It was announced today that Brian Haig will be partnering with Vince Flynn to write a new series of counterterrorism novels centring around a New York City based anti-terror operation.

Who is Brian Haig?

Haig graduated from West Point in 1975 and was commissioned an infantry lieutenant. He served as a platoon leader in Germany, three years as an infantry company commander at Fort Carson, Colorado, before he was selected as an intern at the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he worked in the Current Operations Directorate on the Lebanon peacekeeping operation. After graduating from Harvard with a master’s degree and a specialty in military strategy, he worked for three years as a global strategist on the Army staff where he was responsible for helping formulate the regional warplan for Southwest Asia and the global war plans against the Soviet Union. He spent three years as the Special Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command in Seoul. Haig ended his military career as the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – John M. Shalikashvili, where his duties lay with the preparation of all speeches, briefings, public statements, and congressional testimonies.

Haig retired into civilian life in 1997 to become a Director and later President of Erickson Air-Crane and then spent a year as President of International Business Communications. He has written articles for the New York Times, USA Today and Vanity Fair. He is now a full-time author, and works as a Fox News military contributor.

He has a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard, and a Masters in Government from Georgetown University. His military awards include Airborne wings and the Ranger tab, two Legions of Merit, and the Distinguished Service Medal.  (From Wikipedia)

Brian Haig’s Books

The Sean Drummond Series

Secret Sanction. It was the worst military scandal since My Lai – an elite US army special forces team positioned behind enemy lines had violated standing orders and butchered a patrol of 25 Serbian soldiers in cold blood. There were no survivors, half of them were shot in the back of the head, and their leader had been decapitated. There was no explanation, and no obvious motive, but the repercussions were already global. Now Major Sean Drummond has to go to Kosovo and find out just what happened and somehow clear up after this horrific crime. But with CIA obstruction, Army hostility, the murder of a top journalist and a possible traitor in his own crew, Drummond quickly finds himself in over his head and under serious fire.

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Mortal Allies. SECRET SANCTION’s Major Sean Drummond is back, with a new case that challenges his deepest fears and a colleague who challenges just about everything else. Assigned to South Korea as an advocate for an officer accused of brutally killing the son of a South Korean war hero, Drummond is teamed up with an old law-school nemesis. Katherine Carson is an attorney with a reputation for manipulating the media on behalf of her clients. Drummond is distraught to be working with a woman who knows how to push all his buttons – but he is the one man the CIA can trust with its disturbing secrets. And Drummond quickly learns that what appears to be an open-and-shut case is really just the top layer of a deep conspiracy.

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The Kingmaker. But Major Sean Drummond never says die. Especially when an old flame begs him to defend her brigadier general husband in the biggest treason case in U.S. history. And even when Drummond is up against the fiercest prosecutor in the Army and fighting two murder charges. With an unconventional and beautiful co-counsel, Drummond plunges into an investigation that will unearth a damning array of secrets and cover-ups – and reveal a master manipulator who doesn’t care who or what goes up in flames…as long as Drummond’s client burns.

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Private Sector. Fed up with his trouble magnet tactics, the Pentagon “loans out” attorneys Sean Drummond to a white-shoe D.C. law firm. Drummond makes the best of his corner-office exile – until his predecessor there is brutally murdered. Realising he must take matters into his own hands, Drummond leads the hunt for a vicious serial murderer and handles the firm’s biggest client, a telecom giant with a shadowy agenda. Are the two connected? As the body count rises, Drummond vows to get answers – and trample any stuffed-shirt who gets in his way. Even when it looks like D.C.’s newest lawyer will become its latest crime statistic.

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The President’s Assassin The Office of Special Project is a CIA cell that handles the most dangerous threats. When the White House chief of Staff is found brutally murdered alongside a note promising more murders – and a President who will be “history” in three days – Sean Drummond teams with a beautiful colleague, Jennie Margold, to try to stop the assassin. As the killer stalks the campaign trail, apparently driven by a $500 million bounty on the President’s head, all arrows point to a member of the White House security detail who has mysteriously gone missing. But as time trickles down to precious minutes, Sean realizes law enforcement’s horrible miscalculation – and what must be done to side step disaster.

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Man in the Middle. Despatched to investigate the suicide of one of DC’s most influential defence officials – an ardent, early supporter of the war in Iraq – Drummond and his female partner find themselves in the middle of a tug-of-war between Washington’s most influential power brokers and his own personal allegiance to the soldiers dying overseas. What he uncovers are the secrets that led to the war, secrets that once exposed would destroy public support and undermine the presidency. Now, Drummond faces the greatest moral quandary of his life: What is the true meaning of patriotism?

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Standalone Novels

The Hunted. As the old Soviet Union fell apart, Alex was ideally positioned to take advantage of Russia’s new capitalist culture. Twenty years later he is on track to become Russia’s wealthiest man, then he makes one critical mistake: he hires the former deputy director of the KGB to handle his corporate security. And then his world starts to fall apart. After his new employee arrives on the scene, Alex is kidnapped, beaten, and forced to relinquish his business and his fortune. He and his wife flee to the United States, only to be declared the new Russia’s Number One most wanted criminal for allegedly stealing millions from his own business, and the Russian Mafiya takes a contract out on his life. Even the FBI wants to bring him and his wife into custody: so they can return him to Russia. A man on the run without a country to call his own, Alex must escape the combined forces of two governments, as he fights to earn the chance to build a new life for himself and his family in America

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The Capitol Game. A small, insignificant company on the edge of bankruptcy has discovered an alchemist’s dream: a miraculous polymer – paint it on a vehicle, any vehicle and voila, you have the equivalent of 30 inches of steel. With war raging in Iraq and Afghanistan, the polymer promised to save thousands of lives, promising to change the course of both wars as well as making its owner billons in profit. Enter Jack Wiley, a successful Wall Street banker somehow learns of the polymer and makes a plan. To make his dream come true, Jack Wiley goes to The Capitol Group, one of the country’s largest, richest and most powerful corporations. Jack and the Capitol Group will partner up for a quick, bloodless takeover of the small company that developed the polymer. A partnership made in heaven? Jack’s smarts and Capitol Group’s power and influence should be a marriage made in heaven, making them all rich beyond imagination. Once they own the patents they will steamroll Congress and the Pentagon to get the polymer into production, via a no-bid, fast-track contract. And it goes to plan until the Pentagon’s investigative service began nosing around.

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“This is a story that I have wanted to tell for many years and teaming up with Brian Haig will afford me the opportunity to pursue this without keeping readers waiting for my next Mitch Rapp novel,” Flynn said, “I’ve been a fan of Brian’s writing since his first book Secret Sanction.  I think he’s one of the best story tellers in America today, and I’m really excited to join forces with him on this exciting project.”

Haig spent 22 years on active duty before retiring in 1997 and going into private business.  His final four years on active duty were as the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, preparing speeches, briefings, public statements, and congressional testimonies, as well as advising the Chairman on strategic, global and Asian regional issues.  He is the author of eight novels, including Capitol Game which will be released by Grand Central Publishing on August 12.

Details of the new series were released in a  joint announcement made today by Judith Curr, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Atria Books and Washington Square Press and Louise Burke, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Gallery, Threshold and Pocket. Emily Bestler, Vice-President and Executive Editorial Director of Atria, acquired World, Audio Book Club, Large Print, First Serial and Electronic Rights to Flynn’s new series from Sloan Harris at ICM.  Pocket Books will be the paperback publisher of both books, which will also be available from Simon & Schuster Audio.

“Fans of Vince Flynn will get the same explosive action, heart-pounding excitement and frightening accuracy that they’ve grown to expect from the Mitch Rapp series,” Bestler said, “Vince had a certain amount of apprehension about dividing his time, until he found out that Brian was interested.  His long standing admiration of Haig’s work, and a shared creative vision for this new venture made it the perfect fit.”

Flynn, who in October will release his twelfth novel, the eleventh featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, has hit the New York Times bestseller list for each book he’s ever written, reaching as high as #1.  He has sold over 12.5 million copies in the United States plus millions more in the 20 international markets that carry his books.

Atria Books is the publishing home of many major bestselling authors including Vince Flynn, T.D. Jakes,  Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Weiner, Zane, and Rhonda Byrne, author of the international bestselling phenomenon The Secret and the forthcoming The Power.

Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist’s worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world … and then tragedy struck.

Two decades of cutthroat, partisan politics has left the CIA and the country in an increasingly vulnerable position. Cold War veteran and CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield knows he must prepare his people for the next war. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America’s shores. Stansfield directs his protégée, Irene Kennedy, and his old Cold War colleague, Stan Hurley, to form a new group of clandestine operatives who will work outside the normal chain of command — men who do not exist.

What type of man is willing to kill for his country without putting on a uniform? Kennedy finds him in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. Two-hundred and seventy souls perished 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. He wanted retribution.

Six months of intense training has prepared him to bring the war to the enemy’s doorstep, and he does so with brutal efficiency. Rapp starts in Istanbul, where he assassinates the Turkish arms dealer who sold the explosives used in the Pan Am attack. Rapp then moves onto Hamburg with his team and across Europe, leaving a trail of bodies. All roads lead to Beirut, though, and what Rapp doesn’t know is that the enemy is aware of his existence and has prepared a trap. The hunter is about to become the hunted, and Rapp will need every ounce of skill and cunning if he is to survive the war-ravaged city and its various terrorist factions.

As action-packed, fast-paced, and brutally realistic as it gets, Flynn’s latest page-turner shows readers how it all began. Behind the steely gaze of the nation’s ultimate hero is a young man primed to become an American Assassin.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010
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Thursday, October 21, 2010
BORDERS
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Sunday, October 24, 2010
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Monday, October 25, 2010
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Saturday, October 30, 2010
SAM’S CLUB
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Monday, November 1, 2010
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Gossip Cop has reported that Jennifer Aniston was linked to the Consent to Kill movie to play the female lead.  The tabloids are always keen to spread rumours regarding Jennifer and Gerard Butler (who is in the running to play Mitch Rapp) so perhaps it was only natural her name came up.  An insider for the tab said that “Jen was flattered but said ‘no thanks,”

Who would be your choice to play Anna Reilly or Dr Irene Kennedy?  Leave a comment and let us know

Click here to pre order Vince Flynn’s American Assassin from Amazon

Codenames – Iron Man, Mitch Kruse

Hometown – McLean, Virginia

Education - Syracuse University- Major in International Business, Minor in French (attended with a Lacrosse scholarship)

Languages - English, French, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Spanish, Italian

Siblings – Steven Rapp

Other – Ambidextrous, but naturally left handed, Won the Iron Man Triathlon twice

History

Mitch Rapp attended Syracuse University on a Lacrosse scholarship (he was an All American) majoring in International business and minoring in French.  Originally he was offered a scholarship with the University of North Carolina, but turned this down to go with his high school sweetheart Maureen Elliot to Syracuse where she studied Broadcasting.  Rapp had known Maureen since he was 15 years old.  Maureen was killed in the bombing of Pan Am 103 on December 21st 1988 along with 34 other students returning from a semester overseas.

A year after Maureen’s death ,Dr Irene Kennedy (Deputy Director CIA, runs the counter terrorism centre) recruited Rapp to the CIA.  At the age of 21 just a week after graduating university Rapp begun his training.  Rapp was sent on specialist training for a year, being sent from place to place, training with special forces instructors a plethora of skills including firearms, marksmanship, hand to hand combat, and explosives.  Endurance was key with long runs, swims and weights.  The CIA also taught him languages, he was then taught Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Pashto.

After completing his training he became a member of the CIA’s secret Orion Team codename Iron Man.  An off books black budget team authorised by congress to take the war to the terrorists headed by Dr Irene Kennedy.  Rapp quickly became the most effective counterterrorism operative in the America’s Arsenal.  During his work in the Orion team he is often supported by all parts of the American military including Navy SEALs and DEVGRU, Delta Force, Air Force Special Operations Command, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).

His cover at the CIA is (and who he is known too by most CIA employees) Mitch Kruse, a moderately successful entrepreneur running a computer consulting company.  This cover allows him to travel fairly freely around the world under the guise of doing International Business.

The Books

Transfer of Power 2000

In Transfer of Power the Whitehouse is been taken over by Islamic terrorists.  Mitch Rapp is secretly sent into the Whitehouse to recon the situation and monitor the terrorist actions.  While inside the Whitehouse he rescues Anna Reilly (NBC’s Whitehouse correspondent) who at the end of the book he takes out to dinner.  During this book Rapp openly clashes with the politicians but is proved right in the end.

The Third Option 2001

Thomas Stansfield the Director of the CIA is dying and powerful government insiders wish to stop Dr Irene Kennedy becoming the next Head of the CIA.  To do this they attempt to kill Rapp whilst on a foreign mission in an allied country.  Rapp uses all his training to escape, go off the grid and hunt down those that attacked him!  Sometimes The Third Option must be used! In this book Rapp has fallen in love with Anna Reilly and is keen to put life at the CIA behind him and start a new life together.

Separation of Power 2002

Iraq has a nuclear weapon and Israel has given the USA just two weeks to take them out before they go to war with Iraq.  America sends in Mitch Rapp to find the weapons and plan a way to remove the threat.  In this book Rapp is more settled with Anna Reilly.  Kennedy offers Rapp the job of running the CIA’s Orion team in a bid to get him out of the field but to keep his skills within the CIA.  At the end of Separation of Power Rapp asks Anna to marry him, by the start of Executive Power they are married

Executive Power 2003

In Executive Power Mitch Rapp has had his cover blown and is now at the top of every terrorist groups hit lists.  Despite being supposed to cut down on his field role, Rapp is sent out to the Middle East where American hostages have been taken and Navy SEALs ambushed.  Rapp must rescue the hostages and discover who is leaking information to the enemy.

Memorial Day 2004

Rapp discovers intelligence that a major terrorist attack will take place in the United States during Memorial Day and is in a race against time to stop it, but is the danger over?

Consent to Kill 2005

In Memorial Day Rapp imprisoned Waheed Abdullah, faking his death to prevent the Saudi’s trying a rescue.  Waheed’s father a rich Saudi businessman wants Rapp killed and puts a $20 million bounty on his head.    They fail to kill Rapp but his wife and unborn baby is killed in the blast.  Rapp is out for revenge and the President of the United States privately gives “Consent to Kill” anyone involved.

Act of Treason 2006

In Act of Treason Rapp is still reeling from the death of his wife Anna Reilly, but when Presidential candidate Josh Alexander is ambushed by a terrorist bomb he is called back into service to track down those involved, at first glance all signs point to terrorists, but it soon becomes clear forces within the USA have committed an Act of Treason.

Protect and Defend 2007

After a attack Iran are left seeking vengeance on Israel and the USA.  Mitch Rapp is called in by the president to protect America against fanatical terrorists in Protect and Defend.

Extreme Measures 2008

In Extreme Measures the politicians are after Rapp for torturing information out of terrorists.  Rapp has information of an attack on Washington, but is partially sidelined due to the investigation.  Mike Nash helps Rapp but will it be in time?

Pursuit of Honour 2009

Mitch Rapp is on the trail of the traitor within the USA.  A Pursuit of Honour and Honour must be satisfied.

As always if there’s anything we’ve missed or you want to add, use the contact us form to let us know, Thanks!

He writes

CBS Films took a big hit with their first major release Extraordinary Measures.  Their second film starring J- Lo didn’t bomb, but it didn’t do great either.  All of this has unfortunately complicated the decision process over green lighting Consent to Kill.  Three months ago, it looked like we were on the verge of finally getting it done.  We had a slew of great male and female actors who were extremely interested in signing on, Antoine Fuqua had been attached as director and everyone loved the script.  Since then, CBS has gotten skittish over the budget and have begun to look for co-financing, which has put the project in a more complicated state.  One of the major studios in Hollywood has offered to take the entire project over, increase the budget and turn it into a summer tent pole movie.  They’ve floated Christian Bale as the lead, which is an extremely interesting choice considering what happens to Mitch Rapp in Consent to Kill.  While this has been an extremely frustrating few months, I have once again realized just how hard it is to get a movie made.  My esteem for the producers Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler has grown immensely.  Their patience and dogged determination amazes me.  It is my hope that we will know one way or another by the end of June.

This raises several interesting points.  although CBS are looking for co-financing deals it seems promising that another studio is interested in the project, this must mean that the film industry have faith in the Mitch Rapp franchise!

Also Christian Bale as Mitch Rapp is an interesting choice, he started in several big budget film franchises including Terminator and Batman.

Fingers crossed CBS will sort out these issues soon, and production can begin!

Late last year speaking in his fan newsletter he revealed that this book would be a prequel to the popular Mitch Rapp Series.

It’s the birth of Rapp… how he was recruited and trained, his first kill and his first act of insubordination that lands him in the ultimate snake pit. His superiors back in D.C. know he has some unique talents, but even they could not have guessed just how brutally efficient he would be at bringing the fight to the enemy.

We know from other books that Mitch Rapp was recruited personally by Dr Irene Kennedy, and he was partially chosen as he lost his girlfriend to terrorists in the Pan-Am air crash.  So this should make an exciting read, we also look forward to seeing Thomas Stanfield return as the Director of CIA (in an earlier book Stansfield died of cancer)

If like us you can’t wait you can preorder the book already on Amazon!  Click here to preorder at Amazon.com

This page includes a brief summary on characters in Vince Flynn’s book Transfer of Power.  Although each description is brief invariably there will be several spoilers particularly where a character was only in the book for a short time.

Over the coming months we hope to create character listings for the rest of Vince Flynn’s books.  If you spot any inaccuracies, omissions, or additional information you would like to see next to a character please use the Contact form to let us know.

For more information on the book Transfer of Power Click Here.