Publishers Weekly
With this sixth novel in as many years (following last year's Sphere of Influence), Mills departs from his usual suspense thriller format of mass murder, conspiracy and terrorist threat. What he presents instead is a timely and chilling tale hinging on the power of Big Tobacco to bring the American government and economy to a standstill. Trevor Barnett, 32, is heir to a giant tobacco conglomerate called Terra. He is also a lazy ne'er-do-well who works for the company only because his trust payments are tied to his employment in the tobacco industry. He knows cigarette smoking kills people, but doesn't really care, believing that smokers have the right to make their own decisions. The tobacco industry is about to lose a $250-billion class-action lawsuit, a judgment the industry cannot appeal. Such a ruling will permanently bankrupt all of the tobacco companies, and Terra's ruthless CEO, Paul Trainer, is not about to let that happen. After making some snappy and irreverent comments at a board meeting, Trevor suddenly and unwillingly finds himself spearheading a tobacco offensive that shakes the nation. Big Tobacco closes all its plants and recalls all its tobacco products in a clever game of chicken, facing down the courts, Congress, the White House and the antismoking lobby. The result is a catastrophic loss of tax revenue and political donations, and an angry population of smoking voters who want their cigarettes back. The novel's plot is carefully crafted and original, filled with corporate and political intrigue, treachery, betrayal and the complex backroom deals that keep big companies humming along. With a refreshing lack of sanctimony, Mills turns the tobacco wars into grist for an absorbing business thriller. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In his latest thriller, Mills (Free Fall) mines familiar territory with completely new and powerful tools. Trevor Barnett is a self-described "trustafarian," a young man with a trust fund-and it's making him miserable. Trevor's money comes from Terra, the tobacco company his family built from the ground up. But he can only gain access to his money by working for the family business he despises. With a lawsuit pending in Montana that may wipe out the tobacco companies, Trevor starts to realize the futility of his life. He wants out. Unfortunately, every move he makes to escape gets him promoted. Soon he's unwillingly assisting the power-hungry, economy-shaking machinations of Terra CEO Paul Trainer. In this thriller, less is more. While the action still counts-the thrills come from Trevor's out-of-control and often hilarious trajectory-it is Mills's smart and witty writing that makes this essential reading. Like a lower-key Carl Hiaasen, he pokes knowledgeable fun at the politicians, the anti-tobacco campaigners, the ruthless tobacco company execs, and the idea of personal responsibility. Readers who are convinced that they know where they stand on the tobacco issue may have to think again. Highly recommended.-Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Funny, near-credible fantasy about an unlikely hero who takes on Big Tobacco and cuts it down to size. Terra Holding Corporation, the tobacco colossus widely viewed as "the last word in corporate evil," employs, in a lowly, computer-nerdish capacity, one Trevor Barnett, whose great-great-great-grandfather once walked tall in the industry. Not so, Trevor, of course, whose natural inclination is to cower. Or if not precisely that, at least to blend in so effectively as to give fresh meaning to the phrase "protective coloration." A "whiny putz," says Paul Trainer, Terra Corp's CEO, dismissively. But he's wrong. There are two sides to Trevor. For one thing, he's smart. For another, he has a certain inner-deeply inner-fortitude that blocks the easy hypocrisy so prevalent in his family history. What he lacks is self-regard-until, that is, the lovely and estimable Anne Kimball decides to take him in hand. As a staunchly idealistic member of SY (Smokeless Youth), she is at first distinctly anti-Trevor. Still, she's the one who sees in him what there is to see and, having fallen in love despite herself, lights a fire under him. Interestingly enough, Trevor does have a point of view. Acknowledging that tobacco is quite as harmful as its worst critics say it is, he insists that "the question we need to answer isn't whether Americans should smoke; it's whether they should be allowed to smoke": in other words, it's a question of self-determination, of personal liberty. How this vaults him into a position of power, befuddles his enemies, wins him his girl, makes him rich, and reshapes Big Tobacco forever is the burden of a wry, sly Frank Capra-esque tale. Fast, lively, provocative. If at resolutiontime Mills (Burn Factor, 2001, etc.) blows a little smoke, you'll at least have been thoroughly entertained.
