Total Power, a Mitch Rapp novel by Kyle Mills, tells a terrifying tale that is even more terrifying because of the Author's Note at the beginning of the story.
A smug condescending genius (John Alton) who works as a consultant, goes by the handle "Power Station", has made bundles of money at his job, put in five years of excruciatingly detailed study to set up his attack on America's power grid, and since the government hearing he attends doesn't take the ridiculously unstable condition of the country's electrical power facilities seriously enough, he's decided to peddle his abilities to totally put the United States of America in the dark . . . forever . . . to its enemies, aka the highest bidder. Or at least for long enough to exterminate its existence. And not so much for any monetary reward. John Alton wants total power and is capable of making it happen.
A Russian sleeper agent is called up by her government from whom she hasn't heard in eons to meet with Alton in a remote location to assess whether or not what he claims he can do can be done. She is then reluctantly transported back to Russia to give her report. The Russian leadership chooses to ignore his claims and her report of his incredible abilities much like the USA had done in their assessments.
Much as Alton wants nothing to do with any ISIS goons, he soon realizes they seem to be his only choice. Clever as he is, he senses a trap that results in an involuntary death and two suicides plus overall mayhem at a diner. This leaves him with the second in command of the ISIS contingent sent to participate in the downfall of America and three of his associates. It's definitely an unlikely match, but it's all any of them have to make this happen.
Mitch and Coleman's team are dispatched to discover who's threatening what, but the resulting mayhem doesn't go well. And following that, the real abilities of this genius are discovered.
What's terrifying in this novel is the apparently fragile thread that is deeply frayed and unraveling within our country's power grid. Rapp and his group along with the retiring president and every alphabet department of the USA including Irene Kennedy and the CIA are facing the huge failings of neglecting the power grid for so long. There do not seem to be any immediate answers, and people are dying or killing each other just to grab whatever they can to survive.
When a discovery of Alton's whereabouts becomes a possibility, Rapp finds out quickly how little is available to help him do what he has to do. The remaining government is in chaos and provisions are limited.
Total Power is a harrowing adventure against a despicable antagonist with a brilliant brain, but his brain capacity is all wrapped up in his super powers and he fails to note the old adage of "pride comes before the fall".
My two favorite parts of this novel are the scene where Mitch confronts a senator who insists on entering a compound that he doesn't have credentials to enter and Mitch makes it abundantly clear to the senator that he won't be entering, and another scene where Mitch explains to Irene why he's not cut out for a particular approach to a place where Alton might be. What he says to her is priceless.
In this story Mitch is recognizing once again that his age and occupation have incurred the ever present fate of all kinds of body pain and aches and perhaps the hints of slowing down. His live-in girlfriend and her daughter have become increasingly important to him and that scares him. He's experiencing those life-defining moments more frequently, and they continue to make him uncomfortable. It seems the only emotional place where he can fully be himself is wherever his singular job that's he's done since he was just out of college takes him. It's who he is, and he "owns it". And there are ample opportunities for him to do his job in this story, none more satisfying than his final assignment.
Plenty of profanity in this one.
Father, thank you for this incredible series, for the late great Vince Flynn, and for the talented efforts of Kyle Mills to continue this legacy. May you continue to bless Kyle as he writes and creates, providing all that he needs to tell the stories you have just for him to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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