Author | Vince Flynn |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Political thriller |
Publication date | May 2004 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 416 pp (hardcover) 608 pp (paperback) |
Preceded by | Executive Power |
Followed by | Consent to Kill |
Memorial Day is thriller novel by Vince Flynn, and the seventh to feature Mitch Rapp, an American CIA agent that works for the counter-terrorism unit "Orion Team".
Intelligence gathering has indicated unusual activity in financial markets, and Rapp, back in the field after a long stint on desk duty for insubordination, unearths a bomb plot during a daring commando raid on an al-Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan. A decision is made for the President and his cabinet to leave Washington, D.C. in early morning hours based on the bomb threat. However a United States strike force manages to intercept and disarm the nuclear weapon moments after it arrives by freighter in Charleston, South Carolina. Everyone, including series stalwart President Robert Hayes, congratulates themselves on a job well done, but Rapp is not convinced; he believes al-Qaeda leader Mustafa al-Yamani has smuggled a second nuclear weapon into the country and plans to detonate it in Washington, D.C., during Memorial Day celebrations. Rapp, a ruthless terrorist pursuer by temperament and training, turns it up several notches this time around, following al-Yamani's scent with feverish abandon. When a missing Pakistani nuclear scientist is found to have passed through LAX on his way to Atlanta, and a truck driver turns up dead due to radiation sickness, the chase is on again. Ultimately the terrorists approach Washington D.C. by water, are spotted from the air, and killed by Rapp. The second bomb, however, has been activated and is in its countdown, unable to be deactivated. After an assessment of options, Rapp transports the bomb to a secure underground facility where it explodes with minimal human or environmental affect.
WorldCat shows that the book is in over 1800 US and Canadian libraries. [1]
The USS Cole bombing was a suicide attack by al-Qaeda against USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, on 12 October 2000, while it was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor.
A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians. It is not to be confused with a nuclear explosion, such as a fission bomb, which produces blast effects far in excess of what is achievable by the use of conventional explosives. Unlike the rain of radioactive material from a typical fission bomb, a dirty bomb's radiation can be dispersed only within a few hundred meters or a few miles of the explosion.
Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism. Nuclear terrorism outlines a broad category of possible terror incidents, ranging in feasibility and scope. Possible methods include the sabotage of a nuclear facility, the intentional irradiation of citizens, and/or the detonation of a radiological device, colloquially termed a dirty bomb, but consensus is lacking. According to the 2005 United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. nuclear terrorism is an offense committed if a person unlawfully and intentionally "uses in any way radioactive material … with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or with the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or with the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act."
Operation Infinite Reach was the codename for American cruise missile strikes on al-Qaeda bases that were launched concurrently across two continents on 20 August 1998. Launched by the U.S. Navy, the strikes hit the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan, and a camp in Khost Province, Afghanistan, in retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people and injured over 4,000 others. Operation Infinite Reach was the first time the United States acknowledged a preemptive strike against a violent non-state actor.
The Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations were based on false claims by the United States government alleging that a secretive relationship existed between Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the Sunni pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda between 1992 and 2003. U.S. president George W. Bush used it as a main reason for invading Iraq in 2003.
Vincent Joseph Flynn was an American author of political thriller novels featuring the fictional assassin Mitch Rapp. He was a story consultant for the fifth season of the television series 24. He died of prostate cancer on June 19, 2013.
Mitch Rapp is a fictional character in a series of novels that were written by Vince Flynn and in the film adaptation of American Assassin. Since Flynn's death in 2013, the series has been continued by Kyle Mills.
This article is a chronological listing of allegations of meetings between members of al-Qaeda and members of Saddam Hussein's government, as well as other information relevant to conspiracy theories involving Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.
Consent to Kill is a thriller novel by Vince Flynn, and the eighth in a series that features CIA counterterrorism agent Mitch Rapp. In this thriller, Flynn focuses on the war on terror exploring all its aspects, from the president of the United States, to the CIA, the foot soldiers and the potentially deadly terrorists.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh, was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings, and attacks during the Iraq War, reportedly "turning an insurgency against US troops" in Iraq "into a Shia–Sunni civil war". He was sometimes known by his supporters as the "Sheikh of the slaughterers".
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is a global military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and is the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. Some researchers and political scientists have argued that it replaced the Cold War.
After the Central Intelligence Agency lost its role as the coordinator of the entire United States Intelligence Community (IC), special coordinating structures were created by each president to fit his administrative style and the perceived level of threat from terrorists during his term.
In the years after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, Yemen became a key site for U.S. intelligence gathering and drone attacks on Al-Qaeda. According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 18% of Yemenis approved of U.S. leadership, with 59% disapproving and 23% uncertain. According to a February 2015 report from the Congressional Research Service, U.S. officials considered Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula the Al-Qaeda affiliate "most likely to attempt transnational attacks against the United States."
Separation of Power isa thriller novel by Vince Flynn, and the fifth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent who works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counterterrorism unit called the "Orion Team".
Atomic demolition munitions (ADMs), colloquially known as nuclear land mines, are small nuclear explosive devices. ADMs were developed for both military and civilian purposes. As weapons, they were designed to be exploded in the forward battle area, in order to block or channel enemy forces. Non-militarily, they were designed for demolition, mining or earthmoving. Apart from testing, however, they have never been used for either purpose.
Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), is a militant organization banned by the United States Department of Treasury on December 20, 2001. It was also placed on the Patriot Act Terrorist Exclusion List. It is suspected of supplying information about constructing nuclear weapons to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.
Executive Power is a thriller novel by Vince Flynn, and the sixth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team".
Transfer of Power is a debut novel by Vince Flynn, and the third to feature Mitch Rapp, the CIA's super agent. The book was released on July 1, 1999 by Pocket Books. It reached number 13 in the New York Times paperback bestsellers chart.
Pursuit of Honor is a thriller novel by Vince Flynn, and the twelfth novel in the Mitch Rapp series. It was published on December 1, 2009.
American Assassin is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Dylan O'Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, and Taylor Kitsch. Written by Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz, the film was based on Vince Flynn's 2010 novel of the same name. The story is centered on young CIA black ops recruit Mitch Rapp, who helps a Cold War veteran try to stop the detonation of a rogue nuclear weapon.