Into the Fire

Captain Michael Pope is the new Control of the super secret British Group Fifteen. The former Control is dead thanks to the daughter of the former Number One Beatrix Rose: Isabella Rose. Isabella Rose was taken from her mother after being in the arms of her father as he is executed by other members of Group 15 under the leadership of the former Control. She's grown up in sequestered foster homes and kept apart from her mother until John Milton helps Beatrix recover her daughter for one final year with her, knowing Isabella will be in extreme danger until Beatrix can eradicate those agents who ruined her family's lives. So she spends the one year she has left with her daughter training her to run, shoot, fight, think, and act like an agent. And Isabella responds. 

When there is a tragic bombing in London, Michael Pope is charged with finding and eliminating the perpetrators. What he learns determines his attempt to enlist the help of the young Isabella Rose. Having promised Beatrix he'd watch over her, he has mixed feelings about asking for her assistance, but she readily accepts his offer. Pope, two other members of Group 15, and Isabella set up their covers and fly out of London. 

After establishing their identities, Isabella lands an invitation to the mark's party and must somehow make her way through the mansion to download information about the father's business dealings. When she is accosted by the boy's mother, everything goes haywire, and utter chaos erupts within the house. Pope loses track of Isabella, there are murders, and armed men chase after the family who drags Isabella with them to escape.

From here, the stories take off to Syria, Macedonia, Washington DC, Vietnam, Ciudad Juarez, and eventually back to London. In the process of all the confusion Pope's family is kidnapped, there are impossibly strong young agents sent after him and Isabella, incomprehensible revelations about those agents, a rescue and exchange plan, a mysterious man dubbed "Atari", deep and hidden lies, a doctor who plans to expose the reason for the powerful agents, death and mayhem, Isabella's injury and surprise attachment to an unlikely friend who saves her life. 

Pope's a mess after all of it, estranged from his uprooted family. He's lost Isabella and thinks she's dead. He turns to alcohol much like Milton had done. He learns who's behind everything and pulls himself together to end the discovered horrors of the men who are responsible for it all, ultimately assisting Isabella to complete her mission. 

We see the deterioration of Michael Pope, at his worst, rallying to fulfill a promise he made to Beatrix when he gains real information, and losing just about everything including his life. It seems he and Isabella have a bond that can't be broken, and each other are all they really have left in this world. These Beatrix Rose/Isabella Rose stories, although often terrifically exciting and interesting, carry a profound sense of loss and a devastating sadness with them. 

The Isabella Rose Thriller Series by Mark Dawson is another thrill ride all around the world. The final chapter puts most of it to rest. 

Some profanity. 

Father, please continue to accommodate Mark in his writing needs and minister to him as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.