“Kind of like Michael Jordan, but with a rifle instead of a basketball.”
For nearly a decade, writer Kyle Mills helmed the venerable Mitch Rapp franchise for the late Vince Flynn (who died of prostate cancer in 2013).
Mills was a capable writer of the popular series, proving himself to be pretty prescient on a variety of geopolitical topics, and winning new fans in the process.
I started reading Kyle’s novels in the 1990s (“Rising Phoenix” being the first). He cultivated a fairly diverse bibliography during that time, writing his own series, crafting various standalone novels, and working on “estate novels” for authors like Flynn and Robert Ludlum.
When Mills announced that he’d be moving on from the Rapp series (after spending nearly a third of his career at the helm), he said that his next project would be a follow-up to his 2005 thriller “Fade” (originally intended to be standalone novel).
I recall asking Kyle at a book signing in Minneapolis for “Code Red” in 2023 (his final contribution to Flynn’s series) when we would see his new novel featuring protagonist Salam Al Fayed.
Kyle said that he was working on it, but needed to find a publisher.
“Doesn’t all of your service to the Mitch Rapp franchise give you an automatic book deal with Atria?” I teased.
(“Fade In” will be published by Authors Equity in July.)
“Fade” was written at a time I (and many others) consider to be one of the “peak eras” for the book subgenre often referred to as the “political thriller” (authors like Flynn and Brad Thor came to the fore during the early aughts).
“Fade” follows protagonist Salam al Fayed — a former Navy SEAL who (we learn in the novel’s prologue) was shot in the back at age 26 during a “street scuffle” during an operation.
The character admits he was full of idealism in the early stages of the “War on Terror,” but became disillusioned after four years fighting the good fight.
“He was now fairly certain that he killed men for the sole purpose of making a bunch of master’s degree-wielding men in Washington feel like they were doing something.”
This is a common dilemma for “tip of the spear” types in this genre.
A hallmark of the political thriller is the protagonist’s “dual struggle” against enemies abroad and enemies on the home front.
It isn’t quite what Kurt Vonnegut described as “a man without a country,” but the characters seem to be lone wolves nonetheless.
Al Fayed (who goes by the nickname Fade, based on his ability to “disappear into the background and slit your throat”) sacrificed for his country.
After his time in the Navy, he had a stint with the CIA, and was an enforcer for the Colombian cartels. But, as the novel begins, he is living a solitary life in the rural confines of Virginia, idling away his days woodworking (a hobby shared with the author).
The bullet is still lodged in his spine.
A doctor in California was ready to try an experimental procedure to remove the bullet, but the government — a government Fade served honorably — was unwilling to pay for the procedure.
We learn during the opening pages of the novel that the injury is now too far progressed for surgery. Al Fayed will eventually suffer from permanent paralysis as a result.
When former colleague and friend Matt Egan tries to pull Fade out of retirement and into a new division of Homeland Security — called the Office of Strategic Planning and Acquisition (tasked with “a more surgical approach” to protecting the interests of American citizens abroad) — our protagonist is thrust back into a world he was all-too-willing to leave behind.
Fade rebuffs Egan’s overtures.
Despite his protestations, a bureaucrat named Hillel Strand is unwilling to take “no” for an answer. Strand is willing to go to extreme lengths to see that Fade is pulled back into service.
Before we know it, all hell breaks loose.
Our hero soon finds himself on the run, hunted by local and federal law enforcement. To make matters worse, his health is steadily deteriorating.
With forces beyond his control closing in, Fade has to do everything in his power to survive.
Mills does a good job painting his characters with depth and dimension.
Salam al Fayed is one of the more original protagonists I have read in this genre. He was born to a first-generation Arab Christian family in New York and his Arabic is “near perfect.” His has no siblings, is unmarried, and his parents are dead as events unfold in “Fade.”
The unique existential crisis our protagonist faces propels the story’s narrative forward.
And the character’s cynical nature allows the author to sprinkle snarky humor throughout.
Fade also employs a number of interesting “tools and techniques” as he fights to survive.
When I started the novel, I can honestly say I would have never expected to see a tricked-out vintage Cadillac with an ejector seat weave its way through the pages, but Mills was audacious enough to make that happen.
Another fun character we meet along the way is plucky police detective Karen Manning, a SWAT team leader who is investigating a serial killer known as The Collector. She crosses paths with Fade, and the interplay between the two is enjoyable in the novel.
Matt Egan kind of reminded me of Vince Flynn’s character Mike Nash. Egan is a family man who seems, in many respects, just as cynical about his bureaucratic overlords in D.C. as al Fayed is.
But unlike al Fayed — and like Flynn’s Nash — Egan has chosen to play the political game in our nation’s capital.
With a family to take care of, Egan has more responsibility, and more in life to lose.
“The world needs people like you to make it worth living in. But it also needs people like me to make it possible to live in.”
The family aspect is one of the things that makes Egan more than the typical pencil pusher featured in these types of stories. In particular, I enjoyed his wife Elise and daughter Kali (who the couple adopted from Vietnam).
Elise is a musician (specializing in alternative music) who was called “America’s most gifted songwriter” by Spin magazine.
The dichotomy at play between husband and wife is interesting throughout the novel, and avoids the stereotypical tropes of this genre.
The two make for a peculiar couple, but somehow it works.
Overall, I had a good time reading “Fade.”
As Mills has stated in a number of interviews, “Fade” was originally intended as a standalone novel.
He also mentioned in a video posted to social media that the upcoming “Fade In” will serve as a new starting point for the series (and that the first novel will serve as more of a “prequel” to things going forward):
Fan Questions: Do I Need To Read FADE Before FADE IN?
— Kyle Mills (@KyleMillsAuthor) March 7, 2025
I really enjoy hearing from fans. If you have questions or comments for me, hopefully you will reply with them.
We have a lot to talk about leading up to the launch of FADE IN (pub. 7/29/25). If you haven’t yet, preorder… pic.twitter.com/3HETguY8Vf
That said, it is a novel idea to bring back a protagonist after 20 years.
Without giving anything away, al Fayed should be something of a “fish out of water” as it regards the world’s political climate, 20 years after the events in “Fade.”
That should be fertile ground for Mills to explore some of the salient issues facing the world today in “Fade In.”
It will be fascinating to see how Salam al Fayed maneuvers in a world that looks different than it did in 2005.
If you’d like to learn more about Kyle Mills and his novels, visit his website at kylemills.com.
>> Order your copy of “Fade” here.
>> Pre-order your copy of “Fade In” here.
>> If you enjoyed my review of “Fade” by Kyle Mills, be sure to follow me on Twitter/X — @TheJonCrunch
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