Vince Flynn

Vince Flynn (April 6, 1966-June 19, 2013) grew up in St. Paul and attended St. Thomas University, graduating with an economics degree in 1988. From there, Flynn went on to work at Kraft General Foods. In 1990, he attempted to join the U.S. Marine Corps, but was turned away due to a pre-existing medical condition. It was then that he decided to try his hand at writing a book, despite having been diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and struggling with writing and reading for much of his life. After many years and rejection letters, Flynn self-published his first novel, Term Limits.

Term Limits was very successful in the Twin Cities, and Flynn acquired both an agent and a two-book deal with an imprint of Simon and Schuster. After Term Limits, a standalone novel, Flynn went on to write a thirteen-book series featuring Mitch Rapp, an undercover CIA agent protecting the United States from terrorism. Flynn’s early death, at age 47, in 2013, left his devoted fans shocked and saddened, but Mitch Rapp lives on through the pen of Kyle Mills, another political thriller writer.