Red War

...........why

I've read all the Rapp books. This one is the worst. Mills has done a good job to date with the character, but this turned into an early Tom Clancey novel and not a good one at that. Rapp turned into a minor character in his own book. The whole book seemed like a rush job, with little of the wit or the come-and-go character development that made the originals fun. I hope this is a hiccup in the series and not a sign of things to come.

Very timely subject matter. Setting that aside, I'm glad to see Russia become the villains of recent novels again. I'm beyond tired of religious extremists being the go-to antagonists of the genre. Maybe I'm showing my age—maybe it's just time to mix things up again.

In any case, Rapp is back. He's more of a team player than ever before. That seems like an evolution for the character as well. Some of the recent character shifts and turns become absolutely pivotal in this book. Mills manages this with a skill that demonstrates his intimate understanding of characters, some of which were his and some who predate his work on the series by many years. This is an interesting challenge for an author and I'm continually impressed.

Another 5-star release for the series!