In Cold Blood (Beatrix Rose Book 1)

A tough as nails heroine is on a mission of vendetta against those who killed her husband, injured her and took away her daughter. And she is also suffering from terminal cancer with doctors giving her only about a year to live. Yet she remains in prime physical condition and succeeds in eliminating one of her targets against all odds !! Sounds improbable, unbelievable, unreal ? Well, this is how the story develops. One expected a somewhat better treatment of the main character from Mark Dawson.

I recently read, and was underwhelmed by, Mark Dawson’s “the Cleaner” featuring his version of Jack Reacher, John Milton. Not planning on reading any more of them to be honest, BUT I had already bought “In Cold Blood”.In Cold Blood the main character is Beatrix Rose. She does feature in one of the John Milton books I am never going to read. She was betrayed by Control, the head of a British unit undertaking assassinations on behalf of a grateful Government. Now re-united with her daughter she is on the run but also plans on using her considerable talent for killing to eliminate those involved with her betrayal, the killing of her husband and for keeping her away from her daughter for ten years.Trouble is, for all her talents, Beatrix has terminal cancer and before she succumbs she wants to take out those involved in ruining her life and putting her daughter in danger.As lethal as John Milton but more interesting by way of being female and with the quirk of her condition. Fast moving stuff as she uses her considerable skills to do harm to those who wronged her.I did enjoy this, the bad guys who are supposed to be Tier One do tend to go down a little too easily, but this is fun stuff.

Having read many of the Milton series, I downloaded the start of Beatrix Rose series when she was introduced, which is in The Ghost, book 4 in the Milton series. Although the timelines are slightly unclear, we quickly learn Rose is ill, dedicated to her daughter and out for revenge.Given she is from the same background as Milton, as you might expect we are largely in familiar territory – an expert secret agent, assassin who has a grudge. As ever, Mr. Dawson provides the atmospherics of the locations – the souk in Marrakech is particularly realistic, and I’m sure Somalia is as well presented (I doubt he’s been there though!).It is a short book, probably only a bit more than half the size of a normal Milton, but not a big issue. In my view, Rose is a bit less sympathetic than Milton (so far at least) – not sure why. The stuff about her daughter is setup for the other Rose series, and feels a bit extraneous to me, but it is certainly working for Mr. Dawson. Overall, not quite as satisfying as the Milton books, but it’s an introduction and I will be reading more of the series. If you like Mr. Dawson’s writing, you cannot go wrong with this.

At last an author unafraid of utilising their word power; unlike other authors whom write for less educated readers. For me Mark Dawson’s use of English was a delight, which made the entire book flow beautifully; although there were a couple of words which stumped me…. only to discover they were not listed in any English dictionary!The human interest integrated into the plot was pitched perfectly and thankfully steered away from unnecessary lubricious sex.Fight/combat sequences were well described and fairly accurate. Although having some expertise in this area, I can assure the author such accuracy with a throwing knife is impossible to attain.Mark has obviously undertaken considerable researched to ensure accuracy; although his knowledge of morphine is somewhat misleading. The amount of morphine Beatrix was consuming could dull her reflexes considerably, she would therefore require a strong stimulant to keep her sharp, when she was unable to to source sufficient morphine to control the pain, she would in fact be badly affected by morphine withdrawal, plus additional increase of her cancer pain.While my observations may be petty, the book was so well written these small errors came as a disappointment. Regardless, this was indeed one of the best books I have read in a long while. I am looking forward to reading the trilogy.What a difference a well written book can make!

If you want a military spy thriller that has plenty of action and features the names of lots of different weapons and vehicles very precisely, look no further. But if you want some character depth alongside, you're in the wrong place.Beatrix Rose is a highly capable spy in hiding, whose personal mission to kill a bunch of traitors from her past overlaps with the fate of a group of hostages taken by Somali pirates. Action ensues. Dawson gives us a lot of descriptions of the different African settings, and makes sure we know EXACTLY which weapon every character is wielding, which I found quite tiresome, I've got to say. But maybe people who love this kind of book want that. That's fine, but it isn't for me. I'll let those people enjoy the rest of the series.

As with all Mark Dawson's books, I loved the sense of place he creates in his writing whether the roof tops and souks in Morocco or the threat and expanse of the sea.Some will have met Beatrix Rose previously; the three earlier set novellas in Hong Kong are very good. We now meet her with her daughter after a eight year gap. The ability to survive through use of your wits, guns and tradecraft she now wishes to pass on to Isabella for although she seeks revenge on those who killed her husband and kidnapped their child she realises they have a self preservation reason to try to get to her and Isabella first.When Michael Pope approaches her it seems her quest and their stategetic needs are similar after a group from Somalia intercept a container ship off the coastline.Added to get close to the border Beatrix is on a mission but as far as the british government she is a rouge element in play, an ex-operative who is deniable if she fails, gets caught or killed. The odds are stacked against her other than her training, arsenal of weapons and personal drive to seek out and revenge her family. I loved the action and drive that Beautrix's mission gave the book. It is very credible and plays on the current circumstances of our troubled world. It is good to see the comparison between those who fight for a cause and those whose work and circumstances take them. Beatrix Rose is a bit of both, with a reason now to kill. She is single-minded but not cold hearted to everyone she meets; but to those who have crossed her the world isn't big enough to hide from her zeal and sense of destiny. You would rather have her as a friend than an enemy and Pope and the British government are playing a dangerous game.