Warning: contains plot spoilers. Read on at your own risk!
WHO IS BEN HOPE?
To his many thousands of fans Ben Hope stands tall as a hero, a warrior, a protector of the innocent, a defender of those in need, relentless in his pursuit of those who exploit or do evil to others.
But Ben Hope is also just a man, a person like any other, with flaws and weaknesses that we can all recognise all too well, and sometimes within ourselves. That’s what makes Ben Hope not only one of the best-liked thriller heroes of modern fiction, but the one that readers say they feel they know as though he were a real, living person and not just a character on a page.
(Follow Ben’s footsteps. See interactive map below)
Read some things you didn’t know about Ben Hope (and Scott Mariani)
BIOGRAPHY
Born in England in the early 1970s, Benedict Hope grew up in a comfortable middle-class family and had a somewhat sheltered childhood. For many years his goal was to enter the Church, and it was to study theology that, aged 18, he went to Oxford University. Even in his youth, Ben was showing signs of being wild and perhaps not suited to the future that was laid out for him.
When family tragedy struck, Ben’s goals fell apart and his life dramatically changed course. Quitting his studies he turned up one day at a
British Army recruiting office, and the rest was history. After proving his stellar abilities as an infantry soldier, he quickly ascended to the elite ranks of 22 SAS, where his training truly began and he went from being a talented young squaddie to a highly effective and ultra-skilled secret warrior. After years with the SAS, Ben walked away from the army to pursue a new career: using his expertise as a hostage rescue operative to find and bring home kidnapped children, as well as other innocent victims of the evil kidnap and ransom industry.During those years, Ben lived on the Galway Coast, Ireland. Later, he and his old friend Jeff Dekker, ex-Special Boat Service, went on to found a special Tactical Training Centre in a place called Le Val in Normandy, France.
Ben’s personal life has been through many ups and downs over the years. There have been various women in his life, but the question of whether he can ever settle down to a stable existence is one that countless readers all over the world keep asking. There’s only one answer: Who knows?
BEN’S LIKES & DISLIKES
BEN’S ASSOCIATES
BEN’S DOG (STORM)
Storm is a German shepherd, one of the guard dogs who patrol Le Val. He and Ben have a special affinity, and can often be found running together in the French countryside. He’s had his own adventures, such as being shot while defending Le Val from attack – and he will no doubt have more in the future.
BEN HOPE AROUND THE WORLD
Follow in Ben Hope’s globe-trotting footsteps as he rights wrongs and hunts down bad guys all over the world.
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A lesson in Russian history from the elderly Mimi.
Political assassinations, frantic car chases, and a sexy lady cop for Ben to deal with.
Political assassinations, frantic car chases, and a sexy lady cop for Ben to deal with.
Ben arrives just in time to prevent a brutal murder.
Will Ben find his lost sister?
Ben chases after the conspiracy nut Lenny Salt.
Ben chases after the conspiracy nut Lenny Salt.
Ben crosses paths with a Holocaust denier and wants to shoot him, but restrains himself.
Ben and Kirby go looking for a throne.
Ben meets the elusive academic Lawrence Kirby and gets into a fight.
Ben rescues a woman in distress on the beach.
A race against the clock to intercept the crazed bomber who could spark off WWIII.
Ben meets up with the charming but roguish Evangelical preacher, Clayton Cleaver.
Ben travels to the island to help his old friend Charlie Palmer find the wayward biblical scholar, Zoe Bradbury.
Ben returns to Christ Church to resume his old theology studies from years ago.
Scene of Leigh Llewellyn’s tragic final performance.
Against this spectacular backdrop, Ben asks Leigh to marry him.
Scene of an epic battle between Ben and the villains.
Ben and Leigh go searching for the eccentric Professor Arno.
Leigh Llewellyn’s opera school, where Ben kills a bad guy . . . with a skillet.
Ben discovers an invisible virtual temple at Rennes-le-Chateau!
A member of the brainwashed Gladius Domini cult hurls himself from the tower after trying to kill Ben.
Ben returns to his old university to speak to a history professor about ancient alchemy.
Ben once lived here. He’d spend hours sitting on a rock, watching the ocean waves.
A sad parting of the ways as Ben and Anna’s adventure reaches its end.
One of the worst war zones on the planet is about to get even hotter when Ben lands.
On the trail of a fabled golden idol, Ben and Anna Manzini are about to walk into a deadly ambush.
High octane action as Ben steps into gear.
‘We didn’t destroy all of it,’ Ben said. ‘Only the bits that were still standing.’
Florence will literally never be the same after Ben Hope has been through the place.
The hospital where Ben Hope goes to visit his injured friend Jeff, whose life is hanging in the balance.
After escaping from hell in the jungle, Ben gets into the final showdown with Khosa and his murderous henchmen.
Plunging into the heart of darkness as Ben enters the world of warlord and dictator, Jean-Pierre Khosa.
Delays and frustrations beset Ben’s fraught rescue mission. Welcome to Africa . . .
Jumping on a private jet en route to Somalia, in a desperate rush to save Jude from ship hijackers.
Ben visits the city to tidy up his apartment, and ends up at war with Romanian gangsters.
Explosions and gunfire aplenty, as Ben comes to the rescue of the captive Catalina Fuentes.
The idyllic island hideaway of super-rich Austin Keller, where Ben will learn some stunning facts about the biggest scientific fraud of all time.
A meeting with an investigative journalist goes very bad indeed.
All is not as it seems in trendy Glockenbach, as Ben and Raul seek the truth about Catalina.
A wind beaten island and the scene of an apparent suicide, as Ben investigates.
When Ben steps in to stop a bar brawl, he has no idea what he’s about to get himself into.
Ben busts down doors, dodges SWAT police and uncovers a deadly secret.
Lots of unsavoury characters in town for Ben to sort out.
Ben goes down the mountain and can’t believe his eyes: has he seen Brooke?
High up in the mountains, a wandering and lost Ben Hope finds sanctuary and peace – but not for very long.
Tulsa was never so exciting before Ben Hope rolled into town.
Ben goes to meet an enigmatic historian . . . but the bad guys are not far behind.
An encounter with an attractive lady journalist leads to tragedy and propels Ben on a new quest.
Mayhem at sea, while the world’s fate depends on Ben stopping the bad guys.
Ben, Boonzie and the gang kick some ass.
Walls of water, unimaginable destruction . . . and Ben and his allies are caught right in the middle of it.
A crash landing in the lake proves you should never, ever lend Ben Hope your aeroplane.
Ben and Roberta share a quiet moment en route to Indonesia.
A rendezvous with a recluse deep in the forest leads to all hell breaking loose.
Breaking and entering someone’s apartment, the Ben Hope way.
Ben and Nico prepare for the perilous river journey through the Amazon jungle.
The hunt continues for Brooke’s abductors.
Among the ruins of an ancient castle, Ben and Nico Ramirez battle it out with armed villains.
Ducking and diving through the alleys of the city, in combat with hard guys.
A grisly murder scene awaits Ben. Is Brooke one of the dead?
While testing his climbing skills against the famous cliffs, Ben hears some terrible news.
Ben’s deadly showdown with the hired guns of evil lunatic Penrose Lucas.
Tracking an eccentric billionaire recluse all around the island.
Visiting an ancient fortress, and hearing an incredible tale that could change the course of history.
Ben comes face to face for the first time with the relative he never knew he had.
On the trail of a murdered priest.