Vince Flynn | Writer of spy thrillers, 47

Vince Flynn, 47, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the United States and millions more overseas, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer.

Mr. Flynn was tending bar when he self-published his first novel, Term Limits, in 1997 after getting more than 60 rejection letters. After it became a local best-seller, Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint, signed him to a two-book deal - and Term Limits became a New York Times best-seller in paperback.

The St. Paul-based author averaged about a book a year, most focused on Rapp, a CIA counterterrorism operative. His 14th novel, The Last Man, was published last year.

He counted Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton among his fans.

Thwarted from becoming a military aviator due to seizures he suffered after a childhood car accident, Mr. Flynn got the idea of writing thrillers. "If Clancy could do it, why can't I?" he told the AP in 2005.

Mr. Flynn had been working on his next book as recently as Valentine's Day. Development of a movie based on 2010's American Assassin remains on track, with Bruce Willis signed to play Rapp's mentor, Stan Hurley.

Mr. Flynn is survived by his wife, Lysa Flynn, and three children. - AP