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Tarantula

A John Milton Short Story

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Tarantula

Written by: Mark Dawson
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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About this listen

Meet John Milton. He considers himself an artisan. A craftsman. His trade is murder. Milton is the man the government sends after you when everything else has failed. Ruthless. Brilliant. Anonymous. Lethal. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list.

In this second dip into his case files (see 1000 Yards for a further novella), Milton is sent to Italy to investigate the death of a colleague from Group 15, the secret assassination squad that liquidates those considered to be impediments to the furtherance of British interests. Milton discovers that the agent was involved with the Camorra, the powerful Mafia clan that controls the territory from Naples to the tip of the Italian boot. He identifies the assassin as a man nicknamed Tarantula. Now Tarantula, and his boss, are entries in Milton's ledger. And all debts need to be paid.

©2014 Mark Dawson (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Italy Assassin Short Stories
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John Milton is a "Cleaner". His job is to make problems for the British Government disappear in plausibly deniable ways. Mark Dawson's covert assassin is an obvious 007 clone and sadly is portrayed cartoonishly in this short (Milton charms beautiful fèmmes-fatàle, stares down powerful criminals, beats up huge adversaries with ridiculous ease, and kills his "legendarily-skilled" target so easily it's actually anticlimactic). Furthermore, the plot in this short background mission is two-dimensional (Group 15 - under contract with Her Majesty's Government - sends "Number 8" to Italy to discover why "Number 3" disappeared), but I found myself being able to set aside disbelief and enjoy it for what it's worth - a ludicrous but fun Ian Fleming rip-off. The John Milton character sorts out the scenario and exacts revenge far too quickly, but 'Tarantula' isn't bad at providing what is promised: a sketched-out mission to help establish the character's background for Dawson's main story arc.

David Thorpe again turns in a quality performance (I have listened to a few of his performances). Diction, cadence, timbre, pacing, and tone are excellent and his voice-acting is above-average. The producers at Audible Studios cast this project marvellously.

I am grateful to Audible for offering this "teaser" for free as part of my subscription. I likely wouldn't have tried it otherwise and even though it isn't great, it rates 4 stars out of 10.
I haven't read any of the full-length novels in the 'John Milton' series, and likely won't - but wouldn't be crazy to give them a try.. based on the fun aspects of these short offerings. This book (along with the surprisingly good '1000 Yards' and the other free 'Group Fifteen Files' collaborations) promises relatively well-written (if silly) entertaining Spy Thriller fare.

I wouldn't spend money on this story, but it's an enjoyable distraction on a snowy afternoon.

Straightforward (Stereotypical) Spy Mission

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