Global Warning

Mark Beamon #5

by Kyle Mills

Wenn die Welt am Abgrund stehtAn mehreren wichtigen internationalen Ölförderungsstätten findet sich ein Bakterium, das Rohöl frisst und unbrauchbar macht. Ein Drittel des weltweiten Ölbestandes ist in Gefahr. Mark Beamon, Leiter der Energieabteilung gegen Ökoterrorismus, versucht die Katastrophe aufzuhalten und kommt einem Komplott ungeahnten Ausmaßes auf die Spur. Jemand versucht die gesamten Ölreserven der Menschheit zu vernichten. Ein Massensterben und der Rückfall in die Steinzeit wären die Folgen.Eine atemberaubende Mischung aus Öko- und Politthriller

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

Paperback

First published October 23, 2007

About the author

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...

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good plot poorly executed. Kyle Mills was on my buy-on-sight list but now I will have to check first. Even the curmudgeonly Mark Beamon comes across poorly in a supporting role. 1 Star.

[Heather-Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ecological thriller, with super engineered bacteria for the win! Bad guys, bullets, and angry presidents are guaranteed. No car chases this time, sorry. LOL Nice to visit with our favorite curmudgeon-agent Mark Beaman and get a fairly solid end to the series.

Strong premise, decent execution, moderate ending. Glad I finally got to it, laughed quite a few times, but nothing to shout about. As per usual with genre fiction, the romantic subplot was L A M E, paint by the numbers nonsense. But we don't read political themed genre fiction for romance anyway.

***

GR Personal Rating System:
5 ~ LOVED
4 ~ ENJOYED
3 ~ LIKED
2 ~ MEH
1 ~ NOPE

[Wynter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about terrorists putting a bacteria into the water injectors of oil wells and affecting the world's oil supply. It was VERY interesting and I ended up increasing my food storage at home after reading this book! I also love FBI/CIA novels, so this fit the bill for me.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something got lost between the idea of a good story and the written result. Consequently, this attempt at a techno-thriller falls way short. Perhaps Kyle Mills should stick to writing more stories like "Fade." As Darkness Falls, so does Kyle Mills rating for this turkey. 2 of 10 stars.

[Harvee Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An environmental thriller with a timely topic. See my full review: https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/2...

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes after I've read a novel that seems like part of the plot is taken from the headlines or a new scenario on a topic of current political and/or social media debate I like to turn to the copyright page to learn when the author brought the story to our attention. In this case, the original copyright date was 2007 and the paperback edition I read came to publication in 2009. That's the moment for today's WoW!

"The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations perceived as supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The initial nations targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States with the embargo also later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen nearly 400%, from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12 globally; US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or "shock", with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy. Odd–even rationing allowed vehicles with license plates having an odd number as the last digit (or a vanity license plate) to buy gas only on odd-numbered days of the month, while others could buy only on even-numbered days."

I remember the the odd-even fuel rationing quite well as I was student teaching Spring Semester 1974 and every day I drove a different car to my school destination as the school was approx. 40 minutes NE of my parents' home. As the travel included driving on a major highway where there were many gas stations accessible from the north- and south- bound lanes I could easily decide which line to wait with either my father's car or mother's car or the 3rd car that my father had purchased for me to use during student teaching and which I bought from him over the course of my first year of teaching. Most often I stopped for gas at one of the southbound options as I never knew how long I would be waiting in line so timing "before school" was difficult to judge and getting gas on the way home meant the car would have more gas available for any family travel needs after I arrived home.

With all of the laws that have been changed detrimental to climate change since January 2017, it is easy to think that this novel is a new creation. I wish I could ask every individual of voting age in November 2020 to read this novel. During the course of the storyline U.S. dependence on oil and the cascading effect of losing our oil supply is highlighted. Perhaps the radicalism of a group of environmentalists might seem an author's far-fetched imagination but only if the reader hasn't been paying attention to global news and doesn't understand that climate change is having serious effects in every phase of our lives right now.

14-Sep-2019 Update: News reports on September 14, 2019 brings to light when reality often mirrors a portion of what we initially read as fiction. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...

[Rick Verde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review will have some spoilers, so if you are currently reading, you may want to skip this review.

First, I did enjoy the pace of the novel, and I thought the concept behind the story was well-crafted. You can tell the author did their research and developed his characters very well.

The problem with this novel is the constant pounding over the head of environmental porn. It just never ends. After a while you just want to scream, 'I get it humans screwed up the Earth, get on with it'.

The next problem is the forced love story. I'm sorry but there has to be a line drawn between authors and love stories. Not every book needs one. Can we please be a little realistic? I know this is a fictional book but damn, nobody is this desperate or stupid.

The main character's girlfriend, not his wife, fakes her death. Creates a bacteria that can destroy all oil in the world. Then escapes from being killed off by the person who she faked, to help create this bacteria. Then runs back to the main character, and he is willing to do anything for her because he loves her.

Get the hell out of here. This is what would've happened in real life. She fakes her death, escapes being killed, finds her way to her ex-boyfriend, and he kills her.

This isn't a bad book, it's entertaining, just filled with dumb plot holes that make no sense. And the ending will make you want to puke.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books are really well written, but are thin on plot. Some stories are compelling on their own, despite any infirmities in the writing. Mills' book "Darkness Falls" largely misses the mark on both counts. Early on, I was certain that I had discovered a hidden gem of a book as this vein of financial calamity caused by ingenious eco-terrorism held some appeal. As though someone flipped a switch, the weak and disappointing "boy meets girl, girl steals oil-eating bacteria, girl fakes own death and unwittingly starts the Apocalypse, girl reunites with boy and they fall madly back in love" story line runs immediately off the rails. Apparently captivated by his own train wreck, Mills was unable to get the story back on track, and the underlying premise isn't nearly enough to stop the ensuing disaster.

Halfway into the book, I realized from the cover material that this was one in a series of books based around one character. This is not evident from the story itself, since the series "hero" comes off throughout the entire book as a slightly irritated supporting player. While this story had great potential in its inception, darkness should indeed fall upon its cover, in search of something better to read.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ends w/ a Green New Deal Eco-wet-dream. I wasn't a fan of the plot through most of the book, and most books of this genre have a 'end of the world' hook to them (my least favorite part of this genre...). However, I found I didn't even like most of the plot changes either, nor many of the characters. This is very much an eco 'pie in the sky' story, and almost none of it is based in any part of reality other then oil is bad for the world (or at least human existence on it... not sure mother nature cares about oil at all...). I'd have to say that for my 1st Kyle Mills book I'm not sure there will be others. I know he took over Flynn's Mitch Rapp series, and now it seems like I'll be ending that series w/ Vince's books. I'll give Kyle's continuation a chance, but on a short leash. As far as this series goes, I'm probably done w/ it unless other books in it are cheap & I forget how much I disliked this entry (likely as I have a hard time remembering books I dislike).

[StarMan]

Millionaire hero vs. Millionaire Villain. Bio-thriller less the thrills. Under 2 stars, but some will enjoy this Chrichton-lite.

Note to authors: When you are going to reveal that a dead person important to the plot isn't really dead, it would be best not to do it on Page 1, thus spoiling a potentially fun revelation later.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the premise of the plot but the execution was just a little off the mark. Eco-terrorists releasing oil destroying bacteria into the worlds major supplies leads to far-reaching consequences but the spin at the end on the benefits seemed a bit too optimistic. The character development seemed a bit flat to me overall.

[Francis Gahren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erin Neal has been living a secluded life in the Arizona desert since the death of his girlfriend when an oil company executive makes a surprise visit. A number of important Saudi oil wells have stopped producing and Erin is the world’s foremost expert in analyzing and preventing oil field disasters. As far as he is concerned, though, he has left that world behind— not his problem. Homeland Security, however, sees things differently. Erin quickly finds himself stuck in the Saudi desert studying a new bacteria with a voracious appetite for oil and an uncanny ability to destroy drilling equipment. Worst of all is its ability to spread.

It soon becomes clear that if this contagion isn’t stopped, it will infiltrate the world’s petroleum reserves, cutting the industrial world off from the energy that provides the heat, food, and transportation necessary for survival. As the threat escalates, Erin realizes that there’s something eerily familiar about this bacteria. And that it couldn’t possibly have evolved on its own…
Main character (Erin Neal) loosely based on Bjorn Lomburg who wrote “The Skeptical Environmentalist”; may want to check this out…

Book excerpts:

“The average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,300 miles. It takes 100 calories of energy to produce and deliver 1 calorie of broccoli.” (p. 110)

“cascade effect” – without oil, or with a significant reduction in its manufacture, our society would be forced to go back 200 years, but with a complete loss of survival skills.

“Why I Wrote Darkness Falls” by Kyle Mills

The concept for this book–the destruction of the world’s oil supply–actually started out as a component of my previous book, The Second Horseman. The more I researched the subject, though, the more it seemed like an idea that deserved a book of its own.

The ramifications of America’s dependence on oil are so much direr than you’d realize from casual thought. When I first considered the scenario, I figured a serious drop in oil availability would be a nightmare, but a more or less manageable one. Digging deeper uncovered some disturbing questions. How would I feed myself? I’m not a farmer–I rely entirely on the trucks that stock our local grocery store. What if the shelves were suddenly empty? The obvious answer is that I’d drive to a more distant store. But what if there was no gas to fill my tank? The more I thought about it, the easier it became to picture a cascade effect that would descend the country into violence and anarchy.
Initially, the problem with the idea was that I didn’t think there was anything that could cause this kind of a sudden, catastrophic shortage. Oil is pretty resilient and the supply is reasonably well diversified. Enter bacterial contamination. I had never really heard of hydrocarbon-eating bacteria before I started this project, but not only do they exist, they’re actually quite common and pose a constant threat to drilling operations. Quickly the scenario went from ridiculously implausible to frighteningly realistic.

As an added bonus, this book gave me an excuse to look into the growing environmental movement. I’ve always considered myself to be a conservation-minded guy, but the direction environmentalism has taken lately seems symbolic at best and completely nuts at worst. Is there really anything that can be done, or are we doomed to follow the path that all animals do: destroying our ecosystem until Mother Nature finally pushes back?

My favorite novels have always been ones that deal with serious issues in a way that feels current and real, while keeping the pace high and the characters fun. Hopefully, that’s what I accomplished with Darkness Falls.

[Barry Martin Vass · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This has an interesting premise. Dr. Erin Neal is THE go-to guy in the field of bioremediation - basically the business of breeding bacteria to clean up toxic oil spills or radioactive waste. So when the Saudis start losing oil wells due to contamination and associated mechanical problems, Dr. Neal is the first person the powers-that-be call in. And what he finds shakes him to his core: this contaminant is one he developed years ago, one that has also appeared in the Alaskan oilfields. And as the problem gets steadily worse, the world is faced with a future where 40% of the oil produced is suddenly, just, gone. Wyoming Author Kyle Mills does a good job of ratcheting up the tension as he hurtles toward a world very different from the one we know.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Kyle Mills gives the reader an eye opening story in "Darkness Falls". The story involves a lab created bacteria that eats all the oil in its path. There is no known way to kill it and if left to multiply and spread, it would shut down every aspect of modern technology and bring us back to the stone age. An expert in bacteria and oil related disasters, Erin Neal, is called upon by the Government, to figure out a way to kill the oil eating bacteria and prevent it from spreading.
This book will keep you turning the pages to find out if there is a solution to the frightening possibility of a global disaster with the loss of our Earths oil supply.

[Louise Hite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Beamon saves the world again! Biologists/environments are threatening the world with a bacteria that destroys oil and oil by products. With the help of 2 biologists who were formerly associated with the group behind the threat, Beamon stops the contamination and saves the world...again. Beamon is a good character--somewhat of a rogue; a smart ass who challenges authority; he gets-things-done; and he's out of shape and approaching middle-age. In this book, Carrie has called him to make up.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit crazy. I liked how the situation seemed both real and fake. The devastation that happened because one person decided what was "good" for the rest of the world was astounding. I loved how Mark was pulling into things, how he basically told people to fuck off, if he didn't like what they were saying, which usually happened when he was going to be made the scape goat. I thought the ending was as good as could be for everything that happened.

[David Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m becoming a fan of Kyle Mills early books, especially the Mark Beaman storyline but this one minimized that character and I felt a bit cheated. Overall a page turner and difficult to put down. Aside from my disappointment with the Mark Beaman contribution, I remain a fan.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the end? Meh.

[Kym Gamble · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an unknown author to me, I thought it was good. It was one of the free books from Audible and it was very suspenseful. The characters were good and the book moved along fast.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like Kyle Mills. previous books, and, as a potboiler type thriller, this is fine. But the blurb on the back might be the silliest thing I've ever read, and it's a bit of a daft story, to be fair.

There are some good points about the plot idea; the discussion of what life would be like if this actually happened are, in many ways, a more impressive doomsday scenario than the sort of "oh no, some baddies have got a nuke" that used to be the staple of these sorts of thrillers. The set up with the two main characters is all a bit too far-fetched for anything to have much impact though, sadly.

[Julie Pint · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun political thriller by the other Vince Flynn. I picked it up not realize how many things mirror what is happening or could happen in today’s world. Some of it is downright creepy given it was written in 2007. It is an eco thriller dealing with biological warfare and possible world ending contingencies. The story development was a bit week at times and I was a tish disappointed- thus the three star rating.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a great book, great plot and eye-opening. Was a great look at our oil dependence and the cascading effect of losing our oil supply. Very similar to "One Second After" as far as fall out, but not as dark. I rated this five stars but in reality it's probably closer to four. Nonetheless another great book by Kyle Mills!

[Paul Gover · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I started this series at book #5 mainly just to get a feel for Kyle's writing before he took over for Vince Flynn my favorite writer and his main protagonist Mitch Rapp. The book was very good and stayed upbeat without getting too far fetched with plot lines. I'm glad Mitch Rapp lives on and I think they got the right guy writing him now. I will go back and finish this series.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Beamon is back... Now heading up a department in Homeland Security, it is his duty to find the culprit who has released a new bacteria with a voracious appetite for oil threatens the worlds energy supply.

As usual, Beamon finds himself at odds with his superiors, who includes the President of the United States.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about a guy who has been double crossed and does not care about life. You are taken on a journey and get the live in the mind of the man character. This fast paced book has a great story with a cool believable plot. I would highly recommend this book. Good read.

[Sandy Kell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had read this a few years ago I might have found the premise just a tad far-fetched, but with the current administration, it's terrifyingly believable!

[Pugsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good thriller based on sabotage of the oil industry using biological contamination which threatens the world wide supply. Somewhat realistic in today’s world. Scary at the very least!

[Angelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this a while ago but it's still not relevant to today. Too much language again.

[Rick Unger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and well written.