Storming Heaven (Paperback)

by Kyle Mills (Author) "A TRAGIC HEART ATTACK AT THE TENDER YOUNG age of fifteen and a half, Jennifer Davis thought..." (more)
Key Phrases: church angle, young agent, Jennifer Davis, Mark Beamon, Albert Kneiss (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Take one outspoken, sloppy, slightly boozy FBI agent who's too smart for his own good (and never lets the reader forget it) and exile him to a field office in Arizona so he doesn't embarrass the Agency. Tie him to a short tether and bury him in paperwork. Add a double murder and a missing teenager; throw in a little New Age religion (but don't identify it as Scientology, or L. Ron Hubbard's legions will bury you in lawsuits) and you have Kyle Mills's second Mark Beamon thriller. A bit too smug to be likable, Beamon has the case totally figured out before anyone else has a clue. Shortly thereafter, he's pressured to shut down the investigation. When he persists in following a road that leads right to the front door of the powerful Church of the Evolution, he's suddenly targeted by the IRS, labeled a pedophile, and finally suspended. But with the help of an ex-member of the cult, an eager young agent, and a crusty old retired wire tapper, Beamon manages to track down the missing girl and put a crimp in the church's ambitious plans. These include a conspiracy to take over the nation's telecommunications infrastructure and extend the cult's hold over the movers and shakers of the country--including Beamon's boss and other FBI honchos. A tidy little millennial thriller with echoes of Waco, Ruby Ridge, and those comet-happy cultists in San Diego who followed their leader to a higher plane last summer, this should win Mills (author of Rising Phoenix) a legion of new fans. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
This formulaic second novel starring maverick FBI agent Mark Beamon (after Rising Phoenix, 1997) suffers from contrived plotting, ponderous pacing and lapses of credibility. Now exiled to the rural environs of the Arizona bureau office, Beamon is called off the golf course to investigate what initially seems to be the murder of a couple by their disappeared teenaged daughter; although no federal crime is suggested until well into the investigation, G-man Beamon doesn't let details like jurisdiction bother him. And as it happens, young suspect Jennifer Davis has been kidnapped by the Kneissians, a sort of Mooney-like PTL Club, because she is in actuality the granddaughter of the sect's patriarch. The old man is dying, and he plans for her to take his place. However, his surrogate daughter, Sara, has other plans, and she uses the church's millions of members, billions of dollars and tentacular reaches into the highest levels of government and finance to ensure her own rise to power. All of which we know long before Beamon agonizingly figures it out. Suspended and thereby free to "break the rules," Beamon pursues Jennifer's kidnappers through the snowy streets of Flagstaff, with far-fetched strokes of luck and acts of derring-do better suited to old cop shows than to a novel. Shot through with cliches, inane dialogue and unnecessary accounts of Beamon's propensity for strong drink and tobacco, the novel slips along to a highly predictable conclusion. Rights, William Morris Agency.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Coronet Books (May 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034073423X
• ISBN-13: 978-0340734230
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #862,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Non-stop suspense and action, a Great Read, February 5, 2000

By	Kathleen P. McCahill (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

Kyle Mills has created an interesting character in Mark Beamon - a suffering, slightly edgy, moral man who refuses to back down, kind of like a pit bull who will protect til the end. The introduction of a cult-like religion was a twist. This book was so well written, planned out, it had you rooting for Mark Beamon (along with a cast of characters that were irritating, frightening and endearing). There were so many surprises and the premise of our privacy being invaded by a group of people with a different agenda was definitely not a far fetched idea.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kyle Mills...A new writer with guts., January 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Hardcover)

Storming Heaven was one of the best contemporary thrillers I have read in years. Whereas most current popular novels of this genre deal with such oft-used threats as neo nazism, islamic terrorism, missing weapons as a result of Soviet breakup, or conspiracies within our own government, Mills has the boldness to deal with what is to me the most insidious and overlooked threat: "Christian" fanaticism, and its desire to control the lives of others. While clearly a work of fiction (I can't say I know enough about Scientology to draw any conclusions), this book is to me, far scarier than anything even Steven King could write since it deals with events that are entirely plausible. Large ideas aside, it is also an excellent crime/kidnapping story and while it does contain potentially objectionable language, the sex and violence are comparatively minimal so the book can be enjoyed by a wide audience. Definitely a winner along with Rising Phoenix, his previous novel which also tackles religious conspiracy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Premise, Good Thriller, January 18, 2000

By	Mrs. Fitz "fitzeesmrs" (MA/NH Border, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second of Kyle Mill's books that I have read. Rising Phoenix was a good (notice I say GOOD not GREAT) thriller as well.

Unlike some of the reviewers I really like Mark Beamon, the "hero" of Kyle Mills books. His sense of humor and unhealthy lifestyle are a nice change from alot of "heroes" in other books. The pace moves quickly and keeps you interested. A few times I found myself saying "Now that was dumb Mark, why don't U do this". Of course being a reader you tend to have both sides of the story so it's easy to know what to do.

Glad I waited to get this book in paperback, but it's definitely worth a read.