomas Academy in 1984 and the University of St. Thomas with a degree in economics in 1988. After college, he worked for Kraft General Foods, where he was an account and sales, marketing specialist.

In 1990 he left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps.

Flynn was medically disqualified from the Marine Aviation Program due to several concussions and convulsive seizures he suffered growing up. 

 While trying to obtain a medical waiver for his condition, he started thinking about writing a book. This was a very unusual choice for Flynn. Diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school, he struggled with reading and writing all his life.

Stymied by the Marine Corps, Flynn returned to the nine-to-five grind. He took a job with United Properties, a commercial real estate company in the Twin Cities. During his spare time, he worked on an idea he had for a book.

After two years with United Properties, he decided to take a big gamble. He quit his job and moved to Colorado. There, he began working full time on what would eventually become his first novel, Term Limits.

Like many struggling artists before him, Flynn bartended at night and wrote during the day.

Five years and more than sixty rejection letters later, he took the unusual step of self-publishing his first novel. The book went to number one in the Twin Cities.

Within a week, Flynn had a new agent and two-book deal with Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint. American Assassin even went on to become a film directed by Michael Cuesta. We will have more on this below.

Unfortunately, Flynn passed away on June 19, 2013, after a three-year battle with prostate cancer. Thanks to American thriller novelist Kyle Mills, the Mitch Rapp book series continues today.

Vince Flynn Books in Order Option 1: Publication Order

We mentioned there are three ways to read the Mitch Rapp series. The first option is to read the books in publication order. Some would argue this is the method the author would have intended. Thus readers often consider this the “correct” way, especially for anyone reading the series for the first time.

However, the Mitch Rapp series has rich world development. With 21 full-length novels, a couple of which are prequel novels and one standalone novel. For that reason, fans of the series greatly enjoy re-reading the books in chronological order. We have included the chronological order at the bottom of this article. Enjoy!

	Term Limits (1997 Standalone Novel) In one bloody night, three of Washington’s most powerful politicians are executed with surgical precision. Their assassins then deliver a shocking ultimatum to the American government. Set aside partisan politics and restore power to the people. No one, they warn, is out of their reach. Not even the president. A joint FBI-CIA task force reveals the killers are elite military commandos. But no one knows exactly who they are or when they will strike next. Only Michael O’Rourke, a former US Marine and freshman congressman, holds a clue to the violence. A haunting incident in his own past with explosive implications for his country’s future. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Transfer Of Power (1999) What if America’s most powerful leader was also its prime target? The White House is shattered as terrorists gain control of the executive mansion, slaughtering dozens. The president is evacuated to an underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. One man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA’s top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington’s power elite had thought. Moving among the corridors, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington. Someone within his own government wants his rescue attempt to fail. Get Your Copy Here>>
	The Third Option (2000) When diplomacy fails and military intervention is inappropriate, our leaders take a third option. Mitch Rapp has been assigned such an “unofficial” task. Targeting a German industrialist who is supplying a notorious terror sponsor. But when the mission is compromised, Rapp realizes he’s been deemed an expendable asset. No one counted on Mitch Rapp’s return. Or how far he’ll go to find out who set him up. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Separation Of Power (2001) The confirmation of Dr. Irene Kennedy as the CIA’s new director explodes into chaos. A deadly inside plot to destroy her and prematurely end the president’s term emerges. Meanwhile, a world leader gains power in the nuclear arms race, leading Israel to force the president’s hand with a chilling ultimatum. With the specter of World War III looming, the president calls on top counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp. But with only two weeks to take out the nukes, Rapp is up against impossible odds. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Executive Power (2003) After years of working in the shadows, Rapp is caught in the media spotlight. He is marked for death by virtually every terrorist in the world. Now a CIA advisor, Rapp is ready to battle terror far from the front lines. When a Navy SEAL team in the Philippines is ambushed, all evidence points to a leak within the US State Department. And a greater threat lurks—a ruthless assassin working for the most powerful men in the Middle East. With the world watching, Rapp must hold back the flames of Armageddon. Get Your Copy Here>>

	Memorial Day (2004) Just as Washington DC prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute, the CIA receives intelligence about a potential terrorist attack. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a raid on an Al-Qaeda stronghold. But Rapp knows nothing is what it seems. It’s up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Consent To Kill (2005) The father of a slain terrorist demands retribution for the death of his son at Rapp’s hands. Even among America’s allies, there are those who feel Mitch Rapp has grown too effective at his deadly job. They are determined to seize the chance with an explosive international conspiracy. Now the hunter is the hunted. Rapp must rely on his razor-sharp instincts for survival as he unleashes his fury on those who have betrayed him. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Act Of Treason (2006) In the final weeks of a fierce presidential campaign, a motorcade carrying candidate Josh Alexander is shattered by a car bomb. Soon after the attack, Alexander is carried to victory by a sympathy vote, but his assailants have not been found. When CIA director Irene Kennedy and Special Agent Skip McMahon receive damaging intelligence on Washington’s most powerful players, they call on Mitch Rapp—the one man reckless enough to unravel a global network of contract killers on an explosive mission that leads back to the heart of our nation’s capital…and the inner sanctum of the Oval Office. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Protect And Defend (2007) Counterterrorist agent Mitch Rapp is on a collision course with America’s most feared enemy in this white-knuckle thriller from “the best pure adrenaline-charged action writer out there” (The Providence Journal) and #1 New York Times bestselling author of American Assassin. No longer willing to wait for the international community to stop its neighboring enemy, Israel brings down Iran’s billion-dollar nuclear program in an ingeniously conceived operation. The attack leaves a radioactive tomb and environmental disaster in its wake, and has Iranian president Amatullah calling for blood—American blood. Seeing opportunity where others fear reprisals, Mitch Rapp devises a brilliant plan to humiliate Iran’s government and push the nation to the brink of revolution. But when a back-channel meeting between CIA director Irene Kennedy and her Iranian counterpart goes disastrously wrong, Rapp is locked in a showdown with a Hezbollah mastermind in league with Amatullah—and he is given twenty-four hours to do whatever it takes to stop unthinkable catastrophe. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Extreme Measures (2008) Counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp and his colleague Mike Nash may have finally met their match. The CIA has intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third—led by a dangerous mastermind determined to become al-Qaeda’s new leader—is believed to be on the loose. With such a terrifyingly deadly enemy out there, Rapp needs the best of the best by his side and he believes he has that with Nash. Together, they have made careers out of meeting violence with extreme violence and have never wavered in the top-secret fight against the war on terrorism. Both have been forced to lie to virtually every single person they care about, and both have soldiered on with the knowledge that their lethal tactics have saved thousands of lives. But certain leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing to have men like Rapp and Nash put on a short leash. And then one spring afternoon in Washington, DC, everything changes. Get Your Copy Here>>

	Pursuit Of Honor (2009) Less than a week after a series of deadly explosions devastated Washington, DC, key officials are up in arms over whether to make friends or foes of the clandestine elite counterterrorism operatives that stepped between the enemy and countless American lives. Not for the first time, Mitch Rapp finds himself struggling to illustrate the realities of national security to politicians who are content to sit on the sidelines. Meanwhile, three al-Qaeda terrorists are still at large, and Rapp has been unofficially ordered to find them by any means necessary. No one knows the personal, physical, and emotional sacrifices required of the job better than Rapp. When he sees his colleague Mike Nash cracking under the pressure, he makes a call he hopes will save his friend, assuage the naysayers on Capitol Hill, and get him one step closer to the enemy before it’s too late. Once again, Rapp proves himself to be a hero unafraid “to walk the fine line between the moral high ground and violence” (The Salt Lake Tribune) for our country’s safety and for the pursuit of honor. Get Your Copy Here>>
	American Assassin (2010 Prequel Novel) In #1 New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn’s explosive and “captivating” (Glenn Beck) thriller, witness the young Mitch Rapp as he takes on his first assignment. Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world…and then tragedy struck. Terrorists attacked innocent American citizens, and Rapp’s girlfriend was among the murdered. Two hundred and seventy souls perished on that cold December night, and thousands of family and friends were left searching for comfort. Mitch Rapp was one of them, but he was not interested in comfort. Now he wants retribution. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Kill Shot (2012 Prequel Novel) Vince Flynn’s intensely suspenseful #1 New York Times bestseller puts the young, hungry, and lethal superagent of American Assassin in the crosshairs even as he kills with impunity. In the year since the CIA trained and then unleashed him, Mitch Rapp has dismantled, kill by untraceable kill, the network of monsters behind the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. The hunt leads to Paris, where a deadly trap is sprung as the bullet leaves Rapp’s silenced pistol—followed by the discovery of nine bodies, including Libya’s oil minister, in one of the city’s finest hotels. Washington wants no part of the international crisis, and Rapp is deemed a liability by Stan Hurley, one of his handlers. But as he slips outside their control to operate on his own, it will soon become clear that nothing is more dangerous than a wounded and cornered Mitch Rapp. Get Your Copy Here>>
	The Last Man (2012) Joe Rickman has spent the last eight years running the CIA’s clandestine operations in Afghanistan, working with every disreputable figure in the Islamic Republic. When he suddenly goes missing, the initial assumption is kidnapping, but Mitch Rapp knows certain things about his old friend that gives him pause. When he’s ordered to find Rickman, no matter the cost, Rapp knows his mission will be an exceptionally dangerous one. With the Taliban, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia all vying for a piece of the war-torn state and the FBI dispatching their own special agent to investigate, Rapp is facing his most difficult assignment yet. Get Your Copy Here>>
	The Survivor (2013) When Joe “Rick” Rickman, former golden boy of the CIA, steals a massive amount of the Agency’s most classified documents in an elaborate betrayal of his country, CIA director Irene Kennedy has no choice but to send her most dangerous weapon after him: elite covert operative Mitch Rapp. Rapp quickly dispatches with the traitor, but Rickman proves to be a deadly threat to America even from beyond the grave. In fact, mysterious tip-offs are appearing all over the world, linking to the potentially devastating data that Rickman managed to store somewhere only he knew. Get Your Copy Here>>

	Order To Kill (2016) Mitch Rapp is used to winning. But the CIA operative finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Together with friend and colleague Scott Coleman, Rapp struggles to prevent the loss of these lethal weapons, particularly because Russia is also interested in the nukes, though not for the same reason as Rapp and Coleman. Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit. There, he uncovers a plan much more dangerous and insidious than he ever expected, one that could have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Enemy Of The State (2017) “In the world of black-op thrillers, Mitch Rapp continues to be among the best of the best” (Booklist, starred review), and he returns in the #1 New York Times bestselling series alone and targeted by a country that is supposed to be one of America’s closest allies. After 9/11, the United States made one of the most secretive and dangerous deals in its history—the evidence against the powerful Saudis who coordinated the attack would be buried and in return, King Faisal would promise to keep the oil flowing and deal with the conspirators in his midst. But when the king’s own nephew is discovered funding ISIS, the furious President gives Rapp his next mission: he must find out more about the high-level Saudis involved in the scheme and kill them. The catch? Rapp will get no support from the United States. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Red War (2018) When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he’s determined to cling to power. His first task is to kill or imprison any of his countrymen who can threaten him. Soon, though, his illness becomes serious enough to require a more dramatic diversion—war with the West. Upon learning of Krupin’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders. With the Kremlin’s entire security apparatus hunting him, he must find and kill a man many have deemed the most powerful in the world. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Lethal Agent (2019) A toxic presidential election is underway in an America already badly weakened by internal divisions. While politicians focus entirely on maintaining their own power, ISIS kidnaps a brilliant French microbiologist and forces him to begin manufacturing anthrax. Slickly produced videos chronicling his progress and threatening an imminent attack are posted to the internet, intensifying the hysteria gripping the United States. ISIS recruits a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle the bioweapon across the border, but it’s really just a diversion. The terrorist organization needs to keep Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy distracted long enough to weaponize a deadly virus that they stumbled upon in Yemen. If they succeed, they’ll trigger a pandemic that could rewrite the world order. Rapp embarks on a mission to infiltrate the Mexican cartels and track down the ISIS leader who he failed to kill during their last confrontation. But with Washington’s political elite increasingly lined up against him, he knows he’ll be on his own. Get Your Copy Here>>
	Total Power (2020) When Mitch Rapp captures ISIS’s top technology expert, he reveals that he was on his way to meet a man who claims to have the ability to bring down America’s power grid. Rapp is determined to eliminate this shadowy figure, but the CIA’s trap fails. The Agency is still trying to determine what went wrong when ISIS operatives help this cyber terrorist do what he said he could—plunge the country into darkness. With no concept of how this unprecedented act was accomplished, the task of getting the power back on could take months. Perhaps even years. Rapp and his team embark on a desperate search for the only people who know how to repair the damage—the ones responsible. But his operating environment is like nothing he’s experienced before. Computers and communication networks are down, fuel can no longer be pumped from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are on the brink of collapse, and the supply of food is running out. Can Rapp get the lights back on before America descends irretrievably into chaos? Get Your Copy Here>>

Enemy At The Gates (2021) Mitch Rapp has worked for a number of presidents over his career, but Anthony Cook is unlike any he’s encountered before. Cunning and autocratic, he feels no loyalty to America’s institutions and is distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington. Meanwhile, when Kennedy discovers evidence of a mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire, she convinces Rapp to take a job protecting him. In doing so, he finds himself walking an impossible tightrope: Keep the man alive, but also use him as bait to uncover a traitor who has seemingly unlimited access to government secrets. As the attacks on Ward become increasingly dire, Rapp and Kennedy are dragged into a world where the lines between governments, multinational corporations, and the hyper-wealthy fade. An environment in which liberty, nationality, and loyalty are meaningless. Only the pursuit of power remains. As “one of the best thriller writers on the planet” (The Real Book Spy), Kyle Mills has created another nail-biter that not only echoes the America of today, but also offers a glimpse into its possible future. Get Your Copy Here>>

Oath of Loyalty (September 2022) President Anthony Cook is convinced that Mitch Rapp poses a mortal threat to him. So, CIA Director Irene Kennedy is forced to construct a truce between the two. Rapp has to agree to leave the country and remain in plain sight for as long as Cook controls the White House. If he does this, the administration will not make any moves against him. This fragile détente holds until Cook’s power-hungry security adviser convinces him that Rapp has no intention of honoring their agreement. In an effort to put him on the defensive, they leak the true identity of his partner, Claudia Gould. As Rapp races to neutralize the enemies organizing against her, he discovers that a new generation of assassins is on her trail. A killer known to intelligence agencies only as Legion. The shadowy group has created a business model based on double-blind secrecy. Neither the killer nor the client knows the other’s identity. Because of this, Legion can’t be called off nor can they afford to fail. No matter how long it takes—weeks, months, years—they won’t stand down until their target is dead. Faced with the seemingly impossible task of finding and stopping Legion, Rapp and his people must close ranks against a world that has turned on them. Pre-Order Now>>

Order of Vince Flynn Books Option 2: Chronological Order

Readers who want to enjoy the series in chronological order of events can follow this list:

• American Assassin (2010)
• Kill Shot (2012)
• Term Limits (1997)
• Transfer Of Power (1999)
• The Third Option (2000)
• Separation Of Power (2001)
• Executive Power (2003)
• Memorial Day (2004)
• Consent To Kill (2005)
• Act Of Treason (2006)
• Protect And Defend (2007)
• Extreme Measures (2008)
• Pursuit Of Honor (2009)
• The Last Man (2012)
• The Survivor (2015)
• Order To Kill (2016)
• Enemy Of The State (2017)
• Red War (2018)
• Lethal Agent (2019)
• Total Power (2020)
• Enemy At The Gates (2021)
• Oath of Loyalty (September 2022)

Vince Flynn Books in Order by Author

Yes! There is a third way to read the Mitch Rapp books in order, which is in order by the author. There was a shift in the authorship between Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills. Before Flynn died in 2013, he had only completed a few chapters of the 14^th Mitch Rapp novel titled The Survivor.

Pocket Books and Flynn’s estate decided to allow Mills to pick up the series. So, Mills was tasked with finishing The Survivor and then wrote at least two more Mitch Rapp books.

Once they saw that Mills succeeded, he was given a three book deal in 2020 to bring readers more Mitch Rapp books until 2023. So, here is the Vince Flynn reading order by author.

In Order by Vince Flynn

• American Assassin (2010)
• Kill Shot (2012)
• Transfer Of Power (1999)
• The Third Option (2000)
• Separation Of Power (2001)
• Executive Power (2003)
• Memorial Day (2004)
• Consent To Kill (2005)
• Act Of Treason (2006)
• Protect And Defend (2007)
• Extreme Measures (2008)
• Pursuit Of Honor (2009)
• The Last Man (2012)

In Order by Kyle Mills

• The Survivor (2015)
• Order To Kill (2016)
• Enemy Of The State (2017)
• Red War (2018)
• Lethal Agent (2019)
• Total Power (2020)
• Enemy At The Gates (2021)
• Oath Of Loyalty (September 2022)

Do You Have to Read Mitch Rapp Books in Order?

Yes. We highly recommend you read the series in order. That way, you can get the most out of each book in the series. The best way to read the series is in chronological order. Start with American Assassin and Kill Shot like we have listed above, as these are prequels.

Are There Any Movies Based on Vince Flynn Books?

American Assassin is the first movie that was based on a Flynn bestseller. It features Dylan O’Brien as Rapp and Michael Keaton as his mentor. The movie premiered in 2017 as an action/thriller. It was directed by Michael Cuesta.

Are you a Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp fan? Which reading order of Vince Flynn books is your favorite? Let us know below in the comments.

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