Local Author's Thriller Helps Veterans

Author E. Kelly Keady is known for his critically acclaimed novels that fall along the Dan Brown thrillers in the genre. His latest, The Fall of St. Sebastian has received praise from the likes of Vince Flynn (“An Outstanding Thriller! Keady writes with wit and pulse-pounding suspense!”), Publisher’s Weekly (“a fast-moving suspense yarn that reads like a good season of the TV show 24”) and Midwest Book Reviews (“an exhilarating twisting thriller”). However, Keady is doing more than just selling books.  

According to Keady, “It all started as an effort to put a smile on someone’s face by naming a character after a veteran.” So on page 353 of The Fall of St. Sebastian, Keady named a character after SFC Mike Mills from Freeport, Minnesota. After meeting Mills and his wife Suki, and listening to their story, Keady wanted to do more.  

Mills, served with Bravo Co. 434th MSB Army National Guard from St. Cloud and was severely injured and burned by an IED near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.  In addition to suffering numerous broken bones with pins and plates holding his hip together, Mills also had 2nd, 3rd and deep tissue burns to 31% of the left side of his body, had his thumb and pinky on his left hand amputated, and he is missing the majority of his outer ear and some of the nostril opening. Despite all this physical and emotional damage and the years of resulting surgeries, Mike and Suki Mills give back to the military community by counseling veterans returning home with similar injuries. More on Mills and their organization, For The Veteran…By A Veteran, can be found on their website at: http://www.fortheveteran.com/index.php .    

What inspired Keady, “was the fact that given everything these two had gone through, they still fly across the country, on their own dime, speaking and helping other veterans and their families.” The thriller writer thought he could help Mills build awareness for the millions of veterans that have returned home and are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, Keady has used social media through his Facebook page, Twitter, and various author pages to seek donations for Mills and other veterans’ organizations. Keady also has been donating proceeds from the sale of his latest thriller The Fall of St. Sebastian to Mills and other veterans’ organizations.  

Keady will be the featured speaker at Valley Booksellers’ Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour from 4:30 pm – 6 pm on July 3rd at Stillwater’s Dock Café located at 425 Nelson St E and discussing his critically acclaimed thrillers The Fall of St. Sebastian and The Cross of St. Maro.  

For more information contact:   Kathleen Eddy, Valley Bookseller 651.430.3385 or Kathleen@valleybookseller.com   E. Kelly Keady at 612.339.7242 or ekkeady@fortypress.com.