Three More Don’t-Mess-With-Me Novel Heroes

“Read the Orphan X series. You’ll thank me later.” — David Baldacci

Nearly ten years ago, I wrote “Three Don’t-Mess-With-Me Novel Heroes”, in which I gave brief descriptions/recommendations of three action/adventure heroes who star in their own book series. I have written a handful of similar posts (slightly modified format) but of different types of heroes/series. So, I thought it was about time I wrote a “don’t-mess-with-me” follow-up about three more heroes of the same type. (It took me awhile to finally read a sufficient sampling of each.) Maybe you will find one or more of them interesting enough to give ’em a try….

1) “John Milton” series by Mark Dawson

John Milton has spent a decade working as an operative (mostly assassinations) for Group Fifteen, a little-known, off-the-books kill-squad division of UK’s MI-6. When we meet him in the first novel, The Cleaner, Milton has become increasingly disillusioned by the moral grayness of his work, and the guilt has driven him to drink. He decides to take a “sabbatical” and disappear for awhile, but his boss has reluctantly decided to “retire” him. Fortunately for him, Milton is G15’s #1 operative and pretty good at staying under the radar… mostly. Meanwhile, he travels the world, trying to balance the scales, as it were, by helping people he comes across who are in dangerous situations and can use someone with his skillset.

I have read the first three novels (out of 23) in this series, as well as the first prequel novella. There are many similar series out there based on a current or former government assassin or other special ops type. Yet, this one feels a bit different from those I’ve read. Part of it might be that the main character is British (as are his former employers), but it has a very different feel from others I have sampled. In any case, I have enjoyed what I’ve read so far — both the character and the stories. They have a very street-level realism to them. The series has been called “a cross between James Bond and Jason Bourne,” but I think it is more of a cross between Bond (for the secretive and British aspects) and Jack Reacher (for the solitary and brutal parts), yet very much its own thing.

Btw, I belong to a fairly big city public library, but they only have the first novel of this series in paperback. (There are no hardcovers.) I finally bought three omnibuses, so I now have the first nine novels plus a couple novellas in print form. But, if you don’t want to go that route, you can get the Kindle versions, which are relatively cheap or free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

2) “Gray Man” series by Mark Greaney

Greaney’s character is Court Gentry, 36, who effectively trained with tactical officers at his father’s SWAT school. He was recruited by the CIA and worked in covert ops, earning himself quite a reputation. He was given the call-sign ‘Sierra Six’ (or just ‘Six’) when he joined an agency irregular rendition task force nicknamed the ‘Goon Squad’. Things went bad on one op (or maybe he was framed), and his old bosses marked him for neutralization. Gentry escaped before they could “render” him, killing a few teammates in the process. Nowadays, Gentry works as an assassin-for-hire in the private sector, and many in the biz would call him “the best”. He has a new nickname, too. He is now known as the Gray Man, due largely to his ability to “blend in” so well wherever he may be, and to seemingly slip in and out of the shadows.

Sometimes the Gray Man gets jobs through an Englishman by the name of Fitzroy, owner of Cheltenham Security Services, but that’s not always reliable. Other times, Gentry takes on work from shadier groups, though he does have loose guidelines for determining which missions to accept. If he can morally justify the assignment, he’ll probably take it, especially if he needs the funds. But, when Gentry’s old CIA employers close in on him, he disappears again, blending in and trying to stay out of trouble. Not surprisingly, trouble tends to find him.

I have only read the first three books in this series, but the thirteenth just came out last month. So far, each story is very different from the others. (However, I read Book #3, Ballistic, right after reading the second John Milton book Saint Death, which was somewhat confusing, ‘cuz they both involved our hero “hiding out” in Mexico and getting caught up in something with drug cartels.) The Court Gentry character is continually being fleshed out, there are fun/interesting plots, and good groups of supporting characters. Overall, an enjoyable read in the action/adventure, spy-thriller genre.

A quick note: If you watched Netflix’s “The Gray Man” film (w/ Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans), you have some idea of what the series is about. But, like most such adaptations, it was rather commercialized and, imho, has a very different feel than the original novels.

3) “Orphan X” (aka “The Nowhere Man”) series by Gregg Hurwitz

See that white guy coming out of the coffee shop, walking this way… in the black sweatshirt and dark jeans? I’d say he’s under 6′ tall, mid-30s, fit but otherwise average looks and build, right? He may not stand out in a crowd, but that works for him in his line of business. What business? If you ask him, he’ll say his name is Evan Smoak and he’s a salesman of industrial cleaning supplies to restaurants, etc. But, …

I have it on good authority that the dude is the urban legend known as the Nowhere Man. If you or a loved one is in over your/their head with some dangerous people — drug dealer, bookie, street gang, kidnapper, corrupt cop, etc. — he might be able to help. He’s got mad skills. But, you can only contact him if a former client of his knows your problem and passes his business card to you on the down-low. (They can only do it once.) If it sounds legit and he can help, he’ll arrange a meet to get more info.

How did Smoak get his skills? You didn’t hear it from me, but he was recruited out of an orphanage by some “mystery man” when he was twelve. He got special training from his mentor (the “mystery man”) and a select group of instructors. Eventually, he became a regular operative for the Orphan Program, an off-the-books, assassin program known by very few even in the U.S. intelligence community. He was quite successful as “Orphan X”. But, after a few years, he’d had enough and broke ties with the Program. (Sound familiar?) Then, new management decides to scrub the program altogether, and that includes eliminating currently surviving Orphans and those still in training. Orphan X refuses to cooperate. It helps that he was able to use certain resources available to him to secretly remodel a top-floor, city condo into a veritable fortress. And “they” don’t know where he lives… yet.

As of this writing, I have read Books 1-3, but there are currently nine in the series. Both the character and the setting are different enough to set them apart from similar action thriller series. There’s some humor, too, usually around Smoak’s dealing with a variety of neighbors, the Homeowners’ Association, his quasi-love interest and her kid. Very enjoyable! In fact, I’m in the mood for one now, but it will have to wait until I finish the Reacher book I’m slowly working my way through. Fun, fun, fun!

I hope you have enjoyed these write-ups. Let me know if you try one and what you think. If you enjoy another series of this sort, please share your recommendation(s)!

If I Was Doing a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Series…

Let me preface this article by saying that I enjoy the current “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” series, even if I don’t care for some of the directions they have taken with story and characters, particularly as demanded(?) by events in the big-screen films. I understand that the films are the big moneymakers, so they take precedence. The TV/Netflix series, beginning with MAoS, must follow their lead. I get that.

So, when the powers-that-be in charge of the Avengers (and many related properties) decided to introduce and interpret S.H.I.E.L.D. the way they did and then blew it apart — physically, organizationally, metaphorically, etc. — with the HYDRA infiltration, that basically set the parameters for a lot of subsequent stories and eliminated the ability to tell others. If it isn’t obvious by now, I think they did a fine job, but I personally would have preferred that they not virtually destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. — at least, not so soon. In fact, if I had my druthers, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been handled much differently and hewed more closely to the “classic” look and feel of the comics from the 1970s-2000s.

I would have established the agency as an international peacekeeping organization, possibly with U.N. oversight, and gone back to the original name of “Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-enforcement Division” or “Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate”. But, then I’d have kept it more in the background of the movies and less prominently involved in all the Avengers’ and other hoopla. Though, with an alien invasion, I guess they would have had to be involved to some degree. But, generally speaking, there wouldn’t have been so much focus on them. Of course, this also means that I probably would not have gone the “Ultimate” route, with Nick Fury being the one to pull the heroes together to form the Avengers.

With those changes as a backdrop, what would my S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series look like? To begin with, it would feel much more like the classic spy movies and shows that inspired it — e.g., James Bond and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” — but without the ’60s & ’70s campiness. There would be a mix of Bond-like superspy stuff, counterterrorism ops, high-tech espionage, superhero/villain interaction, and dealing with extraterrestrial threats. There would be both overt activity (e.g., when working with local LEOs/military and publicly-known superheroes to apprehend supervillains and fight off alien invasions) and covert missions. There would be occasional turf clashes with national security and law-enforcement agencies, both foreign and domestic, as well as with Interpol. And, of course, I would demonstrate the bureaucratic, diplomatic, logistical, and financial nightmares of being and running a huge, international, UN-supervised organization (assuming this is the case).

I would split story arcs between an assault team and intelligence operatives, with a couple op tech support people. There would be occasional appearances by classic S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (e.g., Clay Quartermain, Jasper Sitwell, the Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Dum-Dum Dugan and other surviving members of the Howlin’ Commandos, etc.). In fact, one or more of them might be regulars. There would also be occasional cameos by superheroes and other adventurers. Our main protagonists would be based on a heli-carrier, or at least have one heavily involved. It would probably be assigned to a particular sector in the U.S. but would occasionally, temporarily move to another location for a major operation.

I like some of the tech being developed and used by FitzSimmons in “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”. But, in my version of the show, there would be more of it. I’d like to see more use of flying cars, jetpacks, laser(?) blasters, and various other weapons and equipment of the spy trade. And we must bring back the Life Model Decoy (LMD)! (Before they finally revealed how Agent Coulson survived his seemingly-fatal injury from the Avengers movie, I was so sure that the Coulson in the TV show was an LMD….) Finally, for normal, day-to-day operations, both on-base and in the field, I would bring back the navy blue S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms with white belt, boots, straps, and shoulder holsters. Those were snazzy!

OK, that about exhausts my fantasies for a real S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, as always faithful to the comics they sprang from. What do you think?

Three Don’t-Mess-With-Me Novel Heroes

1st “Mitch Rapp” novel

This is for the bibliophiles among you…

For the past couple of years, I’ve been enjoying reading some action/adventure/thriller novels by three different authors — four of each, as of this writing. The first is the series by the late Vince Flynn that stars “Mitch Rapp“. Second are the “Scot Harvath” books by Brad Thor. The only problem with these two series is that the characters are so similar that I sometimes get them (and their previous adventures) mixed up. It’s not that Rapp and Harvath are carbon-copies. They aren’t, really. But, I just can’t read them too closely together. Consider…

 

1st “Scot Harvath” novel

They are both highly-trained federal agents/intelligence operatives in their early- to mid-30s. Each of them often works solo (or almost) and likes it that way, usually on counterterrorist operations (including assassination), sometimes involving going undercover and/or hostage-rescue. Smart. Stubborn. American patriots who aren’t afraid to bend the rules when necessary. (Think: Jack Bauer “meets” Jason Bourne, minus the amnesia.) They each have a high-ranking boss/advocate in the intelligence community and a good relationship with the President himself — especially since both Rapp and Harvath rescued their respective Presidents in their first chronicled adventures. Neither hero has much of a personal life and both have trouble maintaining a romantic relationship, for both personal and professional reasons. Still, I like both characters, partly because they are so good at what they do and because their different “origin” stories and relationships with various supporting characters — good, bad, and in-between — make them interesting individuals who have entertaining (for the reader) adventures.

1st “Jack Reacher” novel

The third series of books I have been enjoying is the “Jack Reacher” stuff by Lee Child. Reacher has some similarities to Rapp and Harvath, but he is also quite different. The first Reacher novel takes place shortly after he was forced to retire from the Military Police — after 17 years, with rank of Major — and assumed a nomadic lifestyle, traveling with only the clothes on his back and a toothbrush. So, he’s even more of a loner than Rapp or Harvath. He’s a man of very few words, as indicated by the recurring narrative line, “He said nothing.” Reacher doesn’t go looking for trouble, but trouble tends to find him. He doesn’t make friends easily, but if one of the few (either old or new) needs assistance, Reacher will do what he can to help, especially if he perceives some injustice being done. He’s a pretty big dude (6’5″, ~250+ lbs.), clever, observant, resourceful, a no-nonsense streetfighter, and he lives by a unique set of rules. (If you’re curious, go to the bookstore or library and check out Jack Reacher’s Rules.) All of this makes for an intriguing, fairly unique character and “fun” stories.

So, if you enjoy action/adventure stories, spy thrillers, and somehow haven’t latched onto one or more of these series/heroes, I strongly urge you to check ’em out! (And, if all you read is sci-fi/fantasy or comic books, then for goodness sake, try something new!) You can thank me later.