Total Power

Starred review from August 3, 2020
In bestseller Mills’s suspenseful, strikingly original sixth Mitch Rapp novel (after 2019’s Lethal Agent), the Russians activate sleeper agent Sonya Vance (real last name Voronova) and send her to the backwoods of West Virginia, where she meets John Alton, a power grid consultant for the U.S. government, who tells her he has the ability to shut down the entire U.S. power grid and keep it down for a year, maybe forever. After checking out Alton’s computer, Sonya reports back to Moscow that it’s a workable plan and Alton wants nothing in payment. The Russians pass on the offer, but ISIS picks up the option. When the CIA gets wind of the plot, Mitch and his team set a trap for Alton, but the wily evil genius evades them and goes to ground, literally, in a carefully prepared underground shelter. Meanwhile, Alton unleashes his attack. Mitch’s hunt for Alton amid a devastated America in the throes of an epic disaster is as riveting as anything penned by Mitch’s creator, Vince Flynn (1966–2013). Mills has really hit his stride with this franchise entry. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House.