Fade

Kyle Mills has written a few good novels, primarily involving his hard-luck FBI agent Mark Beamon. Beamon is not in Fade, but that doesn't stop it from being Mills's best book yet, a top-notch thriller that avoids the usual cliches. Fade is the nickname for Salem Al Fayad, an American of Arab descent who in pre-9/11 days was an elite government assassin, with a definite gift for killing. A mission left him facing paralysis with a bullet in his back and the government unwilling to pay for the only surgery that could help him.; to try and come up with the money himself, he did some mercenary work in Columbia for a drug lord, and though he got the money, it was too late. The surgery was no longer possible and someday he would become a quadriplegic. Now, six years later, ambitious Homeland Security bureaucrat Hillel Strand has decided that he wants Fade for a mission. He is discouraged by his co-worker Matt Egan, who was once Fade's friend, but Strand decides he will recruit Fade anyway. When Fade, now a recluse, soundly rejects the offer, Strand comes up with a clever ploy: frame Fade for a crime, have the police arrest him, and then Strand will bail him out on condition that he will work for Homeland Security. Karen Manning, a SWAT team leader, is tasked with arresting Fade against her better judgment. Unfortunately, she proceeds as ordered, and Fade, expecting a raid by Strand's men, routs the cops and kills most of them, with only Manning left as a temporary hostage. He realizes what he has done and is regretful, but knows that now his days are limited: if the stress of his new battles doesn't paralyze him, then Strand will have to arrange his death to cover his own tracks in this debacle. Fade vows to kill Strand and Egan and the cat-and-mouse game is on, with both sides switching between the feline and rodent roles. Besides Fade, the story also follows Manning and Egan. Manning has to deal with the fallout of the botched raid and her mixed feelings about Fade: he is a cop-killer, but it seemed to be in self-defense. In addition, she is involved with the hunt for a serial killer called the Collector. How this subplot is resolved is interesting and a bit unexpected. As for Egan, he's also been involved with his share of government wet work, but now he wants a quiet family life; he knows, however, that he may not have long to live if Fade wants to kill him; his ex-friend is far too adept at what he does. Mills is at his best with this novel which fits the bill as a page-turner. He avoids predictability, offers plenty of action and has a few dashes of humor to lighten things up from time to time. This is a satisfying read that really works well.

When a book starts off with an early scene depicting the protagonist committing violent acts against other 'good guys,' you can be sure that you're not in for one of those stereotypical Baldacci book by numbers. Kyle Mills delivers a fast-paced thriller in which many of the typical twists and turns and unbelieveable romantic side stories never appear. Hooray! This book delivered on the promises made on its jacket, and kept me reading far past my bed-time. An excellent and exciting thriller.

After a brilliant debut novel, Kyle Mlls wrote three or four good but not great books. Not so for his last two. These are page turners deluxe. Three weeks ago I read and reviewed his tongue and cheek novel about big tobacco, called Smoke Screen and was extremely impressed. Now I've just finished his latest book, "Fade" and I am again impressed. The title "Fade" is the name of the protagonist - Salem al Fayad, Fade for short - an ex CIA killing machine. Fade is a born and raised in the US, Christian Arab, who after being operational in the Middle East in the late nineties, found himself seriously wounded - a bullet near the spine - which threatened to paralyze him. There was an experimental operation which could remove the bullet and the danger but his friend and handler Matt Egan was unable to get anyone to pay for it. Fast forward to present day; Matt is now working for Homeland Security and he and his boss, Hillel Strand have been tasked with setting up an overseas ongoing Middle Eastern operation and while reviewing the files of possible candidates, Matt's boss, to Matt's chagrin zeros in on Salem al Fayad, deciding he would be the perfect recruit. Matt tries to dissuade Strand but he is unyielding and insists on a visit to meet his new would be recruit. Fade (Salem al Fayad) is bitter about his previous shoddy treatment by his country. When the government wouldn't pay for his operation, he went to work for a Columbian drug lord, in Columbia, helping him eliminate some of his competition, in order to raise enough money for the operation but alas, when he finally amassed the needed amount, it was too late as scar tissue, congregating around the bullet made the operation impossible. So when his old friend Matt and the imperious Hillel Strand showed up trying to enlist his services, they were sent packing in no uncertain terms. Hillel Strand was not used to not getting his way, so he arranged for Fade to be arrested on some phony murder charge, wherein he would clear Fade, thereby making him indebted but as if in response to Murphy's Law, the worst case scenario ensues, putting Fade on the run and Strand hiding out from Fade, who now has promised to kill him. (This is the one weakness I found in the story - The sheriff sending out a SWAT team in the middle of the night to arrest a man on an anonymous phone tip) Even though "Fade" is only 311 pages long, Kyle Mills manages to give the reader a good feel for his characters. Both Egan and Fade are likable as is Karen Manning, who enters the story as the head of a SWAT team sent to arrest Fade. The villain, of course, is the self important Hillel Strand, with runner-up honors to Manning's boss, Sheriff Pickering. Egan is put in the middle of the battle between Fade and Strand and you don't know which way he will jump. As with Mill's previous six books the narrative is strong, smooth and fluid, without being wordy. As mentioned the book is only 311 pages and that is because he doesn't drag

While the title character seems a little too humorous at times to jive with his big, bad history I still enjoyed this quite a bit. It was the perfect blend of suspense and humor. Well done and I can't wait to read the next one!

Simply put, Fade is perhaps the best thriller book I have read to date. Actually, to be more precise Fade ranks right up there with the best books I have read across all genres. Not only does Mills deliver fast paced, exciting and clever narrative and dialogue, but the depth of the character development throughout Fade is remarkable (especially for a thriller). As I read this book, I began to really get transported into the story and start to truly "feel" it come to life. This of course made it very hard, if not impossible for me to put the book down once I had started it. The action sequences in Fade are also worth mentioning separately as they are very well delivered. Although I am no expert in the fields of law-enforcement and military operations Mills' depiction of these seemed very vivid and realistic to me. I highly recommend Fade both to anyone looking to get into the thriller genre and seasoned thriller readers alike. Either way, Fade will not disappoint.