Kyle Mills: Enemy At The Gates Tour Highlights
This year’s book tour launched from Granada, the city in Spain where I’ve been living for the past five months. It was virtual once again and, as always, fans rolled out some heartfelt, creative, and often hilarious content to help me tell the world that Mitch Rapp was back. Since August I’ve been doing lots of radio and podcast interviews, and I plan to share some of them in next month's roundup. There have been plenty of late nights since my time zone is six hours ahead of U.S. east coast time.
Here’s a sampling of this year’s tour moments. Mitch Rapp is nothing without his posse and the same is true for me. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be surrounded by supportive independent bookstores and generous fans who answer questions, review my novels, and are genuinely excited when a new book drops.
Cheers to you!
I couldn't bring my Crew Reviews glass all the way to Spain so I made another one.
Having a little fun on social media after imagining what it might look like to have my book cover plastered on one of Spain's most impressive monuments.
Rapp Memorabilia
My publicist, David Brown over at @AtriaMysteryBus, wondered if fans might be interested in supporting an indie bookstore in return for an autographed page from my original manuscript. Turns out, they were! I signed more than 350 pages, shipped them off, and readers waited to see which one they’d receive.
A huge shout out to the bookstores that participated in the preorder campaign and hosted events. You can still order books from them on the links below. A big thanks to Savannah Book Festival as well for hosting an event.
Little City Books in Hoboken, New Jersey
Murder By The Book in Houston, Texas
novel. in Memphis, Tennessee
Once Upon A Crime in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona
Warwicks in La Jolla, California
Disasters Narrowly Averted
Just as books were rolling out nicely, tragedy struck. Mike from @MitchRappPod tried to do a fancy unboxing and sliced through his signed page that was hidden by the wrapping. He didn't realize the page was there so he crumpled up the wrapping paper and threw it all in the garbage. The sad story unfolded on Twitter after he fished it all out again later that day. Not to worry, though. I printed a new page and after some wrangling with the Spanish mail system, managed to send it out to him.
And, from another corner of the country…@KLFreyAuthor was racing through the story when he flipped the page and was faced with a horrible sight. His plea on social media was answered in the form of two photos that showed the missing pages so he could resume reading. Absolutely no one can keep a Rapp fan down.
Mitch Rapp Lives
This once-a-year shirt serves as the starting gun for Pub Day. When it comes out of the drawer, it's a race to see if Mitch Rapp will debut near the top of the New York Times bestseller list once again. If you'd like to add one to your closet, you can buy it from Saint Thomas Academy where Vince was an alum.
Gun Guru
I am fortunate to have a guy in my court who knows a ton about firearms. @rodgregg helps me avoid mistakes, but he also suggests cool weapons Mitch can use to get out of whatever jam he finds himself in.
Stay Tuned
I hadn’t thought about it until @KLHDesigns tweeted, but now I want to know... Will the "Enemy" books become a series within a series? Let’s see where the Rapp #21 title takes us.
Behind Door #1
Let's Book A Deal, a game show that recently debuted, awarded @mlcarter34 a copy of Enemy at the Gates. Will there be more chances to win future books? You'll have to wait and see.
Rapp Ambassadors Revealed
The ambassador program is legendary for getting the word out during the prepublication cycle. This year there was a twist: Via reaction videos, we got to meet some of the participants who were chosen to receive early copies of the book. I’ll always be grateful for their passion and efforts to share the news with their networks.
Top L to R: @bridgetabrooks, @TheJonCrunch, @Jse_80
Middle L to R: @RedRaptorRage
Bottom L to R: Ambassador Gary Nash, @MACHTink
Assassin Art
@TheJonCrunch has once again taken Rapp into the realm of fine art. Will there be a Rapp gallery one day?
I can’t imagine how long it takes @dawn_alcorn to make a book cake, but I appreciate every minute she spends transforming my covers into edible art.
Rapp Obsessions
Maybe I’m biased, but a complete collection of books is one of my favorite photos to see. Here's a great example from @Marc_Harris3.
A subcategory of this genre is the bookcase shot, where fans share pics of their collections. Top to Bottom: @HM3ss_Piranha, @MllrChris, @zenextremist
How To Read Rapp
This year there was no shortage of book pics taken poolside, seaside, and in the company of cigars, adult beverages, and pets. I think it’s fair to say that readers find spending time with Mitch to be relaxing despite all the bullets and mayhem.
@ShawnCrossWords and Hondo
Multilingual Rapp
This year I was surprised to see my first American Sign Language review and it came to us from @swalton907. As someone who’s currently learning Spanish and understands how hard it can be to master a second language, I was definitely impressed with her fluency.
And Then This Happened...
Enemy At The Gates debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list!
Thanks so much to everyone who bought a book and spread the word. It's fun to see Mitch Rapp still going strong after so many years!