Tarantula

cliched but functional

My first time to read a John Milton novel - likely also the last. it’s very sub-Bond and flits from cliche to cliche - several moments are direct lifts from Bond movies. The style is efficient and stripped back with little showiness which many will appreciate, but I want a bit more from my reading. The plot kept me going but only just - I left it and came back more because I am interested in Dawson’s marketing business than the novel - I wanted to see if he can write. It did pick up in the middle, but the baddies were shallow and the problems too few and easily resolved to really sustain interest. Fleming’s villains had the advantage of being curious, and the predicaments inventive. A spider tattoo does not a great villain make. Nor did I get much sense of location. The biggest problem is Milton himself who could be replaced by any Bond / Reacher or other well trodden characterisation. There’s nothing new here - but nothing terribly broken either - so if you like the above and don’t expect too much you may enjoy this. It’s short, but a little too so, and resolves rather swiftly leaving me wanting more not in a good way. I grudgingly enjoyed, I just had higher expectations given Dawson’s successful business. But those who can’t….