JOHN PURKISS

Full Name:	John Purkiss
Nationality:	British
Organization:	British Intelligence
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Tim Stevens
Time Span:	2012 - 2015

ABOUT THE SERIES

       John Purkiss is an agent with British Intelligence.
       He is more accurately a "Ratcatcher", a term used by his boss, Vale, and himself to describe someone who goes after the rats in the house. Most of the agents in MI6 are loyal subjects out to keep their country as safe as they can but some bad apples sneak into the barrel and some turn bad over time. When they are discovered, it is the job of Vale to ferret them out and the job of John Purkiss to hunt them down. Often eliminating them is the only alternative and Purkiss is not one to become squeamish.
       He was not always quite so ready to partake in violence. When he was younger, he joined MI6 as a standard agent and expected to remain as one for a good time to come. He met and fell in love with another agent, Claire, while stationed in Marseille and they became engaged. Though interoffice relationships were frowned upon, Purkiss managed because after five years of being an agent, he was good at hiding.
       Then Claire told him of her suspicions about her boss, a senior operative that Purkiss happened to like and respect. He did not want to believe but Claire was insistent and as they started to watch him, proof started to stack up. Then things went bad quickly and Claire was killed. The death of his love by a fellow agent changed him tremendously. He was furious that someone he had trusted had taken something so precious and he was thoroughly disgusted at the department that let the man operate. He quit.
       It was shortly after that the aged and experience Vale came to visit. He was offering a job. Just as the man who had killed Claire had needed catching, so did others and when your career is spent in the shadows, being hunted down is not easy. It requires someone very good and very dedicated to take on that task. Purkiss still had a fair amount of anger left but he also had an emptiness that cried to be filled. Doing something was far better than just sitting and thinking what might have been. He took the job and stepped back into the shadowy world, this time as a hunter instead of a watcher.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	6
First Appearance:	2012
Last Appearance:	2015


1			Ratcatcher Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2012 The friend and fellow SIS agent who killed John Purkiss's fiancee was convicted and put away for life. Then he was parolled and given another task. Now he has gone rogue and Purkiss is sent to Estonia to track him down and stop whatever he is planning. And stop him permanently.

2			Delivering Caliban Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2012 Someone, probably an SIS agent, is tracking down CIA agents and killing around the world. John Purkiss is dispatched to find him and take care of the situation but that agent is possibly bettern than Purkiss.

3			Jokerman Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2013 A meeting between the Home Secretary and an agent with MI5 is disrupted by a sniper attack. John Purkiss goes after MI6 rogue agents so he declines this job until someone attacks him in his own home and hurts a friend. Now it is personal.

4			Tundra Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2014 A retired British operative is discovered living and working at a very remote installation in Siberia, using a different name. Worried that he might have been a mole for Russia, the bossess at British Intelligence send John Purkiss to that area to learn more. Traveling there as a journalist, Purkiss witnesses deep-set tensions culminating in a murder and as the group tries to figure who and why, a group of Russian soldiers are sent there to eliminate everyone.

5			Cronos Rising Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2014 A Turkish airliner explodes shortly after leaving a German airport with terrorism suspected. John Purkiss wants to know why it was targeted and by whom for onboard was his mentor and friend.

6			Nemesis Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2015 A secret prisoner swap, a Russian physics professor for a British traitor, goes very wrong and both parties disappear. It is the task of John Purkiss to find the traitor and it is more than just a job for him - he has a score to settle with the man who played a part in the death of Purkiss' fiancee.

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:	1
First Appearance:	2013
Last Appearance:	2013


1			Haven short story Written by Tim Stevens Copyright: 2013 Purkiss is on a personal trip to Malta when he spots an old enemy and reports him to the local SIS station. When they do not seem surprised or caring, Purkiss gets curious.

MY COMMENTS

       I have truly enjoyed the Purkiss adventures and I hope Mr. Stevens will continue to write so I can continue to read. He is very good at pacing and setting a scene and he is really quite exceptional at bringing action scenes to life. One element that impressed me highly was the fact that the author realized the people that Purkiss would go up against would be trained and be dangerous. Purkiss is better, obviously since he continues to win, but he does not tower over his opponents. They, too, are men of action and able to kill when pressed. Purkiss takes his share of blows and more than once has to settle for living to fight another day. Unluckily for his adversaries, Purkiss is relentless.
       The first book had a slow spot or two but the rest did not and I found that when I was reading them, I was amazed at how many pages had passed. I did learn to not like supporting characters too much because it is a violent world Purkiss inhabits and anyone close to him can and likely will get hurt. Still, I keep reading and I keep enjoying it.
       Says a lot.

GRADE

My Grade: A

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