BEST OF GL: MEMORIAL DAY featuring one of our final visits with the great Vince Flynn

Summary

---

Best of Garage Logic: Memorial Day — Remembering Vince Flynn

Date: May 25, 2026
Podcast: Garage Logic (Gamut Podcast Network)
Host: Joe Soucheray (“The Mayor”), with the GL crew
Guest: Vince Flynn (Author, Mitch Rapp series)
Timestamps refer to original aired content

---

Episode Overview

This special Memorial Day “Best Of GL” episode features one of the final in-studio interviews with the late, legendary thriller author Vince Flynn. Known for his Mitch Rapp series and his loyal connection to Garage Logic, Flynn offers candid stories about his writing, his battle with cancer, and his insights on the intersection of politics, espionage, and everyday gumption. The episode reflects on his enduring legacy, resilience, and the unique relationship he maintained with the Garage Logic team and listeners.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Vince Flynn and Garage Logic: A Tradition of Firsts

• Vince Flynn’s tradition: Garage Logic always got his first interview upon a new book release, right up to the end ([03:22], [43:50]).
  • Quote: “Because Vince always gave Joe and Rookie the very first interview when he would go on his book tour, and he stuck to that to the very, very end.” — Jim Reivers ([02:31])

Writing Through Adversity

• Vince discusses how his cancer diagnosis and treatment schedules forced him to adjust publication dates for his books ([05:22], [12:21]).

  • Quote: “Because I was going through radiation a year ago, starting in August, just couldn’t. I was A, I was in too much pain. B, I didn’t have the energy.” — Vince Flynn ([05:30])

• On perseverance:

  • Quote: “The problem with cancer is it can become all encompassing. … Writing, in prayer, and great friends … you get through the days.” — Vince Flynn ([14:42])

• Lifestyle changes: Diet, exercise, and faith as keys to his well-being through cancer ([16:55], [17:36]).

  • Quote: “If you’re going to beat this thing, I think you got to have. It’s got to be body, mind and soul with great medical care.” — Vince Flynn ([16:55])

The Craft of the Thriller

• Book Release Timing: Why books release on Tuesdays remains as much a mystery to Vince as to the hosts ([07:40]).
• Massive success: Mitch Rapp was Simon & Schuster’s first million-selling digital franchise ([06:12]).
• Book tour realities: Flynn opened up about paring back tours due to health, noting sales actually increased with less travel ([21:04]).

Character Insights: Mitch Rapp & Recurring Figures

• Mitch Rapp’s evolution: Less “unhinged” than in prior novels, largely due to a narrative return from prequel mode ([07:54], [08:06]).

• The legacy of Louie Gould, the killer from six books prior (‘Consent to Kill’), returns in “The Last Man” ([09:25]).

  • Quote: “I’ve got plans for Louie Gould. Big plans.” — Vince Flynn ([09:46])

• Attention to detail: Vince brings his character summary/cheat sheet for interviews as his memory fades under treatment ([12:41]).

• Deep-cuts: Secondary/minor characters like Rickman and the critic Joel Wilson highlighted ([13:19]).

Candid Reflections: National Security and the Real World

• On meeting General Petraeus (post-resignation, CIA): Vince describes a tense, unusual dinner sparring over military vs. covert operations ([27:06]–[30:29]).

  • Quote: “I want to say this without being too offensive, but I don’t think there’s any way to avoid it. I think the guy’s … a narcissist. But most of those guys are.” — Vince Flynn ([28:06])
  • Quote: “I fail to see the difference between … a sharpshooter [killing a terrorist] versus firing a Hellfire missile from a Predator drone into a mud hut in Afghanistan.” — Vince Flynn ([29:26])

• On the “two-front war” Mitch Rapp faces: Flynn draws explicit parallels to real-life frustrations among operators—battling bureaucracy and D.C. politics often more than foreign terrorists ([33:10], [33:36], [34:59]).

  • Quote: “More often than not, they're not frustrated with Al Qaeda … they're frustrated with their own support people back in Washington.” — Vince Flynn ([33:36])

• On Benghazi and institutional accountability:

  • Quote: “Gone are the days, like in the United States Navy … There’s no more shame. … The people who turned down the request for security at State should be fired.” — Vince Flynn ([40:16])

Faith, Community, and Support

• Flynn credits faith, family, and “spiritual mentors” for helping him through illness ([17:51], [18:41]).
  • Quote: “I can tell you, there’s no way I could have got through the last two years without faith and without Lisa and some close, close friends…” — Vince Flynn ([17:54])

Life Beyond Books: Giving Back & Daily Logic

• Flynn’s generosity toward troops: Noted for sending books to servicemembers overseas ([42:21]).
• On requests for public appearances: None, keeping immune system prioritized ([43:29]).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Writing and Illness

• “I felt great writing this book. Listen, I’ve got some side effects … but, you know, back in October, we lost a good friend, Mike. … So a lot of times, Mike’s a huge inspiration.” — Vince Flynn ([13:38])

• On faith and positivity:

  • “Otherwise … it’s very easy to sit there and imagine your own funeral. And it sucks. Yeah. So you have to stay positive. … Pretty much every day I go to bed and say, you know, thank you, Lord, for life. I’m still kicking.” — Vince Flynn ([18:44])

On the Realities of the Thriller World

• “I thread [real world frustrations] into these books to try to make them compelling.” — Vince Flynn ([35:30])
• “The only difference I see is that in Istanbul, you don’t kill the guy’s family along with him. You just take out the one bad guy.” — Vince Flynn ([29:26])
• “They intentionally target civilians. So I’m sorry, I just don’t think you play by the same set of rules.” — Vince Flynn ([35:01])

On Publishing and Success

• “We were the first Simon and Schuster franchise to reach a million digital copies. And that’s up against Stephen King and Mary Egan’s Clark and a lot of other people.” — Vince Flynn ([06:12])

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:22] — Flynn’s Garage Logic tradition; episode setup
• [05:22]–[07:10] — Adjusting book timing, success, bestselling context
• [07:40]–[09:58] — Character talk: how Mitch Rapp evolves, Louie Gould’s return
• [12:21]–[15:03] — Writing and living through cancer, tools, process and motivation
• [17:36]–[18:44] — On faith, close friendships, and spiritual resilience
• [27:06]–[31:55] — In-depth: Meeting with Petraeus, views on covert actions, and the CIA
• [33:10]–[35:30] — Politics, bureaucracy, and honoring the reality of the operator’s world
• [35:30]–[41:06] — Real-world intelligence failures, Benghazi assessment, accountability
• [42:21]–[43:44] — Supporting troops, travel, and why Vince avoids public appearances

---

Tone & Atmosphere

The entire episode brims with the warmth, gallows humor, and camaraderie characteristic of Garage Logic—irreverent, honest, and always centered on “gumption” and common sense. Vince Flynn’s candor about illness, his creative process, and insider’s take on American intelligence stand as a lasting tribute—one the GL crew and listeners clearly cherish.

---

Final Reflections

The Garage Logic Memorial Day Best Of episode stands as a poignant record of Vince Flynn’s resilience, humor, and legacy. From behind-the-scenes publishing realities to unvarnished insights about war, politics, and faith, Flynn’s conversation reminds listeners of the grit and humanity behind great storytelling—and the community that surrounds it.

---

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.

[Ken Barlow]

I came into this topic thinking that probably wasn't anything there there. I can now definitively say that there's something there.

[Stephen Diener]

This is Stephen Diener, host of the Unidentified Alien Podcast, and that clip you just heard of Congressman Eric Burleson is one example of the work being done on this show. It's not too late to join in on the conversation. Dig into the Continue to unravel the biggest secret of our time. The Alien Secret Download and subscribe to the Unidentified Alien Podcast. Just search UAP on your favorite podcasting platform.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer (Alternate)]

You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. They make it super simple. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with coverage options tailored to your choices. Plus you'll see which discounts you may qualify for, like the online quote discount or savings for paying in full. In fact, 99% of Progressive Auto customers earn at least one discount. See if you could save when you switch to Progressive, you'll feel good about making a savvy choice. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little extra cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.

[Jim Reivers]

Hail the Flashlight King.

[Ken Barlow]

And now, from the Mayor's office above the boathouse on the east shore of Spoon Lake, it's Garage Logic with Chris Reavers manning Technology corner, Kenny Olson from the Crabby Coffee Shop, John Height in the newsroom and of course the rookie. Here is your Flashlight King, fireworks commissioner and the keeper of common sense, your mayor, Joe Sush.

[Jim Reivers]

Happy Memorial Day, GL Ers, it's Reivers here in the GL Podcast studios giving away Best of Garage Lodge again. I don't think there's any better fitting tribute on Memorial Day than to play one of the times that we had our buddy Vince Flynn in studio. This goes back. Oh, boy. I believe it is mid November of 2012, one of Vince's final appearances before he sadly passed away. Because Vince always gave Joe and Rookie the very first interview when he would go on his book tour, and he stuck to that to the very, very end. And Gino, Joe and Rookie always appreciated that. So I thought it'd be fitting. I thought you'd enjoy it, and I hope you're having a great Memorial Day weekend and remember what this day is all about. So I give you the best of garagelogic.

[Vince Flynn]

It's the end of the world as we know it.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer (Alternate)]

And he feels fine.

[Vince Flynn]

Joe Suc.

[Ken Barlow]

Might we have time for Author's Corner?

[Matt]

Here's Joe Sucere. Ladies and gentlemen of Garage Logic, it's time for another segment of Author's Corner with Joe Sucre. Author's Corner. Sometimes it gets a little bit crazy.

[Ken Barlow]

Matt, you can. Matt, stop that. Now we have Vince Flynn with us. Hi, Vince.

[Vince Flynn]

Hello, Joe. How are you?

[Ken Barlow]

I. I wouldn't apolog. I won't apologize for Rook. You go back a long way with Rook. Now, we were sent ro an audio clip from the.

[Matt]

Yes.

[Ken Barlow]

For the new book, the Last Man.

[Vince Flynn]

Yes.

[Matt]

From the publisher. So I don't even think.

[Vince Flynn]

I was not aware of this.

[Matt]

David Brown, he's your guy out in New York.

[Vince Flynn]

Yes.

[Matt]

I requested something from the audiobook and this is what he sent me. And now from Author's Corner, here's an audio excerpt from Vince Flynn's new book, the Last Man. I've been burned by you before. Ramp. Turn them over. Turn them over now, I say. What the. The.

[Vince Flynn]

My eggs.

[Matt]

I said I wanted them over easy, you bastard. That was an audio excerpt from the Last man by Vince Flynn. We hope you enjoy the book. Now, see, that comes along the lines of Mitch Rapp was a short order cook working at plums on Snelling.

[Ken Barlow]

As long as he's been trying to

[Matt]

sell you that, he's gonna admit it

[Vince Flynn]

someday, but is it an East Indian cook? What's going on here?

[Matt]

Well, that was the customer and Mitch Rapp was the cook. And then he goes crazy. I want you to turn my eggs over. Now he wants to kill terrorists. That's. You know, I'm glad you're riding on.

[Vince Flynn]

Which ethnic group were you trying to offend by that? That's what I want to know.

[Matt]

Tony Lee and I had a long meeting about that prior to. But we just decided on that voice.

[Ken Barlow]

How delayed. How delayed is the last man.

[Vince Flynn]

What do you mean?

[Ken Barlow]

In other words, are you a bit behind schedule?

[Vince Flynn]

Oh, gosh, no. No, no, no, no, no. So the last book, Kill Shot, we had to move. Typically published in the fall.

[Ken Barlow]

Right.

[Vince Flynn]

And so because I was going through radiation a year ago, starting in August, just couldn't. I was A, I was in too much pain. B, I didn't have the energy. So we bumped that to February.

[Ken Barlow]

Okay.

[Vince Flynn]

Finished the radiation and felt great. Finished that book and then really kind of got ahead of the game on this one. Although we did change the pub date by about three weeks because of the election.

[Ken Barlow]

All right.

[Vince Flynn]

We knew we did not want to be coming out anywhere near that election and. But we also want enough time between Christmas, so this was the. We ended up moving it to the week after the election.

[Ken Barlow]

How long typically, does a book of yours stay in the New York Times Top 10? A month? Longer?

[Vince Flynn]

Oh, a couple months, typically. It's usually top 15 is what's printed. Top 25 is what's on the Internet. It's a couple months. We were the first. We, Mitch Rapp and myself, we were the first Simon and Schuster franchise to reach a million digital copies. And that's up against Stephen King and Mary Egan's Clark and lot of other people. The books sell really well. And we've had this discussion and you know, you know a little bit about it from John, depending on what time of the year that you publish. It's a vastly different landscape. When I. Early on, I used to get published in spring or summer and, you know, you can sell half of what you sell in November and be number one on the New York Times bestseller list. But right now, it's like you've got the Mill comes out one week and then you got Michael Connelly and Baldacci and Grisham and it's really rough.

[Ken Barlow]

The gal whose name escapes me, Patricia Cornwall, Harry Potter.

[Vince Flynn]

Yeah.

[Ken Barlow]

J.K. rowling is out with an adult novel that has nothing to do with.

[Matt]

Don't forget about Miss Steele with the 50 Shades out there, huh?

[Ken Barlow]

That's true.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, but she's not. We don't go up against her.

[Ken Barlow]

Fantastic. They do get stronger. And I detected in this book the Last man, which not even available in stores until Tuesday.

[Vince Flynn]

Correct.

[Ken Barlow]

And someday you're going to explain to me why books are released on Tuesdays. It drives Me crazy? I have no idea. I detected a completely different Mitch Rapp in this book. Is he becoming unhinged?

[Vince Flynn]

Well, I think he's actually becoming less unhinged now. You know, it's a little harder for me to keep all this stuff in perspective because the previous two books were prequels.

[Ken Barlow]

That's true.

[Vince Flynn]

And so if you. My opinion. If you go back and you read Extreme Measures or Pursuit of Honor, he was more unhinged than he is in this book.

[Ken Barlow]

Okay.

[Vince Flynn]

The loss of his wife really had pushed him to the brink.

[Ken Barlow]

Well, as long as you brought that up, that was in Consent to Kill.

[Vince Flynn]

Correct.

[Ken Barlow]

That's six books ago. His wife was killed by a guy named Louie Gould. Gould. G O U L, D. Gould.

[Vince Flynn]

Yes.

[Ken Barlow]

And I remember saying to you, and at the end of that book was a very powerful ending. Mitch Rapp finds.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, yeah, I suppose we gotta kind

[Ken Barlow]

of give it up. Six books ago. What am I removing paperback sales? Huh? Vince, it's six books ago.

[Vince Flynn]

I typically don't like to talk about the endings of the books, but.

[Ken Barlow]

All right, I won't then. Well, but I need to. To ask you the question.

[Vince Flynn]

Go ahead, Go ahead.

[Ken Barlow]

Mitch discovers at the end of the book, he finds Louie Gould, who's married, and they have a child. And he spares his life. Spares the life, spares the wife, the child. And Louie walks away, knowing Louie could plug him in the back. Walks down the beach. And I said to you at the time, this guy owes Mitch something. Oh, yeah, he owes Mitch Rapp big time. And I'm not giving anything away by saying. And sure enough, Louie Gould appears in the Last Man.

[Vince Flynn]

Appears in this book. And I don't. I don't want to give away why he appears or what his motives are.

[Ken Barlow]

No, I won't do that.

[Vince Flynn]

But. Well, now I'm already on to the next book, right? Which is always a problem because I don't want to give anything away.

[Ken Barlow]

No, don't.

[Vince Flynn]

But I think I can say this safely. You know, I've got. I've got plans for Louie Gould.

[Ken Barlow]

Okay?

[Vince Flynn]

Big plans.

[Ken Barlow]

That. And can we say this safely, that don't involve Rapp killing him, or might that be the case?

[Vince Flynn]

That might be the case, but I can tell. I can tell he's back in another book. He's back in the next book.

[Ken Barlow]

Did you bring those headphones with you?

[Vince Flynn]

No, I don't.

[Ken Barlow]

From Victoria's Secret. God almighty. Where did he get the white headphones?

[Vince Flynn]

I've never seen these. Look at those vids. I saw him. I picked him up. I'm like, did you get a picture of him? I thought Julia was in here using them literally.

[Matt]

Did you snap a picture of him? Reavers in those.

[Vince Flynn]

What are these?

[Matt]

We'll put that on Facebook. I think they're Corzos Gurleymann headphones.

[Vince Flynn]

Cause they're not Patrick's.

[Ken Barlow]

No, they're very odd. Very odd. All right, let's.

[Matt]

It looked like an Oompa Loompa or something. I don't know what the head.

[Ken Barlow]

You're battling cancer.

[Vince Flynn]

Yes.

[Ken Barlow]

And you have been since.

[Vince Flynn]

Two years ago in a week. It was found out. Two years ago in one week.

[Ken Barlow]

How. How were you able to write this?

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.

[Vince Flynn]

It's a world of artificial intelligence, of limited character tweets, of mini clips on TikTok. My name's Mishke, and the Mishke podcast offers something wholly different. The lost art of simple human storytelling. Whether humorous tales, absurd narratives, or real drama, telling stories is my stock in trade. So escape to the very human Mishke podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts this summer, don't squeeze in.

[VRBO Announcer]

Spread out. Find homes big enough for your whole guest list on vrbo. From family reunions to trips with friends, VRBO has spacious summer stays for every group size and budget. That's vacation rentals done, right? Starting exploring on vrbo and book your next day. Now.

[Ken Barlow]

Doing what you're doing.

[Vince Flynn]

Medically, this one was easy. I wasn't, I wasn't in any pain, okay? I was in zero pain when I wrote this book. I felt, felt good. I, I. You'll see something that I brought in today that I have never done for my any interview, let alone my inaugural Garage Logic interview. I brought in my character summary.

[Ken Barlow]

No.

[Vince Flynn]

Down in Mexico with my wife. And she's lovely. Lisa's reading the advanced readers copy and she starts. She's. And she's usually Pretty quiet about these. You know, she. She's. She's the unexcitable Norwegian. And she's telling me, God, I think this is your best book. I love this character. And I'm thinking, okay, which character is that? Because I put this thing to bed back in August.

[Ken Barlow]

Yeah.

[Vince Flynn]

I've already moved on. I don't know if it's my age. I don't know if it's the hormone, you know, treatment they've got me on, but my memory is not what it used to be, really. My brother Tim is telling me, I love this character.

[Ken Barlow]

I'm thinking, oh, she talking about Mitch, obviously, or Louie Gould?

[Vince Flynn]

No, no, no, no. Other characters.

[Ken Barlow]

Okay.

[Vince Flynn]

Other, Other, more minor characters in the book, like Rickman and Joel Wilson, who ends up being just obnoxious, dreadful critic.

[Matt]

What about Ms. Hayek?

[Vince Flynn]

I was hoping Ms. Hayek. Matt, that's. It's gonna happen something. That's okay.

[Matt]

I'll keep my radar screen.

[Vince Flynn]

But no, I felt great reading this book. You know, listen, I've got some side effects that are not, you know, they're not. They're not a joy to deal with every day. But, you know, back in October, we lost a good friend, Mike. Nanny and Mike and I were kind of, you know, faith buddies during our cancer treatments. And the guy never complained once. And he had his head cut open three times and did the chemo and the radiation and I mean, on and on and on. Never heard the guy complain once. So a lot of times, Mike's a huge inspiration. I look at how he handled it, and I think, I've never had to spend a night in the hospital. They haven't cut me open. I take a lot of trips down to Mayo. I go down and back and go back down the next day.

[Matt]

And you go see the Korean rock star down there.

[Vince Flynn]

He is the Korean rock star, by the way. Dr. Eugene Kwon is absolutely amazing. But, you know, is the act of writing

[Ken Barlow]

comforting?

[Vince Flynn]

Yes, I think it is. Lisa and I were just having that conversation that it's good for me. Because the problem with cancer is it can become all encompassing. It can really take over your life. And the more time you're left sitting around wondering, is it growing? Is it shrinking? How do I feel today? It's just not good for you.

[Ken Barlow]

But if you get. You're writing a scene and you're really getting lost in it, are you completely lost in that moment? You're in the book?

[Vince Flynn]

Oh, gosh, yeah.

[Ken Barlow]

Okay. So you're able to shut that out.

[Vince Flynn]

I'm able to Shut it out. Through writing, in prayer, and great friends and, yeah, you get through the days. Some days are obviously not as good as others. Every time you go down for a scan and they put you in the machine and anybody who's ever had health issues will tell you this, right? You always associate that scanning, that whatever the machine is, mri, pet, whatever. You always associate it with the first time you found out the bad news. So sometimes you go down and you get great news, and other times they say, we're concerned and you just, you roll with it and they change the treatment. Dr. Kwon, the Korean rock star, he likes to call it whack a mole. And so you just, they stay in front of it and when it starts to pop up, they'll tweak my treatments and whack it. And I've been lucky, you know, I'm two years into this thing and I feel great.

[Ken Barlow]

And long term prognosis is great.

[Vince Flynn]

Yeah, you're clean right now. I just started a new. Well, clean as far as you could tell from the last scan. But there's microscopic stuff. You never know. I mean, the cancer that I have, once it gets to the bones, it has a way of, say, going dormant. It gets suppressed, and then it finds a way to beat whatever the new drug is, and then it mutates and then it comes back and then you got to change drugs and you got to beat it down again. And unfortunately, the young guys, like prostate cancer, people think of, you know, their dads, their uncles, whoever. It's the. When guys get it in their late 30s, early 40s, it tends to be the more aggressive kind of.

[Ken Barlow]

When were you. When were you in Mexico?

[Vince Flynn]

Just got back yesterday.

[Ken Barlow]

I was gonna say, why do you look so good? You're tan, you're fit. You look like a million dollars. Well, you always have throughout this. Is that a, Is that a peculiarity of the form of disease you have? I wonder.

[Vince Flynn]

I, you know, I made some serious changes. Got. I haven't had red meat in, you know, a year and a half. Okay. Cut out dairy as much as I can, sugar as much as I can. A lot of stuff like that, you know, a lot of organic fruits and vegetables. Just stuff to try to give me the edge, try to work out more. It's just, it's part of the. If you're going to beat this thing, I think you got to have. It's got to be body, mind and soul with great medical care. You can't just, you can't just throw it up to the doctors and Say you guys do all the heavy lifting. I'm just going to sit here and take whatever drug you give me.

[Ken Barlow]

Right.

[Vince Flynn]

So you try to stay healthy. Attitude helps. And prayer. We live in an age now. I was bummed out a couple weeks ago, and the poll came out and it said 20% of the people in this country now don't have faith.

[Ken Barlow]

And I think it's higher than that.

[Vince Flynn]

It might be higher than that, but at least that's what the poll said. And listen, everybody's different, but I can tell you there's no way I could have got through the last two years without faith and without Lisa and some close, close friends who, you know, I got a great guy, Ed Kasurek, who is a father of eight, lives out in Mendota Heights, and I know him from St. Thomas Academy. He has been my spiritual mentor. You know, I get a text from him, you know, have you prayed today? Have you gone to the Adoration Chapel? Have you done whatever? And it. I can't tell you the gift it is to have people like that because it does give you a great sense of calm. Otherwise, you know. And Joe, listen, we're alike in a couple of ways. One is we're paranoid as all heck. We got these imaginations.

[Ken Barlow]

I don't know where you get that.

[Vince Flynn]

If you.

[Ken Barlow]

What do you hear is there?

[Vince Flynn]

If you can't. If you, you know, it's very easy to look at the dark side. It's very easy to sit there and imagine your own funeral. And it sucks. Yeah. So you have to stay positive. And because of friends like that and a lot of faith, you know, I'm not telling you every day is fantastic, but pretty much every day I go to bed and say, you know, thank you, Lord, for life. I'm still kicking.

[Ken Barlow]

Who gets advanced uncorrected proofs to read? I did. In this case, rookie did.

[Vince Flynn]

Who gets these typically media.

[Ken Barlow]

Yep.

[Vince Flynn]

That'd be you guys. And then they sent me 10. Most of them go to family members, close friends, stuff like that.

[Ken Barlow]

What editing process takes place to correct all of the stuff I would have typically found in an uncorrected proof?

[Vince Flynn]

A copy editor goes through that manuscript two more times as well as my editor goes through it two more times because they're loaded with mistakes. Oh, sure. But we have. I'll say, you know, we've had a Matt. Probably doesn't catch very many of them.

[Matt]

I just found it funny that dealing with dyslexia, he gives away everything at the. And then he works his way toward

[Ken Barlow]

the back no, that really isn't the way it works.

[Matt]

No, it's not. Okay,

[Ken Barlow]

that answered my question. Because obviously when they hit the stands, they're clean as hell.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, pretty clean. I have a history of, you know, my editor, you know, my editor says I've screwed her up because of my dyslexia. I've taught her how to spell words in ways she'd never imagined possible. But we hand these in on such tight deadlines. You know, we hand them in and they're. They go to the printer like eight weeks later, right? And I'm usually at my cabin or this time I was. I was at the cabin and then I was back. I missed Lisa and the kids too much, so I was back at the house. And the last couple of weeks, you know, I am. It's. It's from 7 in the morning till 10 at night. I'm just pounding away.

[Ken Barlow]

Right, because you have a deadline on the next one.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, if I don't get this in at a certain date, they have to move the pub causes a lot of problems. So. No, you want to get it done, you want to get paid and you want to move on to the next one.

[Ken Barlow]

Will you do a tour for this book?

[Vince Flynn]

Small. I'm going to go to New York just to do some media. But those days are probably because of my health issues. Back in February, I did not tour and my sales were up for a kill shot for kill shot.

[Ken Barlow]

In other words, you found it didn't have that big of an impact.

[Vince Flynn]

I think once you get to a certain level, it doesn't. And the problem for me is health wise, every single tour I ever went on, I would either, either in the middle of the tour. When the tour was done, I was wiped out and sick as a dog.

[Ken Barlow]

Right. Well, bad food, bad hotels.

[Vince Flynn]

Oh, and you're getting up at four in the morning in the wrong time zone to jump on a plane, you know, and it just, it never ends. And you're shaking a thousand hands. And I don't know how these politicians do it.

[Ken Barlow]

No, I don't either. I. I said earlier I detected a different Mitch and you corrected me. I have another way to explore that and I'd like to explore it when we we come back.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Kiana (Shopify Testimonial)]

I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other the new business. But Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. I'm addicted.

[Vince Flynn]

Start your free [e-mail] if you want

[Professional Turf Announcer]

the best lawn on the block, you want professional turf.com pro turf service techs pretty busy right now assessing lawns and customizing slow release fertilizer and weed control plans that will give you the best lawn in your neighborhood. All guaranteed for superior results and environmentally safe. That's a plus. That means no more weeds, no more bare spots, no more thin, sad grass. Log on to professionalturf.com Sign up for a free lawn analysis. And you know what? While you, while you're there, spend a little time. Check out their amazing landscape projects. And pro turf also services irrigation systems too. Pro turf exceptional lawn care landscape and irrigation service. Check them out. Schedule that free lawn care estimate right now.

[Ken Barlow]

ProfessionalTurf.com Wonderful. Do you have records for November 9th? I do, sir. 70. 70 in 1999. 1999 and 1212 in 1945. 1945. Thank you. You're welcome. Vince. We have just a few moments before we cut away at the bottom. And you mentioned Nelson DeMille. Do you read him? I do. I'm reading the new one. When I finished your book, I started his new one, the Panther.

[Vince Flynn]

Panther?

[Ken Barlow]

Yep. How does he get away with what he get?

[Vince Flynn]

Do not know.

[Ken Barlow]

It's 700 pages long. I happen to like it. But he makes you work.

[Vince Flynn]

He does make you work. And I think his writing style has changed a little bit. One of his things is, you know, Nelson typically writes in the first person, which allows you to be far more humorous because you get inside the character's head and they can be a smart aleck. I haven't tried to do that yet and I don't know if I ever will because I do think it takes a certain talent and I'm not sure I have it.

[Ken Barlow]

Oh, it's just a side after a side after a side and one liners. And I happen to enjoy it. But I can see where a lot of people might bail on it and say, I can't do it.

[Vince Flynn]

Yeah. And I think it's anytime you're in my genre and you go over 450, 500 pages, you're running a risk.

[Ken Barlow]

Yeah, I agree. Now, General Petraeus.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, we got to save that for when we come back from the break.

[Ken Barlow]

Oh, we will, but I want your thoughts on.

[Vince Flynn]

I gotta plug Movember.

[Ken Barlow]

Yeah.

[Vince Flynn]

You guys have a team, right?

[Ken Barlow]

Yeah, it's going on right now.

[Matt]

We want to take you on, bro.

[Ken Barlow]

Yeah.

[Vince Flynn]

So Thomas Patrick Tracy, my best friend since my freshman year in high school. He started a team last year, Mitch Rapping the killer mustaches. Okay, so.

[Matt]

Yeah, but can he beat this? Vince, turn around.

[Vince Flynn]

No, nobody can beat that.

[Jim Reivers]

Look at that.

[Matt]

Look at that one from yesterday.

[Vince Flynn]

I know, Matt, I. I don't know if you're using Miracle Grow or what, but that thing is.

[Ken Barlow]

That thing is like a Chia Pet.

[Matt]

It's Chia Pet.

[Ken Barlow]

It's a pet rock.

[Vince Flynn]

Although I think he got a jump start on the deal. I don't think he shaved for about a week before it started.

[Matt]

Don't give me that, Flynn.

[Ken Barlow]

Garage Logic will return in just a moment.

[Vince Flynn]

You cannot stop him. He'll just make a move. Joe Sugiray.

[Ken Barlow]

We're joined by Vince Flynn. The newest Mitch rap novel is called the Last Man. It will be in your favorite bookstores. Favorite bookstore. Tuesday, November 13th. Time for the Prize Vault.

[Vince Flynn]

Rewarding you just for tuning in. It's time for this hour's Prize Vault.

[Matt]

Listen and win code, Collect points and grab prizes. The Prize Vault found at 1500 espn.com right now in the Vault you've got the tickets to see the new James Bond flick Skyfall. That's at the Great Clips IMAX at the Minnesota Zoo. The listen to Win code gets you 2,500 points when you enter it correctly. You are rewarded for listening. Check it out at 1500espn.com soon to be in the Prize Vault Someday, the Last Man. An autographed book from Mr. Flynn. He has graciously decided to donate. That.

[Vince Flynn]

Was that soon or Thune.

[Matt]

Dave Thune is gonna help you out. He's gonna sign that as well.

[Ken Barlow]

What is the word, Matt?

[Matt]

Cook. Cook.

[Ken Barlow]

C O O K. Cook.

[Matt]

You know why, right?

[Ken Barlow]

General Petraeus. You know him personally? Yeah, he resigned today claiming an affair. Does that make sense to you?

[Vince Flynn]

So two things popped in my head right away. The first is that head of the CIA. Head of the CIA? He is. I got a call. I was down in Florida a couple years ago and it's always funny when these guys get your cell phone because I don't give it out to very many people and it was his aide de camp, introduced himself and said, listen, you know, the next time you're in dc, the gentleman would love to sit down and have dinner. And this is when he was running the war in Afghanistan. And I said, you know, sure, that'd be great. I think I'll be there. And I gave him a date and worked it out. And the two of us sat down for about two hours at a hotel in Washington and headed out. And it was one of. And I don't share this story very often, maybe today I will a little bit because of, you know, I don't know, but it's one of the strangest encounters I've ever had with another person.

[Ken Barlow]

In what sense?

[Vince Flynn]

In the sense that we got into basically an argument over. Because I'm trying to figure out why does he want to meet with me?

[Ken Barlow]

Was he a reader?

[Vince Flynn]

He's a reader and his staff, you know, everybody reads, you know, he is an intellectual, there's no doubt about it. But I'm trying to, I want to say this without being too offensive, but I don't think there's any way to avoid it. I think the guy's, it's fairly good bet he's a narcissist, but most of those guys are. I mean, you don't rise to the level of being a four star general and running a theater of war unless you're pretty darn confident and you're very aggressive and somewhat selfish. I mean, there's exceptions of course, but during the course of the dinner, I'm trying to figure out why, what does he want from me? Does he want a signed book? Does he want a photo? What's going on here? And I came to the conclusion that he did not like the fact that I was giving his guys maybe some bad ideas because he is a real stickler. And I was shocked when he became director of the CIA because of this. He is very adamant that the military should be handling all this stuff over there. He doesn't like the black ops stuff. And our argument basically centered. This is one thing that's great about how my parents raised me. No better or no less than anybody you're ever going to meet. So it allows me to sit down with a guy like Petraeus. And I'm impressed, of course, but at the same time, I'm not going to roll over. And so he starts telling me, you know, I just want you to know that's not how we do things, you know, in your book. And I said, well, I beg to differ, General, I know some Other examples of where we have done things like this. You know, so we're going back and forth. And he's pretty strong willed about the deal. And. And I said, general, you know, let's just take a step back from a. From a moral standpoint, I fail to see the difference between a. You take a former Navy SEAL sharpshooter and have him shoot a guy, a known terrorist, in the back of the head in Istanbul versus, you know, firing a Hellfire missile from a Predator drone into a mud hut in Afghanistan. He said, there's a huge difference. I said, the only difference I see is that in Istanbul, you don't kill the guy's family along with him. You just take out the one bad guy. And he's going, no, no, that's not how it works. You know, these are approved targets and it's in a theater of war. And I'm just going, man, this guy is really locked in. He's obsessed on this deal. And I left the meeting literally thinking that this is the strangest dinner I have ever had in my life with somebody.

[Ken Barlow]

It does sound like it, because there's

[Vince Flynn]

a lot more to it. And I don't necessarily want to get into it because a lot of times, most of these meetings I try to honor, you know, like with the meetings I had with President Bush, one on one, I don't talk about what we discussed at the time, but does it

[Ken Barlow]

make sense that the head spook in the world.

[Vince Flynn]

No, it doesn't.

[Ken Barlow]

Suddenly goes in and says, oh, I think I'm gonna resign. I had an affair.

[Vince Flynn]

So here's the second thing that popped.

[Ken Barlow]

That's the deal.

[Vince Flynn]

The first thing that popped into my mind was, well, I already knew the guy was a narcissist. Cause after that meeting, I followed up with some people I knew, and they were like, this guy's been full of himself since he was at West Point and blah, blah, blah. So, you know, I looked into it. So then the next thing that pops in my mind is Benghazi, right? Because I'm telling you right now, here's what's gonna come out on the Benghazi deal. And this is me knowing how the Situation Room operates. And these guys, what we're gonna find out is that they tried to do this thing on the cheap. They didn't wanna get the military involved. And so what they basically did during the. When the, you know, what was hitting the fan, they turned to the CIA and they said, you know, roll out the bags of cash and go find the closest militia with Some big guns and, you know, trucks and pay them to roll up on these two buildings and stop these attacks. Right. Well, you know what? When you outsource your security to groups like that, the negotiations can all. You know, it's the middle of the night. How you start to get all these guys out of bed, it's not like you're calling in Delta Force or SEAL Team Six.

[Ken Barlow]

Hold that thought. Vince Flynn is with us. The book is the last man. We'll be back in just a moment.

[VRBO Announcer]

When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery so you can keep your facility stocked, safe and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Jim Reivers]

And this portion of the garagelogic podcast Best of on Memorial Day weekend is brought to you by our great friends at North American Banking Company. You can find out more and find them online right [e-mail] More with Joe's conversation with the legendary Vince Flynn.

[Ken Barlow]

This might pertain to Petraeus, but I want to just get back to the book for a moment and make an observation. And you can either corroborate it or tell me I'm wrong, but in the last, it strikes me that Mitch Rapp has as many American enemies as he would face in Afghanistan.

[Vince Flynn]

Yeah, it's like fighting a two front war.

[Ken Barlow]

What? He must negotiate with the backstabbers and the people in Washington who want an accounting of the bag money and the black ops. And it's just amazing how he threads that needle. And you seem to know too much about it to tell you the truth. Well, you know, I'm surprised Petraeus hasn't come to your door.

[Vince Flynn]

I sit. I spent a lot of time talking to these guys about their frustrations. And more often than not, they're not frustrated with Al Qaeda because that's a defined enemy. Okay? And so they're after them. They're trying to kill them. They're not frustrated with the Taliban. They're the enemy. They're trying to kill them. They're frustrated with their own support people back in Washington. They're frustrated that they have an attorney general that wants to indict them for doing something that the previous administration said was completely legal. And these guys put their cojones on the line, right. And they were. And we, and by the way, we've been it, we've had this discussion before, listen, Extreme measures, extraordinary measures, waterboarding. What have you done properly?

[Ken Barlow]

It works.

[Vince Flynn]

And we would have never got bin Laden if the previous administration hadn't started this process by playing rough with some of these guys. And I know some of your callers always get, your listeners get upset about this. But listen, I refuse to get too upset if, let's say in a given year we capture four of the worst terrorists in the world and we make them listen to Barney all night long and make them think they're drowning. These are the kind of guys that we just found out, you know, they go shoot 14 year old girls in the head because they want to go to school, right? They're just, they're the most, they're the most horrible people on the planet right now.

[Ken Barlow]

They're evil.

[Vince Flynn]

Next to sexual, you know, pedophiles. They are the absolute worst people on the planet. And they're not gonna put on a uniform and they're not gonna, you know, they intentionally target civilians. So I'm sorry, I just don't think you play by the same set of rules. But, you know, so these guys go lay it all on the line. They spend months and months away from their family. This is how they're treated. The FBI knocks on their door, the Justice Department comes after them. This is all real world stuff that I thread into these books to try to make them compelling.

[Ken Barlow]

Well, is there some real world application here for what Petraeus might be going through? Was somebody going to blow the whistle on him? Was it blackmail?

[Vince Flynn]

Listen, you go, you know, you put yourself in the mind of, first of all, you can be a four star general and have an affair and try to hide it, and if you get caught, you might even survive it, but not as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. This is what people forgot about the Clinton deal, or they tried to rush it under the rug was he opened himself up to blackmail. The Clinton story that I always tell, that I had verified was everybody knows they were having phone sex. Well, guess what? His phone was secure. She's talking on a cordless phone at the Watergate apartment complex. So I find out. Years later, I hear this rumor. I go to somebody at Langley, I start asking them, they said, yeah, the Israelis got a recording of it.

[Ken Barlow]

Really?

[Matt]

Damn it. Is that what happened? Those damn Israelis. I thought I was Ozzai with those guys.

[Vince Flynn]

And then they brought it, they brought it to the White House. I've had the Whole meeting described to me this thing is classic. They bring it to the White House and they're like, we apologize. This was picked up accidentally, but we just thought you guys might want to have a copy of it.

[Ken Barlow]

Oh, for God's sakes.

[Vince Flynn]

Honest to God, you can't make it up. You can't make this stuff up.

[Ken Barlow]

You can't. So Petraeus was in this horrible situation of setting himself up to be in a similar situation.

[Vince Flynn]

Was it a subordinate? Was it a foreign asset? Who knows what it was? Did this come about because somebody was gonna have to take the fall for Benghazi. And they're about to make the CIA take the fall. And Petraeus is now somebody. He's so sullied now how does he stand up? And so Benghazi. Let's go back to that night. All right, this is what happens in Washington, 5 o' clock East coast time. All of these various groups, State, DOD, which is Defense, and many, many more, CIA and the White House, they all have situation rooms or ops centers that are manned 24 7. And you end up with an ambassador who's all of a sudden in an attack like this, everybody knows immediately. I watch Homeland, all those op, but it's not just one op center, it's all of them. They all know within practically real time. And the national security advisor or deputy national security advisor knows within almost real time. Now, unless the President is sitting down with someone like Putin, they're coming into the Oval Office, they're walking over to the residence, they're going to wherever he is, and they're saying, Mr. President, we have an issue we need. You know, we don't think you, maybe you don't have to come down to the situation room quite yet, but we want to make you aware of this. And it's an all hands on deck kind of thing. And they all, they all coalesce together. So Petraeus would have been at the situa at the ops center at Langley. Secretary of State Clinton would have been at the ops center at the State Department. And what's his name would have been over at Defense. They would have all been watching it. And it's very likely. I'm shocked that the media hasn't asked these questions.

[Ken Barlow]

I think the media is useless.

[Vince Flynn]

Well, they are, because within an hour, you know, Panetta at Defense and Clinton at State, which are really close, they would have been at the White House. And it's a good chance that Petraeus came in as well. And they were all down in the situation room just like what happened. You Know, during the bin Laden raid. But there had time to set all that up in advance. But these guys would have come in with just a handful of their people and they would have sat down in the situation room to try to manage this thing. And I think what happened was the first mistake was that they denied security going back to August when they reduced the step. The second mistake was that they did not have a military contingency in place to go in if something like this happened. And so what they did that night was they. They should have ran two avenues of a solution. And the first avenue should have been, let's spin up a quick reaction force in Italy and get them ready to go just in case. Because I think what they were thinking is this thing isn't going to last seven hours. So they didn't get that going, that ball going quick enough. What they relied on, and this is me guessing and talking to some people, they relied on the CIA to go use their assets to go take bags of cash, wake up local militia commanders and say, get your people out of bed, load up your trucks with your machine guns on the back and get over to the consulate and the safe house and end this thing. They couldn't get people to move fast enough. And at no point did we decide to arm a drone or take an F16 or an F18. We got a lot of planes all over the world that could have been there within an hour or two.

[Ken Barlow]

Right.

[Vince Flynn]

And we never. We never moved on.

[Ken Barlow]

It should blame ultimately be assigned for this and to whom?

[Vince Flynn]

Benghazi. Yeah, well, you know, that was always my. My biggest gripe post 911 was no one got fired. Yeah, no one got fired. And I thought. I thought, you know, gone are the days, like in the United States Navy. I remember about five years before 9 11, a captain was bringing a ship into Norfolk and he. He went to sleep, it was the middle of the night. He said, xo, you've got the bridge. Well, they ran the thing onto a sandbar, right. And guess what? When the tug fired. Yeah, no, he resigned. Yeah, the tug showed up and he relieved himself of command and got off the thing. There's no more shame. You know, the people that turned down the FISA warrants at 9 11, none of those people got fired. The people who turned down the request for security at State should be fired. The people who didn't come up with a contingency plan, they should be fired primarily at State.

[Ken Barlow]

We'll wrap this up. Vince Flynn has to leave. He's got an important high school football Game.

[Matt]

Yeah. What's your prediction?

[Ken Barlow]

Just a moment. Hang on to that prediction.

[Matt]

And now, from Author's Corner, here's an audio excerpt from Vince Flynn's new book, the Last Man. I've been burned by you before. Turn them over. Turn them over now, I say. What the. The plans.

[Vince Flynn]

My eggs.

[Matt]

I said I wanted them over easy, you bastard. That was an audio excerpt from the Last man by Vince Flynn. We hope you enjoy the book.

[Ken Barlow]

Well, as Frank Calienty told you, you're doing somebody. We just don't know who

[Vince Flynn]

that is. So true.

[Ken Barlow]

Here is Ken Barlow. All right, Joe. Thank you. I love Vince Flynn's books. Hey, we've got mostly cloudy skies, a little bit of drizzle late tonight, maybe a shower, 45 tomorrow morning. Drizzle, then some thunder. Late 60, much colder, with snow showers on Veterans Day.

[Vince Flynn]

Ken, are we going to make it through the football game without rain tonight?

[Ken Barlow]

I think we will, yeah. I don't think there'll be anything around till after midnight.

[Vince Flynn]

Great.

[Jim Reivers]

You'll be good.

[Ken Barlow]

Lisa Coppey wants to thank you, Vince. You sent all of your books to her Marine, and she's entirely grateful, and I'll leave.

[Vince Flynn]

It's a lot of fun doing that. We get these notes from these guys, you know, they're over there and the gals serving and, you know, it's fun. They need some take their mind off this stuff.

[Ken Barlow]

Have you been to Afghanistan?

[Vince Flynn]

No. I know John was over there a couple years ago.

[Ken Barlow]

You don't want to go now?

[Vince Flynn]

No. Lisa wasn't a big fan of it and, you know, pretty busy with the kids and trying to find a time, and the closest I got, I went over to Jordan and spent a week over there and did some stuff with some.

[Ken Barlow]

Aren't you buddies with the King?

[Vince Flynn]

I was over there as a guest of the King.

[Ken Barlow]

A guest of the King who.

[Vince Flynn]

Which I will tell you this. You know, the meeting I had with Petraeus was one of the strangest meetings I've ever met. The King is like. It's like you and I. It's like Garage Logic. He wants to sit down and have a beer, talk about Harleys. I mean, he's the most normal guy in the world.

[Matt]

We can go on remote over there. We can bring the show over there, can't we?

[Ken Barlow]

No.

[Matt]

Go see the King.

[Ken Barlow]

Hey, King. No. We'd have to get a personal invite. There'll be no local appearances.

[Vince Flynn]

No, but I sign books at Once Upon a Crime, so they've got a couple hundred on stock. I sign about 1500 for Barnes and Noble, so the local BNS will all have stock but no public appearances. Trying to stay healthy and keep that immune system pumped up.

[Matt]

Are you at Tommy's win tonight?

[Vince Flynn]

I'm hoping. I'm not exactly the most unbiased person to ask.

[Ken Barlow]

Best of luck with your health and this book. 1500 ESPN is KSTP, St. Paul, Minneapolis Vince Flynn has joined us. It's been a great custom that GL gets the first interview for each Mitch Rap book and we appreciate it. The Last man will be in bookstores this coming Tuesday. It's

[Jim Reivers]

well, I certainly hope that you enjoyed this Best of Garage Logic. It's Jim Reivers here in the GL Podcast Studios wishing each and every single one of you a happy Memorial Day weekend. And hopefully you're all staying safe. And we will be back at it again tomorrow with the entire crew here in the GL Podcast Studios. And once again, always great to hear Vince's voice, but sadly we'll never hear it again. So I hope you enjoyed this Best of the Garage Logic podcast. If you haven't done so yet, please hit that subscribe button on the Garage Logic YouTube channel where you can watch the show each and every single day starting right around noon. And you can also follow us along on all of our social media channels, which includes Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And also sign up for that Daily Logician, that email that comes right to your inbox each and every single day. And it includes the most recent episode of the podcast. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Vince Flynn]

Everybody talked about it since I first moved to Oregon. The big one. The earthquake that trashed the whole West Coast. Total destruction.

[Ken Barlow]

Officially calling it the largest natural disaster in American history.

[Vince Flynn]

I just didn't know what would help me next. So I took it all. Even the gun.

[Ken Barlow]

It was time cello see why American Afterlife is the number one fiction and drama podcast in America. Presented by Pair of Thieves. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite shows available now.