Tom Clancy recommends the book, but that shouldn't stop you. Kyle Mills crafts a quick-step story with credible characters, plenty of action and a satisfactory denouement. Unlike many first novels, Rising Phoenix doesn't seek to show off the author's vocabulary at the expense of the story. Starting with a surprising solution to the drug problem in the United States, Mills delineates a villain worth pursuing and a somewhat disheveled and unorthodox Special Agent leading the chase. The White House, the Bureau, TV evangelists and drug dealers bring a variety of motives to this escalating tale of greed, politics, righteous anger and investigative professionalism.
Mills dishes up a potent story, carried by characters that enrich and enliven the plot.
The author catches the feel of the Bureau although you may not much like some of the fictional personnel at Headquarters. Mills kept an observant eye on his surroundings when he visited his dad's office over the years. I've been feeling like everything I say and do is passing through some sort of filter lately which makes it difficult or impossible for the rest of the world to understand me. Rising Phoenix, Kyle Mills.