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John Milton #1
The Cleaner
Meet John Milton
He considers himself an artisan. A craftsman. His trade is murder.
Milton is the man the government sends after you when everything else has failed. Ruthless. Brilliant. Anonymous. Lethal. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list. But now, after ten years, he's had enough - there's blood on his hands and he wants out. Trouble is, this job is not one you can just walk away from.
He goes on the run, seeking atonement for his sins by helping the people he meets along the way. But his past cannot be easily forgotten and before long it is Milton who is hunted, and not the hunter.
The Cleaner
A career of state-sanctioned murder has taken its toll. Milton is troubled by nightmares, a long line of ghosts who torment his dreams. He resolves to make his next job his last and, then, perhaps, he can start to make amends for everything that he has done.
Sharon Warriner is a single mother in the East End of London, suicidal with fear that she's lost her young son to a life in the gangs. After Milton saves her life, he promises to help. But the gang, and the charismatic rapper who leads it, is not about to cooperate with him.
As London burns through summer riots, Milton finds himself in unfamiliar territory, dealing with an unfamiliar foe. And when his employer sends another agent after him, the odds against him are stacked even higher.
He considers himself an artisan. A craftsman. His trade is murder.
Milton is the man the government sends after you when everything else has failed. Ruthless. Brilliant. Anonymous. Lethal. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list. But now, after ten years, he's had enough - there's blood on his hands and he wants out. Trouble is, this job is not one you can just walk away from.
He goes on the run, seeking atonement for his sins by helping the people he meets along the way. But his past cannot be easily forgotten and before long it is Milton who is hunted, and not the hunter.
The Cleaner
A career of state-sanctioned murder has taken its toll. Milton is troubled by nightmares, a long line of ghosts who torment his dreams. He resolves to make his next job his last and, then, perhaps, he can start to make amends for everything that he has done.
Sharon Warriner is a single mother in the East End of London, suicidal with fear that she's lost her young son to a life in the gangs. After Milton saves her life, he promises to help. But the gang, and the charismatic rapper who leads it, is not about to cooperate with him.
As London burns through summer riots, Milton finds himself in unfamiliar territory, dealing with an unfamiliar foe. And when his employer sends another agent after him, the odds against him are stacked even higher.
348 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2013
15095 people are currently reading
14111 people want to read
About the author
Mark Dawson
114 books1,858 followersFor news and special offers join Mark's mailing list at:
http://eepurl.com/Cai5X
Mark Dawson was born in Lowestoft and grew up in Manchester and Chicago. He has worked as a lawyer and currently works in the London film industry. His first books, "The Art of Falling Apart" and "Subpoena Colada" have been published in multiple languages.
He is currently writing two series. Soho Noir is set in the West End of London between 1940 and 1970. The first book in the series, "The Black Mile", deals with the (real life but little known) serial killer who operated in the area during the Blitz. "The Imposter" traces the journey of a criminal family (think The Sopranos in austerity London and you'd be on the right track).
The John Milton series features a disgruntled special agent who aims to help people to make amends for the terrible things that he has done. Mark, as a child of the 80s, will freely admit that he watched a lot of The Equalizer in his youth.
Mark lives in Wiltshire with his family.
You can find him at www.markjdawson.com or www.facebook.com/markdawsonauthor.
http://eepurl.com/Cai5X
Mark Dawson was born in Lowestoft and grew up in Manchester and Chicago. He has worked as a lawyer and currently works in the London film industry. His first books, "The Art of Falling Apart" and "Subpoena Colada" have been published in multiple languages.
He is currently writing two series. Soho Noir is set in the West End of London between 1940 and 1970. The first book in the series, "The Black Mile", deals with the (real life but little known) serial killer who operated in the area during the Blitz. "The Imposter" traces the journey of a criminal family (think The Sopranos in austerity London and you'd be on the right track).
The John Milton series features a disgruntled special agent who aims to help people to make amends for the terrible things that he has done. Mark, as a child of the 80s, will freely admit that he watched a lot of The Equalizer in his youth.
Mark lives in Wiltshire with his family.
You can find him at www.markjdawson.com or www.facebook.com/markdawsonauthor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,160 reviews
April 10, 2021
The Cleaner
by Mark Dawson is a crime action adventure novel and the first book in the John Milton series. The author brought a strong sense of place, people, and events to life in the book.
John Milton has been working for Group Fifteen, a covert government agency for six years. He is called when the government needs a problem to vanish. But when his latest mission isn’t clean and John wants to retire, he is suspended. John meets Sharon and her son Elijah who live in an area that is full of gang members. What follows is a look at how John tries to atone for his past deeds and what the agency decides to do.
This novel takes a hard look at gangs, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, working three jobs and still not being able to pay all of the bills, atonement, helping others, jealousy, corruption, theft, riots, murder, revenge, and much more.
While the novel starts off with strong action, it moves on to Milton looking for how he can atone for his past. Then, it is quickly sidetracked with a focus on Elijah. The pace of the middle 60 percent of the book was somewhat slow. The pace and action pick up in the last 25 percent of the novel, but the ending was not satisfactory to me.
Overall, this was a dramatic novel for me, but not the full action thriller I was expecting. However, I did like it and want to read the next book in the series to see where the author takes Milton’s character.
Welbeck Publishing and Mark Dawson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for May 4, 2021.
John Milton has been working for Group Fifteen, a covert government agency for six years. He is called when the government needs a problem to vanish. But when his latest mission isn’t clean and John wants to retire, he is suspended. John meets Sharon and her son Elijah who live in an area that is full of gang members. What follows is a look at how John tries to atone for his past deeds and what the agency decides to do.
This novel takes a hard look at gangs, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, working three jobs and still not being able to pay all of the bills, atonement, helping others, jealousy, corruption, theft, riots, murder, revenge, and much more.
While the novel starts off with strong action, it moves on to Milton looking for how he can atone for his past. Then, it is quickly sidetracked with a focus on Elijah. The pace of the middle 60 percent of the book was somewhat slow. The pace and action pick up in the last 25 percent of the novel, but the ending was not satisfactory to me.
Overall, this was a dramatic novel for me, but not the full action thriller I was expecting. However, I did like it and want to read the next book in the series to see where the author takes Milton’s character.
Welbeck Publishing and Mark Dawson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for May 4, 2021.
October 11, 2013
I rarely stop reading books, especially if they have a good premise and an awesome cover. Dawson's grammar is pretty good too, and the formatting is fine.
So why did I stop reading?
Well, I ran into a wall of needless exposition 10% into the Kindle e-book.
The story was gearing up pretty good, protagonist gets second thoughts about his job, doesn't shoot a young witness, gets dressed down by his superior and quits.
All is well up to this point, but then, when the protagonist has gone, his superior pulls out the protagonist's human resources file and starts going over what should be familiar knowledge to the superior, resulting in several pages delving into the protagonist's back story with all the charm of reading someone's job application resume.
Why? Why ruin the pace with this clunky exposition?
I see this often happen in mediocre books and shows, where the author/director assumes the audience are morons who have to be spoon-fed information they cannot glean from the protagonist's actions. And the fact is that the audience (readers/viewers) are way more intelligent than they get credit for.
I'm sorry to give this book a 1-star rating, but I can't abide lazy writing. I don't need a protagonist's resume, I need them to be interesting. I don't want to run into a wall of exposition that drags down the pace to a standstill, I want to read what's going to happen next. John Milton sounded interesting until I got too much information in the worst way possible.
Too bad. Great cover, great premise, good formatting, lazy writing.
So why did I stop reading?
Well, I ran into a wall of needless exposition 10% into the Kindle e-book.
The story was gearing up pretty good, protagonist gets second thoughts about his job, doesn't shoot a young witness, gets dressed down by his superior and quits.
All is well up to this point, but then, when the protagonist has gone, his superior pulls out the protagonist's human resources file and starts going over what should be familiar knowledge to the superior, resulting in several pages delving into the protagonist's back story with all the charm of reading someone's job application resume.
Why? Why ruin the pace with this clunky exposition?
I see this often happen in mediocre books and shows, where the author/director assumes the audience are morons who have to be spoon-fed information they cannot glean from the protagonist's actions. And the fact is that the audience (readers/viewers) are way more intelligent than they get credit for.
I'm sorry to give this book a 1-star rating, but I can't abide lazy writing. I don't need a protagonist's resume, I need them to be interesting. I don't want to run into a wall of exposition that drags down the pace to a standstill, I want to read what's going to happen next. John Milton sounded interesting until I got too much information in the worst way possible.
Too bad. Great cover, great premise, good formatting, lazy writing.
March 31, 2017
This was a disappointment.
What could have been an excellent redemption/vigilante story was marred by too many missteps. There was a big infodump about Milton's past awkwardly wedged into a chapter on his boss trying to figure out what to do with him. To make matters worse, the timeline of that "history" would put the present in about 2017-2018, clearly not the intent. There were a number of strange inconsistencies that had me shaking my head. Then, there were just stupid little things that a man of his experience wouldn't mistake.
The things that bothered me the most, though, were about Milton himself. For a deadly and smart assassin with about twenty-plus years of experience in some pretty messed up situations, he was remarkably naive about just how vicious and violent organized gangs can be. He repeatedly underestimated his opponents and what they would do, directly resulting in some pretty awful consequences for some of his friends. He also seemed to completely forget about his old employer and what he was capable of. After all, after ten years in the Group, moving steadily up to Number One, how could he not know that there was only one way old agents "retired?" Why did he take no pains to disappear off their radar after walking out? He was often TSTL, a charge I last leveled against a fictional assassin in Sarah Maas's execrable series.
Finally, Dawson should understand that if you're going to have a character go all Billy Jack on some bad guys, at least most of the good guys should be left better off before he rides into the sunset. Even his showdown with the main bad guy was unsatisfying as we had to listen to the gangbanger lecture us about society's failings before he finally kicked off.
I wanted to read this series because I liked a related series and wanted to read the crossover/backstory that happens in this one. After this first book, though, I'm not so eager to continue.
What could have been an excellent redemption/vigilante story was marred by too many missteps. There was a big infodump about Milton's past awkwardly wedged into a chapter on his boss trying to figure out what to do with him. To make matters worse, the timeline of that "history" would put the present in about 2017-2018, clearly not the intent. There were a number of strange inconsistencies that had me shaking my head. Then, there were just stupid little things that a man of his experience wouldn't mistake.
The things that bothered me the most, though, were about Milton himself. For a deadly and smart assassin with about twenty-plus years of experience in some pretty messed up situations, he was remarkably naive about just how vicious and violent organized gangs can be. He repeatedly underestimated his opponents and what they would do, directly resulting in some pretty awful consequences for some of his friends. He also seemed to completely forget about his old employer and what he was capable of. After all, after ten years in the Group, moving steadily up to Number One, how could he not know that there was only one way old agents "retired?" Why did he take no pains to disappear off their radar after walking out? He was often TSTL, a charge I last leveled against a fictional assassin in Sarah Maas's execrable series.
Finally, Dawson should understand that if you're going to have a character go all Billy Jack on some bad guys, at least most of the good guys should be left better off before he rides into the sunset. Even his showdown with the main bad guy was unsatisfying as we had to listen to the gangbanger lecture us about society's failings before he finally kicked off.
I wanted to read this series because I liked a related series and wanted to read the crossover/backstory that happens in this one. After this first book, though, I'm not so eager to continue.
March 18, 2019
How did Dawson regress to writing this plodding mess after giving us the scintillating and engaging Scorpion?
Not only did our hero John Milton devolve into a cliche, but his character also seemed lacklustre and surplus to requirement. Sad really, another series bites the dust.
October 10, 2015
I was disappointed in this book. of course that could be because it's not what I was looking for.
In my opinion the "jacket blurb" is misleading. I'd say that for a large portion of the book it's not actually about John Milton. It's about a young man who's struggling with living in a bad neighborhood, dealing with a gang, the fact his older brother is gone, his dad is gone, his mom is struggling. He's about to screw his life up...
Look, maybe I'm just not socially conscious enough for this book. I wasn't looking for a deep, sad, depressing read where I have the realities of the world rubbed in my face and I'm left with a hole in my stomach.
If that's what you want instead of a book about an intelligence agent who's dealing with the onset of PTSD because of years of being the UK's top assassin then this is the book for you.
About the last fifth or so of the book we get back to John anyway... Disappointed in the book. Don't plan to follow the series, I'm apparently just too shallow.
In my opinion the "jacket blurb" is misleading. I'd say that for a large portion of the book it's not actually about John Milton. It's about a young man who's struggling with living in a bad neighborhood, dealing with a gang, the fact his older brother is gone, his dad is gone, his mom is struggling. He's about to screw his life up...
Look, maybe I'm just not socially conscious enough for this book. I wasn't looking for a deep, sad, depressing read where I have the realities of the world rubbed in my face and I'm left with a hole in my stomach.
If that's what you want instead of a book about an intelligence agent who's dealing with the onset of PTSD because of years of being the UK's top assassin then this is the book for you.
About the last fifth or so of the book we get back to John anyway... Disappointed in the book. Don't plan to follow the series, I'm apparently just too shallow.
August 26, 2024
I'm a huge fan of action, thriller, and spy novels, and I'm thrilled to have discovered my new favorite action series. Highly recommended for all fellow action thriller enthusiasts!
August 19, 2015
The start of a new series can always be difficult, both for writer and reader, but with this John Milton series I think that the author has done a decent job. Character wise John Milton follows quite a well trodden path, ex special forces turned government assassin, having nightmares and regrets about his previous accomplishments, he wants to retire and so sets out to make some form of atonement.
Then the story pitches headlong into inner city crime and gangs. It is written with an English viewpoint, and as such the language reflects this, particularly amongst the young gang members. It is quite an accurate portrayal of the rioting which went on at the time this book was set in. The poverty and hopelessness is well depicted. I did notice a few overworked phrases, but on the whole after about 10% it was a gripping book, so I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.
Then the story pitches headlong into inner city crime and gangs. It is written with an English viewpoint, and as such the language reflects this, particularly amongst the young gang members. It is quite an accurate portrayal of the rioting which went on at the time this book was set in. The poverty and hopelessness is well depicted. I did notice a few overworked phrases, but on the whole after about 10% it was a gripping book, so I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.
January 29, 2023
*The Thrill Continues*
John Milton tired of his missions and kills he decides he wants out. He is their no.1 asset, he is who they send in when all else fails. He works for Her Majesty’s Government, it is not the type of job you just walk out of. His last job was messy he left a witness a child.
In his head he has mentally switched off and no amount of talking to command is going to stop him.
In his quest to atone from the heinous crimes permitted by the State he finds himself in the East End of London saving a woman from committing suicide as she is desperate her young son is all but lost to a notorious gang.
What we see is how his actions impact the family in his quest to help but soon he is being hunted by his own and a dangerous gang leader as he ruffles feathers…. Does he achieve what he set out to do?…
John Milton tired of his missions and kills he decides he wants out. He is their no.1 asset, he is who they send in when all else fails. He works for Her Majesty’s Government, it is not the type of job you just walk out of. His last job was messy he left a witness a child.
In his head he has mentally switched off and no amount of talking to command is going to stop him.
In his quest to atone from the heinous crimes permitted by the State he finds himself in the East End of London saving a woman from committing suicide as she is desperate her young son is all but lost to a notorious gang.
What we see is how his actions impact the family in his quest to help but soon he is being hunted by his own and a dangerous gang leader as he ruffles feathers…. Does he achieve what he set out to do?…
February 26, 2024
This book sounded a lot better to me than it actually was. Lol. The plot says it is a spy thriller about a mysterious MI6 agent who goes into hiding after a mission he works on goes south. But for me, The Cleaner by Mark Dawson, was a non trilling spy book that left me bored and not entertained. I only finished it so I could leave an honest review.
John Milton (the ousted MI6 agent) is in hiding. Not only from the people that he works for- MI6 (British secret intelligence service), but also from the people he betrayed. The author tries to weave a thrilling story of espionage and escape that takes place in London’s East End. While in hiding, John falls in love with a single mother So of course he hast to protect them when MO6 comes after him.
I wasn’t a fan of the characters or the writing style. I do not anticipate reading any more books in this series and will not likely read any more books by this author. Maybe I am just not built for British spy books, only British spy movies in my future! Ha ha.
John Milton (the ousted MI6 agent) is in hiding. Not only from the people that he works for- MI6 (British secret intelligence service), but also from the people he betrayed. The author tries to weave a thrilling story of espionage and escape that takes place in London’s East End. While in hiding, John falls in love with a single mother So of course he hast to protect them when MO6 comes after him.
I wasn’t a fan of the characters or the writing style. I do not anticipate reading any more books in this series and will not likely read any more books by this author. Maybe I am just not built for British spy books, only British spy movies in my future! Ha ha.
November 1, 2015
The second book featuring John Milton as the protagonist is both a very quick and pretty good read. Mark Dawson, once again, paints an excellent picture with his prose. While there really is nothing special about the plot, Dawson’s handling of the poverty in London’s East End is done very well. He handles the back stories of the secondary characters in such a way as to not bog the story down with unnecessary trivia. I really respect authors that can do that.
The character, Milton, is an assassin for a quasi British government agency. When a mission goes wrong and he kills a French police officer during an assassination, and leaves a child alive as a witness his control, and he himself, question his ability to do the job any longer. At the same time he saves a woman from suicide and then gets involved in her problems.
A lot of the action in the novel is predictable, but still presented in a way that held my interest. I recommend this to anyone who needs a break from American authors and their style. It’s a pleasant change.
The character, Milton, is an assassin for a quasi British government agency. When a mission goes wrong and he kills a French police officer during an assassination, and leaves a child alive as a witness his control, and he himself, question his ability to do the job any longer. At the same time he saves a woman from suicide and then gets involved in her problems.
A lot of the action in the novel is predictable, but still presented in a way that held my interest. I recommend this to anyone who needs a break from American authors and their style. It’s a pleasant change.
September 27, 2021
Enter John Milton problem solver for her Majesty secret service, well more secret service than the secret service. They have people working for them that will kill any problem that needs their attention.
John Milton is such an operative and after his last job he left an witness, a child. He has also decided he is too old for this business and tells his boss he wants to quit. He does save some lady her life and feels that he has too choose to seek redemption in trying to do good.
He does take some youngster under his wings who is seriously tempted by the gang life and in doing so he has some serious confrontations with the young thugs.
His boss has some serious doubts about his former operative and has him tracked before he orders John Miltons' dead.
An average clichéd thriller that does read comfortable but offers no original action of idea. But too be honest it passes the time journeying from and to work.
John Milton is such an operative and after his last job he left an witness, a child. He has also decided he is too old for this business and tells his boss he wants to quit. He does save some lady her life and feels that he has too choose to seek redemption in trying to do good.
He does take some youngster under his wings who is seriously tempted by the gang life and in doing so he has some serious confrontations with the young thugs.
His boss has some serious doubts about his former operative and has him tracked before he orders John Miltons' dead.
An average clichéd thriller that does read comfortable but offers no original action of idea. But too be honest it passes the time journeying from and to work.
January 24, 2015
Not all that
Got this because it was free. Got what I paid for. Won't buy the next one.
It starts out with a bang. The cleaner of the title takes out two targets with a submachine gun, then the cop who happens upon the scene. But he lets a young witness live, so we know he has a heart. So far so good. At the end of the first chapter I thought I had a winner on my hands.
But then the book slows to a crawl. We meet his boss. We learn that leaving a witness alive is a big no-no, and killing a cop is even worse.
We learn his background. We follow him as he inexplicably risks his life to save a suicidal stranger, then just as inexplicably devotes himself to helping her and her gangster son. We learn all about the son. We learn all about the crappy side of town they live in. We watch our cleaner rent a house, insert himself into these people's lives for no apparent reason.
Then we follow him as he makes mistake after mistake, getting people killed, starting a gang war, causing his new friends unbelievable anguish, culminating in getting himself shot up and forced to go on the run, wanted for a murder he didn't commit. This "professional" does nothing but screwup, and we're supposed to like him?!
And virtually none of the story arcs ever come together into a cohesive whole. What about his dreams? Are the supposed to explain something? They don't. What of the older brother? Will we ever meet him? We don't. What of the new gangster who takes over in the end? Will he get his come uplands? We'll never know, because the story just stops.
Don't waste your time on this piece of tripe.
Got this because it was free. Got what I paid for. Won't buy the next one.
It starts out with a bang. The cleaner of the title takes out two targets with a submachine gun, then the cop who happens upon the scene. But he lets a young witness live, so we know he has a heart. So far so good. At the end of the first chapter I thought I had a winner on my hands.
But then the book slows to a crawl. We meet his boss. We learn that leaving a witness alive is a big no-no, and killing a cop is even worse.
We learn his background. We follow him as he inexplicably risks his life to save a suicidal stranger, then just as inexplicably devotes himself to helping her and her gangster son. We learn all about the son. We learn all about the crappy side of town they live in. We watch our cleaner rent a house, insert himself into these people's lives for no apparent reason.
Then we follow him as he makes mistake after mistake, getting people killed, starting a gang war, causing his new friends unbelievable anguish, culminating in getting himself shot up and forced to go on the run, wanted for a murder he didn't commit. This "professional" does nothing but screwup, and we're supposed to like him?!
And virtually none of the story arcs ever come together into a cohesive whole. What about his dreams? Are the supposed to explain something? They don't. What of the older brother? Will we ever meet him? We don't. What of the new gangster who takes over in the end? Will he get his come uplands? We'll never know, because the story just stops.
Don't waste your time on this piece of tripe.
March 18, 2019
This was not the thriller I expected as the further you read you realise Milton is at a crisis in his profession as a agent for dark government enforcement. Indeed after his latest mission he tells Control he is through and can't do 'this' anymore.
What marks this book thereafter is Milton's reluctance to use violence and his lack of normal interpersonal skills.
A clever book to show this struggle, that having been a loner and sworn to secrecy his conversation is lacking especially when he talks about himself. More worrying is his inability to break free from his past. Control can not allow him to become rogue and his sense of retirement means something different.
A more immediate concern for Milton is that he is doomed to bring chaos and violence into situations where he is trying to redeem himself.
What marks this book thereafter is Milton's reluctance to use violence and his lack of normal interpersonal skills.
A clever book to show this struggle, that having been a loner and sworn to secrecy his conversation is lacking especially when he talks about himself. More worrying is his inability to break free from his past. Control can not allow him to become rogue and his sense of retirement means something different.
A more immediate concern for Milton is that he is doomed to bring chaos and violence into situations where he is trying to redeem himself.
December 18, 2017
After my most recent read being a huge disappointment I turned to a series that I shockingly only discovered recently and that is the John Milton series by Mark Dawson. I LOVED this book and I finished it with the excitement I felt when I finished Lee Child’s Killing Floor, because I know that there’s a whole series of books that I now have to devour. Milton is a fantastic character and I very much enjoyed the time spent with him on the streets of London’s East End around the time of the 2011 riots.
Whilst I enjoyed Mark Dawson’s writing, there were times where it was almost like he had swallowed a thesaurus. I used the dictionary on my Kindle more than I normally do in a book and a few of the words weren’t necessary and sometimes weren’t appropriate for the thing or situation being described. That would be my only niggle with the writing other than that Mark portrays a truly vivid and believable picture of the darker side of London and when the riots hit I was reminded of that night that I stayed up all night watching footage on TV of the riots. The gang members portrayed are believable, and if I had to describe this book to anybody it would be Top Boy in book form. The characterisation really is top notch and it was all too easy to picture the character of Elijah, a boy clearly with a decent mother and who in another part of the UK would flourish as he was clearly intelligent but just fell in with the wrong crowd. I finished the book wondering about Elijah and his future and how he coped with the events at the end of the story. He’s a fictional character but there’s kids like him all across London.
Milton is a great character and what I most enjoyed was that there was enough about him to set him apart from similar characters in the genre. I like people who mostly operate by himself, and the way he has been written means that each book can take him anywhere in the world and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. Whilst I enjoyed reading about him on the streets of London, I like the fact that things can be mixed up with each book. What did annoy me was the obligatory scene of him having to be seduced by a woman. But, what would an action thriller be without the sex? That said, at least in this situation it served to move the story along and actually added something to the characterisation as opposed to the likes of Jack Reacher having to have sex with the woman in the story nearly every single time. Just another small niggle of mine but nothing that really ruined the story. I enjoyed the backstory of Milton and the little snippets that we got of it throughout. I’ve recently been reading some US thrillers which focus on top secret government organisations so it was different to read about something similar set in the UK. It’s obvious that Milton’s past is always going to be one step behind him and I can’t wait to see how he keeps outrunning those who are after him.
Another thing I enjoyed about this story was how it didn’t have a happy ending. Minor spoilers but oftentimes, even in thrillers full of death and destruction, the main character has a habit of being some kind of knight in shining armour with everything ending all nice and perfectly. Well, that isn’t always the case in real life and that was shown here by Mark. Things aren’t wrapped up neatly and the ending was actually, for me at least, a bit emotional in terms of how things ended for some of the characters but again, this is all real life and what I took from this story was how dangerous gang life can be and how easy it is to get caught up in it, but also how hard it is to get out of it. It’s also about how some people might never change, as evidenced by how the story ended for a group of the individuals we read about. All in all this is a thriller that is certainly worth a read and which I have been reading at every available opportunity. Also I am one of those that does judge a book by its cover and the most recent covers for Mark’s books on Amazon are some of the best I have ever seen. I recommend this book also to fans of Sean Black and Matt Hilton whose characters operate in pairs but who I think share some similarities with Milton. I am off to start the next one.
Whilst I enjoyed Mark Dawson’s writing, there were times where it was almost like he had swallowed a thesaurus. I used the dictionary on my Kindle more than I normally do in a book and a few of the words weren’t necessary and sometimes weren’t appropriate for the thing or situation being described. That would be my only niggle with the writing other than that Mark portrays a truly vivid and believable picture of the darker side of London and when the riots hit I was reminded of that night that I stayed up all night watching footage on TV of the riots. The gang members portrayed are believable, and if I had to describe this book to anybody it would be Top Boy in book form. The characterisation really is top notch and it was all too easy to picture the character of Elijah, a boy clearly with a decent mother and who in another part of the UK would flourish as he was clearly intelligent but just fell in with the wrong crowd. I finished the book wondering about Elijah and his future and how he coped with the events at the end of the story. He’s a fictional character but there’s kids like him all across London.
Milton is a great character and what I most enjoyed was that there was enough about him to set him apart from similar characters in the genre. I like people who mostly operate by himself, and the way he has been written means that each book can take him anywhere in the world and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. Whilst I enjoyed reading about him on the streets of London, I like the fact that things can be mixed up with each book. What did annoy me was the obligatory scene of him having to be seduced by a woman. But, what would an action thriller be without the sex? That said, at least in this situation it served to move the story along and actually added something to the characterisation as opposed to the likes of Jack Reacher having to have sex with the woman in the story nearly every single time. Just another small niggle of mine but nothing that really ruined the story. I enjoyed the backstory of Milton and the little snippets that we got of it throughout. I’ve recently been reading some US thrillers which focus on top secret government organisations so it was different to read about something similar set in the UK. It’s obvious that Milton’s past is always going to be one step behind him and I can’t wait to see how he keeps outrunning those who are after him.
Another thing I enjoyed about this story was how it didn’t have a happy ending. Minor spoilers but oftentimes, even in thrillers full of death and destruction, the main character has a habit of being some kind of knight in shining armour with everything ending all nice and perfectly. Well, that isn’t always the case in real life and that was shown here by Mark. Things aren’t wrapped up neatly and the ending was actually, for me at least, a bit emotional in terms of how things ended for some of the characters but again, this is all real life and what I took from this story was how dangerous gang life can be and how easy it is to get caught up in it, but also how hard it is to get out of it. It’s also about how some people might never change, as evidenced by how the story ended for a group of the individuals we read about. All in all this is a thriller that is certainly worth a read and which I have been reading at every available opportunity. Also I am one of those that does judge a book by its cover and the most recent covers for Mark’s books on Amazon are some of the best I have ever seen. I recommend this book also to fans of Sean Black and Matt Hilton whose characters operate in pairs but who I think share some similarities with Milton. I am off to start the next one.
February 10, 2019
“Rutherford had seen shit like this before in Baghdad, but this was London”
This novel made for an intriguing read and introduced me to the street gang culture prevalent in Hackney, London. Although I've read the odd article about these gangs, it was an altogether different experience living and breathing their existence through the pages of a well-researched work of fiction.
I was surprised to discover the lawlessness of these UK street gangs, which attract countless minors from underprivileged immigrant backgrounds. With the authorities unable to effectively curb the influence of the gangs, these kids are drawn into a violent and merciless world in which they are either turned into hardened criminals or murdered by rivals.
London riots also serve as a backdrop to the events of this novel, which I assume are based on the ones of 2011. As an occasional listener to Mark Dawson's podcast I was interested to read some of his work. Dawson is a financially successful self-published author, at the forefront of the ‘Amazon gold rush’ in its early stages, thereby managing to elude the impending career of a lawyer by successfully selling his self-published fiction online and also teaching aspiring authors to effectively embark on the indie (independent author) path.
I have to say that I was greatly impressed by the quality of his writing. I - perhaps unfairly - expected him to avoid the use of 'hard words' (a term that the US publishing industry uses to refer to words of more than two syllables or words that have readers reaching for a dictionary). However Dawson's prose is rich and he does not sidestep the use of the occasional lesser-used word like 'declamatory', which was both a heartening and a welcome change from the slew of dumbed down prose churned out by indie authors over the last decade. Personally I can't think why a reader would want to read fiction if it's not going to expand their vocabulary at all, although I'm probably part of a fast shrinking group of people that think this.
The book summary was somewhat misleading, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I was expecting the main protagonist, UK black ops assassin John Milton, to be flung into a rip-roaring action adventure early on in the story. I also expected the wayward boy Elijah to be kidnapped early on in the piece and his eventual fate to be the book’s McGuffin. However this didn't occur and there instead unfolded a slow paced narrative in which the reader visits the inhumane environs of gangland London. Through Milton we infiltrate a world that is richly textured and which at all times feels real and convincing. There is a hugely detailed and satisfying description of engaging characters who include Jaja, Sharon, Pops, Rutherford, Pinky and Bizness.
The subplot involving Control and number 12 quickly became too peripheral for me to get too excited about its denouement. Furthermore, I found that the standoff between Milton and Bizness lacked ingenuity so that it was basically just a shootout. I also felt that the unexpected appearance of the French policeman and the child in the first scene was never satisfactorily explained. I kept expecting it to eventually be revealed as a frame-up of some sort but no explanation was forthcoming and I think that this was an opportunity missed.
Some might also complain about the open ending but to my mind this did not make the underlying messages in the novel any less powerful. Two days after finishing this book the question still lingers in my mind: were Sharon and Jaja better off after Milton entered their life?
This novel made for an intriguing read and introduced me to the street gang culture prevalent in Hackney, London. Although I've read the odd article about these gangs, it was an altogether different experience living and breathing their existence through the pages of a well-researched work of fiction.
I was surprised to discover the lawlessness of these UK street gangs, which attract countless minors from underprivileged immigrant backgrounds. With the authorities unable to effectively curb the influence of the gangs, these kids are drawn into a violent and merciless world in which they are either turned into hardened criminals or murdered by rivals.
London riots also serve as a backdrop to the events of this novel, which I assume are based on the ones of 2011. As an occasional listener to Mark Dawson's podcast I was interested to read some of his work. Dawson is a financially successful self-published author, at the forefront of the ‘Amazon gold rush’ in its early stages, thereby managing to elude the impending career of a lawyer by successfully selling his self-published fiction online and also teaching aspiring authors to effectively embark on the indie (independent author) path.
I have to say that I was greatly impressed by the quality of his writing. I - perhaps unfairly - expected him to avoid the use of 'hard words' (a term that the US publishing industry uses to refer to words of more than two syllables or words that have readers reaching for a dictionary). However Dawson's prose is rich and he does not sidestep the use of the occasional lesser-used word like 'declamatory', which was both a heartening and a welcome change from the slew of dumbed down prose churned out by indie authors over the last decade. Personally I can't think why a reader would want to read fiction if it's not going to expand their vocabulary at all, although I'm probably part of a fast shrinking group of people that think this.
The book summary was somewhat misleading, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I was expecting the main protagonist, UK black ops assassin John Milton, to be flung into a rip-roaring action adventure early on in the story. I also expected the wayward boy Elijah to be kidnapped early on in the piece and his eventual fate to be the book’s McGuffin. However this didn't occur and there instead unfolded a slow paced narrative in which the reader visits the inhumane environs of gangland London. Through Milton we infiltrate a world that is richly textured and which at all times feels real and convincing. There is a hugely detailed and satisfying description of engaging characters who include Jaja, Sharon, Pops, Rutherford, Pinky and Bizness.
The subplot involving Control and number 12 quickly became too peripheral for me to get too excited about its denouement. Furthermore, I found that the standoff between Milton and Bizness lacked ingenuity so that it was basically just a shootout. I also felt that the unexpected appearance of the French policeman and the child in the first scene was never satisfactorily explained. I kept expecting it to eventually be revealed as a frame-up of some sort but no explanation was forthcoming and I think that this was an opportunity missed.
Some might also complain about the open ending but to my mind this did not make the underlying messages in the novel any less powerful. Two days after finishing this book the question still lingers in my mind: were Sharon and Jaja better off after Milton entered their life?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2022
Don't do it. It'll spoil your appetite. If you do, do it in a padded room.
I'm from a working class family: born, brought up, and toiled through my adult life, in London.
The author attempts, badly, to take you into the world of inner city London gangs: a place where the author has never been in his life, never researched, never spoke to anyone from there, and has made an utter Horlicks of it. For anyone who thinks they are reading, London, gangland speak: you are not: think again.
As the events unfold, I did get the impression the author never got around to looking at a street map of the city. Oww! Is it all too much of a struggle for these 'new, 'acclaimed', masters of the spy novel' to do the most basic research? If you know London - this will make you cringe.
Another prosaic attempt to create a Jason Bourne lookalike - with the same-old-same-old, unimaginative, stale, plot.
At one point the 'hero' is shown to be leering at the breasts of an unconscious woman. Oh dear, not good.
How did that get past the editor?
Maybe the publisher struck that phase from the book's production process. Looking to save a few pennies, on the way to offering the gullible reader, what is claimed by The Daily Telegraph to be a, "A literary sensation."
This waste of paper does little for the Telegraph's reputation and little to endear the reader to the government assassin, John Milton. A super-hero?
I'm from a working class family: born, brought up, and toiled through my adult life, in London.
The author attempts, badly, to take you into the world of inner city London gangs: a place where the author has never been in his life, never researched, never spoke to anyone from there, and has made an utter Horlicks of it. For anyone who thinks they are reading, London, gangland speak: you are not: think again.
As the events unfold, I did get the impression the author never got around to looking at a street map of the city. Oww! Is it all too much of a struggle for these 'new, 'acclaimed', masters of the spy novel' to do the most basic research? If you know London - this will make you cringe.
Another prosaic attempt to create a Jason Bourne lookalike - with the same-old-same-old, unimaginative, stale, plot.
At one point the 'hero' is shown to be leering at the breasts of an unconscious woman. Oh dear, not good.
How did that get past the editor?
Maybe the publisher struck that phase from the book's production process. Looking to save a few pennies, on the way to offering the gullible reader, what is claimed by The Daily Telegraph to be a, "A literary sensation."
This waste of paper does little for the Telegraph's reputation and little to endear the reader to the government assassin, John Milton. A super-hero?
January 18, 2023
I enjoyed this one. It is the first book in this series by Mark Dawson. I noticed all the books that follow, have much higher ratings on GR than this first one. I plan to read more in this series because I really enjoyed the MC, John Milton. He was flawed, but determined. I liked that we wasn't portrayed as the saintly do-gooder that so many MCs in this genre fall into. He does turn out to be a do-gooder, but his flawed character anchors him down. I like that.
The story stretched a little thin in places, but I was pulled in by the MC and what he was going to do next. So 3 stars, and on to the next ones.
The story stretched a little thin in places, but I was pulled in by the MC and what he was going to do next. So 3 stars, and on to the next ones.
March 6, 2018
John Milton is a government assassin looking to come in out of the cold, and make up for some of his actions in service.
First thing he does is try to help some Jamaicans out of the gang life in some no-future neighborhood. There's drugs, crime, and gangster rap. Meanwhile, a government agent is after John.
Not a bad first book.
First thing he does is try to help some Jamaicans out of the gang life in some no-future neighborhood. There's drugs, crime, and gangster rap. Meanwhile, a government agent is after John.
Not a bad first book.
April 14, 2025
Happy publication day 🥳🎉🎧
3.5 🌟
From other reviews here I can only assume this title has been relaunched with the publisher.
Initially I wondered would this title hold my interest. It wouldn’t really be my usual genres but I’m trying to widen the scope a little bit here and there. I expected high action, spy movie vibes, but I was wrong, so maybe if that’s what you’re looking for you might struggle with it, but it is the first in a series, so perhaps it’ll head in that direction.
Milton is disheartened, after many years of cleaning up situations his final hit has gone wrong, and hie wants out,instead he’s told he doesn’t make those decisions and is suspended. Milton finds that he’s struggling with his conscience, and when he meets Sharon who is struggling to keep her son away from gang culture he sees it as an opportunity to mentor Elijah and seek some sort of atonement for his past. This takes the story on a sharp turn into inner city gangs, drugs and violence, this probably made the novel more appealing to me. I’d be keen to read more in the series, but I’d also like to be back with the characters from this title, I’m not sure that would work.
I enjoyed David Thorpe’s narration on the title.
Huge thanks to Quest from W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ELC 🎧
3.5 🌟
From other reviews here I can only assume this title has been relaunched with the publisher.
Initially I wondered would this title hold my interest. It wouldn’t really be my usual genres but I’m trying to widen the scope a little bit here and there. I expected high action, spy movie vibes, but I was wrong, so maybe if that’s what you’re looking for you might struggle with it, but it is the first in a series, so perhaps it’ll head in that direction.
Milton is disheartened, after many years of cleaning up situations his final hit has gone wrong, and hie wants out,instead he’s told he doesn’t make those decisions and is suspended. Milton finds that he’s struggling with his conscience, and when he meets Sharon who is struggling to keep her son away from gang culture he sees it as an opportunity to mentor Elijah and seek some sort of atonement for his past. This takes the story on a sharp turn into inner city gangs, drugs and violence, this probably made the novel more appealing to me. I’d be keen to read more in the series, but I’d also like to be back with the characters from this title, I’m not sure that would work.
I enjoyed David Thorpe’s narration on the title.
Huge thanks to Quest from W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ELC 🎧
May 5, 2021
This story was ok. I don’t think it was exactly what I was looking for as I did expect more action throughout. This was a depressing look of gang life in London which I am sure is a real issue, but most of the book had nothing to do with the very interesting character of John Milton. I was very intrigued about a government assassin that one day decides he doesn’t want to kill people anymore. That’s not your everyday story. While the basic premiss of trained bad ass protects innocent people who have no idea has been done usually the government or agency controlling the assassin does something to piss them off. The thought that it would impact a good person’s mental health to the point that they had to draw the line was interesting and had so much potential for a story. That’s the story I was hoping for. Most of this story was about Elijah and while I do think he was worthy of a story of his own it wasn’t the story I picked up. And honestly with how it ends it was kind of pointless and sort of showed that you can’t change circumstances or help. The writing was good and there was a spark of an idea in the character of John Milton so I will read the next book if I come across it.
November 17, 2015
The Cleaner was the first book written by Mark Dawson that I have read and it was not at all what I expected. Our hero, John Milton, kills people for a living and does so on behalf of the British government. He has, however, grown tired of exterminating the evildoers in society, not that there aren't plenty more who ought to be killed, but that's for a treatise on the US Republican party.
So, Milton "leaves" the group that no one leaves and goes walkabout in London, as good a place as any. While doing so, he happens on a women attempting suicide by laying across the railroad tracks. Railroad performance to schedule in Britain, being what it is, she is relatively safe but, nonetheless, Milton drags her off the tracks.
Of course, he becomes inextricably involved in her and he teenage, apprentice gang-banger son's life. The story that follows is interesting, a bit suspenseful and contains some fascinating characters, some of which Dawson develops fairly well. It moves along quickly and did draw me in which, ultimately, is why I rated it a four rather than a three. Not a great book but there is promise of more and better so I shall read the next in the series.
On my 1 to 10 scale of pure enjoyment (1 = didn't enjoy it at all and quit reading rather than periodically stopping to vomit; 10 = I enjoyed it so much that I started going to bed early so I could get back to it each evening), I would give The Cleaner a 7.
So, Milton "leaves" the group that no one leaves and goes walkabout in London, as good a place as any. While doing so, he happens on a women attempting suicide by laying across the railroad tracks. Railroad performance to schedule in Britain, being what it is, she is relatively safe but, nonetheless, Milton drags her off the tracks.
Of course, he becomes inextricably involved in her and he teenage, apprentice gang-banger son's life. The story that follows is interesting, a bit suspenseful and contains some fascinating characters, some of which Dawson develops fairly well. It moves along quickly and did draw me in which, ultimately, is why I rated it a four rather than a three. Not a great book but there is promise of more and better so I shall read the next in the series.
On my 1 to 10 scale of pure enjoyment (1 = didn't enjoy it at all and quit reading rather than periodically stopping to vomit; 10 = I enjoyed it so much that I started going to bed early so I could get back to it each evening), I would give The Cleaner a 7.
October 6, 2020
I'm 116 pages in and there's been no consequences to the opening scene, nothing even mentioned about MI6 wanting him dead (despite that being the tag line and this only being 318 pages long). Instead I'm getting a trained killer with a conscious and feeling like he's turning into a social worker in a neighbourhood where all the kids act like they're gangsters.
Not enjoying this so it goes in the DNF pile. Not happy I'm leaving a review for a book I didn't finish? Keep it to yourself as it won't make me feel guilty and will be a waste of your time.
Not enjoying this so it goes in the DNF pile. Not happy I'm leaving a review for a book I didn't finish? Keep it to yourself as it won't make me feel guilty and will be a waste of your time.
July 24, 2020
This was an amenable thriller, and the character was drawing me in. I read it in two days (conceded, I was trying to avoid rearranging and sorting my entire library...), it had just the right amount of exposition (something lately sorely lacking from a lot of books), and halfway through I was wondering why this hasn't yet been made a Netflix series. It is almost as good as Jack Reacher, and the plot threads came together nicely.
I'd have liked my antagonists being given a bit more love, and personally I prefer my thrillers to be way more bleak, sordid and psycho (my poisons of choice are Jo Nesbø, Val McDermid and Angela Marsons), but despite it being slightly outside of my preferred comfort zone, I really liked this book. Not enough to reread soon, but well enough to buy more from this author.
I'd have liked my antagonists being given a bit more love, and personally I prefer my thrillers to be way more bleak, sordid and psycho (my poisons of choice are Jo Nesbø, Val McDermid and Angela Marsons), but despite it being slightly outside of my preferred comfort zone, I really liked this book. Not enough to reread soon, but well enough to buy more from this author.
August 22, 2016
Sometimes there are people that the British government wants eliminated “whose continued existence poses a risk to the effective conduct of public order. The government requires particularly skilled professions who are prepared to work on a non-attributable basis to deal with this problems.” They are the Cleaners and John Milton is the best of them. A decorated military man, he’s been with them for ten years, is their number one, and has killed 136 people.
But the job is getting to him. He’s having nightmares flashing back to some of his previous assignments. After killing a couple who were working on the Iranian nuclear program, he discovers two witnesses, a police officer and a five-year-old boy. His training tells him to kill them as well. When he returns to the office, he tells Control, the head, that he no longer wants to be a Cleaner. He’s been losing the his ability to do the job in the manner required, as based on physical and psychological evaluations as well his marksmanship test, over the past few years but even more pronounced within the past year. Control isn’t happy about Milton leaving since it’s hard to find the right people for the job and he would be difficult to replace. Getting out is complicated.
Soon after Milton leaves, he sees a woman lie down on the tracks of an approaching train. With the train’s headlights coming nearer, he jumps down and rescues her, barely surviving himself. He offers her support, even moving to a rundown area, near to where the woman lives, and becomes involved in her life.
Her main concern is Elijah, her fifteen-year-old son who is becoming attracted to the gangs in the neighborhood. That frightens her but she doesn’t know how she can stop him. After Milton gives him some advice, Elijah resents Milton’s intrusion into their life. All the other men his mother had known had abandoned them and he was left to pick up the pieces.
Milton realizes his drinking is a problem and goes to an AA meeting where he meets a man who runs a boxing school in the neighborhood. Milton thinks that might be a way to divert
the boy. That works for awhile (the boy is a very good boxer) but complications arise and he gets more involved with the gang, eventually reaching the point where he is ordered to kill someone.
At the AA meeting, he realized that he couldn’t be open and honest about himself as did the others. “He knew he belonged there with them, his inability to take part made him feel like a fraud.”
While Milton is trying to keep Elijah from having a life like he did, Elijah gets varying advice from gang leaders as well as justification for their actions:
People say everyone has a choice, but do they. “Brothers like us, we ain’t never going to get nothing in this world....If we want to get the stuff we like, we gonna have to take it.”
“The stuff we nicked today, them people was all insured. We gave them a scare, but they didn’t actually lose nothing. They’ll get it all back, all shiny and new.”
Nineteen-year-old Pops, the gang leader, encourages him to go back to school. “There’s no future there for you. For any of us.”
THE CLEANER is a fast-moving, well-written book. The characters are well developed and the situations are not beyond reason. Dawson’s knows how to use language, both descriptive and dialogue. While much of that regarding the gangs seems stereotypical, it also seems accurate.
Two favorite descriptions: “Concrete had crumbled like meringue.”
“The atmosphere sparked with the dull electric throb of tension, of barely suppressed aggression a and incipient violence.”
Criticisms: Some of the gang’s words are not familiar to American readers.
At one point, Milton is supposed to meet Elijah at nine. He gets impatient at 8:30.
There are too many unnecessarily short chapters which reduced my rating one star..
This book was a free Amazon download.
But the job is getting to him. He’s having nightmares flashing back to some of his previous assignments. After killing a couple who were working on the Iranian nuclear program, he discovers two witnesses, a police officer and a five-year-old boy. His training tells him to kill them as well. When he returns to the office, he tells Control, the head, that he no longer wants to be a Cleaner. He’s been losing the his ability to do the job in the manner required, as based on physical and psychological evaluations as well his marksmanship test, over the past few years but even more pronounced within the past year. Control isn’t happy about Milton leaving since it’s hard to find the right people for the job and he would be difficult to replace. Getting out is complicated.
Soon after Milton leaves, he sees a woman lie down on the tracks of an approaching train. With the train’s headlights coming nearer, he jumps down and rescues her, barely surviving himself. He offers her support, even moving to a rundown area, near to where the woman lives, and becomes involved in her life.
Her main concern is Elijah, her fifteen-year-old son who is becoming attracted to the gangs in the neighborhood. That frightens her but she doesn’t know how she can stop him. After Milton gives him some advice, Elijah resents Milton’s intrusion into their life. All the other men his mother had known had abandoned them and he was left to pick up the pieces.
Milton realizes his drinking is a problem and goes to an AA meeting where he meets a man who runs a boxing school in the neighborhood. Milton thinks that might be a way to divert
the boy. That works for awhile (the boy is a very good boxer) but complications arise and he gets more involved with the gang, eventually reaching the point where he is ordered to kill someone.
At the AA meeting, he realized that he couldn’t be open and honest about himself as did the others. “He knew he belonged there with them, his inability to take part made him feel like a fraud.”
While Milton is trying to keep Elijah from having a life like he did, Elijah gets varying advice from gang leaders as well as justification for their actions:
People say everyone has a choice, but do they. “Brothers like us, we ain’t never going to get nothing in this world....If we want to get the stuff we like, we gonna have to take it.”
“The stuff we nicked today, them people was all insured. We gave them a scare, but they didn’t actually lose nothing. They’ll get it all back, all shiny and new.”
Nineteen-year-old Pops, the gang leader, encourages him to go back to school. “There’s no future there for you. For any of us.”
THE CLEANER is a fast-moving, well-written book. The characters are well developed and the situations are not beyond reason. Dawson’s knows how to use language, both descriptive and dialogue. While much of that regarding the gangs seems stereotypical, it also seems accurate.
Two favorite descriptions: “Concrete had crumbled like meringue.”
“The atmosphere sparked with the dull electric throb of tension, of barely suppressed aggression a and incipient violence.”
Criticisms: Some of the gang’s words are not familiar to American readers.
At one point, Milton is supposed to meet Elijah at nine. He gets impatient at 8:30.
There are too many unnecessarily short chapters which reduced my rating one star..
This book was a free Amazon download.
May 21, 2017
“Come on,” Milton said. “Look at me—do I look like James Bond?”
I enjoyed ‘The Cleaner’, Mark Dawson’s first John Milton novel, having come to it with little expectation - the author sent me the book as part of his subscriber’s Starter Library but it sat on my Kindle until an interview with Dawson on Steve Cavanagh’s & Luca Veste’s very fine ‘Two Crime Writers and a Microphone’ podcast sparked my interest again.
John Milton, the British government’s longest serving assassin, decides to quit following a messy situation in France; but you cannot quit… Pursued by Control, and a younger, more ruthless would-be successor, Milton becomes involved with a woman from London’s Hackney area whose 15-year old son has been drawn into a criminal gang led by a charismatic rapper come drugs dealer, a sort of cross between Dizzy Rascal and Scarface. The story is fast moving, violent and very entertaining. Essentially the plot is what would happen if Bond became the Equaliser against the background of the London riots from a few years back. There is a little clunky dialogue and exposition but enough to keep me interested in the series.
And of course Milton looks like James Bond; Dawson takes his physical description straight from Fleming.
“His eyes were on the grey side of blue, his mouth had a cruel twist to it, there was a long horizontal scar from his cheek to the start of his nose, and his hair was long and a little unkempt, a frond falling over his forehead in a wandering comma.”
And Milton carries “very little in the way of possessions, but what he did own was classic and timeless: a wide, flat gun-metal cigarette case; a black oxidized Ronson lighter; a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch.”
If you like Ian Fleming’s Bond, the John Milton series comes highly recommended. As does Cavanagh’s and Veste’s podcast.
I enjoyed ‘The Cleaner’, Mark Dawson’s first John Milton novel, having come to it with little expectation - the author sent me the book as part of his subscriber’s Starter Library but it sat on my Kindle until an interview with Dawson on Steve Cavanagh’s & Luca Veste’s very fine ‘Two Crime Writers and a Microphone’ podcast sparked my interest again.
John Milton, the British government’s longest serving assassin, decides to quit following a messy situation in France; but you cannot quit… Pursued by Control, and a younger, more ruthless would-be successor, Milton becomes involved with a woman from London’s Hackney area whose 15-year old son has been drawn into a criminal gang led by a charismatic rapper come drugs dealer, a sort of cross between Dizzy Rascal and Scarface. The story is fast moving, violent and very entertaining. Essentially the plot is what would happen if Bond became the Equaliser against the background of the London riots from a few years back. There is a little clunky dialogue and exposition but enough to keep me interested in the series.
And of course Milton looks like James Bond; Dawson takes his physical description straight from Fleming.
“His eyes were on the grey side of blue, his mouth had a cruel twist to it, there was a long horizontal scar from his cheek to the start of his nose, and his hair was long and a little unkempt, a frond falling over his forehead in a wandering comma.”
And Milton carries “very little in the way of possessions, but what he did own was classic and timeless: a wide, flat gun-metal cigarette case; a black oxidized Ronson lighter; a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch.”
If you like Ian Fleming’s Bond, the John Milton series comes highly recommended. As does Cavanagh’s and Veste’s podcast.
January 7, 2018
Secret Government problem solver John Milton sorts out things that the usual agencies can’t touch. When the results of his most recent assassination job begin to prick his conscience, Milton wonders if it’s time to get out and do something different. Trouble is, his boss doesn’t agree - simply leaving the ‘service’ isn’t an option. However, while reflecting on his future, Milton finds himself in a situation that demands quick thinking. In saving the life of a young mother, the former killer is given a new perspective – perhaps he can make up for his past by helping the woman and her wayward son?
This is the first of Mark Dawson’s John Milton series and I’m happy to say it got off to a cracking start. I was gripped from the beginning and could hardly bear to put it down. The writing is tight and to the point, with a whole host of interesting and dangerous characters. Be warned, though, there’s a massive body-count in this one and the hero probably isn’t someone you’d want to invite round for dinner.
The comparison to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is often bandied about in relation to Milton, yet while the characters are similar in terms of their abilities, I’d say they don’t have a lot in common. In any case, ‘The Cleaner’ is a great read and I’m already looking forward to the next volume.
This is the first of Mark Dawson’s John Milton series and I’m happy to say it got off to a cracking start. I was gripped from the beginning and could hardly bear to put it down. The writing is tight and to the point, with a whole host of interesting and dangerous characters. Be warned, though, there’s a massive body-count in this one and the hero probably isn’t someone you’d want to invite round for dinner.
The comparison to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is often bandied about in relation to Milton, yet while the characters are similar in terms of their abilities, I’d say they don’t have a lot in common. In any case, ‘The Cleaner’ is a great read and I’m already looking forward to the next volume.
December 31, 2019
A decent action thriller. Government agent has had his fill, wants to retire, retirement isn't an option for someone who knows as much as he does, goes off the grid, finds a good cause, fights for it while trying to stay below the surface. And so it goes.
Not necessarily innovative but overall a good escapist read with plenty of action. The character himself, John Milton, is interesting enough to hold your focus, and the London gangland backdrop is gritty and provides enough tension to keep you reading.
Don't expect happy endings all around, it's not THAT book. It's violent and dirty and rough. If you want unicorns and rainbows, move along now.
Unlike some "#1" books I have read recently it does stand alone as well as leading into a series, so you won't be left hanging at the end feeling you have no choice but jump straight into #2. I will carry on with the series, but I can do so at my leisure knowing I won't have to re-read this one to remember where it left off.
A good effort from an author I'm starting to grow attached to.
Not necessarily innovative but overall a good escapist read with plenty of action. The character himself, John Milton, is interesting enough to hold your focus, and the London gangland backdrop is gritty and provides enough tension to keep you reading.
Don't expect happy endings all around, it's not THAT book. It's violent and dirty and rough. If you want unicorns and rainbows, move along now.
Unlike some "#1" books I have read recently it does stand alone as well as leading into a series, so you won't be left hanging at the end feeling you have no choice but jump straight into #2. I will carry on with the series, but I can do so at my leisure knowing I won't have to re-read this one to remember where it left off.
A good effort from an author I'm starting to grow attached to.
December 20, 2013
The first few pages of THE CLEANER seem a little trite; you know, the skilled killer taking tout an evil scientist for MI-5, or some other agency. But the story began to take shape as it went along. The author's knowledge (or research) of the London slums and it's vernacular gave credibility to the tale. A good job.
October 18, 2015
The book gets off to a slightly bizarre start. Milton is on assignment for MI5 or some such private governmental agency running amok, to assassinate some North Korean generals responsible for some cyber-terrorism (as if the generals knew how to program.) Fast forward to an assignment in France where is kills a couple from Iran looking for Zirconium or some such shit they need for their nuclear weapons program. One problem, he kills a cop who happens on the scene but doesn’t kill a little boy in the back seat of the couple’s car. Big mistake because it gets him in bad with his bosses.
Fast forward to the Milton and the boss where Milton, who has been suffering from nightmares (and is a closet alcoholic attending AA meetings - in passages reminiscent of Lawrence Block’s obsession with Alcoholics Anonymous) has decided he wants out. Of course there is no such thing, but Milton, after saving a woman from her suicide in front of a train (interesting question: do we have that right?) decides to help her son who has fallen in with bad characters. (Interesting anomaly: the gang leader urges Elijah, her son, so go back to school -- the gangster is studying accounting -- because there’s no future in robbing people.)
Well, it all goes to hell as three worlds collide: Dawson’s MI5 handlers want him dead as he seems to have left the business on his own; the gangs that control the area where Milton decides to live for a while; and those trying to escape both
Somewhat predictable and disjointed, but I may read another. Next in the series is Saint Death.
Fast forward to the Milton and the boss where Milton, who has been suffering from nightmares (and is a closet alcoholic attending AA meetings - in passages reminiscent of Lawrence Block’s obsession with Alcoholics Anonymous) has decided he wants out. Of course there is no such thing, but Milton, after saving a woman from her suicide in front of a train (interesting question: do we have that right?) decides to help her son who has fallen in with bad characters. (Interesting anomaly: the gang leader urges Elijah, her son, so go back to school -- the gangster is studying accounting -- because there’s no future in robbing people.)
Well, it all goes to hell as three worlds collide: Dawson’s MI5 handlers want him dead as he seems to have left the business on his own; the gangs that control the area where Milton decides to live for a while; and those trying to escape both
Somewhat predictable and disjointed, but I may read another. Next in the series is Saint Death.
April 23, 2018
John Milton is a character who you love as a cleaner/fixer/kill whoever needs killing type of guy, but when he turns into a good guy, sick of snuffing out bodies, you like him even more. Nice job with that character. The plot runs pretty well, and the pace is good. I struggled with the antagonists, though. They just didn't feel fully developed....except for Number 12. I wanted to "see" him more in the descriptions, though, and I felt he could've played a bigger role in this book since I'm sure this pursuit of Milton will continue throughout the series. Still, nice job.
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