TOM MARLOWE

Full Name:	Tom Marlowe
Nationality:	British
Organization:	MI5
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Jack Gatland
Time Span:	2022 - 2024

ABOUT THE SERIES

Tom Marlowe is an agent with MI5.

More specifically, he is attached to "Section D".

That is a "small, off-the-books department of MI5" with much coveted (and envied) close links to Whitehall. It is known, well as much as anyone not in Section D is allowed to know, for having some very, very impressive cyber talent with the ability to get into just about anyone's servers while avidly keeping its own computers safe from hacking. Some naysayers like to opine that the "D" stands for "Disavowed" but no one told the Prime Minister who is a frequent user of the talents of that Section.

Marlowe comes to MI5 via his mother who had been a senior field operative in charge of a small department and her best friend, his 'Aunt" Emilia, also an operative and the one who eventually pull Marlowe away from his still-new career as a Royal Marine Commando to join MI5. His mother had been on one of the trains on 7/7 2005 trying to stop one of the bombers on that fateful day; she lost her life in that failed attempt.

We first meet Marlowe, after a prologue describing one of his very first field operations in which he finds it necessary to eliminate several white supremacists in order to save the life of his mentor, as he is recovering from injuries received while on an off-the-books mission transferring a prisoner "who didn't exist on record" and who was freed with the help of a rat somewhere in MI5. We quickly learn from the conversation he has with the psychiatrist with the authority to authorize his return to active service that even though he is technically part of MI5, most of MI5 do not concur.

Marlowe is an exceptionally good operative with a great nose for trouble and the skills to get out of it alive, albeit with a lot of scars to show for it. He is also prone to annoying higher-ups because he has never quite got the knack for playing along; he speaks his mind which means he often irks those who do not like the truth played back at them. Several of those would have gotten rid of him completely (and perhaps permanently) if he were not so darned good at what he does.

Good Lines:
- Said by a mentor to Marlowe regarding that man being so set in his ways: "Pick what you like and never deviate. Change is dangerous. Change leads to chaos."

BOOKS

Number of Books:	7
First Appearance:	2022
Last Appearance:	2024


1			Sleeping Soldiers Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2022 "Someone is killing old spies. Retired and forgotten, these relics from the Cold War are being removed—quietly and brutally. And when 'Section D' MI5 agent Tom Marlowe, on medical leave after a botched mission learns his old mentor is one of the murdered ex-agents, he starts an investigation that threatens to cost him his career, his freedom… and even his life. Uncovering a conspiracy linked to a late-eighties operation called RUBICON, one involving long-forgotten Russian sleeper agents, now operating in the highest echelons of Westminster, Marlowe is thrown down a rabbit hole that forces him off the grid and on the run, hunted by his own people. Out in the cold, with his air supply cut off, burned from working with any allied agency and with only disavowed spies to rely on, Marlowe must try to clear his name and expose this threat, before the US President is assassinated during his next London visit, and a new World War begins..."

2			Target Locked Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2023 "On the run, all alone - and marked for termination. British MI5 'Section D' agent Tom Marlowe has been burned, his Security Services clearance deleted, and his protection from foreign agencies removed. Now on the run from assassins with old scores to settle, Marlowe accepts an offer from retired CIA associate Brad Haynes to stay with him in New York. but as ever, Brad has a reason for calling his friend across to the East Coast. Burned from working with any allied agency, and with only old friends and disavowed spies to rely on, Marlowe finds himself fighting to clear a kill-list order on a high-flying environmental lawyer, before she takes down a criminal corporation in a high-profile court case - but can he stay in the shadows to do this, or will his hunters lock on target once more?"

3			Covert Action Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2023 "British MI5 'Section D' agent Tom Marlowe has been burnt, his Security Services clearance deleted, and his protection from foreign agencies removed. Travelling America following the events of Target Locked, Tom takes a covert job from a US senator he has connections with - to attend a West Coast event she's speaking at as a ghost, to watch from the shadows, and inform her of any threats he finds. However, when he finds that her biggest threats are his own country's agents - rogue MI5 officers with a kill-order for her, he's given a choice; do nothing and be welcomed back into the British Security Services - or attempt to stop it before it occurs, and be damned with her. Now opposing his own country while exposing a long-believed-dead Government cabal, and facing agents he once trained and fought with, Marlowe must get to the very centre of this conspiracy - in a journey that takes him across Europe and back to London, ending with an explosive reunion with the very men who trained him..."

4			Counter Attack Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2023 "British MI5 'Section D' agent Tom Marlowe has been burnt, his Security Services clearance restricted, and his protection from foreign agencies in discussion. Now back in Whitehall following the events of Covert Action, Marlowe is the bottom of the ladder again, doing the jobs nobody else wants, while keeping his nose clean. But secretly, he's been returned to full status - weapons hot - and has been tasked with infiltrating a secret Government intelligence network which links back to Victorian times... and the creation of MI5 itself. But with the clock ticking, Marlowe's off-the-books team must tread carefully - as one misstep could expose them all. From billionaires to conspiracy theorists, hackers to mercenaries, Marlowe's hunt takes him across Europe and America, culminating in a final face-off in Washington DC during a Presidential Debate. As alliances fray and a global conflict looms, Marlowe and his team must throw away the rulebook to win... but at what cost? Will they pay with their lives, their careers, or even their souls?"

5			Stealth Strike Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2024 "Alone and unsupported, Tom must help an old friend with a problem, going up against a crooked, Orchid-sponsored Las Vegas casino while dealing with the fallout of both his father's death and the events of Counter Attack, a journey that takes him into the casinos and bars of Las Vegas and the privileged world of the Vegas elite, before entering the dark underbelly of "Sin City," betrayed and blackmailed by all sides, and leading to an audacious casino heist that forces him to make a decision on his future... and one that could change his entire life."

6			Broad Sword Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2024 "When the Home Secretary asks for his help to find an AI weapon named Broad Sword, stolen from the Stealth Fighter it was built for, and before it's sold to the highest bidder, Marlowe and his allies start a hunt that crosses from Europe to the Caribbean, and from Spain to Silicon Valley, constantly in danger as they attempt to regain the most dangerous weapon in the world - before it's used."

7			Rogue Signal Written by Jack Gatland Copyright: 2024 "When ex-Royal Marines Commando radio enthusiast Alan King accidentally intercepts a covert communication between a rogue government agency and a kill squad, he unwittingly downloads sensitive information that could expose a conspiracy capable of destabilising the nation. What he initially mistakes for alien communication turns out to be a deadly secret, thrusting him into a world of danger and espionage. Desperate and unsure who to trust, Alan reaches out to the only person who can help him: Tom Marlowe, ex-MI5 agent and former Royal Marines comrade"

MY COMMENTS

Having passed the age that the main character here, Tom Marlowe, is (and a couple decades more) I can sort of relate to the weariness that Marlowe naturally feels. He has been doing this job a long time and while he is very good at it, he wonders from time to time (to time...) whether he should maybe call it quits. Luckily for us readers he has not.

The writing here is really well done and the action is plentiful with some pretty interesting bad guys to go up against and even more interesting people supposedly on Marlowe's side which are fun to watch - even as I ponder how nice it would be if one or two, you know, got hit by a bus.

GRADE

My Grade: A-

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