Act of Treason was published by Atria Books in 2006. A terrorist attack during the presidential campaign — which killed Secret Service agents and propelled the surviving candidate to victory — was not what it seemed. Rapp investigates and discovers that the attack was orchestrated by the incoming president’s chief of staff as a political operation: a manufactured crisis designed to generate sympathy votes. The conspiracy reaches the Oval Office.
The novel is Flynn’s most politically cynical: not foreign terrorists but domestic political operatives are the enemy, and the sitting President of the United States is implicated in murder. Rapp’s dilemma — how to pursue justice when the criminal is the most powerful person in the world — has no clean resolution.
The Domestic Enemy
Flynn’s recurring argument — that bureaucrats and politicians can be as dangerous to national security as foreign terrorists — reaches its most extreme expression here. The novel suggests that the machinery of democratic politics can itself be weaponised, and that the operatives who protect the nation may find themselves protecting it from its own leaders.
Collecting Act of Treason
First edition (Atria Books, New York, 2006): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $20–$50
- Signed first edition: $50–$150
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.