Vince Flynn was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1966. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas and went to work as an account and sales marketing specialist for Kraft Foods. In 1990, he accepted an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps, but was medically disqualified before starting the program. He worked as a bartender while writing his first book, Term Limits, which after receiving numerous rejections he self-published. It hit the New York Times bestseller list in paperback. He went on to write the Mitch Rapp series. He was a story consultant for the television series 24. He died after a long battle with prostate cancer on June 19, 2013 at the age of 47.