I've been thinking about Mark's journey for quite awhile, and how he's changed through the books. At least, I hope he's changed. No Good Deed was the first book I published in the series, but I actually had written a scene from March Into Hell first. If you've read the book, you probably will know what scene I mean when I say it's pretty much the lowest point in Mark's whole story arc. I'm thinking about it today because of a recent review that mentioned some of Mark's less noble traits that come to surface in March Into Hell. I totally agree with the reviewer, so not a knock on the review.

Mark is a bit of grump to put it mildly and in March Into Hell, he's not only out of sorts, he's trying to deal with emotions he hasn't really dealt with in his life. Prior to finding the camera in Afghanistan, he'd had a pretty good life, even if his dad didn't approve of his chosen occupation. As the son of a successful doctor in a small, Midwestern town, he never knew hunger or want. He's good looking, smart, successful, and has a strong moral compass. He never had to even question right and wrong because his upbringing made it inherent in his character.

In Mark Taylor: Genesis, we see this Mark. He wants to do something big and important, but doesn't quite know how, so he jumps at the chance to go to Afghanistan. I wrote this book after the first three, so I had to step back and show Mark how he was before he had to deal with all the stuff that comes later. It was kind of fun to do, in a way. It was the opposite of peeling back layers. It was showing the surface Mark Taylor. What you see is what you get. There was nothing too deep there. After he discovers the camera and what he can do with it, he jumps right in, not really thinking of any consequences.

In No Good Deed, Mark has to deal with losing everything--his friends, his family, his freedom and all of his material possessions. He's almost numb from it all, but slowly starts re-establishing his life, but his circle of friends is small, and while he saw his parents, things weren't back to normal.

In March Into Hell, he's now trying to keep doing the good stuff, but now he's got a spotlight on him. For a private person with a secret, that's a lot of pressure. He doesn't always deal with it in the best way, but I hoped to show he was acting in a way any normal person would. He's not a superhero, after all. In fact, he hits rock bottom with this one.

 Of all my books, when I see a new review show up for March Into Hell, I tend to cringe. Did they like it? The ending isn't typical of a thriller, but it's how I saw Mark reacting based on the totality of what had happened to him in No Good Deed and March Into Hell.

In Deeds of Mercy, he's starting to accept the reality of all the crazy stuff that has happened to him. He's becoming more proactive in dealing with it. He's no longer withdrawn and numb, and not as worried about what others think. He's also less trusting. That allows him to act on what needs to be done.

In March Into Madness, I saw Mark at his peak in ability. This is his life now, and he's accepting pretty well. He even has a bit of a sense of humor about some of it. Terrible things happen, but he's not so much a victim--not mentally anyway.

Now, in the spin-off, Shoot and in the CJ Sheridan series, I see Mark as a mentor. He's trying to guide CJ through the  maze and spar him some of the horrors he had to deal with. He sees CJ sort of a younger version of himself.