Kyle Mills, the man who calls himself “A Good
Book Forger”
By Sandra J. Paul
Kyle Mills has been writing for quite some time,
publishing for the first time in 1997. He has written his own series, but has
also been working on series for other authors. Most recently, he became known
as the man who took over the Mitch Rapp-series, a very popular series of books
about a CIA-agent who has been active for a long time.
Kyle Mills took over after Vince Flynn, the
original author, passed away after losing the fight against cancer. He has just
recently finished his fourth book in the series: Red War, a thrilling ride that
takes Rapp into Russia. Red War is the seventeenth novel in the series.
In 2017, American Assassin, a prequel to the
series, was turned into a movie with Dylan O’Brien playing the lead and Michael
Keaton as Stan Hurley, his tough mentor.
Hi Kyle, thanks so much for wanting to do this
interview with me. As a fan of the Mitch Rapp-series, I can’t express enough
how happy I am that you’ve published the fourth novel written by you in the
series, after the passing of Vince Flynn.
Red War is one exciting ride, from the first word
to the very last. Highly recommended for the fans of a good Spy novel.
Can you
introduce yourself to our readers in three words?
Good book forger
To clarify a bit: I’ve written books for other
people’s series, using their characters and imitating their style, adopting their
way of writing.
Can you
do the same for your own books? Three words to describe them.
My own books: ambiguous, controversial and
thoughtful
For Mitch Rapp: exciting, action-packed
How long
do you usually work on one book?
I write really long outlines. I also discovered
that I can only work until my brain is done. It’s kind of funny: sometimes it
can be an hour, sometimes eight, but it’s unpredictable. I can feel when my
brain short-circuits and when I need to stop.
When I’m done with the outline, which is long and
elaborate, I start writing the book. Then I write one chapter per day, not necessarily
in order.
Where do
you get your ideas?
I’m always full of ideas, so coming up with new
things hasn’t been too bad yet. I was lucky early in my career, working with
ambiguous ideas: who is the good and bad guy, and are they really so black and
white?
The Ludlum books were science-oriented. I had
these ideas in the back of my head for quite a lot of time, so I was excited I
could use them for the Ludlum-books.
With Rapp, it’s different. They are very focused
on terrorism.
Why did
you choose the Spy novel genre when you started writing? Can you tell us about
the very first book you published, Rising Phoenix?
I read a large variety of books and genres when I
grew up. When I first decided to write a novel, before the internet even
existed, I was swept into the spy world, because my father was FBI-agent and
also worked for Interpol. Mi6 and mi5 were a natural part of my life; I’ve
known these people and these situations all of my life. Before the internet, it
was hard to do research, so I wanted to write about something I already had a
solid knowledge of. I had this idea about vigilantes putting poison in the narcotics
supply. The war on drugs was very much in the new in those days. I knew some
DEA guys, came up with an idea about this moral dilemma and went from there.
I was still working as a banker at the time and
the book was written as a hobby project. I honestly never thought I would be
able to find an agent and get a publishing deal, let alone make a living out of
it. It turns out that I did. I landed a two-book deal and my first novel became
a bestseller.
The idea for the second book fell into my lap and
I decided to quit my job to focus on it.
We all
know that you have continued the Mitch Rapp-series after the passing of Vince
Flynn, the original author. Can you tell us how this happened?
We had a mutual friend, author Brad Thor, who
wanted to get us together, but due to time constraints, it never happened. I
still regret that.
After Vince passed away, his agent asked me for some
ideas on where to go from there with the series. I reread The Last Man, Vince’s
last book, and the storyline screamed to be finished, so I gave him some vague thoughts
about where to go from there.
A few days later, they called me and we moved on from
there. The difficult part of writing The Survivor was getting inside Vince’s head.
I had to think a lot about who he was and what he would have wanted to do next.
Why did he write those books and how? I reread all of his work and watched a
lot of videos of him to answer those questions.
I didn’t want people to discern any difference
between The Last Man and The Survivor. I really wanted to write this book as a
kind of forgery. I seem to have succeeded because the vast majority of fans
loved it. Like me, they wanted to see Mitch, and Vince’s legacy, continue.
In The Survivor, I held to Vince’s style. The
next one, Order to Kill, seemed to me to be a perfect blending of our styles. After
than came Enemy of the State and then Red War. I like all four of them more or
less equally, but for different reasons.
Which is
your favorite book of the Vince Flynn-ones?
Consent to Kill, without a doubt. That book was
fantastic. From a writer’s standpoint, I’m really impressed by anyone who can
combine so many elements in one book. (Side note from Sandra: Consent is my
favorite too)
There
were two books written by Vince that are prequels in the Mitch Rapp series.
American Assassin and Kill Shot. There never came a third prequel, even though
there was talk about it. A lot of fans want to know what happened to Greta and
what happened after Kill Shot. Is there talk about you writing a third prequel?
I did pitch a prequel, but Vince’s publisher and
agent weren’t that excited about going backward, so it’s still out there. I
would love to do it, since I’ve never written a historical thriller. The
storyline would have to take place in the late eighties or early nineties, so
that would be fun. It would also allow me to put Mitch in a real historical
situation, like the aftermath of the cold war, for example.
September
2017 was a thrilling month for you. You released Enemy of the State and there was the release of the movie
version of American Assassin. How was that?
It was crazy! You saw Mitch Rapp everywhere, both
in book and movie versions. The whole movie industry thing was fun, because I
didn’t know what that was like, but I never tried to get involved in it either,
so I never went to the shoots.
Since I was going on a book tour before the movie
came out, I asked the movie studio to send me a DVD to see it upfront, which
was funny because it doesn’t work that way. Instead, they rented the local
theatre in my town and then sent someone with the movie in a secure briefcase.
Then he fitted it into the projector himself. They had popcorn, the move
posters, and name of the film over the theater door. But it was only me and my
wife in the theater.
What is
the difference between working on your own series and the Mitch Rapp-books?
I wrote one series of my own before I started to
write other people’s series, like Ludlum and the Mitch Rapp-series.
My own series was very confiding for me; not like
Vince’s. I had to describe the characters in detail in every book, often
repeating myself to make sure that readers could follow. Because Vince was so popular,
I could assume that readers were already familiar with the characters.
Have you
always been supported by the Vince Flynn-fans?
Yes, definitely. The beginning was hard, because
they didn’t know me yet, so I had to prove myself. Now, it’s really gratifying
that they accept where I’m taking the series and love the books.
In the beginning, I felt that it was very much
about Vince, and rightfully so. Now though, I’ve had to take the series in
different directions in order to keep up with world events.
You do
book tours and signings to interact with the fans. How important is that to
you?
Well, being cooped up writing makes you a lonely
person, so it’s great to get out every once in a while to interact with my
readers. It’s a lot of fun to hear people’s thoughts on the characters and
series.
Also, the internet (and social media), helps a
lot in that sense. Before the internet existed, people had to write letters to
my publisher, which then made their way to me. Now, interactions are so much
easier.
How
about the future of Rapp?
I would love to continue writing the books for
quite some time, but I don’t want to write past the time I have something for
Mitch to say. When that happens, I’ll step aside.
How
about a Scott Coleman spin-off?
That would be fantastic, but I have no idea where
I’d find the time. I do love the character though and I would love to see more
of him. Yesterday, I wrote a scene where Scott wants something from Mitch,
resulting in them bickering like an old married couple. It’s a fun
relationship.
To me, three characters are indispensable in the
series: Mitch, Irene and Scott.
How
thrilling was it for you to hold your very first book in your hands, a long
time ago?
It was incredible but, to be 100 percent honest,
I felt like a fraud. I was still a corporate banker at the time, and I thought
that someone was going to find out that I’m not really a writer.
The second part of it was that everything went really
fast. I went from working in a bank, to being on a bestseller list in a few
months’ time. I never even brought it up to many of friends and colleagues,
until it was on shelves.
Let’s
talk about Red War: Why Russia?
Because it’s what’s happening now: the threat of
Russia rising up again. I love writing about Russia, since I grew up reading
Tom Clancy, John Le Carré, Ludlum … I loved those Cold War books.
I based the Russian president on Putin, who is
the perfect character to use in a book like this. It just felt right.
And in
your next book, apparently, you are using American elections as theme?
Well, the world changes very fast; there’s always
something new happening. I wanted to do something apolitical but then I
realized that would be a cop out. Internal politics is the main threat to
America right now. Much more so than Russia or Islamic terrorists.
It’s critical not to go into detail about current
politics, because it’s too risky to finger point or name people. In my books, you’ll
find a terrible politician, but you will never read if he’s a Republican or a
Democrat. It’s not important.
One of
my favorite parts of your continuation of the series, is the relationship that
Mitch has with Claudia and her daughter Anna. As we all know, Mitch has had a
rough time when it comes to his love life. His girlfriends and wives tend to
die, and all.
Yes, writing about his love life is very hard. I
think Vince felt this way too. I knew that when Anna was visiting her in-laws
in one of his books, she was going to get killed off. Which happened. Truth be
told, I never felt that Anna was right for Mitch. She didn’t get his world at
all, maybe a bit too goodie goodie for him, while Donatella was too awful to
him.
I wanted to change that, so I thought about who
Mitch could connect with and what kind of interesting relationship they could
have. Claudia fit that profile; she’s in between the two and they share a past.
Irene and Mitch were never an option. They have
more of a brother-sister relationship, so that idea never occurred to me. Greta
was not an option either, even though fans still want to know what happened to
her.
Let’s
talk American Assassin. In 2017, the movie American Assassin was released with
Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp. While writing, do you now imagine Mitch as Dylan?
Or do you have another vision of him in your mind?
To me, Dylan was the perfect actor to play Mitch.
Mitch has to have dark hair and look kind of Arab when the storyline requires
it, which is how he operates in the first place. Dylan definitely had the looks
and the acting chops. He’s a very intense actor who really took the part and
made it his own. I admired what he accomplished.
The comment that came back quite a lot, was that
he was too young, which is not correct. He was actually two years older than
Rapp was in the book, and he was lean, like athletes are, so that fit the bill
too.
So yes, in my mind, he is Mitch Rapp and I hope
we get to see him again in another.
What
kind of genre would you like to tackle if someone told you that you could never
write another Spy novel again? Let’s say that you would start a whole new
series, in what era would you put it and why?
Easy! The Cold War for sure. I love all the books
from that era and was heavily influenced by them. If I could have been born 25
years earlier, I would have fit into that era.
Apart from that, Science fiction would be fun.
Something a bit further in the future, but not too far, like thirty years or
something, focusing on some invention that would change the world.
If you
were to leave to a deserted island today and you are allowed to take just one
book, which one would that be, knowing you would have to read it over and over
again?
Frankenstein – I love that book. I could read it
over and over again.
If you
were to get the chance to leave for luxury island for three months, would you
pen your next novel there, or would you sit back and relax?
I tend to go on vacation and then get bored after
3 days, and I never sit on beaches, so I probably would start writing really
quickly.
Authors
that can live off their pen are rare in my country, due to our small amount of
readers. For you it’s different, being a number 1 New York times bestseller.
Apart from becoming a writer, what would you have loved to be?
I might have been a rock-climbing guide or
something. My favorite things to do are all outdoors. I grew up raise riding
mountain bikes and rock climbing. Maybe a park ranger. Currently, I spend most
of my time sitting in the basement, writing books. A totally different world.
Kyle, to
end this interview, let me do a little quiz with you.
In what
year did the very first book written by Vince Flynn get published? This should
be an easy one.
Note: Kyle didn’t remember 😉.
The answer: 1997
You are
currently living in Spain to study Spanish and learn the language. Can you
translate the following words for me?
Assassin - Red War - Book (or novel)
Note: Kyle got them all!
In what
book did Scott Coleman first appear?
Term limits (as main character)
Act of Treason – as recurring character in the
Rapp-series.
Note: no hesitation there
What
university did Mitch attend and what was the language he majored in?
Syracuse – French
What was
the scholarship he attended Syracuse on?
Lacrosse
Note: no hesitation there either
Thanks so much, Kyle for this interview!
