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
Jeff is one of Ben’s most stalwart allies and has been at his side on several adventures. His military career was with the Naval SBS and in some ways paralleled Ben’s own. Now they run Le Val together as business partners in France. 
One of the best-loved returning characters of the Ben Hope series, Boonzie is best described as a ‘grizzled old war dog’. Originally from Glasgow, he was a sergeant with the SAS and one of Ben’s trainers and mentors as a young soldier. Boonzie is now theoretically retired to a quiet life in Italy with his wife Mirella, but in practice is ever-ready to drop everything to come to the aid of his loyal ex-comrade. 
A later recruit to the Le Val team, London-born Tuesday hails from a family of immigrants from Jamaica. He was a skilled sniper with the British Army and in training to become the first black SAS soldier when a bad accident ended his military career. It’s the best thing that ever happened to him, as he is now one of Ben Hope’s most valued associates. 
An American scientist who – for a time – became one of Ben’s great loves when the two of the met in The Alchemist’s Secret. Roberta has a tendency to get into scrapes from which only Ben can rescue her. She now lives in Canada. 
Dr Brooke Marcel is an expert in hostage psychology who has been an occasional guest lecturer at Le Val. If you haven’t already followed the tempestuous ups and downs of her relationship with Ben Hope, we’re not going to give away spoilers here! 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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