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mkpatt's review against another edition
2.0
Not impressed. A world class assassin who is not doing any assassination. Dawson writes well and paints a vivid picture but his protagonist is not sympathetic and there really isnt much explanation for his motives or why this story even exists. No intrigue, no espionage, nothing really thrilling about this book.
vortimer's review against another edition
3.0
Serviceable but very derivative thriller - chunks of description of Milton, the protagonist, lifted straight from the original James Bond novels, and a lot of the gangsters seem borrowed from the Wire.
charlottegearyx's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
lynguy1's review against another edition
3.0
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.
howtobebooks's review
3.0
Unlike James Bond, government hitman turned fugitive John Milton has a heart and attempts to assuade his guilt by hitting the mean streets of Hackney. While his intentions are good, I think Milton is too much of a flawed character to become a hero so he's a bit of a tragic protagonist. A not bad listen, but not quite my taste.
isa_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Went in with no real expectations, and still I was slightly disappointed. For a thriller, this book was just a bit bland. It was really straightforward, not twists, no unexpected events, just very predictable from start to finish. The writing too was bland, I did not highlight anything based on good/enjoyabl writing or storytelling, which I usually do at least once.
The characters were okay, but Milton, the main character was simply quite boring. He had no real personality, and for some super skilled assassin he was just rather meh. The "bad guy" in the story also was rather boring. Just your typical bad organisatio trying to get rid of their ex-member.
Overall, it was a rather easy read, but nothing special. I might pick up the next book in the series to see where it goes, if it improves etc. But only if I'm looking for some simple read that I don't necessarily need to pay much attention to in order to understand.
The characters were okay, but Milton, the main character was simply quite boring. He had no real personality, and for some super skilled assassin he was just rather meh. The "bad guy" in the story also was rather boring. Just your typical bad organisatio trying to get rid of their ex-member.
Overall, it was a rather easy read, but nothing special. I might pick up the next book in the series to see where it goes, if it improves etc. But only if I'm looking for some simple read that I don't necessarily need to pay much attention to in order to understand.
ivanaradevic's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
colindalaska's review against another edition
1.0
For starters “Mi6 created him and now they want him dead” as a tag line has very little to do with the plot of this book, which is about a James Bond-type leaving the service and trying to make amends for his lifetime of killing.
Except despite interfering in the lives of some teenage gangsters he leaves after making everything significantly worse. Then towards the end of the book MI6 remembered that they want him dead.(which as this is book 1 in the series is clearly something they fail to do)
A cliched premise that fails to deliver anything of satisfaction.
Except despite interfering in the lives of some teenage gangsters he leaves after making everything significantly worse. Then towards the end of the book MI6 remembered that they want him dead.(which as this is book 1 in the series is clearly something they fail to do)
A cliched premise that fails to deliver anything of satisfaction.
mmuutthh's review against another edition
5.0
Understanding this takes place in Britain, not the U.S., and they obviously don’t have the racism issues embedded into their system like we do. (Maybe they actually don’t, but I’m rolling my eyes ironically as I write that statement. Just in case you couldn’t tell.) But there’s something a little icky in seeing this white British spy intrude on an inner city neighborhood, and start acting like he’s there to actually make any kind of change or that his rules of spy-craft are going to do anything. I nearly quit the book at the love scene, it was just so distasteful and obvious setup for what comes after. Props to the author for actually acknowledging that nothing really will have changed, but I’m pretty upset that we get closing chapters with everyone except the family John Milton screwed, and screwed over. And, I don’t know, I guess I would’ve liked to see — if I have to see people being murdered — someone who wasn’t a person of color die instead of just the black and brown people. (I believe the cop at the beginning is the only white — implied — person who dies.)
Anyway, in looking at the blurbs for the rest of the series, it seems like there’s a number of books where it’s bound to be the same story again; heads to an underserved place by society and murder those people who do crime because they didn’t dare try to live like the bourgeois whites. So I’ll pass.
I should mention, I read this because I bought the author’s Self-Publishing Formula course and wanted to see what his success is rooted in. Not to say you have to be the best writer to have great insights into being successful. I’d still recommend the course!
Anyway, in looking at the blurbs for the rest of the series, it seems like there’s a number of books where it’s bound to be the same story again; heads to an underserved place by society and murder those people who do crime because they didn’t dare try to live like the bourgeois whites. So I’ll pass.
I should mention, I read this because I bought the author’s Self-Publishing Formula course and wanted to see what his success is rooted in. Not to say you have to be the best writer to have great insights into being successful. I’d still recommend the course!