Mission Black

The Father Black Series, Book 1

De: Mick Williams

Narrado por: Holt Shepherd

Father Black has a mission to complete – and it has nothing to do with God’s work.

When an assignment goes wrong and a member of a Royal Family is killed, Marine Connor Black puts America in the crosshairs of a bloody war. With his career seemingly over, a secret organization covers up the death with one condition – Connor owes them.

Ten years later, it comes calling.

Tasked with killing a psychotic drug lord, Connor’s conscience is torn since, on leaving the Marine Corps, he tries to atone for his sins by taking his vows as a priest. To refuse the demand would follow his holy vows, but send his country into another war. Is it better to call on old skills to take one life, or risk the loss of thousands?

Mission Black is the first book in the action-packed Father Black series.

©2024 Valiant Publications (P)2025 Valiant Publications

How many priests are this fun?

Mission Black kicks the door down and barges into your To Be Read pile with a robust, highly entertaining first entry in the new Father Black series.

Let's be candid: there are a lot of "lone operator" series, especially if you read Reacher, Rain, Gentry, Horvath, Milton, and their ilk. So each new one has to answer the question: "What makes you unique in this dense pack of genre books?"

Author Mick Williams answers the question with style, a wink, and a wicked chuckle, spinning a premise that sounds impossible to write: this former Special Forces operator is now a priest. How the heck does a priest wind up in an action-packed thriller? The answer: each of us were somebody else before we're who we are now. Father Black's past comes calling, in terms he can't avoid. It's the dreaded "some day you'll owe me a favor," and Black has too much integrity to opt out.

Smooth prose and a brisk pace keep the pages flying in this fun premise. The book exceeded my expectations in two ways: a droll sense of humor laces every page; and Williams, rather than dancing around the central conceit of his premise, charges at it head-on. Father Black muses (in brief asides -- no heavy-handed lectures here) about the morality of killing, and whether killing is justified when it could save the lives of others. Lightly dropped, yet pithy scriptural examples of murdering for good slip in among the action. It's just enough to help you buy in, between exciting set pieces.

Father Black ends up (unwillingly) with a sexy, competent sidekick who provides occasionally hilarious counterpoint to his efforts to always do the right thing. The narrative also flashes back to his military history to set up solid motivation for his unorthodox activities in the present. With a light touch, Williams romps through his tale making the thrills fun, and the fun thrilling.

I have mixed feelings regarding the narrator. He is obviously a pro, and does a credible job with a variety of accents, and voices both men and women. During the narration itself, he makes choices I don't understand -- reading some of the tough action scenes in a cute tone I'd expect for a video of a toddler with a puppy. Maybe he was trying to get at some underlying humor, but sometimes he works against the tension in the prose. That caveat aside, I warmed up to him over time, and he wrings every drop of humor out of the sassy character Emmy.

If you love the "lone vigilante" or "solo assassin" genre but hope for something that hits the tropes without resorting to cliches, Mission Black may be the palate cleanser you're looking for. You just might find it a blessing!

Great story line, superb narrator!

The book reads like a movie in your mind! Great action, no sex and justice served. I liked how the narrator used so may different voices, kept them all separate and added some extra touches. wWhen in a church or coming through a headset the voice sounded as such. Overall great book and listen!