Not as exciting as the first 4 John Milton books.

I am a huge fan of Mark Dawson's books, both the John Milton Series and the Beatrix Rose series. Sword of God is quite good, but not as good as the four prior books in the John Milton series or any of the books in the Beatrix Rose series.

6 people found this helpful

Same - old - story line as many before

Predictable story and events, after saying that...the book was well written, well read, but very predictable... I liked the story line, and the characters were well developed

1 person found this helpful

Now This is Good

I have listened to the first 4 in the series, I almost stopped after the first but thought the story line had promise to tried the second which was an improvement but still the series and author were struggling. I was seeing improvement so went on and used a credit for the third book, again more improvement. The forth was well done and brought new light and space to the story line. And then this book - it completely hit the mark. Good characters and good character development. Lots of action (even if it is unreal). Yes it is a bit Jack Reacherish but there are significant differences to the character and writing. Well worth the credit and my perseverance. I look forward to more stories of John Milton's adventures.

1 person found this helpful

Cartoonish, Clichéd, Poorly Written Rehashed Plot

I, in some sort of attempt to allow Dawson to mature as a writer, lumbered through 5 of his 'books'. Along with hearing the repeated use of hackneyed cliches ('chicken lips!), these books have the sound and feel of cartoon plots. There is no flow to the stories as if the parts were taken off a shelf in an elementary writing class.
They are flatter than 'chicken lips' and any tension is nonexistent.
Save your credits.

3 people found this helpful

Rambo?

It start off like first blood . Sheriff drives Milton out of town. He walks back. Then it end with Milton in the woods with a bow. The story line follow the first blood motive.

3 people found this helpful

UGH - Dawson's Writing Boring Polemics.

March of the monotonous! 3 STARS!!?? Why?

This Brit author knows how to spot the world's real terrorists. You thought maybe in the midst of AL-Qeada, ISIS, or perhaps, Taliban? Uh, nope. So how about Boko Haram, Al Shabab, or the North Korean Government? Again... nope, nope and nope. Dawson's 'hero' John Milton can spot them if they work for small American town sheriffs and quote the Old Testament. In fact, the slightest whiff of Republican scent's enough to tighten Milton's trigger finger.

Yep, Dawson knows that fat, stupid, and stereotypically evil white supremacists fill squad cars and offices in every rural US community. all tensed to wield their 'Sword of God'. You're safer to sleep unarmed in the Congo bush, the streets of Mosul, or San Pedro Sula, Honduras than to bristle with weapons into any South-Western U.S. town with a population less than say, 10,000.

Advice: There's no need to even hear the noisy first chapter of 'Sword of God' if you've listened to the last chapter of "Saint Death" or the first chapter of "The Driver". Absent minor differences, 'Sword of Death' simply (and I mean SIMPLY) reprises each of them.

And absent the existential threat of "The Group" dangling over Miltion's head like another legendary sword... Well this entire book's like a bottle of seltzer whose lid's been popped for a couple of months.

And then there's David Thorpe's increasingly BAD American accents.

It's one thing for Dawson-through-Thorpe's lips to endlessly bash Britain, after all his dialect allows some cred. But I'd rather get my American bashing from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, the NYT or the Washington Post. NPR may be passing the same anti Western-Civ gas as the BBC, but it gets its mouth-music right - y'know?

Perhaps in future books Mr. Dawson will leave my USA to find some other culture to despise. After listening to five of his John Milton polemics... I'll probably never know. Goodby John Milton and God speed. Ooops... I hope that's not an Old Testament line. Honest I'm not in any white NAZI hate militias.

Honest... I mean... Honest!

6 people found this helpful

Couldn't stop listening to this!

Loved it! Fast paced, action packed, bad guys get there come uppance. Everything I look for in my thriller. Just bought the next book in the series.

Another great book by Mark Dawson/David Thorpe!

A Fantastic tail of intrigue staring John Milton as the main character. You can't go wrong getting this series of books!

Good series

I'm enjoying this series of novels. John Milton is an intriguing character with plenty of depth and personal demons. My only issue with this particular installment is it's close resemblance to the Rambo novel. Followed a lot of the same story line. Milton brought his own personality to the theme and the supporting characters are strong. Looking forward to the next book.

Loved it!

What did you love best about The Sword of God?

I'm glad I ignored the less favorable reviews. This was a great, action-packed thriller, and as always, the narrator was phenomenal.