American Assassin

In Beirut, Lebanon, CIA operative Mitch Rapp prepares a desperate plan. Two of his colleagues have been captured by Islamic Jihad, and frustrated by Washington’s inaction, Rapp decides to rescue them alone. He spreads disinformation to lure the terrorists, intending to get himself captured. The plan works, and after a brief struggle on the street, he is knocked unconscious and thrown into the trunk of a car, confident in his ability to unleash violence on his captors from within.

The narrative flashes back one year to Southern Virginia. Irene Kennedy, a CIA recruiter, drives a 23-year-old Rapp to a clandestine training facility. Rapp, a gifted college athlete whose high school sweetheart was killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, is motivated by a deep-seated need for retribution. Kennedy has been surveilling him since he was 22 and believes he is the perfect candidate for a secret new counterterrorism program. Her boss, CIA Deputy Director of Operations Thomas Stansfield, agrees to bypass standard training and send Rapp directly to the program’s formidable instructor, Stan Hurley. Hurley, a grizzled veteran, is deeply skeptical of Rapp, whom he dismisses as a “college puke” with no military experience. After a tense argument with Kennedy, Hurley agrees to give Rapp a chance. Rapp immediately challenges Hurley to a fight to prove his worth.

On a wrestling mat, the fight begins. Hurley underestimates Rapp, who uses a mix of boxing and martial arts to gain the upper hand, nearly choking Hurley into unconsciousness. To avoid defeat, Hurley breaks the rules and squeezes Rapp’s testicles, forcing him to release the hold. Dr. Tom Lewis, a clinical psychologist, is brought in to assess Rapp and manage the conflict between him and the bruised Hurley.

The training is grueling. Rapp excels physically and proves to be a natural marksman, all while clashing with a large bully named Victor. During an interview, Rapp clarifies to Dr. Lewis that he seeks not simple revenge but retribution, which he defines as morally justified punishment. After Victor breaks the nose of another recruit, Rapp challenges him. Dr. Lewis persuades the instructors to allow the fight, and Rapp decisively ends the confrontation by breaking Victor’s nose and dislocating his elbow. A later debriefing reveals Rapp correctly deduced that Victor was an instructor planted to test the recruits.

At CIA Headquarters, a deep-cover operative named John “Schnoz” Cummins is captured in Beirut, reinforcing Stansfield’s belief in the necessity of Rapp’s program. Stansfield confronts Hurley about his flawed, ego-driven methods and redefines the program’s goal: to create operatives for urban warfare. Hurley accepts his new role, and the training shifts to intensive tradecraft. Only Rapp and Robert “Bobby” Richards complete the program. They accept their new status as deniable assets with no official connection to the US government.

Six months later, Rapp is sent on his first solo mission to Istanbul to assassinate Hamdi Sharif, an arms dealer who supplied components for the Pan Am 103 bomb. Ordered to conduct surveillance for two days before Hurley and Richards arrive, Rapp instead identifies a vulnerability in Sharif’s routine: He walks his dog alone in a park every morning. Believing the official plan is too risky, Rapp acts alone. He confronts Sharif on a park bench and executes him with a silenced pistol before successfully exfiltrating from Turkey. Stansfield and Kennedy deduce Rapp was responsible, but Rapp justifies his actions as the most efficient and safest course. Though Hurley argues Rapp is a loose cannon, Stansfield overrules him, stressing the urgent need for effective operatives.

The team’s next target is Hans Dorfman, a German banker laundering money for terrorists. In Hamburg, the team invades Dorfman’s home. When he refuses to open his safe, Rapp coerces him by threatening his poodle. They retrieve financial data, and Hurley executes Dorfman. The team then travels to Zurich, where Hurley’s old friend, Swiss banker Carl Ohlmeyer, uses the data to electronically drain $26 million from terrorist accounts, a move designed to provoke panicked communications that Langley can intercept. Ohlmeyer also provides Rapp with a secret “insurance policy” of false identities and offshore accounts. During his stay, Rapp has a brief romance with Ohlmeyer’s granddaughter, Greta.

Kennedy assigns Rapp a solo mission in Geneva to kill Tarik al Ismael, a Libyan intelligence operative. After tailing Ismael from his apartment, Rapp is ambushed. A running gunfight erupts, ending when Ismael takes a civilian hostage. Rapp capitalizes on a moment of distraction to kill Ismael with a single shot. He then proceeds to Beirut to join Hurley and Richards for their mission to rescue Cummins.

In Beirut, terrorist leaders Imad Mughniyah and Assef Sayyed discover their funds have vanished. In Moscow, corrupt SVR general Mikhail Ivanov learns his illicit funds are also gone. Meanwhile, Hurley and Richards are captured by Beirut police and handed over to Islamic Jihad. Rapp arrives in Beirut and learns of their capture from a local CIA asset, Rob Ridley. Frustrated by Langley’s cautious response, Rapp agrees to a deniable plan to get himself captured.

Hurley is brutally tortured by Sayyed and another leader, Abu Radih, but he resists, feigning insanity. Rapp allows himself to be captured, pretending to be Hurley’s terrified son. While in his cell, he uses a small saw blade hidden in his hair to cut through the duct tape on his wrists. Radih brings Rapp to Hurley’s cell to execute him in front of his “father.” At the critical moment, Rapp breaks free, kills Radih and his guards, and frees Hurley. They discover Richards has been tortured and killed. Trapped and surrounded, Rapp creates a diversion by starting a massive firefight between rival factions occupying Martyrs’ Square. At the airport, Mughniyah holds an “auction” for the prisoners. Ivanov agrees to pay $12 million and sends his deputy, Nikolai Shvets, with Sayyed to retrieve them. During the firefight’s chaos, Rapp and Hurley escape the building, capturing Sayyed and knocking Shvets unconscious.

Four days later in Zurich, Stansfield meets with SVR Director Yevgeny Primakov. Stansfield orchestrates an exchange: He provides evidence of Ivanov’s corruption and, with Rapp disguised as his bodyguard, implies to Primakov that Shvets has defected. In return, Primakov secures the release of John Cummins. Ivanov is set up to be purged by his own agency, and Stansfield hints at  a grim fate for Sayyed. Stansfield praises Rapp’s performance and gives him a week of leave. Rapp decides to spend it in Zurich, intending to reconnect with Greta.