Into the Fire

After reading Mark Dawson's A Place to Bury Strangers, I knew it would be awhile before the third novel in that series surfaced, so I decided to go back in time to the beginning of John Milton's career with Group 15 when he was Number 6. Scorpion is that book which provided me with my John Milton "fix" as I waited for more from Mark's creative arsenal. 

He's an expert assassin, Russian, and he's managed to execute the best operatives sent to kill him. Now he works once or twice a year for Mother Russia on his terms, but mostly he's an extremely efficient assassin for hire. He's known as Scorpion, probably because he strikes swiftly, silently, and quickly. Somehow his latest target, a female former embedded reporter who was known for telling the human side of war torn cities and countries, has caught the attention of Control of Group 15 fame. John Milton is assigned to protect her and rid the world of Scorpion. 

Since no one seems to be able to track Scorpion probably because he's considered to be the best at what he does, Milton knows there's going to be only one way to catch him before he eliminates his target. His plan is anything but foolproof especially when John sees the less than impressive armory in the safe house. 

Through sheer determination John manages to snare Scorpion and what happens following that is strange and shocking to both him and one of the other agents. This is where we see how John begins the "handling" of his job and the John Milton saga begins.

Terrific line comes after explaining to the woman exactly who is after her. After listening to John tell her how Scorpion's considered to be the best at what he does, she asks, "Better than you?" His answer, "We'll find out." Boom! Loved it. 

If you love thrillers, the John Milton Series offers a slew of novels (all reviewed here) that are highly entertaining, well-written for the genre, and take the reader all around the world. 

Father, you know Mark, all about him, better than he knows himself, as you do all of us. Thank you for giving him such talent. Please continue to bless him and encourage him. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

A hit for Frampton with the doo-wah pedal in full force. Good old song back in the day.

Father, we're all desperate for you whether we know it or not. May those who create know from where there talent originates and thank you for it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

A Place to Bury Strangers is Book 2 in the Atticus Priest Series by Mark Dawson. 

In an obscure church graveyard, a dog finds more than historical corpses which sends "Mack" (Detective Chief Inspector Mackenzie Jones) up to Imber, an old city that no longer is. Now it's sometimes used as a military training area, but when a dog out for a walk with his owner retrieves what looks like a femur, Mack and her team must trudge out in the cold and wet to determine, if the bone is human, where it came from.

Atticus Priest is one of those wonderfully unique characters who is brilliantly intelligent when it comes to determining body languages, catching the nuances of  liars, and making intuitive deductions, not to mention he's a walking computer that produces minute details about multiple people, places, things, and little known facts about various topics. Except when it comes to Mack. 

Atticus, now a private investigator, was a former detective who not only worked with Mack, he had an affair with her. He was fired from the force for drug use (pot smoking), and due to his abrupt, sometimes condescending, manner, he didn't make many if any friends on the force. Mack, in spite of herself, appreciated his remarkable abilities and was more emotionally attached to him than she cared to admit. His emotional attachment to Mack and his ongoing desire for a romantic relationship with her – even though their affair ruined her marriage – blinds him to her feelings and reactions to him which often make him awkward and uncomfortable expressing himself to her except for case-related information. 

Just as Atticus accepts a case from a father whose 17 year old daughter is missing and thought to be involved with a local drug dealer, Mack calls and asks for his assistance regarding the discovered bone. He arranges the time to go with her to Imber, and as she expected, he and his dog Bandit provide major help in locating the origin of the bone. 

When an old case Atticus investigated unexpectedly intersects with Mack's and his current cases, Mack gets reluctant permission to add Atticus as a special investigator to her team. Atticus gets surprising information from an unlikely source and then finds a piece of evidence that quickly leads Mack and him to a critical rescue. 

I find myself falling in love with the original character of tattoo-sleeved, medication-reliant, often obnoxious, nearly in love with Mack, Atticus Priest. Mack is less lovable, emotionally wound tight, drowns her frustrations in wine, but very professional. She feels her soon-to-be ex is a better father to their two young children than she is a mother. She refuses to fully admit the depth of her feelings for Atticus and despises herself for indulging those feelings.  

Mark Dawson does an impressive job of developing Atticus Priest in this second novel while getting Mack's turmoil right about the coming demise of her marriage. Mark also depicts the horrors and hopeless squalor of drug addiction while Atticus searches for the missing daughter. A Place to Bury Strangers sends the reader on a morose and macabre journey in both Mack's and Atticus' cases and ends with a perverse cliffhanger and a daring hope for Mack and Atticus. 

I appreciated that Mark handled the minimal sexual liaisons with mere suggestion. Tastefully done and so much better that way. 

Profanity present. 

Father, you are the giver of good and perfect gifts. Thank you for your writers/authors. Please continue to bless Mark's writing and stories and provide what he needs to create. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
               

Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly,

   but the proud he knows from afar.

Psalm 138:6 (NIV)

The Lord is righteous in all his ways

   and loving toward all he has made.

The lord is near to all who call on him,

   to all who call on him in truth. 

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

   he hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him,

   but the wicked he will destroy.

Psalm 145:17-20 (NIV) 

Yes, we're often very much alike, but, yes, we can be so different.

Writers and authors all start somewhere. Many of us begin our stories in our elementary years when our little imaginations are set upon fanciful journeys stimulated somewhat by stories we've read. Skip ahead to the adult years, and this is where we decide if we'll continue to do this writing thing no matter what.

By "no matter what" I mean even if we don't ever make a dime from our efforts, we continue to author books.

So, let's talk methodology because, like those of us who write, we can have similarities with others who write and yet be so immensely different from still others. One of my favorite authors insists that the best way for her is to write unimpeded and refuse to self-edit until the words have accumulated on the page and created the story – or at least the storyline. I cannot do that. Cannot. Do. That. I can write at the most a few pages without interfering with the flow, but then it's time to take a break, come back, and start tinkering with the words I've written. Certainly, that tinkering isn't the final edit, but it's so necessary for me to do it as I go. 

We've mentioned here before that some authors use storyboards, pictures they've found which capture the essence of their characters, state plot points, and a variety of other things plastered to the board. 

Other authors actually do outlines of their story before a creative word is formed. That word "outline" makes me queasy and immediately takes all fun and pleasure from writing of any kind. 

The only addition I make to the actual writing of the story is to make a note for timing, for a future necessary plot point, for some small incident in the story which will need to be reconciled or included in the future, anything that I don't want to forget for a later event or even a part of dialogue. This doesn't always happen, but some notes might surface through the course of writing a novel – done in "long hand" in a notebook. 

Just a few things about writing and authors for this Friday . . . 

Father, I always keep saying "Apart from you, I can do nothing." Always so incredibly true. Thank you for every word, every story, every character. Please, keep them coming. You're the source of anything good I do. Only you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Originally drafted on 4/27/20 as "Seeing . . . Ghosts".

Ghosts by Mark Dawson is Book 4 in the John Milton Series. 

John "Smith" has made it to Texas but turns out as he's preparing to leave again for wherever, he winds up arrested at a bar fight and is rescued – or intercepted – by a beautiful woman (Anna) posing as an FBI agent. Turns out she's anything but that kind of agent, and she's equipped for everything John might need for what she has in mind for him. She knows way more about him than he does about her. 

Since John needs to know where this offer she presents is going, he willingly – although begrudgingly – accompanies her on a very long flight to an eventually remote "dacha" to hear what her boss has to offer. The request is in exchange for a rescue and requires some serious stealth before it's all said and done. First to Hong Kong with Anna to see the "ghost" he never expected to see again: Beatrix Rose, Number One who recruited him into Group Fifteen. When his first job with her goes terribly haywire, he never learns what happened to her after it. He assumed she might be dead – especially after his brush with Number 12 in The Cleaner. As he quickly learns, she's as good as dead when he meets with her. 

And once again John stares death in the face, and it's only a matter of seconds away in the mayhem that erupts after the rescue is complete. 

Mark Dawson has created a fascinating character in John Milton. Never looking for a fight but sizing up everyone in his path with the skills that come naturally after all the operative training and executions he's conducted over the years, somehow those fights come looking for him. Most of the time he's victorious, but he's had his share of close calls and temporary defeats with the multiple scars to prove it. 

Mark's writing is heavy on location, scenery, description. His dialogue, or lack thereof when John chooses not to respond, is crisp, interesting, and often provocative. There is occasional profanity. 

I find the John Milton Series very entertaining with only the occasional "rant". Do recommend you start at the beginning, and you'll find a pile of books in the series to keep you involved. I've found I also really enjoy the simplicity and colors used for the covers. The depiction of John Milton on the covers is perfect. 
           

Father, please continue to bless Mark, encourage him, and meet his needs as he writes. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Here are some Wednesday words for you. Feel free to contribute.

whisper

waspish

wimpy

wherewithal

windy or windy (short "i" sound and long "i" sound)

wicked

wonky

worsen

wondrous

winter and wintry

westward

withdrawal

winsome 

willful 

winner

wield 

wild 

wiggly

wacko 

wretched 

writer 

(The last three weren't really meant to go together.)

Father, you gave us words. You mixed the languages. English is ours. And it isn't an easy one. Words are fascinating, but yours is all about Truth. Thank you for it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

The Doobie Brothers "all grown up". Great, great band then and apparently now. Loved this one. 

Father, I know some of the members of this band met you personally, but I pray for all your musicians – that they would know from whom their talent and gifts originated. Thank you for them, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Melinda Leigh's Drown Her Sorrows is Book 3 in the Bree Taggert Series. 

Sheriff Bree Taggert is on her way home when she gets a phone call from a deputy about an abandoned car by a bridge. Regretfully, she must forego home and race to the scene where eventually a body is discovered at the bottom of the bridge where it appears a woman presumed to be Holly Thorpe has drowned and is lodged between two large boulders in the river below. 

Holly Thorpe worked for Beckett Construction, maintaining the books/accounting. When Bree and Matt Flynn (former law enforcement and now her Special Investigator as well as her concealed boyfriend) interview Holly's boss, he's not helpful, and he's a jerk. The other office employees have little to offer regarding Holly except for one of them who helps with accounting. She says Beckett and Holly must've been sleeping together because she followed Holly to his house one night to spy on her. 

When Bree and Matt talk to Holly's sister Shannon, she's distraught because now she doesn't know how she's going to pay for all of their dying mother's medical bills instead of putting her under hospice care without Holly's help . 

Holly's husband Owen was a drunken mess the night of Holly's death after sustaining a big fight with his wife – which wasn't abnormal for them. His alibi checks out after spending the night at the bartender's house of the dive bar where he got blasted. 

When another murder occurs and Bree is wounded, Matt and Bree struggle to find what they're missing. Add Beckett's wife Angela and their two college-attending sons to the mix, and the case seems almost impossible to figure out. Until Matt's sister Cady calls to check on one of the rescue dogs who lives with Holly's sister Shannon and everything gets crazy. 

This mystery progresses as a good police procedural with Melinda's usual strong writing and character development. The relationship between both likeable characters Matt and Bree moves along with a touching sensitivity and realism due to Bree's traumatic past. It's also heartwarming to see Bree's brother Adam and her murdered sister's two children along with Bree's retired cop best friend, who lives and has become an integral part of Bree's family, enhance their relationships and draw nearer to each other. It's life-giving and life-changing for Bree and allows her the ability to get closer to Matt who is patient with and concerned about her needs to go slow. 

The twist at the end provides action and a well done portrait of a psychopathic narcissist in action. 

Profanity present.

Father, only you inspire. Every good and perfect gift comes from you. May we all be aware of who provides the goodness in our lives. Please continue to bless Melinda's life and prolific writing career. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26 (NIV)