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Fade In: A Thriller
When ex-Navy SEAL Salam "Fade" al-Fayed wakes from a coma in a prison hospital, a shadowy organization offers him the only way out—through a high-stakes military mission. An electrifying international political espionage thriller from #1
New York Times
bestselling author Kyle Mills.
"Wall to wall action. Great book," as recommended by bestselling thriller author Brad Thor on Today .
"Fade is a badass operator whom even a coma can’t stop. . . . Plenty of action, plenty of fun." —Kirkus Reviews
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?
Fade In tackles the complex threats of international espionage, power imbalances, and global terrorism–and introduces a character destined to take his place among legends like Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp, Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, and Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon. "The prose snaps and hums. . . Fade In is a gripping, violent, and often heartbreaking book. It’s for readers who like their thrillers with a sharp philosophical bite." —Literary Titan
Kyle Mills is the author of nine New York Times bestselling Vince Flynn novels featuring Mitch Rapp.
"Wall to wall action. Great book," as recommended by bestselling thriller author Brad Thor on Today .
"Fade is a badass operator whom even a coma can’t stop. . . . Plenty of action, plenty of fun." —Kirkus Reviews
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?
Fade In tackles the complex threats of international espionage, power imbalances, and global terrorism–and introduces a character destined to take his place among legends like Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp, Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, and Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon. "The prose snaps and hums. . . Fade In is a gripping, violent, and often heartbreaking book. It’s for readers who like their thrillers with a sharp philosophical bite." —Literary Titan
Kyle Mills is the author of nine New York Times bestselling Vince Flynn novels featuring Mitch Rapp.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2025
3 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Kyle Mills
33 books2,518 followersI 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...
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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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 15, 2025
I like Fade, the character and loved the original written 20 years ago. While this latest version is not as good as the original, it's still an enjoyable read or listen.
July 20, 2025
Having read Fade 15 years ago was pleased Mr Mills had finally decided to bring him back as Fade is a decidedly different character than most thrillers. Mr Mills has written the book in such away that if you never read Fade it won't be a hinder to enjoying Fade In. Now why 5 stars, this book is scary realistic as to what is happening in our county and world now. So block some time when you buy as once you start there is no putting it down until done Well done Sir
August 21, 2025
Having followed Kyle Mills’s continuation of the Mitch Rapp series with appreciation for its suspense and moral clarity, I found Fade In a disappointing departure. The protagonist is a mercenary adrift, lacking any moral compass or guiding principles, and approaches life with a nihilistic detachment that renders him unrelatable and unrewarding as a character. His worldview—and that of several other characters—reflects shades of nihilism and even absurdism, where existence is reduced to survival without meaning, direction, or higher cause. Unlike Mills’s earlier Mitch Rapp novels, where tension is grounded in stakes both external, ethical, and patriotic, Fade In offers little in the way of character depth or redeeming qualities. The result is a story that feels hollow, with action unmoored from purpose and a central figure whose choices evoke neither empathy nor investment.
August 18, 2025
Kyle Mills is generally awesome but I thought this was maybe his weakest books. His novels that featured FBI agent mark beamon were all awesome and then he got contracted to ghost write Robert Ludlum books and then a whole bunch of Vince Flynn books in the Mitch Rapp series after Flynn passed away. This book is a sequel of one of his standalone books and the main character fade is a bit Mitch Rapp like but not as interesting. The plot was convoluted to the point of meaningless- some guy invented the Covid virus intentionally and now was doing a more deadly version to kill all humans over the age of 65 - special forces Superman Fade saves the day and keeps it from happening. Dumb plot - but it’s still Kyle Mills so won’t ever go below 3 stars for me
August 16, 2025
I have enjoyed the Rapp series over the years from Kyle Mills and this new book, though hardly original , shades of Remo (1980 Marvel character ) and Billionaire do gooders etc , and the plight of today all revolving round a man made (Chinese ,of course) virologist.
It is what I expect from Flynn, be it Mitch Rapp or this new character ,obviously envisaged as a new series, very much a bloke genre as inn Lee Child etc action hero , formulaic but none the worse for that
It is what I expect from Flynn, be it Mitch Rapp or this new character ,obviously envisaged as a new series, very much a bloke genre as inn Lee Child etc action hero , formulaic but none the worse for that
August 19, 2025
A book that kept me highly ready to run all the way. It has global terrorism and threatening viruses. The violence had me on high alert gripped by the magnitude. The character of Fade I loved and feared at the same time. I think if the chapters were halved lengthwise it would flow a bit smoother but all the same it's gripping and intensity left me awed.
August 27, 2025
Well done Mr Mills. A page turner with lots of things to think about. Instead of Mitch Rapp you've created a new protagonist named" Fade".I'm looking forward to your future stories. Thanks for hours of great entertainment .
Read
August 3, 2025DNF
Not good. Opening chapters are all over the place. Fade is not sympathetic or believable. Bailed after 10 chapters.
Not good. Opening chapters are all over the place. Fade is not sympathetic or believable. Bailed after 10 chapters.
September 4, 2025
Pretty good! Mills learned a lot writing Rapp… interested in seeing where he goes with the next book!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews