Trying to make a positive difference doesn’t always achieve what you hope for

John Milton has been working for the British government for years. His job is never acknowledged but is responsible making problems go away by whatever means possible. The problem is that he has now had enough and an attack of conscience makes him quit. Only it’s not as easy as that.

Mark Dawson’s The Cleaner is the first of a long-running series about John Milton and his attempts to forge a new life away from his past and whilst also dodging his enemies, among whom are his previous employers – a lot of people feel that they would be better off if Milton was dead.

One of the first acts that Milton undertakes as a “free” man is to save a woman from throwing herself beneath a tube train. He then becomes involved in the life of the family and the estate on which they live where he finds himself a flat. Milton thinks that he can make a difference in the life of the young man and he becomes involved in trying to intervene in the drugs trade and also in assisting another man whose boxing gym has been helping young men in the area. He then discovers that someone is trying to kill him.

This is quite a dispiriting book because everything that John Milton touches seems to be destroyed. His intervention in the life of this family actually causes them harm. Those running the drug gangs feel that they need to make a statement in the area and the people who he has been trying to help are caught up in this. Nothing that he does has any lasting impact and possibly does damage. I had somehow expected a different ending to the book.

This is well written and actually probably a very accurate picture of some of our inner cities and the challenges and pressures that face people growing up there. It is, however, quite a grim story and John Milton is not an engaging character because he seems to be reactive rather than active. I will, however, read further books in this series as it will be interesting to see how the author develops the character further.