A secret Department of Homeland Security is recruiting agents towork undercover in the Middle East and the director wants hissecond in command Matt Egin to bring aboard an old friend Salamal-Fayed better known as Fade. He's perfect for this job. A NewYorker an ex Navy Seal he's the son immigrants and he speaks perfect Arabic. The problem is that he's "retired". He got shotin the back in the line of duty and the Government refused to payfor the risky surgery. Now he lives like a hermit with a bulletlodged near his spine which can shift anytime and he really doesn't want to hear that his country needs him least of all from his ex friend who he sees as responsible for his present condition. Against Egin'swishes the director forces the issue but Fade is prepared to fightback and the ensuing confrontation is a bloody one. Now the chase is on but will Matt be able to find his now fugitive friend before Fadecan take the ultimate revenge. This is another good book from Kyle Mills. It's from 2005 and it's a good story.
Salam al-Fayed (Fade),an Arab-American former CIA spook who has a bullet lodged very near his spine and is now retired, was approached by his old friend Matt Eagan and a Homeland Security Chief in an attempt to recruit him for a special team. Fade declines, but the Homeland guy, Hillel Strand, refuses to accept it. He decides to dig up some dirt to blackmail Fade in to joining them. Fade begins to set a trap for the Homeland guys that are sure to come after him. Instead, Strand sets up a phony story for the cops to arrest him. Inadvertently, Fade winds up killing an entire SWAT team, except it's leader, Karen Manning. Strand tilts the blame to everyone else. Karen is black-balled and suspended. She and Matt go separate ways in trying to locate Fade. Fade contacts Karen and befriends her. They attempt to get Fade's story out in the public, while Matt tries to bring him in.
What do You think about Fade (2006)?
Mills writes a good thriller. Only a couple of the bad guys are really bad and some of the good guys are not good. The Special Forces theme kinda works but the Arab SEAL estranged from the SOF community doesn't really ring true. Guess he had to make a few politically correct points to be accepted on the author cocktail tour. The rogue military guy could have been of any background and the story would have worked. Mills depiction of the Washington bureaucracy and the Dept of Homeland Security are fairly standard caricatures but were still entertaining, if predictable, to someone who has traveled that circuit. Throw this one in the book bag and it will entertain you for a few hours.
—Mike
