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MARC DANE

dane_marc_bk_e dane_marc_bk_s dane_marc_bk_g dane_marc_bk_n dane_marc_bk_r dane_marc_bk_o
 
Full Name: Marc Dane
Nationality: British
Organization: MI6
Occupation Agent

Creator: James Swallow
Time Span: 2016 - 2021

ABOUT THE SERIES

Marc Dane is an agent with MI-6.

At least he is when we first meet him. Things will change over time which is not uncommon but in the first recorded adventure, he is firmly in the field with several harden operatives. He is in their team having gotten the training and issued the gear but in his mind and his heart he is still the computer jockey he had been before.

Dane is in his late thirties though with his somewhat boyish face and an seemingly perpetually unruly head of "dishwater blond hair", he could easily pass for someone a lot younger. He has been a member of Operations Team Seven for almost two years but with a lot of that time having been in training, his number of missions is low and he has found to his annoyance that the pre-op jitters still find him. "...every time he thought that the next time he would be free of the unease. But it hadn't happened yet, and the corner of his lip pulled up in a crooked smile as he considered that it probably never would".

The Operations team he belonged to, codenamed "Nomad", was one of ten "rapid-reaction units run under the covert aegis of the British Secret Intelligence Service". He had been snatched up quickly after his time with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm had come to an end.

Despite being issued a sidearm and having had quite sufficient training in its use, Dane prefers to leave it behind, thinking that "carrying the pistol on a mission always made Marc feel as if he was inviting trouble". Therein lay the difference between the "blokes in the van" and the "blokes with the guns". Despite having been offered a chance to become a true field operative, one of those with the guns, Dane had passed. "All this time afterward, and still he wasn't sure what had stopped him. He had said no, chosen to play it safe and not to take the risk."

Safety is not something that Dane truly sought though and it most definitely is not anything close to what he would find.

BOOKS

Number of Books:6
First Appearance:2016
Last Appearance:2021

1 Nomad Nomad
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2016

Being behind the scenes at a computer at MI-6 has been a safe place for Marc Dane but when he learns of possible traitors in the department, he is thrown into the front lines and learns what it feels like to be in mortal danger.
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2 Exile Exile
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2017

A Serbian gang is making a mint selling fake nuclear weapons. A disgruntled Russian general has a real one he can make available. One man, Marc Dane, sees the potential problem but he is just one man.
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3 Ghost Ghost
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2018

It is tough enough to do your job fighting digital terrorism but when you are betrayed from your own side, work gets very hard and staying alive quite chancy. Marc Dane learns this the hard way as he goes up against the criminal called the Madrigal.

4 Shadow Shadow
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2019

Shortly after a far-right terrorist is broken out of prison, a bio-scientist is kidnapped. Marc Dane and Lucy Keyes are given the difficult task of tracking down both before the former can force the latter to weaponize a horrible virus.

5 Rogue Rogue
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2020

The private security company that Marc Dane works for, Rubicon, is now the target for terrorists who are tired of having their plans ruined by this organization. Dane and his partner Lucy Keyes must track down the leads back to whoever is trying to destroy their employer.
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6 Outlaw Outlaw
Written by James Swallow
Copyright: 2021

"Gutted by the ruthless power brokers known as the Combine, the Rubicon Group is a shadow of its former self, its founder Ekko Solomon missing presumed dead and the members of its private security and intelligence team in hiding, framed for a terrorist atrocity they did not commit. For ex-MI6 officer Marc Dane, his friend and colleague Lucy Keyes, and the survivors of Rubicon's Special Conditions Division, the future is bleak. With no support and no backup, they are living on the edge, and the walls are closing in - so with nothing left to lose, the team will risk everything in a last ditch gambit to strike back at the Combine and bring them down...once and for all."

MY COMMENTS

My great appreciation for the Marc Dane series, books which are well written, fast-paced, very interesting, and quite compelling, comes from a different source that those qualities I just mentioned. Now, those points are vital for a series to be something anyone would want to read so their being there is a good thing. Still, I liked them from the first page when I saw that Dane was first and foremost a computer geek.

So am I. For 40+ years. Just like him, except older. And no one is shooting at me. I like my way better.

But I do very much like the Dane series and look forward to more in the future.

GRADE

My Grade: A-

Your Average Grade:   A-

YOUR OPINIONS

A- 2019-03-07

I had just finished reading a very good franchise novel and my appetite was whetted for another similar novel. As I surfed the net, I came across the name of James Swallow and his first novel NOMAD. I read how Mr. Swallow was a prolific author and that NOMAD represented his first step into the arena of espionage thrillers. Marc Dane was his new character. Yes he had written for the TV series 24, but NOMAD was all his. The novel starts as a generic rogue agent thriller, but Mr. Swallow deftly places twists and tensions into his plot to breathe in originality. Marc becomes a dishonored agent of MI6 who must strive to prove his innocence and bring justice., even though the service has him marked as a On his perilous journey, he falls into a terrorist plot that challenges him to unravel and stop it. This act, he hopes, will provide the vindication to his innocence. As well, he comes across the purview of two other espionage organizations. One attempts to kill him while the other attempts to support him in his struggle for renewed trust. The last hundred pages were the climax of the plot and Mr Swallow did not disappoint. Despite one surprising revelation, Marc and his ally, Lucy Keyes, work together to put down a unique terrorist attack. I found myself glued to the story eager to see what happens next. I finished the novel sooner than I planned but I was satisfied. I recommend this novel to anyone who ,like me, is searching for a contemporary espionage thriller series and a hero. NOMAD fits the bill. (Tried not to reveal any spoilers - hence the brevity)


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