The novel “Saint Death” by Mark Dawson was published for the first time in 2014. It’s the second book in the John Milton series and follows “The Cleaner“.
John Milton has spent months moving around South America without staying in one place for long as he tries to avoid being found by his former boss. When he arrives in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, he gets a job as a cook in a restaurant, but his search for quiet doesn’t last long.
Lieutenant Jesus Plato is one of the few honest cops in Ciudad Juárez, but there’s little he can do about the drug cartel that controls the city. Criminal activities include kidnapping girls for sex, and two bloggers are looking for a survivor to go public with the story. They end up in the crosshairs of the cartel and its most ruthless assassin, known as the Saint Death.
After escaping British intelligence, John Milton continues to search for himself first and foremost. “Saint Death” begins with the essential information on the events that led John to abandon his life as an assassin sent to eliminate people deemed dangerous. This is useful information if you haven’t read “The Cleaner” but it can’t replace reading that novel, which enables to fully understand the beginning of the protagonist’s story.
Mark Dawson continues the story of John Milton’s attempts to create a new life and make amends for what he has done. When he killed someone, he said to himself he did it for important reasons, but years of that life have led him to think he’s a monster. Finding himself in a city controlled by one of the cruel drug cartels gives him a different perspective.
John Milton’s goal when he arrived in Ciudad Juárez was to keep a very low profile, knowing very well that his former boss would never stop looking for him. The circumstances lead him to become a vigilante when he sees innocent people in danger and reacts instinctively choosing to help them.
Action, often intense and usually violent, and introspection are closely intertwined in this novel. In my opinion, Mark Dawson maintained a good balance between these two narrative elements, also in the development of other important characters. John Milton’s point of view is the main one but there are also others that show the choices made by diverse people, ranging from the bloggers who risk their lives to denounce the crimes of drug cartels to the ruthless assassin nicknamed the Saint Death, from lieutenant Jesus Plato, who would like to retire without too many dangers to the bounty hunter.
I think that “Saint Death” works thanks to these elements, which are used by Mark Dawson to go beyond the clichés of the stories of vigilantes and characters in search of redemption. The inspiration from true stories connected to drug cartels helps to create a sense of realism. In this framework, the author uses his imagination to create a plot that mixes elements of espionage connected to the attempts of the branch of British intelligence for which John Milton worked to find him with elements of action stories connected to the situation in Ciudad Juárez.
For these reasons, I think “Saint Death” works well in continuing the story of John Milton in his search for a new life in which he can make amends for his past actions. This novel is part of a series with an ending that offers a conclusion to the plot and at the same time leaves the protagonist’s personal story open to new adventures. If you like the genre, I recommend reading it. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
