Hey Mitch Rapp fans!

Today is Pub Day for Code Red. This is my last book in the series, and I wanted to leave it with an old-school thriller with Mitch Rapp back in the Middle East fighting terrorists. Tons of action and lots of fun. But before I ride off into the sunset, I want to say THANKS to everybody for their enthusiasm, their encouragement, and even for the criticism. It’s all made me a better writer.

I’ll be back soon, though. I’m starting a series based on a character that I created years ago named Fade. He’s one of my favorites, and I think he’ll be one of yours, too.

Now… What are you waiting for? Get out there and grab yourself a copy of Code Red!

Signed Books

I’m making three stops at bookstores during the tour and will be signing lots of books while I’m there. If you want an autographed hardback, give them a call before they’re all gone.

Want to know more about Code Red? Check out the story behind the book as well as print and audio excerpts.

The inspiration for Code Red was my fascination with asymmetrical warfare. In the current context, traditional wars are necessarily losing propositions. Asymmetrical warfare is different. It can be waged cheaply, stealthily, and without serious repercussions. It can also be extremely effective. If you want to win a fight, you go after an opponent’s weakness not their strength. To attack the US, for instance, you wouldn’t want to go toe-to-toe with our military. Our political divisions are a much softer target.

Creating A Weapon

I wanted to come up with something new—a chink in the armor of Western powers that hadn’t yet been exploited by our enemies. That led me to start researching the skyrocketing addiction problems in the industrialized world. How could the Russians use that weakness to get to us?

The answer came in the form of Captagon, an extremely popular narcotic in the Middle East that has been heavily connected to terrorism and the Syrian government. It was fascinating to study the drug’s role in propping up insurgencies and extremist governments as well as Syria’s slow conversion into a narco-state.

But if you’re going to use a recreational drug to attack the West, would Captagon be the right choice? To answer this question, I looked mostly at the rise of fentanyl. It’s a much more destructive compound than Captagon, but that’s just a tragic side effect of the euphoria it produces. What if the Russians used their scientists to design a narcotic with the goal of making it extraordinarily addictive and dangerous? Delving back into Captagon’s history as a legal pharmaceutical, its devastating qualities, and its eventual removal from the market gave me a lot of ideas.

Missed Opportunity

Syria was another fascinating thing to do a deep dive into and was a missed opportunity from my past. In the fall of 2009, my wife and I planned a three-week driving trip around Syria. It was an exciting prospect—exotic atmosphere, good food, Roman ruins, and some of the best-preserved European castles in the world. As our departure date crept up, though, I got slammed with work and we rescheduled for 2011. Nothing to worry about, right? Syria was the most stable country in the Middle East.

Sadly, that was the year the Syrian Civil War erupted. While I didn’t get to go personally, it was really interesting to dig into the uprising’s causes, aftermath, and its place in the Arab Spring. I desperately wish I could have seen it before all the shelling—particularly Aleppo and the Roman ruins in Palmyra. In the end, though, it wouldn’t have done much good for the writing of the book. Much of this once beautiful country has been turned to rubble.

Sometimes It’s Easy

If you’re open to inspiration and keep your eyes peeled, the answer you need just might land in your lap. Most often that happens to me with settings. Walking past a rusting playground on a rainy day in Istanbul. A posh nightclub in Monaco. A little surf town in Costa Rica. Everything gets filed away in my mind for later.

Tholos restaurant in Chania, Crete.

This time it was a restaurant in Crete. It had been built into the ruins of an ancient building without much in the way of repairs. I thought the look of it was really unique but had no idea why I’d ever have a need for it. When Mitch sits down in a restaurant in Syria, though, the memory came flooding back. While the design was stylish in Greece, it would be mandatory in Syria—a bombed-out country with few resources to rebuild.

The World of Cargo

Something I learned that I knew nothing about was how docks unload large cargo ships. It’s an extremely complicated process that uses machinery that the average person would never run into. Further, I was envisioning a specific port in Europe. Thank goodness for YouTube. It’s amazing how many people film the things they do and post them on the Internet. Fortunately, that includes people who drive the trucks that are loaded with the goods that come in on those massive ships.

Realism Through Small Details

Oddly, the bulk of my time is spent on little things that most readers barely notice. What kind of guns do Syrian special forces use? How much would the watch Mitch is wearing cost? What restaurant would have a good view of the dock I wrote about and what does it look like? How long would it take to drive from Damascus to the center of Syria? At the end of my first draft, I had around 450 of these little queries to myself. It can take as much as a week to clear them all.

To me, these are the kinds of details that give a book the immersive realism I strive for. I love to get lost in a world created for me by one of my favorite authors, and I find that I’m jerked out of the moment when I run across an incorrect detail. Hopefully, you won’t find any in Code Red.

Want to know more about Code Red? Here’s the story behind Mitch Rapp’s 22nd mission.

For the past five years I’ve been splitting my time between Granada, Spain, and the US. I will never fully trade in my Wyoming lifestyle, but there are also many things to love about our European base. The slower pace of life. Beautiful roads to cycle on. Great wine. A society that prioritizes time with family and friends. But it also presents challenges. A different language and legal structure, new ways of doing the simple tasks we take for granted, and the complexities of being an immigrant.

Research tells us that one of the best things you can do to help your brain age well is seek out novel experiences. At my house we often joke about how all our frustrations and confusion are medicinal and how we’ll be better off for accepting the challenge. Along with flexing my brain while outlining my next book for the upcoming Fade series, here’s some of the “medicine” I’ve been subjected to lately…

A Renovation Project. In Spanish.

In 2022, we decided to commit to Granada and buy a place to live. When we started looking, a renovation was out of the question. Anyone who’s done one knows they are frustrating and expensive under the best of circumstances. In Spain, though, all that is multiplied by ten. Not only because of the language, but the fact that so much is done differently here. Getting the water company to hook up a downtown apartment? Three months minimum. And I had to ask our contractor to repeat himself several times when he told me that he builds all interior walls out of brick. I assumed I was mistranslating because that made no sense to me.

But, miraculously, everything seems to be more or less on track. Hopefully sometime in September we’ll be out of temporary housing and into our new place.

Immigration Panic

I wanted to take a photo of me sitting among all the other immigrants at the extranjería office, but I didn’t dare. This is very much a place where you just wait quietly with your mountain of documents and pray you get a government official who’s in a good mood.

It’s an unpleasant process that everyone should live through at least once in their lifetime to gain perspective. And let’s face it, if I get deported, it’s back to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Not Guatemala or Sudan. My experiences have been incredibly nerve-wracking, but for many it must be downright terrifying.

Driving Challenges

I really like strolling in cities, but it can be inconvenient when there’s too much to carry and it’s unbearably hot. It would be nice to have a car, but then I remember the many narrow streets. This one is particularly small, and tourists tend to ignore the warning sign at its entrance. A round placard with 1,8m on it means the street narrows to 1.8 meters or less than six feet. Cars get stuck here all the time and there are long scrapes on the buildings to prove it. I have no idea how they get them out. One day, I’ll have to stop at a café and watch with a glass of wine in hand.

Culinary Exploration

While I enjoy the strange and fascinating world of travel, I know many people don’t share my enthusiasm for exotic food. We’ve done a pretty good job of leaving behind our staples and adapting to the ingredients available here. But I’m still not sure what to do with the whole piglets that I find in the frozen food section.

Miscommunication

At times, I have strange experiences that make me question my ability to speak Spanish. I always assume because I’m working in a second language that the error is mine, but often, I discover that it’s not just a translation issue.

This happened again a few days ago when I went to the appliance store to buy a dryer. I explained at length what I was looking for and the guy just stared at me like I was nuts and kept saying “heat pump.” Of course, I replied that I already had a heating system. I just needed a clothes dryer. After a lengthy discourse, I discovered that the Spanish don’t really have dryers that vent outside and that they use heat pump technology to dry their clothes. I’m pretty sure that salesman has never been so happy to see a customer finally leave his store.

As many of you already know, I split my time between the US and Granada, Spain. My most recent move to Europe happened in late spring. Now that I’ve unpacked and settled in, I’ve started putting the final touches on Code Red. I’ll head back to the States later this summer to kick off my final book tour for the Rapp series.

We’re adapting to the rhythm of a different culture and language once again just as many locals are clearing out of the city to escape the heat. It seems like all that pent-up travel demand we’ve been reading about has finally come to be. The streets are full of people from all over the world checking out the historic sites, sipping gin and tonics, and enjoying a little paella and flamenco.

One last look at my beloved Tetons until next summer… I’ve received mail and social media comments from fans asking why I’ve left the US. I’m not leaving America behind. I’m just a person who loves variety and a good challenge. Living in a foreign country makes you realize how much you take for granted the ease of life in your home country. From serious stuff like dealing with immigration to trivial issues like buying appliances. Not only do you have to do it all in Spanish, but everything works a little differently here. Ask someone to sell you a clothes dryer with a vent and they look at you like you’re nuts. Then you’re standing there wondering if your crappy Spanish failed you or if their dryers don’t work the same way as ours.

It was good to finally have a chance to relax because my spring was a blur this year. Packing up the house, saying goodbye to friends, and gathering the paperwork that allows us to stay in Europe didn’t leave much time for skiing or biking.

We arrived just in time for feria and Corpus Christi celebrations that take place across Andalucía. Think dancing, eating, and drinking until the wee hours of the morning. And then getting up the next day to do it all over again.

This year we’re living in the city center rather than the atmospheric 800-year-old barrio where we normally stay. Clanging church bells and revving motorbikes are the backdrop, while lively conversations flowing from bars and restaurants keep the energy high. The neighborhood also has an evolving canvas of vibrant street art.

One reason we’ve chosen Granada as our Spanish base is that we can easily escape the city on a bike. There are lots of gravel roads, and the surrounding landscape’s spectacular patchwork of pueblos, orchards, and olive groves make for beautiful and challenging rides. Spain is the largest producer of olives in the world, but unfortunately, this year’s harvest has been on shaky ground due to an ongoing drought. Fingers crossed that recent rains will save the crop. I’m not sure what I would do without my Spanish olives.

If you like to travel, check out my posts about Greece, Normandy, Spain here and here, and Portugal.

It’s hard for even me to believe, but I’ve decided that Code Red is going to be my final contribution to the Mitch Rapp series.

For the last decade, I’ve been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received from fans, from Vince’s family, and from his team at Emily Bestler Books. Mitch means so much to so many people. It’s been an honor to keep him alive and kicking ass. Not to mention a lot of fun. It’s not every day that someone hands you one of your favorite literary characters and tells you to run with him.

So why now? Am I just nuts?

Fade

Maybe a little bit. But the other reason is that I’ve had a character bouncing around in my head for years now and I can’t seem to shut him up. When I finished the novel Fade in 2003, I left former Navy SEAL Salam al-Fayed bleeding out on a hospital floor. Right where he wanted to be, frankly.

For a time, he was gone to me. The driving force behind his character was that he was doomed, and I’d known from page one that things wouldn’t end well for him. Eventually, though, I came to see him as lying in a coma—a hazy image that I thought I’d shake but that instead has become increasingly sharp.

In the years since I wrote the book, the world has changed radically. Technology has advanced at a dizzying pace. Russia has once again become a dangerous geopolitical antagonist. China is trying to put itself on top of the world order. Divisions within America have intensified in a way that only a short time ago would have been unimaginable.

Where is all this leading?

It’s a question that’s begging to have a series devoted to it. The problem was that it didn’t feel right for Mitch. He’s the master of his universe and I needed a character who could be swept along—someone with no political clout, no prospects, and no allies.

When I realized this, Fade began to stir from his long sleep. How would he view the world he’s suddenly thrust into? Could he ever be the man he once was? Did he want to be? His only real talent was killing, something he’d always seen as a bit of a cosmic joke. Why not music, juggling chainsaws, or baking? Everyone loves a good apple pie, but very few people want to see their husband, father, or brother die at his hands.

Unfortunately, one thing that hasn’t changed during his time languishing in a hospital bed is the need for men possessing his peculiar skillset. With no life and a list of sins that will get him executed if the government discovers he’s conscious again, there aren’t a lot of options.

So when Fade is offered physical rehabilitation, anonymity, and a level of privilege he never knew existed, it seems slightly more appealing than putting a gun in his mouth and returning to the oblivion he’d become so accustomed to.

Or is it?

I’m honestly not sure. But I hope you’ll join me and Fade as we figure it out.

Mitch Rapp

What about Mitch, you ask? No need to worry. Vince’s family hit a home run and signed my good friend Don Bentley to take over. For those who haven’t read his Matt Drake series or his contributions to the Tom Clancy universe, you’re missing out. He’s an exceptionally talented writer with a background in both the army and FBI, making him perfect for the job. Further, Emily Bestler—Vince’s editor and the keel that’s kept the series on track since the beginning—will continue running the show. Readers will get the best of all worlds: fresh ideas and perspectives, but ones that are still anchored to the foundations that have proven themselves time and time again.

And, of course, I’ll continue to be there for everyone involved—Don, Emily, and readers.

I have to admit that I’m kind of excited. After all this time as the master of the Rappverse, I’m looking forward to being a fan again. There’s nothing quite like rushing out to a bookstore on pub day, clearing my calendar, and plopping on the sofa to join Mitch on his latest adventure. Until now, I didn’t realize how much I missed it.

Thanks to everyone. It’s been one hell of a ride.

Once a year I like to take stock of what I’ve done over the past twelve months. Sometimes it’s hard to quantify what I’ve accomplished but that’s not true with the Rapp series. When you pile it up, the stack actually gets taller. My annual Most-Complete-Collection-Of-Rapp-Novels-In-The-World pic, has become the hourglass that measures my journey through life.

Mitch’s universe is now this high.

This teetering column of ink has chronicled every phase of Mitch’s life. His brash youth, his transformation into the world’s most effective killer, the death of his wife and unborn child. Now, we see a man with a devoted partner, a girl he’s come to think of as his daughter, and the ability to see gray where only black and white existed before.

After finishing the initial draft of The Survivor, I had the honor of possessing the most complete collection of Rapp novels in the world for the first time.

When I inherited Mitch, he was angry and alone. His frustration with his inability to right every wrong was in danger of destroying him. I needed to pull him back from the brink and provide him with new challenges like coming up against an assassin that was his equal, shutting down a Russian attack on its neighbors, and preventing the destruction of our power grid in the US.

The Red War manuscript—a story that, sadly, feels very relevant at this moment.

The geopolitical landscape continues to change at a historic pace and Mitch has to change with it. Now, he’s forced to examine his place in the world and admit that not all threats come from outside.

The Total Power manuscript just before the world was introduced to COVID-19.

No matter how the Rappverse evolves, there’s one consistent message: While the fight may be long and bloody, honor, courage, and patriotism will always prevail.

Enemy at the Gates side table, my pandemic project.

Happy holidays and, as always, thank you for your support!