The Cleaner (John Milton Book 1): MI6 created him. Now they want him dead.’ Paperback – February 1, 2022

I had mixed reactions to this one, mostly good. Here we have a British assassin who one day decides he doesn't want to do it anymore (I tended to think of James bond mixed in with the Prisoner.) Unfortunately for him, his boss isn't inclined to let him go. On top of all that, he decides to try and help a kid and his mom who are living in a bad area full of thugs. What I liked: it was easy to read, with short chapters that set a good pace and made me read faster than I intended (I read this in a single day, which is unusual for me.) The action scenes and characterization were also well-done. What I didn't like: after finishing it, I realized that the main character, for being a trained and experienced killer, tended to give bad guys too many chances, which resulted in needless casualties. This was also set in London, with British characters and locations, written by a British author, which meant there was heavy use of slang that I didn't understand. All in all, though, this was a fast and fun read. It appears that the next books in the series see the character travel to other places to help others in need, and I'll definitely check them out; I can only hope that his dealings with some of the villains become more efficient.