Lords Of Corruption

by Perseus

When an obscure charity recruits Josh Hagarty to manage their activities in a wartorn region of Africa, he is eager to sign on and atone for a past he regrets. After a lifetime of bad luck, someone is finally giving him a chance. All he has to do is not blow it. He tries to lose himself in his new job, but soon the precariousness of his situation becomes impossible to ignore. Gideon, the man assigned to guide him through the dangerous and exotic world he¿s been thrust into, is revealed to be a psychotic thug with ties to the country¿s genocidal dictator. And Josh¿s predecessor didn¿t quit as Josh had been led to believe, but was found dismembered in the jungle after asking questions that no one wanted answered. Worse yet, Josh eventually realizes he has become an unwitting player in a billion-dollar conspiracy with tentacles snaking across the globe. Escape is impossible ¿the only way out is to bring the whole institution down. With the help of Annika Gritdal, a beautiful Scandinavian aid worker, and journalist JB Flannary, Josh pits himself against an American criminal organization backed by a dictator who is virtually omnipotent within the borders of his country. As his own survival becomes less and less likely, Josh realizes that his life is just one of thousands¿perhaps millions¿at stake.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Action, Suspense, Contemporary

346 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 24, 2009

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Lords Of Corruption, Kyle Mills does for Africa and charitable organizations what Peter Benchley did for swimming at the beach. In this short thriller, Mills' gives us a young college graduate who is hired to run an agricultural project in an unnamed African nation for a charitable organization. Problem is the charity is just a front for a Russian crime lord and the warlord running the country. Most of the money donated is siphoned off to the crime boss and warlord, and many other nefarious enterprises are carried out. The new kid (hired to replace the murdered previous "do-gooder") finds out about the crimes going on with the help of a jaded news reporter and a beautiful Norwegian babe (why not!). Can the young man, the reporter and the girl outsmart the warlord, the crime boss, anyone? A fast-paced thriller that will definitely make you think twice about going to Africa or donating to charity. I give it 3.5 Stars and will round up because it was just plain fun to read.

[Mike Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listen to the audio version of this book. Josh Hagerty is struggling despite graduating at the top of his class in both college and graduate school getting his MBA. No one wants to hire him because of his past. That is until meeting a recruiter at a bar who wants him to come run a project for New Africa, a nonprofit helping to grow crops in Africa. Once he arrives to oversee the project, he finds out there’s much more going on a than just charity project. Josh must find a way to extract himself from this job and Africa before it is too late.

Solid novel from Mr. Mills. The lead character of Josh Hagerty is well balanced and comes off as likable. Josh seems like a very real person, and not just some hero in a thriller. The plot itself is an interesting concept, and I wonder how much of what Mr. Mills writes about goes on in corrupt third world countries this like this.

Overall a well written thriller that makes you think. If you only know Mr. Mills through his writing on the Mitch Rapp series, be prepared for a much different lead character. While different, don’t let it keep you from picking up this book.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Josh Hagarty is recruited by the charitable organization NewAfrica to manage a farming project in an underdeveloped African country, he signs on because, despite an MBA he hasn't landed a job.

However, when Josh gets situated in Africa, he finds that NewAfrica may not be the philanthropic charity it purports itself to be.

Mills creates a great lead character in Hagarty; we root for him as he descends into a quagmire from which there may be no return. This story makes you wonder what is going on these days in the “Dark Continent.” And, you do not want to travel there after reading this book. It’s a pageturner and it kept my interest. I wonder, too, what if the novel had ended differently That is, with the protagonist surviving but the antagonist surviving as well. Won't spoil it for you. Decide for yourself.

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story about a desperate young man who is recruited by a NGO to do humanitarian aid in Africa. He soon discovers everything is not what it seems. Mills effectively punctures every facet of humanitarian aid from the dollars spent on the ground to the highest echelons on management. He even mentions USAAID as a source of fraud and this book was written in 2009, long before the current scandals.
Could easily be a movie.
Thank you, Mr Mills.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to this book great insight him look into NGO's charities and Africa in general. Definitely will research my next charitable donation. :-). More to the point the characters in this book were fantastic great character development in the storyline that keeps you captivate it to the end. Very good book one that I truly enjoyed probably on my top 20 list.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marks out of 5 are tough - this probably isn't a 4, but it's not a 3 either. An interesting and rather different premise for a thriller, and some interesting bits to it, I thought. The characters were a bit cardboard, and the hero a bit unbelievable, but it passed a few days well enough, and sometimes that's all you need!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this a 3.5. The story is about a young man who made mistakes in his past, that prevents him from getting good jobs once he finishes his MBA. He takes a job with a non-profit assisting a country in Africa. The secret is that it is a front for money laundering. The plot and characters are well developed. The end is abrupt after all the hype.

[Ginny · Rating 2 out of 5]

It hurts me to rank this as a 2 star read. Possibly since the last Mills book I read was Fade and I loved that one. Lords of Corruption left me flat. No great dialog, stereotypical African dictator and European crime boss, drunk ex pat. Just couldn't get past the violence and lack of exciting pace. Luckily,I know Mills can and does much better,

[Ben Reay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit different from the usual action stuff I read, an actual fallible anti-hero who seems credible!! Some stark locations and shocking backstories make this a little different from the norm. Worth a read

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until his recent announcement that he was passing the Mitch Rapp torch, I hadn't realized I had yet to read any of Mills' non-Rapp works. That was a mistake and Mills writing style is clear as this was tough to put down. No Mitch Rapp but no problem keeping the pages turning.

[Massanutten Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan, Village patron, July 2017, 4 stars:

Intense and rough read.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

W o w!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Candy, easily consumed in one sitting. Fast, fun, meets all the necessary criteria of a thriller-diller. Nice premise of a corrupt NGO busted by an innocent who becomes not quite so innocent.

[Ann Amadori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josh Haggerty finds himself in an overwhelmingly impossible situation when he starts his new job in Africa. Bleak story.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh!!!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives an insight into NGOs and Africa.
There is also a lot of action and violence.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook, very good story line. About corrupt African aid societies

[Taylor Jernigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Kyle Mills standalone novel and I enjoyed it a lot! A fast read something different from anything else I have read by him.

[Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool story, well written, good flow, definitely a page-turner.
I was a little let down by the ending as it felt short-storyish to me.

[Kevin Middaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story. But I personally had trouble relating to the characters and places. Either way, I was an enjoyable read.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josh Hagarty has done everything he knows how to do to try and get out of his crappy life in Kentucky. But now that he has his MBA, his criminal past is still keeping him from getting a job, meaning his hopes of getting himself and his teenage sister out of their trailer home are for nothing. Then a charity called NewAfrica offers him a job. It seems too good to be true - not only do they offer to pay off his college debt, but they also promise to help him pay for his sister's upcoming college tuition as well. And he will be helping people, in Africa. Maybe this is the new beginning he needs.
But of course it is too good to be true. When Josh arrives at his first work location, it appears that no one knows what to do with him, and he has no tools or outside help to make the situation work. And his contacts back in America just keep reassuring him that things will be fine. As the tribal violence in the area gets worse, Josh realizes that his African contacts may not be interested in helping this venture at all. And soon he becomes aware that his predecessor in this position did not quit - he was brutally murdered. As Josh discovers more about NewAfrica that they don't want him to know, he must protect himself and the people he loves in order to get the truth out, before he becomes another casualty.
This was a fast-paced page-turner, for sure, although it's not really my kind of book. I do have to say that I had a hard time putting it down anyway. It really draws you in, the action is pretty much nonstop. As is the violence, but that is to be expected from such a book. The two main problems I had with the book were the characters and the setting. I honestly really did not like or care about any of the characters. At one point in the story, when it seemed like the entire cast might end up dead, I wasn't really that worried. I just did not care. But I kept reading. The other thing that really bothered me about the book was the picture it paints of Africa. There is not one redeeming factor shown about Africa here - it is all just tribal warfare, petty violence, environmental degradation, and lots of "the Africans need to help themselves". It was just depressing, and while it may be an accurate picture of some areas of the country, I felt that it was very one-sided. Overall, while this book wasn't really my type, it would be enjoyed by anyone who likes fast-paced political dramas and action thrillers.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh Hagarty has had a lifetime of bad luck. Due to a felony conviction in his past, he can’t get recruited by a high-paying company. It doesn’t seem to matter that he turned his life around and worked like a dog to graduate at the top of his class. All anyone sees is the time he spent in prison. So when he’s approached in an unconventional way by an American company that’s giving aide to Africa, he’s suspicious, but he takes the job anyway. He really doesn’t have much of a choice.

Recruited by the charity to manage their activities in a war-torn region of Africa, Josh heads into a future that he hopes will make life better—not only for himself but also for his baby sister, Laura. Instead, he’s faced with a genocidal dictator, a sadistic thug who’s sent to guide him through Africa, a cynical journalist who claims that the charity is a fake, and rumors that his predecessor was hacked to pieces in the jungle because he asked too many questions.

To Josh, the only bright spot in the whole African mess is Annika Gritdal, a Scandinavian aid worker. But when she helps Josh translate a suspicious recorded conversation, she becomes involved in something that could get her killed, along with Josh and millions of Africans.

Josh Hagarty is one of the grittiest, most tenacious and appealing characters to grace the pages of a book. If you’ve ever felt like Eeyore with the little black rain cloud over your head, you’ll be able to relate to Josh Hagarty on a deeper level, like I did. Though it’s obvious that he’s been to the school of hard knocks most of his life, he keeps on keeping on—and that’s why I like him so much.

Africa can be a beautiful country, but that’s not the side that’s portrayed in Lords of Corruption. Instead, the reader is taken into the seedy underbelly, where sadistic dictators rule, tribes are at war, blood is shed on a regular basis, and the people struggle to survive from one day to the next.

With high-speed action, well-defined characters, and an elaborate plot, Lords of Corruption will leave you breathless and keep you entangled in a thriller that’s unlike anything you’ve read before. It’s one of those suspenseful stories that you wish you could read from cover to cover, uninterrupted. In short, I absolutely loved it. I simply cannot wait to pick up another novel by this talented author.

This Review first appeared in NightsandWeekends.com: http://www.nightsandweekends.com/arti...

[Brett T · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was younger, the grocery stores we shopped at usually didn't have a nice rack of books arranged on a newsstand-like set of shelves. They were often on a standalone wire spinner and seemed rarely grouped according to category. I don't know if that was intentional -- in order to check out the kind of books you liked, you had to check out all four sides of the spinner and thus you might find yourself drawn to a new book you hadn't considered before, bringing another sale to the store. Or it could have been that the people who unpacked the books just stuck them in empty spinner slots, or browsers took them from one place but put them back somewhere else.

There usually weren't very many books on the spinners, and it seems like I remember a low turnover rate. So checking them out often meant seeing the same books several times. But that was more exciting than accompanying Mom on her grocery-buying rounds, which never included enough purchases of important items like potato chips and peanut butter and which rarely allowed for a large enough variety of cereal purchases.

I offer this little memory lane jaunt for two reasons: 1) I picked up Kyle Mills' 2009 novel Lords of Corruption from such a spinner in a little nearby Dollar General and 2) that fact is by far the most interesting thing about this story of Josh Hagarty, hired by a charity to help African farmers -- until he learns not everything about the charity is as it appears. Mills joins an unlikeable protagonist to a double-handful of plot holes and predictable situations told in a pedestrian style that you definitely would want to write home about -- in order to warn them away. He brings up several interesting and important ideas about charitable work in Africa, its potential for fraud and its cultural implications, but only to display them as set pieces, not to chew on. They fill the same role as plastic fruit -- they can be viewed, but are otherwise useless. The same, for that matter, can be said of Lords of Corruption.

Original available here.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh Hagarty Had just graduated from college and he is ready to get both feet in the door of a really good company. Just his luck, Josh is approached by a man named John Balen. Mr. Balen is a recruiter for an organization called NewAfrica. Their goal is to help the people of Africa become a better place. When Josh was thinking about his future he never picture it would be in Africa but he is intrigued. Besides it is not like he is lots of people knocking on his door.

Josh agrees to go to New York to meet with the man in charge...Mr. Stephen Trent. Mr. Trent tells Josh that his organization has had an eye on him. He wants to offer Josh a job working for NewAfrica. What Josh would be doing is helping run an agricultural farm, where NewAfrica's hope is to bring refugees so that they may start their lives over again. Josh isn't sure he is the right man for the job but when Trent tells him that NewAfrica will pay for his sister's education as well as pay off all his loans, Josh knows this is one offer he can't refuse.

Josh's guide while he is in Africa is a tall, intimidating man named Gideon. The longer Josh spending in Africa, the more he starts to become suspicious that Trent could care less about the people of Africa. When Josh's sister Laura is kidnapped, Josh discovers that he is really just a front for something bigger. Now Josh finds himself running for his life but will he leave Africa in a body bag?

At first I thought Josh was very clueless but as the story progressed, I realized that he was in fact very intelligent and a true hero. The intensity that the storyline had was the main reason I loved this book. In fact I read this book in one day and would have finished it in a matter of hours but unfortunately I only have an hour lunch! I have seen Mr. Mills books all over and heard great things about them but never had the chance to try one out for myself till now. After reading Lord of Corruption, Mr. Mills has gone on my list as one of my new favorite authors. Can't wait to get my hands on his next novel.

[Tripp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Africa has long been a setting for thriller/suspense writers. While the likes of Graham Greene and William Boyd have written cautionary tales of the dangers of Western complacency and arrogance in Africa, Frederick Forsyth, John Le Carre and Michael Crichton have set action oriented tales, with varying degrees of political message, on the continent. With Lords of Corruption, thriller writer Kyle Mills joins the latter group with a fast-paced tale involving a mysterious aid agency, a thuggish dicator and a dose of Southern Gothic.

Thanks to a unfortunate choice in his youth, MBA all-star Josh Hagarty can't get a job. So when he is approached by a secretive international aid agency to manage a project in Africa, he vacillates, but eventually decides to go, mostly because it gives him the chance to help his sister escape rural poverty and attend school.

Once in Africa, things rapidly become problematic. The project for which he is hired is beset by tribal arguments, menacing thugs and insufficient resources. Hagarty meets a few Westerners including an old Africa hand who serves as voice of cynical experience and a Swedish aid worker who represents fatalistic optimism.

The book's strength is the rapid pace, the escalating threats and the surprises Mills throws in along the way. There is also some commentary about the efficacy of international aid and the impact of the West on Africa here, but the focus is on the relentless development of the story. It makes for good, topical escapism.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lords of Corruption by Kyle Mills (pp. 320)

Josh Hagarty, a guy with a tough upbringing who is trying to make good gets embroiled in a shady charity effort in Africa that puts him the crosshairs of corrupt government officials, con men, and rival tribes. Most of the set up details and plot are pretty high up on both the hyperbole and far-fetched scales. There’s little way, even with Mills’ maneuvering, that the main character should be alive past the first 80 pages.

While reading, I kept thinking of 24, where Jack Bauer shouldn’t be able to get out this or that extreme situation. Kyle Mills uses similar license with his disgruntled youth made good trying to be moral and a better man character. There are clearly the bad guys and the good guys with some feigned attempts for Josh to explore his own maturity and morality when confronted with the “Who are we helping? Who are we hurting?” questions posed in the charitable NGO backdrop.

Unlike most of Kyle Mills’ earlier works, this feels like a cartoon of itself. There’s not much detail that attach themselves to reality which gets old early and the setting tries to be political and different but just manages to feel forced and stereotypical. But, Mills is still good at advancing plot and creating some suspense. This was entertaining solely from the fact that it was a fast read without taxing the brain.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Josh Hagarty is recruited by the charitable organization NewAfrica to manage a farming project in an underdeveloped African country, he signs on, figuring that he can put his newly acquired graduate degree in engineering to good use. However, when Josh gets situated in Africa, he finds that NewAfrica may not be the philanthropic charity it purports itself to be.
As Josh delves deeper into his work, secrets begin to unravel, throwing him into a world of violence, turmoil, and political corruption. He soon learns that Gideon, the man responsible for heading the local organization, is not only a relative of the African country’s president, but also a strong-arm thug with a tendency towards aggression and dishonesty. In his hunt for both truth and justice, Josh also discovers that his predecessor may have been murdered to cover up something he had discovered about the project, something that should have remained buried. And why has Gideon uprooted the very people that Josh thought he was supposed to be helping? Is NewAfrica merely a scam?
With the help of Annika Gritdal, a beautiful Scandinavian aid worker, and journalist J.B. Flannary, Josh must fight to uncover the truth behind NewAfrica. In doing so, the trio must struggle to survive by evading those who are trying to prevent them from uncovering a dangerous secret.”

[Eclectic Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh Hagarty’s past is keeping him from getting his dream job to help his family when suddenly he’s offered an opportunity to work as a project manager for a charity organization called New Africa. However, he finds out his predecessor was murdered and the organization isn’t what it appears to be.

Josh teams up with journalist ,J.B. Flannery, and beautiful Norwegian aid worker, Annika Gritdal, to expose the death and corruption that are running rampant in the region ruled by the formidable President Umboto Mtiti and backed by New Africa’s “CEO” Aleksei Fedorov, a Russian drug smuggler and assassin.

This is one gut-wrenching thriller that seizes you and won’t let go. Kyle Mills really knows how to immerse you in a story.

[Ryan Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kyle Mills can be hit and miss (see: Fade, for example). This was a mostly miss. Josh Hagarty is a guy from Kentucky who grew up poor and made some mistakes when he was younger. Now he is a college graduate with an MBA that no one wants to hire, except for NewAfrica, a non-profit that helps Africans build sustainable agriculture. Josh finds out that something isn't quite right there and starts digging and that is when things get a little crazy. The book starts off very slow but gets going. If you can suspend lots of disbelief, it is a good action-thriller book. There are some interesting points about politics and life in Africa but it is definitely a small side-story. If you are going on an airplane soon and you want a book that isn't too deep, this is the one for you.

[David Ketelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a fellow, Josh Hagarty, from the wrong side of the tracks that had a brush with the law as a kid. He's turned his life around largely due to concerns about his younger sister, who he dotes on and has had a significant hand in raising. At the start of Lords of Corruption Josh has just added a MBA to his engineering degree and he's now interviewing on campus for a job.

Due to concerns regarding his legal record, only a USA based non-profit, NewAfrica, is willing to give him a job---and since there's serious problems with NewAfrica, Josh's life is about to get very interesting.

This book might not compare well with some of Kyle Mills' other books but on its own it's quite good. I read it in 2 days so it certainly grabbed my interest.