Book Review: Redeemer by Mark Dawson
After a one-year wait, finally, the latest John Milton book is here. I first learned about Mark Dawson last year, when I literally binge-read all the previous 11 books in the series.
Once I read everything, it felt strange to no longer have a new John Milton book to pick up.
It was absolutely a blast reading the Mark Dawson books in order for his John Milton series, which were followed by Beatrix Rose and Isabella Rose.
This year, while waiting for the latest Milton book, I also picked up the Group Fifteen Files novellas, which are some great fillers for the various members of the underground government organization.
So, basically, I tried to keep myself busy while waiting for Redeemer. Once I got it, I read it one sitting until very late at night (or maybe very early in the morning).
This book takes place in Rio de Janeiro, a place which John decided to visit as part of marking things off his bucket list and go to a music festival held in the city. He contacted an old army buddy of his, Drake, who agreed to give him a place to stay for the days he would be in town during the rock festival.
As it turns out, Drake is a bodyguard working at his own security company, and, as it happens, one of the team members failed to appear for a new job. This is when John offered his help. Afterall, protecting people is one of this strengths.
Drake reluctantly agreed as the job sounded easy enough. All they needed to do is protect the wife and child of an important figure who has made some powerful enemies.
All goes well, indeed, until things go awfully wrong. Most of the team get killed, Drake is apparently killed as well, and the kid is snatched from under their noses. Milton tries to follow the getaway car, but he crashes his own at a sharp curve and ends up in the hospital.
While the beginning of the book was pretty uneventful, basically focusing on setting up the backstory and introducing the new characters, the second half of the book really picked up the pace.
As usual with the John Milton novels, once the action starts, the pace never lets up. John is not at his best healthwise (especially after the car crash where he got a severe concussion), but he needs to find the little girl no matter what.
I was really hungry for some John Milton stories, and Redeemer delivered. John is on his own path of redemption by helping others wherever he can, and the situation in Rio is no different.
He is a recovering alcoholic who is going to AA meetings whenever he can. He has his own demons to fight, but he never loses sight of what’s important.
I know that there are people who started reading the John Milton novels with the latest one, and they probably can understand most of what’s going on in the book, but for anyone new to the series, I highly recommend reading the books in proper chronological order.
There is so much to John Milton that you won’t get unless you read the previous book. Each book builds upon the previous one in terms of character progression, and by reading the books out of order you’ll miss out on all that.
Redeemer by Mark Dawson
Series: John Milton #12
Published by Amazon Digital Services
Published 2018
Genres: Thriller
Source: Purchased
Also by this author: Scorpion, The Agent, Witness X, The Alamo
