1000 Yards by Mark Dawson

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Title: 1000 Yards

Author: Mark Dawson Webpage: Mark Dawson

Narrator: David Thorpe

ASIN: B00U9HDKK6 Genre: Action Thriller Length: 2h:11m

Synopsis: Meet John Milton. He considers himself an artisan, a craftsman. His trade is murder. Milton is the man the government uses when everything else has failed. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list. In novella, Milton is sent into North Korea. With nothing but a sniper rifle, bad intentions and a very particular target, will Milton be able to take on the secret police of the most dangerous failed state on the planet?

I have heard and read the many positive reviews of Dawson’s work. This is the second novella that I have “read” by Dawson, and as with the previous one I felt somewhat underwhelmed. It started off with much promise, but in the end did not deliver any of the excitement I was expecting. It is rather one-sided, with the focus very much on John Milton, the main protagonist. The potential for his activities to be disrupted by others was never fulfilled and, as a result, the plot was rather flat and lacking in action. It feels almost like a summary of a longer, much more action packed, full length novel. Having said that, the character development was very good and the settings well described. The dialogue made an important contribution to both character development and to developing the plot. There is defiantly something here that does not reach its full potential. It might be that the short length of the story did not allow Dawson the space to develop the story further – I think I should try a full length novel by Dawson next time. At the time of writing this novella was free on Amazon. I did not find the narration by David Thorpe fitted the style of the story. It was rather clipped, more the sort of thing I would expect for a Bond novel. I think something more gravelly would have been more appropriate.

What others thought Amazon.co.uk; 246 reviews, of which 94% were 3* or more, giving an average of 4.3* Amazon.com; 446 reviews, of which 94% were 3* or more, giving an average of 4.2* Goodreads.com; 1619 ratings (204 reviews), with 93% of 3* or more, giving an average of 3.8*

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