Author: Kyle Mills
Published: July 29, 2025 by Authors Equity
Format: Kindle, 331 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Fade #2
Blurb: When ex-Navy SEAL Salam "Fade" al-Fayed steps in front of a sniper's bullet, he assumes that he's reached the end of the road—his death wish has finally been answered.
Instead, he wakes in a hospital. As one of the deadliest operatives in U.S. history, he's now incapable of even standing without assistance. Alone and wanted by authorities, he's destined to spend the rest of his life lying in a prison infirmary.
So when a shadowy organization offers him a new identity and next-generation medical care, he has no choice but to agree. Nothing's free, though. After a grueling rehabilitation, he's drafted into an elite paramilitary unit equipped with cutting-edge military technology. But who's in charge?
A dire threat soon provides the a highly contagious pathogen explodes out of China, and a select group of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people decide that governments are no longer capable of controlling the chaos erupting around the globe. It's a power grab by billionaires who've decided that it's their time to rule.
With panic rising worldwide, the leaders of both democracies and dictatorships prove equally willing to destroy anything and anyone to save themselves. Forced into action before he's fully ready, Fade finds himself at the sharp end of a mission to stop a menace unlike any he's faced before. If he fails, the consequences will be unimaginable. But what if he succeeds?
No one elected the people he's working for. And God sure as hell didn't ordain them. Has he signed on to save the human race . . . or to help quietly enslave it?
My Opinion: I picked up Fade In without realizing it was the second book in a series that started twenty years ago. Honestly, I just saw Kyle Mills’ name and remembered enjoying his Beamon series, so I dove in. Turns out, Mills has been busy with other projects since his catalog is packed with multiple series, collaborations, and continuations of other authors’ work.
This book throws a lot at you. Plot threads come flying from all directions, loosely connected but not always convincingly so. By the halfway mark, I started wondering if some of these storylines were just floating around, waiting for a tether that never quite arrives.
The central premise is that COVID was engineered to target the elderly which feels like it missed its moment. It’s not the only plotline, but it dominates enough to give the book a dated vibe. For readers steeped in this genre, it’s familiar territory. Not shocking, not fresh. Just… fine.
What is fresh, though, are the one-liners. The characters, especially the supporting cast, have a knack for dropping snarky gems that made me smirk more than once. That kind of humor is gold in a thriller, and it kept me turning pages. The pacing is solid, the flow smooth, and I found myself reading in long stretches without losing interest.
But then there’s Fade, the main character. He’s less a man and more a myth, invincible, untouchable, and oddly hollow. I never felt pulled toward him. He’s the kind of protagonist who survives everything but leaves no emotional footprint. If Mills revisits this series in another twenty years, I doubt I’ll be along for the ride. There just wasn’t enough of Fade that felt new or compelling.
Still, if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced read with sharp dialogue and a cast that knows how to keep things lively, Fade In delivers. Just don’t expect the main man to steal your heart.
Instead, he wakes in a hospital. As one of the deadliest operatives in U.S. history, he's now incapable of even standing without assistance. Alone and wanted by authorities, he's destined to spend the rest of his life lying in a prison infirmary.
So when a shadowy organization offers him a new identity and next-generation medical care, he has no choice but to agree. Nothing's free, though. After a grueling rehabilitation, he's drafted into an elite paramilitary unit equipped with cutting-edge military technology. But who's in charge?
A dire threat soon provides the a highly contagious pathogen explodes out of China, and a select group of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people decide that governments are no longer capable of controlling the chaos erupting around the globe. It's a power grab by billionaires who've decided that it's their time to rule.
With panic rising worldwide, the leaders of both democracies and dictatorships prove equally willing to destroy anything and anyone to save themselves. Forced into action before he's fully ready, Fade finds himself at the sharp end of a mission to stop a menace unlike any he's faced before. If he fails, the consequences will be unimaginable. But what if he succeeds?
No one elected the people he's working for. And God sure as hell didn't ordain them. Has he signed on to save the human race . . . or to help quietly enslave it?
My Opinion: I picked up Fade In without realizing it was the second book in a series that started twenty years ago. Honestly, I just saw Kyle Mills’ name and remembered enjoying his Beamon series, so I dove in. Turns out, Mills has been busy with other projects since his catalog is packed with multiple series, collaborations, and continuations of other authors’ work.
This book throws a lot at you. Plot threads come flying from all directions, loosely connected but not always convincingly so. By the halfway mark, I started wondering if some of these storylines were just floating around, waiting for a tether that never quite arrives.
The central premise is that COVID was engineered to target the elderly which feels like it missed its moment. It’s not the only plotline, but it dominates enough to give the book a dated vibe. For readers steeped in this genre, it’s familiar territory. Not shocking, not fresh. Just… fine.
What is fresh, though, are the one-liners. The characters, especially the supporting cast, have a knack for dropping snarky gems that made me smirk more than once. That kind of humor is gold in a thriller, and it kept me turning pages. The pacing is solid, the flow smooth, and I found myself reading in long stretches without losing interest.
But then there’s Fade, the main character. He’s less a man and more a myth, invincible, untouchable, and oddly hollow. I never felt pulled toward him. He’s the kind of protagonist who survives everything but leaves no emotional footprint. If Mills revisits this series in another twenty years, I doubt I’ll be along for the ride. There just wasn’t enough of Fade that felt new or compelling.
Still, if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced read with sharp dialogue and a cast that knows how to keep things lively, Fade In delivers. Just don’t expect the main man to steal your heart.
