  | Rising Phoenix
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| "Good Story That Poses A Great Moral Dilemma" | ||||||
| One big aspect of this book I liked was all the planning that went into pulling off the operation to poison shipments of cocaine and heroin to the USA. So many details, so much time trying to cover one's tracks. If THE DOGS OF WAR showed us how to put together a mercenary operation, RISING PHOENIX teaches us what it takes to pull off an operation like this. Ex-DEA agent John Hobart is a very formidible foe. He may be a stone cold sociopath, but he has a very low key approach about him. He's also very smart and very meticulous (I hate stupid bad guys in situations like this). FBI Agent Mark Beamon was a pretty decent character. Middle-age, not an impressive physical specimen and someone who bucks the system on a regular basis. I felt the one reviewer made a good observation comparing Beamon to NYPD BLUE's Dennis Franz. However, I thought there was quite a bit of untapped potential in Beamon. Though my biggest complaint is how Mills pretty much glossed over the death of Beamon's nephew from tainted cocaine. It just suddenly appeared in the middle of the book and not much is made after that. Something like this would have really given Beamon a lot more motivation and emotional turmoil. I will say the book offered a great moral dilemma that kept you thinking. While the poisoning sends drug use plummeting in the U.S., the body count rises to staggering levels. The story has you constantly wondering if the ends justify the means. | ||||||
 Great book but I found myself routing for the bad guy | ||||||
| Rising Phoenix was the first Kyle Mills book I read and I have subsequently read the rest. I feel that for me it was by far the best. I was intrigued by the plot and found myself extolling it to friends as a workable, if somewhat extreme, solution tho the drug problem in this country. Mark Beamon is a likeable enough character but the antagonist John Hobart was much more interesting to me. He had a more extensive back story than Beamon and was easily just as smart as the FBI agent which I found refreshing. If you enjoyed this book like I did may I suggest authors such as Vince Flynn and Nelson Demille. In closing one of my favorites and pick it up if you are from eather end of the political spectrum for an informitive and chilling read. | ||||||
 too much wish fulfillment, not enough hard reality | ||||||
| Rising Pheonix is an ambitious novel; unfortunately, it just doesn't have the ring of authenticity of, say, someone like Frederick Forsyth or Richard Herman, Jr. I believe the problem is that the author is still too young and experienced to tackle the characters and subject matter and make the story real. The characters aren't mature or complex enough, the locations don't come alive like they should, many of the descriptions are off-kilter, and events seem shoehorned into the story to make the plot work (Hobart's escapades in Colombia, especially, are hard to swallow). Another major flaw is the fact that we get very little in the way of technical details, the nuts-and-bolts operations of the various organizations that come into play here. When I read a political thriller, I want insight that encompasses the big picture, not endless details into the pointless quirks and habits of the characters. But I think the main problem is that the basic premise is flawed. To poison a large shipment of drugs would not solve the drug problem in this country-- too many addicts would keep using or switch to other drugs, and such a ploy would not bring the multi-billion dollar drug industry to its knees. Not only that, we really don't get a sense of the huge tragedy that tens of thousands of drug deaths across the country would be (Noone who is rich and famous becomes a victim? Hmmm.), not to mention the myriad social ramifications such an event would cause. And finally, no FBI agent-- no matter how good he is-- would accept a gift from a drug-dealing Mafioso, or he wouldn't last long with the Bureau. Pet Peeve Dept: "Ahold" is not a word. | ||||||
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