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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved, loved this book, March 15, 2009
This review is from: Lords of Corruption (Hardcover)
I am a big fan of Kyle Mills and I am very happy to report that Lord of Corruptions is another winner!!! for this great author.
There seems to be a trend, among some of the thriller writers, to set their storylines in countries that, in my case anyway, I know very little about. This novel is almost entirely based in Africa.
Indeed, we meet our main character Josh Hagarty as he applies for a position with NewAfrica. Josh is quite bright and even has an MBA, but he also has an unsavory past that makes his difficult to "employ". Yet, NewAfrica has definitely shown an interest in Josh and while this may not be the ideal job for him (he does not really want to travel and work in Africa) he does take the position because, basically, it pays extremely well and with this money, he will be able to ensure that his sister gets out of her current situation and there might even be some leftover to send her to a good school.
Armed with these thoughts and the best of intentions, Josh decides that he will do the best he can while he is in Africa and will try to help the people there become self-sufficient. Almost immediately upon Josh's arrival, he realizes that NewAfrica is but a front - there is no working equipment, the villagers are basically clueless and uninterested in the project and more importantly NewAfrica does not care about its own projects. What Josh does find is a corrupt, but all powerful leader of the country, a homicidal "right away man", a journalist who has seen it all and loves to drink and a aid worker who believes she can make a difference.
As Josh becomes acquainted with some of the villagers, he becomes frustrated at the whole sham and in the process of trying to do something for them he starts to uncover a huge cover up - that could end up getting him killed. Surprisingly help comes from the weary journalist, JB Flannery, who finally decides that he has seen enough and its take to grow a conscience. Together, Josh, JB and Annika set a plan in motion that is both daring and extremely, extremely dangerous. Not all of them will come out of it alive.
I have not really been able to do justice to the description of the plotline. This book is just one action packed moment after the next. There is something happening at every turn and you can feel the tension throughout the entire storyline. I feared for all of their lives and at the same time, I could not believe that this type of thing could actually still be going on in the 21st century - yet I am certain that it is.
Mills is wonderful at describing the desolate, yet scary African environment - he made me feel as though I was standing right there, in the thick of the action. In Josh, he created a strong character that is deeply flawed and I thought that this just added to the overall comlexity of the book. I also thought the addition of the JB character was a great touch - his complete lack of compassion in the earlier part of the book was a great lead into the type of character JB turned out to be and I think this was my favorite character.
I have to say that there is alot of violence in this book and that this read is not for the faint of heart. But if you are looking for non-stop action and an ending that you will not be able to predict, then this is the book for you.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Billion Dollar Conspiracy!, March 20, 2009
This review is from: Lords of Corruption (Hardcover)
You can't make this stuff up, for sure, if you bother to read the back page articles about small African states ruled by dictators, states very often grown powerful from American and international aid. These are states whose rulers claim to be motivated by wanting economic prosperity and democracy. The truth lies far from the stated ideals and Kyle Mills has captured the essence of the disappearance of governmental and private donor funds into nefarious schemes and dictator hands in this genuinely thrilling novel!
Josh Hogarty is having a tough time finding a job after completing graduate school in engineering. He's got a checkered past that merits an instant rejection from all who check their sources. But after being again refused a coveted interview, he's about to drown his sorrows in a local bar when he is approached by someone actually seeking an interview. The bells of alarm should be clanging but the opportunity to get a job and earn enough to pay for his sister's college degree and pay off his own debt loom larger than concerns for something awry in such a supposedly generous offer.
Invited to New York City for a second interview with the New Africa firm, Josh realizes he is being courted in a way that indicates the job is his for the taking. New Africa is an NGO, an organization dedicated to creating agricultural self-sustaining farms for the poor. It's a charity, to put it quite simply. Since he has nothing but a very troubled family situation, Josh figures this is even better than sitting behind a desk in an un-adventurous job anyway.
Soon enough after Josh lands in hot, steamy Africa and begins to meet the people with whom he will work, he realizes something is wrong and he is expected to quietly accept it all. But the same qualities that got him employed have a surprising twist for his new employers; Josh does have a very active conscience which is about to be sorely tested and severely threatened.
First he meets Gideon, the brother-in-law of Mtiti, the dictatorial President of this African state trying desperately to keep foreign support and keep control over civil warfare between the tribes. Gideon's not very helpful; in fact he's downright hostile. Then there's an older, drunken reporter named Flannary who comes to trust Josh and helps him discover some very unsavory political and financial realities. There's a Norwegian nun-like lady whose altruistic work is refreshingly honest, albeit naive. If the mounting violence and sabotage aren't enough, Josh's sister Laura is facing danger from a scheming step-sister and her boyfriend back in America, a situation being watched by Josh's employers as well.
Behind the scenes are other shady characters and gruesome events that help make these pages turn faster than a spinning top! Kyle Mills is a master of the thriller, who knows how to create a credible, solid story surrounding a tightly plotted adventure.
Lords of Corruption is a terrific read you won't want to miss!!!
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on March 20, 2009
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, January 29, 2010
I enjoyed Mills' FBI novel series and I thought Fade was a brilliant thriller.
However, this novel disappointed me terribly. In fact, I put it aside with 80 pages left because I didn't care at all what happened. I would have quit before then, but I kept hoping for better.
The primary problem with the novel is that the protagonist makes stupid decisions that would have easily been rectified. I felt as if the author was a new author who had read "you must increase the stakes for your protagonist at every chance, put him in a tighter and tighter box." And while that's true, when there are a dozen solutions to the tightening of the box, the protagonist simply comes off as rather stupid and unlikeable. His alleged great love for his sister certainly didn't help him make logical decisions about phoning police, Child Protection, her school, or any other potential help for her. I was reminded of the lead character in the movie Kitten With a Whip who merely needed to phone the police to solve the "threat" at any point. Eventually, I start wishing for the protagonist to die, and painfully, for being so very very stupid.
This aspect of the novel was, in fact, so badly handled that I came to suspect that this isn't his newest novel but some piece of juvenilia that got trotted out to take advantage of his success. Or perhaps he is losing it already (though he seems terribly young to suffer that). Whichever, I won't be hunting for his next novel, and I won't be buying it but using a library so I don't risk money on this author again.
I'll give it above one star because it is certainly literate (and not all popular novels are) and the setting is interesting.
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