Startup

by Gil Miller

Just when he thinks he's clear of the meth business, Lyle Villines gets busted cold cooking for a friend. After his arrest, he's approached by a DEA agent who wants him to work as an informant-and take down someone high up in a Mexican cartel. It's a tall order for a small-time player like Lyle, but one he can't refuse. If he doesn't do it, he'll only be seeing his kids during prison visiting hours. He goes back into business and is immediately confronted by two local thugs who want a piece of the action-either he cooks for them, or he doesn't cook at all. Searching for a way around them, he meets Carl and Zeke Higgins, members of a local family distributing meth for the Sinaloa Cartel. Before he knows it, he's so far in he can't get out. The only way to go is up-all the way to the top and cartel leader Joaquin Guzman himself. Along the way, he has to deal with the local thugs and a Kentucky family hell bent on holding his bosses hostage. And in the end, what Guzman asks of him might be too much."

376 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2016

About the author

Gil had a normal upbringing, which means his parents aren't to blame for him going into crime (fiction). Instead, he blames a steady diet of movies, shows, and books, from Miami Vice and Scarface in the '80s to Breaking Bad and Justified in the '00s. To cap it all off, he discovered authors such as Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Don Winslow, and the late, great Elmore Leonard. Gil is a member of the Northwest Arkansas Writers Workshop, whose members sometimes wonder where he gets his inspiration. He makes his home outside Fayetteville, where he is at work on his next novel.

Reviews

[Cynthia Prasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyle Villines is back...and trying to figure out how his life came to this point. He isn't sure if he should regret his decisions, but he's starting to regret some of the outcomes. If you've read A Temporary Thing, you will want to see what happens to him in this one. If this is your first book, you'll want to read the others too.

[Staci Troilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take The Snitch (the Dwayne Johnson movie about working undercover for the DEA to protect his son), add a little Miami Vice, and throw in just a dash of The Dukes of Hazzard, and what do you have? A recipe for an action-packed novel by Gil Miller. Startup follows Lyle Villines through the fascinating and frightening drug pipeline. But that world isn't nearly as interesting as Lyle himself, a father, friend, and all-around decent guy who gets in way over his head. The action and drama are peppered with some funny phrases, just to take the edge off. And readers need that break, because the problems keep coming. Miller has such a strong voice and compelling writing style, you can't help but turn the pages faster and faster. Highly recommended reading. I can't wait for the next installment.