Rating: 
Summary: 4+ A Comparison of Kyle Mills First Five Books - This Is#3
Review: Since this book was published several years ago and there are already several reviews posted on Amazon, I will attempt to provide a somewhat different perspective that might be helpful to readers interested in Kyle Mills' novels. FREE FALL is the third novel written by Mills to be published, and they all have had Mark Beamon, a maverick FBI agent, as their central protagonist, as does Mills' fifth novel, SPHERE OF INFLUENCE (see five star review 10/16/02). Beamon is only referenced in passing by his FBI associates involved in BURN FACTOR, which was published after this story.FREE FALL involves the search for a top-secret FBI file code named Prodigy by J. Edgar Hoover and purposely misfiled and therefore "lost" subsequent to his death. Tristan Newberry, a graduate student who uncovered the file has been killed and Darby Moore, the young woman and longtime friend of his who was with him at the time is now trying to stay alive while being hunted by Newberry's killers in the belief that she possesses the file. Meanwhile, a high priced attorney acting on behalf of an anonymous client (who is aware of Beamon's past successes against extraordinary odds) contacts Mark and offers a large sum of money if he is successful in locating Darby. Beamon has been suspended by the FBI and is facing possible prosecution as a scapegoat for the political fallout from his recent exploits in STORMING HEAVEN, and thus is intrigued by the possibilty of obtaining enough cash to defend himself against the resources of the US Government. Beamon's job is made extremely difficult by the fact that most of his usual investigative techniques are useless due to the fact that Darby Moore is the top woman rock climber in the world; she lives out of an old VW van, has no address or credit cards and few worldly possessions, and spends most of her time engaged in adventures in areas of the globe totally inaccessible to the average individual. The story proceeds as the presidential election of 2000 nears its conclusion, and it appears the contents of the Prodigy file might influence its outcome. The election is complicated by the presence of a third party candidate, David Hallorin, who comes eventually plays a crucial role in this book. Thus, this book allows the author to explicitly detail Beamon's views of politicians and the role of government in our lives after having indirectly addressed them in the earlier books. The action is fast paced, and the basic plot actually quite straightforward compared to Mills' earlier books, but there are enough unexpected developments to keep it interesting. And the author's knowledge and obvious love of rock climbing allow him to provide incredibly interesting detail of an activity that I previously knew little about. It is these details that form the basis of the superb character development of Darby Moore and imbue several of the essential sequences of the book with believability. (And the wisdom discovered by Darby carved into the walls of an abandoned monastery in the jungles of southern Cambodia and imparted to Mark at the height of their travails is emblematic of the details that make Mills' writing so enjoyable.) If you have read previous books by Mills, this novel is consistent with his other works. All are action adventures, contain interesting characters and dialog, involve plots that revolve around marginally believable conspiracy theories, contain political sermonizing, recognize the flaws inherent in human nature, and in the end involve the triumph of some semblance of good over evil but always in an imperfect way and often with a heavy price to be paid. Thus, if you have enjoyed previously reading Mills, this book should appeal to you. If you have not read other books by Mills, I would suggest you read the ones involving Mark Beamon in order. While each story is self contained, there are numerous references in the later books to the earlier incidents, and the background details will provide context as well as the history of Beamon's personal relationships. Also, I believe that the author gets better at character development as the series proceeds. If you only want to read one book, I enjoyed the last one SPHERE OF INFLUENCE the most. It is the most topical (present day foreign terrorists on US soil) and the plot actually seemed to me somewhat believable. It was the first Mark Beamon story that I read, and intrigued me enough so that I went back and subsequently read the first three in order. If you want the most original plot and the story that involves the most intriguing moral ambiguities and involved philosophical dissertations (e.g. the wisdom of the war on drugs), then read RISING PHOENIX. The benefit of reading this first is that if you like it you will have started at the beginning of the series, as I have strongly suggested. The one outlier is BURN FACTOR. As I previously mentioned, this is an FBI story, but the key character is Quinn Barry, a young researcher who has discovered that the anomalies in an FBI computer system were not a simple programming error but an apparent attempt to bury some case files that suggested a bizarre conspiracy. This is an incredibly intense story, but the plot demands almost complete suspension of the reader's belief and is by far the most cynical and sensationalist in the implications of its conspiracy. The book was recommeded to me and I got so involved that I wanted to finish it, but several times I was totally repulsed not only by the nature of the crimes but the absolutely gruesome and stomach turning detail in which they were described. This description added to the realism of the story and its spellbinding quality, but at several points I was tempted to simply skim the remainder of the book rather than endure the horror of the sequences involved. So, if you like reading the intimate details of serial killings and the torture of the victims, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, I suggest that you skip it since it is completely nonessential to the context of the rest of Mills' work.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as his first
Review: This book was a quick and easy read, but seemed to lack depth and purpose. I liked the lady climber character and the main hero character was ok, but the story line seemed disjointed and implausible.
Rating: 
Summary: a nasty bad plot that stumbles over itself
Review: This book was pretty bad. I listened to it as a book on tape unabridged. In many ways this is a better format to enjoy a book than actually reading it in my opinion, so please don't groan and dismiss what I say because of that. The reason I say that I listened to this book is that it forced me to hear every single written word and I am sure that if I were to have held it in my hands instead I would have flipped past half the pages to figure out how it ended. What bugs me to no end about this book and the author is that he has taken a couple of ideas (a missing FBI file, a rock climbing lady, an honest FBI guy on the outs with the system, and crooked politicians) and then proceeded to play these against each other with reckless abandon. Mills pretty much tugs every possible tried and true method to further a weak ass plot. The end result is a painful display of shoddy writing that gives his genre a bad name.
Tom Clancy actually gave this book a pretty good couple of review quotes and is mentioned on the books cover. I wonder how much he was paid to write a couple nice lines. In my opinion, Clancy wrote a few pretty good reads early on but has turned out some incredible trash as of late, and I say this because Free Fall is a lot like one of Clancy's later books. If you want a comparison, this might be an apt one. MIlls does have potential however, much of what he wrote was almost good and I look forwards to reading his work in a few years.
Rating:
Summary: Kyle is getting to be a must read
Review: This is another strong outing for Kyle Mills. While I liked Storming Heaven a little more than this book, it is still a very good story and I enjoyed it a great deal. Once again in this book Mark Beamon is the protagonist, and he has as many flaws as ever. You love rooting for the guy because he isn't the 6 foot 6 ex-marine who can kill the bad guy with an olive fork. He is an ordinary guy like everyone else, just a little more gifted at putting facts together to solve a mystery. If you like good suspense with a strong story and some action thrown in then this is a book for you. In addition if you are into rock climbing you will most likely enjoy it, and it also has a presidential election aspect so with the 2000 vote coming up that may interest you too.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent - His best yet
Review: This is Kyle Mill's third book and his best yet. If you liked his last two books you'll enjoy this one as well. The story is interesting and keeps you hooked until the end with many interesting plot twists. I also liked the rock climbing scenes and the lead characters accurate yet cynical views on politics.
Rating:
Summary: He'd accept nothing less than a spot on the PGA tour.
Review: This review's title is the end of one of dozens of spoken or silent musings, that contribute toward making this book brilliant. The category this book is a member of is crowded. On any given day the local book superstore could pile a mound of "Political Thrillers" and measure the result by the tonnage. If the same mound were arranged by quality Mr. Mills's work "Free Fall" can stand with anyone. I enjoy Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, John LeCarre, and I have not been as excited about this particular genre since I originally discovered the authors I mentioned. If asked to say what was the best element of this book I would have to pass, for there are two, and that number could be easily expanded. The books I read vary widely, this work has some of the best-written, crisp dialogue that I have read. There is nothing contrived, it flows naturally, and there is not a word used that isn't required. In many instances, lose a word or even change one, and the quality would be gone. The best of the verbal exchange has a regular set cadence, and when humorous an acidic edge. Secondly Mr. Mills delivers the best female character I can remember from this genre. There are no; James Bond bubble-headed heroines or villains, this character runs on her own chemical makeup, she does not try to compete with testosterone. She does not wear psuedo-male power suits, nor does she swear like a pipe fitter. And finally, she does not wear seran wrap designer clothes a la The Thomas Crowne Affair. She is the best at her profession, makes some pretty astute observations about life (the vanity plate BMW bit is priceless), and she leads from wherever she stands. The only detail that frustrated just a bit, were the references to the previous book. They never preempted the understanding of the plot, and in the end you will want to read the previous book. If you enjoy this category of book, the reading does not get any better. Reccomended unconditionally.
Rating:
Summary: Free-Up Some Time for This One
Review: This third book in the Mark Beamon series gives strong evidence that the author, as Tom Clancy say, "is a writer to watch." This book continues where the previous book left off and picks up Beamon as he deals with fall-out from the previous novel. The author then keeps the action, and character development, moving as Beamon is drawn once-again into the political arena. The book is especially timely considering that we are in an election year, and have to consider who we'll vote for and why. The pacing is superb, the dialogue and action crisp, and if you liked the opening scene from M-I:2, then you'll love the rock climbing parts of this book. I couldn't put it down, and ended up staying up way past my bedtime. I'm glad Mr. Mills doesn't rush his books out once a year, the quality is staying high!
Rating:
Summary: Perpetuating the stereotype
Review: While Free Fall is a decent thriller, I was very disappointed that Mills repeatedly disparaged West Virginians throughout his book. It's difficult enough overcoming the most unfair perception that WV is loaded with incestual, ignorant red-necks, but for whatever reason, Mills made multiple, negative, stereotypical remarks about the fine people of WV. I find it most unfortunate that an up-and-coming author who impacts many readers with his material feels it necessary to do such a thing. I've lived all over the United States, and the fact of the matter is, West Virginia's citizens are some of the most humble, friendly, caring people that you'll ever meet. The vast majority of the folks there would literally give the shirts off their backs if they thought it would help somebody in need. It's just too bad that Mills perpetuated many of the unfair, unjust, perceptions that exist about West Virginia and its great people. Even though Mills' work is obviously fictional, there are bound to be some individuals out there who will buy into these ideals.
Rating:
Summary: Another nice read
Review: While Storming Heaven was a bit better this book still keeps you reading and doesn't slow down. Mills seems able to create characters that seem real and react in real ways without boring the tears out of readers. His plots are usually of the national crises variety but in the end it is never wrapped up to please. It satisfies yet leaves you with the feeling that this would be how things would end. I love fiction but let's face it, some writers feel that they must please their readers with the clean break. Mills skips that. Add to that the usual surprises throughout and you basically get a book that you'll enjoy. Not anything new as far as the genre but a very exciting story. Recommend reading the first two books prior to this one for more of Mark Beamon.
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