Consent to Kill

Flynn continues to ratchet up the stakes for CIA assassin Mitch Rapp, who here battles a Saudi billionaire bent on revenge, an ex–East German Stasi spy and a deadly husband-and-wife team of assassins. There's a $20-million contract out on Mitch's head, and to add injury to insult, he hurts his leg during a morning run. After a knee operation and an even more serious mishap, Mitch is out of the hospital and hot on the trail of the evildoers. Meanwhile, Mitch's wife, NBC White House correspondent Anna Reilly, who has been in jeopardy in other Flynn novels like The Third Option , announces midway that she's pregnant: even the dullest of readers will know big trouble is in store. Besides terrorists and assassins, Mitch has to battle the new national director of intelligence, a craven, hypocritical, inside-the-Beltway operator. When Mitch whacks this twerp on the side of the head with a heavy file during a high-level meeting, readers will stand up and cheer. Flynn is sometimes criticized for turning out formulaic work, and while that description fits here, he perfectly measures all of the ingredients for a fast and furious read. 12-city author tour; 20-city radio satellite tour. (On sale Oct. 11)