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A former Navy SEAL who speaks perfect Arabic, Salam al-Fayed (a.k.a. "Fade") had been one of the deadliest weapons in America's arsenal—until a mission gone wrong put a bullet in his back, requiring risky surgery the government refused to pay for.Embittered by a wound that could one day immobilize him, Fade isn't exactly cooperative when Homeland Security insists on putting him back on the payroll. But they're not taking "no" for an answer—and what is meant to be a foolproof deception turns into an explosive bloodbath.It falls to an estranged friend of Fade's named Matt Egan to clean up the mess made by his superiors. But it isn't going to be easy—because Fade is gunning for the men who set him up. And Matt is at the top of the list...

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2005

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About the author

Kyle Mills

33 books2,510 followers
I grew up ­in Oregon ­but have l­ived all o­ver—D.C., ­Virginia, ­Maryland,­ London,
W­yoming. My­ father wa­s an FBI a­gent and ­I was a b­ureau kid,­ which is ­similar to­ being an ­army brat.­ You tend ­to spend ­your time ­with other­ bureau ki­ds and get­ transferr­ed around ­a lot, tho­ugh, I far­ed better ­on that fr­ont than m­any others­.

One positi­ve aspect ­of this li­festyle is­ that you ­can’t help­ but ­absorb an­ enormous ­amount abo­ut the FBI­, CIA, Spe­cial Force­s, etc. Li­ke most yo­ung boys, ­I was endl­essly fasc­inated wit­h talk of­ chasing c­riminals and, of cou­rse, pictu­red it in ­the most r­omantic te­rms possib­le. Who wo­uld have t­hought tha­t all this­ esoteric ­knowledge­ would end­ up being ­so useful?­

I came int­o writing ­from kind ­of a stran­ge angle. ­When I gra­duated fro­m college ­in the lat­e eighties­, I had th­e same dre­am as ever­yone else ­at the tim­e—a corpor­ate job, a­ nice car,­ and a hou­se with lo­ts of squa­re footage­.

It turns o­ut that no­ne of that­ really su­ited me. W­hile I did­ go for th­e corporat­e job, I
d­rove a bea­t-up Jeep ­and lived ­in a tiny ­house in a­ so-so Bal­timore nei­ghborhood.­ Most of t­he money I­ made just­ kind of accumulated­ in my che­cking acco­unt and I ­found myse­lf ­increasin­gly drawn ­to the unc­onventiona­l, artisti­c people w­ho lived a­round me. ­I was comp­letely ena­mored with­ anyone wh­o could ­create so­mething fr­om nothing­ because I­ felt like­ it was be­yond me.

Enter rock­ climbing.­ I’d read ­an article­ on climbi­ng when I ­was in col­lege and t­hought it ­looked lik­e an incre­dible thin­g to do. Someday, ­I told mys­elf, I wou­ld give it­ a try. So­ one weeke­nd in the ­early ’90s­, I packed­ up my car­, drove to­ West Virg­inia, and ­spent a
we­ekend taki­ng lessons­. Unknown ­to me at t­he time, t­his would ­be the sta­rt of an
o­bsession t­hat still ­hangs with­ me today.­ I began ­dating a ­girl who l­iked to cl­imb and we­ decided w­e wanted t­o live som­ewhere wit­h taller r­ocks and m­ore open s­pace.

Moving to ­Wyoming wa­s the best­ decision ­we ever ma­de. The ­place is ­full of th­e most ama­zing peopl­e. You mig­ht meet so­meone on a­ bike ride­ and find ­out they w­ere in the­ Olympics,­ or climbe­d Everest,­ or just g­ot back fr­om two mon­ths trekki­ng in Nepa­l. In a ­ roundabou­t way, it ­was these ­people who­ made it possible fo­r me to wr­ite a nove­l. They se­emed to ha­ve no limi­tations. E­verything ­was possi­ble for th­em and I w­anted to b­e that typ­e of perso­n, too.

I was work­ing for a ­little ban­k in Jacks­on Hole, spending my­ days maki­ng busines­s loans an­d my afternoons and ­weekends c­limbing. F­or some re­ason, it f­inally occ­urred to m­e that I’d­ never act­ually trie­d to be cr­eative. Ma­ybe I coul­d make som­ething fro­m nothing.­ Why not g­ive it a s­hot?

My first b­right idea­ was to le­arn to bui­ld furnitu­re. That p­lan had ­some draw­backs, the­ most obvi­ous of whi­ch being t­hat I’m no­t very han­dy. It was­ my wife who suggest­ed I write­ a novel. ­It seemed ­like a dum­b idea, th­ough, sinc­e I majore­d in finan­ce and had­ spent my ­entire col­lege caree­r avoiding­ English c­ourses lik­e the plag­ue. Having­ said that­, I couldn­’t complet­ely shake ­the idea. ­Eventually­, it nagge­d at me lo­ng enough ­that I fel­t compelle­d to put p­en to pape­r. Eight m­onths late­r, I finis­hed Rising­ Phoenix a­nd about a­ year a­fter that ­I managed ­to get it ­published.­

The succes­s of Risin­g Phoenix ­and my sub­sequent books has ­allowed m­e to make ­my living ­as a write­r, which i­sn’t bad w­ork if you­ can get i­t. Other t­han that, ­my life ha­sn’t chang­ed all tha­t much. Ag­ing elbows­ have forc­ed me to r­eplace cli­mbing with­ backcount­ry skiing ­and mounta­in bike ra­cing. I got the ­ not-so-sm­art idea o­f restorin­g an old p­ickup to replace the­ dying Jee­p. And, I still­ live in W­yoming...

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5 stars
1,345 (45%)
4 stars
1,052 (35%)
3 stars
437 (14%)
2 stars
85 (2%)
1 star
36 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
Profile Image for Tim.
2,497 reviews329 followers
October 16, 2020
Outstanding! 10 of 10 stars if you like good intelligence thrillers! 2007. I re-read this and 8 years later stands the test of time. I read Survivor, Mills story for the late Vince Flynn. Not near as good. I'm currently reading, "Robert Ludlum's The Patriot Attack," by Kyle Mills hoping its better than Survivor.
Profile Image for Kay.
2,212 reviews1,200 followers
October 15, 2020
Should I laugh or should I cry? What is this?? OMG what a ride. This was a relatively short book, but pack a punch. I couldn't believe I am finished and I feel I need to grab another Kyle Mills. Thank you Tim for the recommendation!
Profile Image for Casey Reads 🌸.
433 reviews413 followers
August 29, 2025
This was awesome!!

I loved Kyle Mills’ writing on the Mitch Rapp series, I can’t believe I did not know about this book until now. This was true to form just awesome writing.

I couldn’t help but love Fade. He is one of those morally grey men that you can’t help but love. His whole story from beginning to end was awesome and also tragic.

There was a little bit of romance in this, which I enjoyed. Some shady politics. A lot of action and drama. I honestly could’ve read this in one sitting if it wasn’t for other stuff I had going on in life, because I loved this.

Can’t wait to read more by this author!
Profile Image for Hayat.
574 reviews195 followers
January 27, 2016
This book left me anxious and at the edge of my seat. I loved the action, suspense, plot, characters development and everything in-between.

Salam al Fayed (Fade) is a former Navy SEAL, a spook and one of America's best weapons against its enemies until a mission goes wrong and he gets a bullet in the back. Fade needs complicated risky surgery and his government refuses to pay for it, making him him feel disillusioned, betrayed and abandoned by his country and friends so he turns his back on his former life, instead choosing to live whatever time he has left in seclusion. When homeland security request his assistance and they are not taking 'no' for an answer, Fade refuses to cooperate but the men in charge make a huge mistake by using deception, intimidation tactics and blackmail against Fade, turning a simple mission of assistance into a blood bath and chaos akin to wildfire.

Feeling cornered and with no future to look forward to, Fade decides to go out with a bang and exact revenge on the men responsible, starting with his estranged friend Matt Egan not knowing that Matt is just as much of a victim of his superiors escapades as Fade. But every action has consequences and soon everyone involved realises they'll not be able to walk away from this unscathed or without the unwanted attention of the media and the higher-ups in government

I loved Fade, it was dark, brutal edge of your seat thriller and the mutli-POV added to the thrill and enjoyment of the ride. The ending was fantastic and showed Kyle Mills is not afraid to go all out and that just makes me want to read more of his work.

This book was a lucky find and an unexpected gem I can't wait to reread in the future.
Profile Image for Abibliofob.
1,587 reviews103 followers
December 28, 2024
I'm sad to admit that it took me so long to read something that is not Mitch Rapp by Kyle Mills. Fade is the first book about ex navy SEAL Salam Al Fayed aka Fade. I think there are many readers out there who only associates Mills with Rapp. Don't do this misstake. I had this on my tbr mountain for some time and recently found out that he has written book 2 in this series. Fade In will be out next year, so there is time to read the first thrilling book with this protagonist. The book is very well written and it has a pace that is incredible. It is also filled with great characters and after reading this I understand why Kyle got the honor of continuing the Rapp series when Vince Flynn sadly passed. I had a wonderful time reading this book and I strongly recommend fans of good thrillers read it. I can't wait to get started on Fade In. But I will. (I already secured an advance copy)
Profile Image for William.
1,045 reviews50 followers
November 6, 2021
Audio book narrated by Holter Graham (which was an excellent choice for this piece)
This was just a delightful amalgam of genres: thriller, law enforcement, bad/good government, violence, compassion, and humour. Maybe Mills developed this while taking some tangential trip. Maybe he pondered if Stephen King got forced to spend a weekend with Ben Coes at the invite of Kyle Mills suggesting they laugh at their work while giving homage to the late Vince Flynn.

Not recommended for serious viewers of MSNBC; you won't get the parody having "swallow without first tasting) behavior.
I've already started the next in the series; jumping ahead in a lengthy queue.

This quote set the tone: "99% of humanity was a complete waste of skin, and he gets a woman with principles".
Profile Image for Kristine.
3,402 reviews52 followers
August 1, 2025
4.5 Stars ⭐️

This was my winner for the week. I cannot stress how this was such an unexpected surprise for me.
I have become a fan of Mr. Mills fairly recently, at least during the last few years. I found him when he took over from Vince Flynn for one of my all time favorite series, Mitch Rapp.

When I saw that he had a new and different book out this week (Fade In - July 2025) it said it was the second book in the series. So, of course I went looking for book 1. Those of you who know me know that I have this weird thing that I can not read a series out of order, or if I see that there is a book well into the series, I have to go and find the first book and start from the beginning before I can come back and read the new book - in this case, Book 2.

So, I went and found this first book - Fade.

Boy am I glad I did. I was so unbelievably impressed.

This book must have been one of the first books published by Mr. Mills as it was published in 2005 so we are looking at a 20 year span between books 1 and 2. Things have definitely changed in the Tier One game, but this book STILL was fantastic. There is a great storyline, fantastic characters and so much action that it kept me on the edge of my seat with butterflies in my stomach.

On thing I have to mention is that I did my normal thing of alternating between listening to the audio format and reading the ebook version. It took me WAY too long to realize that there was something off and BOY OH BOY was I surprised to realize that the audio version that I was listening to was an abridged version. That was the only option available from Audible and I was NOT happy when I learned that I was missing so much of the story. And you really do miss so much when a book is abridged.

Holter Graham did a fine job with the narration, but I did honestly have issues at times trying to figure out who was talking at certain parts. His portrayal of certain men's voices was really confusing as it sounded that these certain characters talking were women. It wasn't until I started reading the ebook that I realized that these certain characters were actually men. That is not something that usually happens.

Hopefully, if this new book is as successful as it should be, they can go back and re-record an unabridged version of this first book so fans can get the entire book. It is THAT good and definitely worth it.

And lastly....I REALLY liked Fade as a character, and ended up rooting for him and worrying about him. That was probably the thing that surprised me the most :)
Profile Image for Patricia.
Author 13 books14 followers
June 4, 2012
This is a terrific book, even if a bit wrenching. Mills has a knack for complicated issues. Can't recommend it more.
Profile Image for Bill Yarbrough.
225 reviews21 followers
May 28, 2019
10 of 10 stars. Fast read and I enjoyed this story. Twists and turns exceptional. WOW!!! Great book! This story could actually be true with the names changed.
Profile Image for vk chompooming.
572 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2025
I liked this novel quite a bit. The story, action, and character development were great. My issue is the ending. On July 25th 2025 a sequel to this book called Fade In is to b released. This book had a pretty definitive ending
Profile Image for Ed Schmidt.
294 reviews3 followers
April 16, 2015
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.
941 reviews6 followers
August 10, 2019
Spoiler alert, for sure.
The whole premise was so off-putting for me. OF COURSE he would have managed to have the surgery, somehow or other. No one would allow his body to decline when help is available. And
to have become so bitter and angry and anxious was silly, making the ending and the events leading up to it pretty moot. The language was atrocious. I enjoyed the characters, the wit, and the high-tech stuff, but this just needed to be better thought out.
Profile Image for Pam.
474 reviews14 followers
November 6, 2022
This is a well written book regarding Salam Al Fayad, or “Fade, who was a highly trained military assan. He became a recluse after a bullet hit him in the spin, too close for surgery. Homeland Security wanted to draw him out of retirement and faked a story about his involvement with a columbian drug cartel. The twists and turns of the book makes it a good read.
Profile Image for Mark.
2,509 reviews31 followers
March 11, 2009
very compelling character...this has become a favorite of mine from Mills...always a thrill ride to the end
Profile Image for Carl Smith.
92 reviews2 followers
March 18, 2025
This was a re-read for me. Kyle Mills is bringing out a new Fade book after a long time between. Looking forward to that so I wanted to read this original first to refresh my memory. Great story line, highlighting how corrupt some aspects of our government are without oversight. Fade is a likable hero, even though he’s a “rough cut” diamond. The rest of the cast is solid also and I hope I see them continued in the new book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Marc Harris.
145 reviews2 followers
June 14, 2025
It's been a long time since I've read a book this fast. I was so into the story that it might crack the top 10 favorite books. Fade was an amazing protagonist, if you can even call him that. I'm curious where this story is going especially with a now sequel. The ending was perfect as is.
Profile Image for Pop.
441 reviews16 followers
Read
October 28, 2018
I enjoyed the audiobook, the narrator Holter Graham was excellent.
Profile Image for Jyoti Dahiya.
160 reviews11 followers
September 21, 2018
Fade by Kyle Mills is about an ex-Navy SEAL (USA) named Salam Al Fayed. He was named Fade because he could fade into the background, and because nobody in the rest of the team wanted their back to be had by someone named Al Fayed. Somewhere early in the book we get to know that Al Fayed is a second-generation American of Christian Arab parents. That made me wonder if a Muslim Arab in the same situation would not have become a SEAL, or whether some marketing person said the novel wouldn't fly in the market.

Okay, okay, you want to know what happened to Fade. Fade did all kinds of assassination missions for the CIA, until he was finally shot in the back. The bullet lodged near his spine. His best friend, Matt Egan, tried to get him some experimental surgery, which the bureaucracy couldn't process. Bitter, Fade worked for some Columbian drug barons as an enforcer, to get the money to pay for the operation, but by the time the bullet was inoperable.

In terror of falling down dead any day, he starts making furniture (of all things) for a living. Until Matt's new boss in Homeland Security (CIA not happy with Matt, so he has to move) decides to form a new crack team, and decides Fade can be induced to join up by getting threatened with jail time for the drug stuff. Voila: an anonymous tip to the police.

Enter Karen Manning, a SWAT team leader whose boss is convinced that a woman in that position is a big mistake and seems to dedicate his life to running her out or running her down, whichever works when he gets up in the morning.

Karen's team hits Fade's house to arrest him, and he thinks Homeland Security is there to kill him. Uh oh.

Now Fade is on the run, hunted by all, Karen is thrown to the media wolves, well muzzled herself, and Matt and Hillel Strand (the boss) are on Fade's shortlist of people whose lives he must shorten immediately. Karen is trying to protect her reputation, Matt his family, and Hillel his career. Fade is just trying to kill Matt and Strand and then himself.

So they now all try to do the right thing by their own lights, and very different lights these are.

The bad guys get their comeuppance, is all I'm going to say, since you expect that. As to the good guys, they get different kinds of resolution each.

Read and enjoy!

[Reviewed in 2012; uploaded here now]
Profile Image for Gloria ~ mzglorybe.
1,216 reviews134 followers
May 28, 2015
Seriously???... all these rave reviews?

This by the author who will take over writing for Vince Flynn's series on Mitch Rapp, Counter-terrorism Operative. We, in this household, love the series and Flynn's death was a shock and a loss to many of us. I wanted to see what Mills writing was like and picked this at random. I saw no correlation or similarities to Flynn's writing style by this example. What was expected from the reviews was a very serious thriller but turned out to be more of a spoof, or maybe perhaps a B-rated action movie screenplay. Cavalier humor intermingled in unlikely scenarios, just didn't cut it for me.

Example: Main character, former Navy Seal American-Arab bad-ass "Fade's" recorded message on his answering machine: "You've reached the phone of Salam al Fayed. I'm on a tristate killing spree right now, but if you leave a message after the beep, I'll get back to you." Say what?!... and his website is swatkiller.com?? Does this even sound credible? It sounds stupid to me.

Too much unrealistic dialogue, a lot of it was quite silly, and the ending unsatisfactory. I was disappointed, expected more, but intend to give Mills another try in hopes that he got more skilled at true thrillers since he wrote this one, and is effectively capable to pick up where Flynn left off.
1 review
March 9, 2016
I can not give eanough positive credit to this book. It was well written with good, well defined characters. The author had a extremely good story line and the book flowed very nicely.
The book was both funny and serious. Such as fade (the main character) thought that he was under attach from home land sicurity so he proceeded to ( not knowing that it was just a local swat team who meant him no real harm) wipe out an entire swat team and blow up a sizable chunk of his house in a pair of Bugs Bunny boxers.
This book includes some of my favorite things- Guns, explosions, humor, horrible paybacks I.E. Explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting from your own birthday cake, a amazing and truly likable main character, and a 70's Cadillac.
This is my all time favorite book and I recommend it to everyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jeff Benham.
1,710 reviews11 followers
October 2, 2015
I read this book to become a little bit familiar with Kyle Mills before the new Mitch Rapp release. Then I checked some of the two star reviews to see if it was possible they read the same book. This was a very exciting book! It start fast out of the gate and never stopped for a breath. There is never any doubt as to who the main bad guy is and who the good and bad good guys are. There is a secondary bad guy who plays into it in the end. Some of the lesser reviews seem to be due to the fact that Kyle Mills is not Vince Flynn and has a different writing style. Well no kidding! It would be a bit of a surprise if it was. Read it and decide for yourself.
Profile Image for Dan Smith.
1,802 reviews17 followers
June 14, 2019
Fayed (a.k.a. "Fade") had been one of the deadliest weapons in America's arsenal—until a mission gone wrong put a bullet in his back, requiring risky surgery the government refused to pay for.

Embittered by a wound that could one day immobilize him, Fade isn't exactly cooperative when Homeland Security insists on putting him back on the payroll. But they're not taking "no" for an answer—and what is meant to be a foolproof deception turns into an explosive bloodbath.

It falls to an estranged friend of Fade's named Matt Egan to clean up the mess made by his superiors. But it isn't going to be easy—because Fade is gunning for the men who set him up. And Matt is at the top of the list.
Profile Image for Joyce.
1,665 reviews9 followers
April 23, 2015
Best thriller I've read in months. Vince Flynn's style, great character set. Special opps retiree felt abandoned by our government because they wouldn't authorize the surgery he needed to remove a bullet lodged near his spine. Matt had tried to get him the help he needed but failed. Now Matt was working for a new homeland security division who was recruiting and Fade said no but Matts boss wouldn't take no for an answer and tried to black mail him into coming to work for them. It all when down hill from there. An absolute must read.
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,368 reviews28 followers
March 15, 2019
Salam al Fayed has worked for Homeland Security but wants ot be left alone now. His old boss, Strand does not see it that way. Strand contacts the police that Fade has killed two brothers who do not exist so they will pick him up and then when he has time to think about it Strand will rescue Fade. Things don't go the way Strand has planned. One lie leads to another and things become very complicated. Karen who was the head of the swat team gets involved. His friend Egan is not sure if they will kill each other or what will happen. Lots of soul searching.
Profile Image for Jack.
762 reviews
December 7, 2010
My second book on CD. I had started it while on vacation and was so interested that I have continued with it each time I get in the car, driving around town. Talk radio is history!
I really liked this story. I was very caucht up with the charaters and it had you on the edge of your seat throughout.
Very well done. I would love to see it as a movie! (you know EVERYTHING I read has a movie conotation!!)
Profile Image for J. Ewbank.
Author 4 books37 followers
May 13, 2010
This is one heck of a read. I got caught up in the book and had to keep reading until the end. Unfortunately for me, the end was not what I wanted it to be, but such is the way with books and authors. I cried at the end because it did not go the weay I had hoped.

A good read.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
Profile Image for Bill Donhiser.
1,236 reviews8 followers
January 10, 2014
really enjoyed this one. Tragically flawed main character, impossible situation, well written and a real page turner. al Fayed gripped my attention and I had a good time tearing through this one at a blistering pace. I have two back novels left of Kyle Mills to read then I will just have to wait ads new ones are written
427 reviews8 followers
October 5, 2015
Great Book!!!!!

As always Kyle Mills did a great job with this story. Can't wait to read Fade 2. Read all the Mark Banner series also. Just a really great story teller. Wil try to find the time to also read the Covert One series. Can't wait to see what he also did with Vince Flynn series. Big fan !!!!. Thanks, Carl Clause
Profile Image for Kathleen.
338 reviews6 followers
June 14, 2018
If you have not discovered Kyle Mills and like suspense/thriller/mystery books, do yourself a favor and pick up his books. They are enthralling.

I'm writing this years after I read it, so I can't give a good review, but I remember writing to him after finishing one of his books and telling him how much I enjoyed the book, and he responded. Totally cool.
12 reviews1 follower
March 31, 2010
this book still troubles my dreams, perplexes my thoughts. the characters, story line, implications. it is complex and probably not for all - but if you like thrillers of a highly complex and tortured nature, this is for you.
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