Into the Fire

I can't speak for other authors. I can comment on their writing, review their work, give my opinion on how they write their stories, but as far as how they individually react to others' comments, reviews, and/or opinions, I can't pretend to know how they feel about any of those things.

It struck me today how I wanted to defend a bestselling author when I read a few of the stark and derisive 1-star reviews written for the first new release in the continuation of the Mitch Rapp legend. Okay, Don Bentley has taken the reins of the series after Kyle Mills' took the first go-round after Vince's passing. I distinctly remember the same kind of hits Kyle took after his first effort. Some people were not happy and apparently those same type of people "will never read another Mitch Rapp book." 

First of all, Don Bentley doesn't need me to defend him as an author. He's a bestselling author who writes vivid thrillers and his Matt Drake Series is action-packed with well-developed characters, locations, and conflicts. He also wrote some of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. books. He's no amateur. 

An iconic character like Mitch Rapp, who set the bar in literature for espionage/assassins/operatives, lives on in readers' hearts for decades and certainly for as long as an author can continue to write the stories about him. The sad passing of Vince Flynn at a very young age sent shock waves through his devoted audience of which I was and am one. Readers remember Rapp with their personal attachments to him and reactions to how he handled himself, how he appeared – sometimes disguised – and what it was that separated him from every other thriller hero. There's no question Vince wrote the character of a lifetime.

We, as readers, have a tendency to see him our way and no other way, and we interpret who he is "at heart" the way we decide he is. When another author takes up that heavy mantle and dares to wade into the character of Mitch Rapp, readers are on guard. They don't want him to be "different." They don't want him to speak "wrong," act "wrong," or have any relationships that seem "wrong." Whatever you do, don't change Mitch Rapp!   

When it was learned Capture or Kill was going back in time with Rapp, I'm sure there were already dissenters forming their opinions. And this goes back to my commentary on 1-star reviewers: It says more about them than it does the book they're berating. As I said previously, bestselling author Don Bentley doesn't need my two-cents worth of defending his writing or this Mitch Rapp entry into the Mitch Rapp saga, but it aggravates me when readers write scathing reviews attacking an author's ability with silly threats about never reading one of their books again. Who cares? All that hoopla and criticism probably isn't worth the time it took to write the review. 

So there you have it for Wednesday. My review of Capture or Kill will be up sometime next week – for what it's worth. 

Father, please continue to bless Don and his family and give him lots more stories you have just for him to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.