Fade

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The government turned its back on Salem Al Fayad after the first Gulf War, but now that Homeland Security needs "Fade's" particular skills, they attempt to recruit him again. He's not only not interested, but he's nursing a very big grudge, and the ham-fisted tactics they use to reel him back in don't help defuse his anger. There's a bullet lodged in Fade's spine that could have been removed years ago, but the feds wouldn't pay for it then and it's too late now, so Fade's got nothing to lose but his life, and that's not worth very much to him now. His old friend and teammate Matt Egan tried to help him then, but now he's charged with bringing Fade in, dead or alive. Both Fade and Egan are appealing characters--if there's a villain here, it's Egan's new boss, and Matt is torn between his loyalty to Fade, his duty to a superior officer he despises, and his fears for his own family's safety. Mills expertly ratchets up the tension page by page and chapter by chapter in a better than average thriller marked by fine charicaterizations, superior pacing, and a strong narrative in which the bonds of friendship are brilliantly delineated and the two men at the center of the action linger in the reader's mind after the expectable but still compelling denouement. Mills gets better and better, and Fade is timely enough to break him out of the midlist and win him a new legion of fans. --Jane Adams

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The Immortalists

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Dr. Richard Draman is trying desperately to discover a cure for a disease that causes children to age at a wildly accelerated rate--a rare genetic condition that is killing his own daughter. When the husband of a colleague quietly gives him a copy of the classified work she was doing before her mysterious suicide, Draman finally sees a glimmer of hope. Its stunning conclusions have the potential to not only turn the field of biology on its head but reshape the world. Soon, though, he finds himself on the run, relentlessly pursued by a seemingly omnipotent group of men who will do whatever it takes to silence him.

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A Q&A with Kyle Mills

Question: The Immortalists is the story of a billionaire’s desire to stop aging. What was your inspiration for this unique take on the age-old fountain of youth tale?

Kyle Mills: The myth of the fountain of youth is one of the oldest and most widespread in history, with writing on the subject dating back before Christ. The one thing that all those stories and elaborate quests had in common was that they were nonsense--just another example of our superstitious nature. With all the recent advances in genetics, though, the myth is quickly becoming a reality. Not many people know it, but not all animals get old. Lobsters, for instance, just seem to keep going until they get sick or something eats them. The idea that we could identify the portion of their genome that provides longevity and splice it into our own becomes less far-fetched every day.

This brings up a lot of interesting issues. Our history isn’t exactly one of equality and benevolence, and death is hard-wired into our minds and societies. Will the people who discover this therapy pass it along to everyone, or will they try to keep it for themselves? Would our population explode if life expectancy suddenly rose to 500 years or more? Would advancement grind to a halt if scientists and politicians consolidated their positions, then stagnated in them for centuries? Would our existence become less life and more a tedious, endless avoidance of death? All this is perfect fodder for a thriller because change can very easily turn into chaos, and chaos makes for great stories.

Q: What kind of research goes into writing an in-depth medical thriller?

KM: I spent a number of months on research before putting pen to paper. The main character’s daughter suffers from a rare genetic disease that causes her to age at a wildly accelerated rate. The disease, a real syndrome called progeria, generates some fascinating questions about the causes of aging and whether it can simply be “cured.” Unfortunately for my friends and family, I am now a fount of useless information about genetics and aging, but I think that extra effort gave The Immortalists its realism and the sense that it could actually be happening right now. In truth, it probably could.

Q: You recently stepped into Robert Ludlum’s Covert-One series by writing The Ares Decision. What is it like to become part of such a rich canon with a devoted readership?

KM: A bit frightening. I have to admit I almost didn’t accept the job--those are pretty big shoes to fill. But in the end, I’m glad I did. It was a really fun project, and I found that I still could learn a thing or two by studying the works of one of the genre’s masters. Even better, Ludlum’s fans have been really enthusiastic about The Ares Decision, and I think I came out of the project a stronger writer.

Q: Your father was an FBI agent. How much does that background find its way into your writing?

KM: A great deal. Spending so many years hanging around FBI and CIA agents, soldiers, and diplomats gave me an inherent sense of what makes them tick. It also gave me a long list of people I can contact when I need the final word on how that world works.

Q: What are you working on now?

KM: A new installment of Robert Ludlum’s Covert-One series. It’s a novel about a new technology that I think will be the next step in human evolution. Of course, the question becomes whether that step will save us or destroy us.

Q: Which books do you like to read over and over again?

KM: George Orwell’s 1984 for its incredibly dark take on human nature. Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart, a book about Apartheid-era South Africa that has a more hopeful view of our species. And Steven Pinker’s The Blank Slate, an entertaining and enlightening book about why we are who we are and how much of our destiny is already written on the day we’re born.

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Darkness Falls

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The Second Horseman

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Lords of Corruption

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Sphere of Influence

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Kyle Mills, New York Times bestselling author of Burn Factor and Storming Heaven, takes his readers on a jagged, heart-pounding hell-ride through every American's worst fear...

The videotapes arrive at television stations across the nation. Their chilling message: Al Qaeda has secured a rocket launcher on American soil. Their potential targets: U.S. civilians. Their ultimate threat: they will attack. Anytime. Anywhere.

Amid national chaos, the FBI calls upon one of its best agents for a final desperate mission. But no one-on either side-realizes how deep or how far the sphere of influence has spread...

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