Best-selling author Vince Flynn dies at 47

Bob Minzesheimer | USA TODAY

Novelist Vince Flynn, who was diagnosed with stage three metastatic prostate cancer in 2010, but continued to write his best-selling thrillers, has died at the age of 47.

Flynn died Wednesday morning at United Hospital in St. Paul.

He's best known for his CIA page-turners that starred Mitch Rapp, a counterterrorism operative who made Flynn the darling of conservatives.

He wrote 14 USA TODAY best sellers. Three reached No. 2 on the list: Kill Shot and The Last Man (both in 2012) and American Assassin in 2010.

His publisher, Atria, says it's not yet known what or how much was completed on Flynn's next novel, The Survivor, originally scheduled to be released in October.

In a 2012 interview with USA TODAY, Flynn discussed living and working with cancer: "The first 48 hours of my diagnosis were hellish," he said. "Things just seemed to get worse and worse. We (he and his wife) were sneaking around the house, whispering so the kids wouldn't hear us. It was horrible.

"But, he said then, " I feel great now. ... We have this under control."

He's survived by his wife, Lysa, and three children (a stepson, 16, and two daughters, 11 and 9).

His fans included George W. Bush, who called Flynn "a little too accurate" because Flynn's books are often so true to CIA actions around the world. Once, while catching a ride in Bush's limo from Andrews Air Force Base, Flynn was grilled by the then-president on where he gets his information.

"I started to stutter," Flynn said.

His 2004 Memorial Day describes a raid very similar to the one that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. Often his books have been put on security review by the Pentagon before they are released, and they are even used by the Secret Service to identify possible lapses in their security.

"It used to astound even me," he said of his "clairvoyance." All he did, he said, was "connect the dots. I just look at what's going on in the world."

Flynn was working in sales and commercial real estate 20 years ago when he began reading voraciously in an effort to conquer his childhood dyslexia. In the process he fell in love with espionage novels and decided to try writing one himself.

His first book, Term Limits, was self-published in 1997 after Flynn received 60 rejection letters. After its immediate success, an agent signed him.

Flynn said his novels are "entertainment, educational and serve as cautionary tales."

Heading the charge is rough-and-tumble CIA agent Rapp, who was introduced in Flynn's second novel, Transfer of Power.

Flynn was close friends with radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, whom he called "one of the smartest guys I've ever met."

Flynn said not all his fans are conservatives. But if the scales tip toward the right, it probably comes from the pro-military, CIA and law enforcement theme of the books," he said. "And the idea that the United States is not the problem."

Contributing: Craig Wilson