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251 of 261 found the following review helpful:
 The beginnings of the master of the political thrillerSep 24, 2005
By Jerry Saperstein
By my count, Vince Flynn has written six poliical thrillers to date with a seventh due in October, 2005. I have now read all six published works in no particular order. "Term Limits" was, I believe, Flynn's debut work. Having read it last provides, I think, an interesting perspective on Flynn's work.
Five of the six Flynn novels feature Mitch Rapp, a very skillful assasin. "Term Limits" doesn't have Mitch Rapp, but it does feature many of the characters found in his later novels.
Straight out of the box, Flynn gives a unique voice to the political thriller. In his Washington, the politicians are generally loathsome, self-serving creatures lacking basic integrity, morality and values. All they live for are their greed and swaggering egos.
The book opens with the murder of Senator Fitzgerald, an obese, alcoholic senator intent on projecting his own power even when, as in this case, it leads to the deaths of American solidiers.
Fitzgerald's neck is expertly broken in his home. Within hours two other equally corrupt politicians are murdered. The murderers issue a set of demands calling for the executive and legislative branches to acheive certain political goals. As in all Flynn novels, these goals resonate with ordinary Americans.
The CIA and FBI come into play to solve the crimes. But President Stevens' Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor don't necessarily want the murders solved. In fact, they think more murders would help President Stevens achieve re-election.
Michael O'Rourke, a first-term Congressman from Minnesota has alrady turned down the President's invitation to vote for his overblown, bloated budget. O'Rourke, a decent man, has an idea of who the assasins might be. A former Marine he recognizes the killing techniques as those American Special Forces might use.
Director Stansfield of the CIA and his assistant Irene Kennedy, head of counter terrorism efforts pursue the leads in conjunction with Director Roach of the FBI and Special Agent McMahon. All of these characters live on in Flynn's subsequent novels and I am glad they do.
The suspense is riveting. Is the President involved in the brutal murders of Senator Olson and a "clean polirtics" Representative? Will the White House succeed in its attempts to manipulate public opinion?
Flynn's Washington is a place of distrust, dishonor, duplicity, hypocrisy and murder. He is, in my opinion, the best crafter of political thrillers in the business today, putting Tom Clancy (except for "Red October") to shame.
In "Term Limits," we see Flynn gathering his strength for later efforts. In all the other Flynn novels, the characters literally jump off the page. "Term Limits" has one minor character who doesn't quite have it. The political cynicism of Flynn's subsequent novels are sharply drawn: you can recognize many of the repulsive characters as being modeled on politicians whom we are all too familiar with from the daily news. In "Term Limits" only one politician, the alcoholic, self-interested, hypocritical, immoral Senator whose death opens the book triggers immediate recognition with its real prototype.
The plot is tight. Flynn simply doesn't require that his characters have fortuitous, unbelievable inventions to adcvance the story. His plots are simply exquisite. (One of my particular irritants are authors who use scenes involving food and drink as bridges to let the characters expound. Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler in their latest novels overuse these devices: Flynn simply doesn't need them.)
"Term Limits" is a true page-turner. I intended to spend an hour with it as bedtime reading --- and it kept me glued till dawm. What higher compliment can I pay to Vince Flynn? Oh yes, the same thing happened when I read his other five novels.
Jerry
105 of 118 found the following review helpful:
Plausible in every way!May 31, 2004
By Victoria Tarrani
"writer, editor, artist, designer"
Term Limits is fast paced and filled with scenarios that both can and probably have happened. This realistic view of political power makes events that seem impossible to the once naïve public feasible and all too real. Assassinations rock the U. S. President, Secret Service, Cabinet, FBI, and CIA when three are carried out on a single night. Ignoring the ultimatum issued by the "terrorists" causes a fourth man to die and puts the President in the line of fire. Fear triggers tempers as the administration determines if it should make changes that yield to blackmail? Then two more men are murdered, but where only the four specific targets were taken out in the first wave, these also include law enforcement guards. Questions power the plot; drama moves it forward; action demands reading even though your eyes are tired and burn; the characters are interesting and multi-dimensional.
* Why isn't the budget balanced?
* Why do the Republicans and Democrats care more about special interest groups than the constituents who voted them in?
* Who has the power in the White House?
* Who runs Black Ops, and what power is used to maintain the secrecy of an organization in their clandestine operations.
* Is anyone capable of controlling them, and are personal agendas the root of military and covert actions?
* Is this story too real to be ignored?
* How many groups are behind the assassinations? Any spare minute found me reading this novel. When I finished it, I was satisfied. The story was complete, the questions answered, I am interested in what's next for these characters -- they became real. Five stars to Vince Flynn, and the knowledge that I will buy more of his books. Victoria Tarrani
41 of 46 found the following review helpful:
Action Packed.Nov 04, 2000
By Christopher B. Jonnes
Vince Flynn manages to keep the action moving at break-neck speed for over 600 pages. There are practically no slow spots. The premise is fairly preposterous, and the climax totally unbelievable, but who cares? This is fiction, and an exciting and enjoyable read. There are more plot twists than a Clinton Presidency and more shoot-'em-ups than a Clint Eastwood movie. Vince doesn't even slow down long enough for any kissy-face. The comparison to Tom Clancy is inescapable, so here goes. While the writing quality in Term Limits is professional, I have the sense after reading numerous Clancy novels that his language skills are bit more high brow. There is a higher level of sophistication in Clancy books. And while Flynn obviously did a lot of research, Clancy does more. But for that reason, many readers will prefer Flynn's books. Clancy tends to focus more on technology; Flynn goes right for the gut. Action, action, action. This is a must-read for political thriller lovers, and a good choice for all other suspense fiction readers. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Now THIS is the "change" we need...Aug 23, 2009
By Jason Frost
"RubiconReader"
As I was reading this book I had to stop and check the publication date. Imagine how shocked I was to see that this book came out in 1998! OVER ten years ago, and the mess that is created by our government in this book is still going on. So on a very small level this book is a little prophetic. Now, this isn't a Mitch Rapp novel. I was under the impression that Mitch was in every one of Vince's books (I've only read three to date) so that was a mild, pleasant shock. However, not having Mitch in this book did not take away from the adrenaline level and excitement at all.
The premise was what got me reading: a group of assassins is fed up with how the government is being run. So they execute a plan to kill the top three idiots in government who are the problem. Not talk to, not discuss terms... but KILL! Well good for them and good for America! After they do us this huge favor they present the President and the rest of the government with demands on how to get this country back on track. And of course, our government being our government, these fools think they can STILL be seedy and stupid and try and outsmart the assassins. Dumb move. A REALLY dumb move.
If you love government conspiracy books with a heavy dose of `in your face' testosterone, then this is your next read. I don't know in what order Vince's book were published and I don't care. All I know is that when I go into my bookstore, I'm grabbing the next Flynn book I see.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
A Great StartDec 22, 2007
By Christopher Bronson
"cbrons"
This is the first novel that Vince Flynn wrote and I have to say it was a great start. I've read all of Flynn's books and can't decide which one of them I like the best. Mitch Rapp, who doesn't appear in this story, is the protagonist of all the other Flynn books. I look at Term Limits as a good starting place for people who have had the Mitch Rapp series recommended to them. This book is action packed and the main characters (Navy Seal dudes) appear in most of the Rapp books. Give this one a try.
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