Jennifer listened to the latch on the door click shut as she crumpled to her side on the hard tile and struggled to even out her breathing.
It had been the same woman. The one who had driven her parents crazy. The one who had drugged her.
Why had she been sitting there in the darkness? Why hadn’t the woman answered when she had called out?
Jennifer crawled sobbing toward the door and flipped the light switch again. It was better that way, she thought as the darkness closed in on her. Better to see nothing.
• HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM
STORMING
HEAVEN
BY
KYLE MILLS
Available now from HarperCollins Publishers
Acknowledgments
I have been told, on a number of occasions, that the care and feeding of a first-time novelist is no small task. I would like to thank the following people for all their help and/or tolerance:
Darrell Mills for unwittingly immersing me in the FBI culture for most of my life—see, I do pay attention. Also, for putting his inexplicable marketing genius to work for me. I never doubted for a second.
Elaine Mills for her unwavering confidence that I could translate my grade school short story career into an adult novel, as well as for her occasionally scathing editorial comments.
My “test market” critics: Steven Summers, Chris Bruno, and Lori Adams.
Kelly Meier, my Baltimore connection, and Deb Michael for a brief lesson on the criminal justice system at the Wharf Rat.
Robin Montgomery at the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group for his help with the FBI’s SWAT capabilities.
Tim Sandlin for spending God knows how many hours combing though my manuscript and scrawling comments. I promise not to stick you with the next one.
Allen Thomas for his many inspired title ideas.
Tom Clancy, for helping to put me in touch with the right people and for all his support.
John Silbersack and Caitlin Blasdell at HarperCollins for their insightful editorial comments and for teaching me a little about the business.
Robert Gottlieb and Matt Bialer, my miracle worker agents at William Morris, for taking a chance on a first time novelist and borderline climbing bum from Wyoming. And, of course, Maya Perez for always being there to answer a dumb question.
And finally, my wife, Kim, for reading the manuscript more times than I had a right to ask and for always prefacing criticism with, “It’s really good, but … “For doing my chores while I hammered away at my keyboard, and, of course, for everything else.
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
—Niccolò Machiavelli
About the Author
KYLE MILLS lives in Jackson Hole. Wyoming, where he spends his time skiing, rock climbing, and writing books. He is the author of Rising Phoenix, Storming Heaven, Free Fall, and Burn Factor.
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Praise For Kyle Mills and
RISING PHOENIX
“Absorbing…. A fine thriller with memorable characters and enough twists to keep readers turning pages…. Mills is definitely someone to watch.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Writing in the Tom Clancy tradition, Kyle Mills has produced a power-packed drama about the men and women who battle the bad guys to protect us all.”
—William H. Webster
former director of the FBI and CIA
“[An] exceptionally accomplished debut thriller … A chillingly effective and suspenseful tale, complete with the moral ambiguities and guilty pleasures of such vigilante dreams as Death Wish.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“RISING PHOENIX is gripping, authentic, and as frightening as a gunshot in the night.”
—W.E.B. Griffin
“A seductive action novel…. Here’s one slick page turner that makes readers think.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“If you haven’t read Kyle Mills yet, you should—I do.”
Tom Clancy
“One of today’s master storytellers … Mills keeps readers breathless, transfixed, and turning pages.”
Tulsa World
Other Works
Books by
Kyle Mills
FREE FALL
STORMING HEAVEN
BURN FACTOR
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HARPERTORCH
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, New York 10022-5299
Copyright © 1997 by Kyle Mills
ISBN: 0-06-101249-1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN 9780062030719
Version 07042012
First HarperTorch paperback printing: May 2002
First HarperPaperbacks printing: July 1998
First HarperCollins hardcover printing: August 1997
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