For those who have read the previous 22 installments of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, this latest entry will come as either a welcome addition or a disappointment.

On the plus side, there are plot twists and violence galore in this book that takes place in 2011, and everyone is back, including characters who had died in earlier stories. However, Don Bentley has taken over the reins of this series from Kyle Mills, and CAPTURE OR KILL is a prequel to later installments, set as it is in the fraught weeks when the hunt for Osama bin Laden is underway.

"Bentley knows how to keep the action going, how to flesh out the technical details, and how to move the storylines along."

While CIA director Irene Kennedy is certain that she has located bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, the president is demanding proof that he is there before approving the Seal Team’s raid. Elsewhere, Quds Force operatives have created a new weapon that could drastically change America's war capabilities in the Middle East.

Enter a younger Mitch Rapp, the multilingual, fearless and vengeful CIA operator. He is the kind of man whose reputation inspires admiration from his peers --- and blinding panic from his enemies. Starting in Iran, he moves to Pakistan, trying to track down anyone who will divulge bin Laden’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, back at CIA headquarters, ex-Marine Mike Nash is trying to figure out if he’s ready for the life of a DC bureaucrat (he’s not). For now, he’s deployed to Afghanistan, where the two will reunite.

Bentley knows how to keep the action going, how to flesh out the technical details, and how to move the storylines along. Whether those who haven’t followed the series will be able to keep track of the good guys who aren’t Americans, or the various characters’ backstories --- not to mention the clandestine operations’ code names --- is questionable. Then there are the tired idioms. On one page alone, “exception that proved the rule” abuts “no worse for wear” and “boots on the ground.” And the punchy sentences, usually in sets of two, that adorn almost every page: “On this point he agreed. The time for talking was over.” Or “This was it. The moment of truth.” And “His work wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.”

Assuming readers of this book are Mitch Rapp fans looking for a fast-paced thriller with familiar characters, CAPTURE OR KILL should suffice.