Contains spoilers for the series.
Mark Howard is a CIA analyst who later becomes assistant director of CURE, the clandestine U.S. agency led by Harold W. Smith. After the agency recruits him, Mark works at Folcroft and contributes both intelligence analysis and an unusual capacity for noticing overlooked details. His appointment is a succession contingency; the novels do not show him installed as director.
Background and recruitment
Mark joined the CIA after college. The narrative traces his “feeling”—his name for an unusually strong intuition—to childhood in Iowa, when he could locate missing objects and animals, including a collie he found at age six. As an analyst he used that ability to connect sparse facts. After a contact using the name General Smith asked him to locate a ship using satellite imagery, Mark followed the vessel and linked its movements to subsequent crises; he eventually deduced that Smith led a hidden organization.
Before CURE recruited him, Mark brought a pattern in organized-crime cases and the company Raffair to the attention of the outgoing President. His report was read at a high-level meeting despite resistance from the CIA director.
A separate case shows Mark still working at Langley as a CIA imaging analyst. Smith reaches him under a military cover name while searching for a missing ship; Mark widens the satellite search and suggests reviewing earlier images. The episode records his assistance as a CIA analyst and does not give him a CURE title.
Selection and appointment
The outgoing President selected Mark after a screening process. The new President sent him to work under Smith because Mark already knew of CURE and had to be brought inside rather than eliminated. Smith is wary of the appointment: he remembers that outsiders have tried to exploit CURE and that his former assistant Ruby Gonzalez died under mysterious circumstances.
Mark’s arrival at Folcroft begins under a cover story: he presents himself as a medical-supplies salesman while trying to reach Smith. The secretary, Eileen Mikulka, initially treats him as a patient and unusually polite visitor. Smith later welcomes him into CURE and asks Mikulka to find him an office; their subsequent conversations show Mark learning the agency’s routines and Smith’s expectations.
Work with CURE and Smith
Mark develops a real-time search system for CURE during an investigation into MAEBE, a new political party. His program cross-references party campaigns with a list of suspicious deaths and flags campaigns for seats left vacant by such deaths. A red indicator signals a campaign tied to a future killing that has not yet occurred. The episode shows Mark adding a new, fast information-gathering method to the office’s existing tools.
Mark also proves perceptive when an adversary uses a mass projection to make the village of Sinanju appear destroyed and its inhabitants dead. He recognizes the scene as an illusion; when it collapses, the village and its people are revealed to be intact.
Mark’s judgment is tested by Jeremiah Purcell, a patient held in a coma, who exerts an unexplained influence over him. Mark orders the medication stopped, allowing Purcell to escape. Smith later concludes that Mark was almost certainly not in control; Remo suspects Purcell’s mental influence, but the episode leaves the mechanism unresolved. A later account says Purcell used his mental powers to coerce Mark, who nearly died and carried guilt for months.
At Folcroft, Mark works on CURE investigations involving satellite imagery, crime scenes, biological samples and case-specific computer calculations. Smith treats Mark’s ability to notice overlooked details as unusually effective intuition, without confirming a psychic explanation. In one case Mark reports genetic findings from a human and Mexican gray wolf; his suggested westward route remains a hypothesis.
Mark’s relationship with Smith becomes more personal after a later attack transforms him. While Mark recovers, Smith checks on him, arranges medical follow-up and shares a wartime account of his own torture. The conversation is unusual for Smith, who says he had not told even Maude, Remo or Chiun about the experience. He uses it to counsel Mark through his own trauma.
Injury and recovery
After an earlier CIA investigation, Mark returns to Washington with a broken wrist, which is set at an orthopedic hospital before he goes home. In a later CURE case, Judith White forces him to swallow a formula that changes his body. After Remo brings him back, he spends nearly two weeks in Folcroft’s security corridor, loses sixteen pounds and resumes work gradually.
Book appearances
- #120The Last Monarch
CIA analyst at Langley who assists Smith in searching for the Earthpeace ship; the source does not make him a CURE assistant.
- #122Syndication Rites
CIA analyst whose intuition connects the DEA and naval cocaine incidents to Raffair; he later becomes a target and survives captivity.
- #123Disloyal Opposition
Former CIA analyst appointed by the current President as Smith’s assistant; he notices the media/satellite anomaly and independently identifies Ted Schwartz.
- #124By Eminent Domain
Former CIA analyst appointed to assist Smith; his intuition points to Alaska and he helps coordinate the response from Folcroft.
- #125The Wrong Stuff
Assistant director at CURE, brought into the agency at the new President’s urging; works alongside Smith at Folcroft.
- #126Air Raid
Assistant director of CURE; he has a recurring dream about the Folcroft “Beast” and later receives Remo’s report.
- #127Market Force
Assistant director of CURE at Folcroft; he changes Purcell’s medication, later recovers and intervenes when Davic shoots at Smith. Remo and Smith attribute the earlier change to Purcell’s mental influence.
- #129Father to Son
CURE assistant director who experiences a psychic vision and recognizes Purcell’s projection at Sinanju.
- #130Waste Not, Want Not
Assistant CURE director who analyzes satellite imagery and helps Smith identify the trash valley and Jack James.
- #131Unnatural Selection
CURE assistant director who investigates the outbreak, is transformed after Judith forces him to ingest the formula, later recovers, and uses “Mr. Marx” as his FBI cover name at GenPlus.
- #132Wolf's Bane
CURE investigator who reviews crime-scene evidence and later reports forensic findings.
- #133Troubled Waters
Smith’s young former-CIA analyst assistant, present at the CURE briefing.
- #134Bloody Tourists
Smith’s assistant at Folcroft who relays calls and helps check travel records.
- #135Political Pressure
CURE analyst who develops probability maps and candidate links.
References
- ↑
- #123 Disloyal Opposition · ch11:p0030, ch16:p0045, ch16:p0056, ch16:p0064
- #133 Troubled Waters · ch03:p0036, ch02:p0014
- ↑
- #122 Syndication Rites · ch06:p0008, ch06:p0015, ch06:p0016, ch06:p0017, ch06:p0020, ch06:p0021, ch06:p0024, ch06:p0028, ch06:p0029
- ↑
- #122 Syndication Rites · ch06:p0060, ch06:p0061, ch06:p0070
- ↑
- #120 The Last Monarch · ch16:p0026, ch16:p0028, ch16:p0031, ch16:p0038, ch16:p0045, ch16:p0050, ch16:p0051
- ↑
- #123 Disloyal Opposition · ch16:p0056, ch16:p0064, ch16:p0066
- #125 The Wrong Stuff · ch06:p0045
- ↑
- #123 Disloyal Opposition · ch04:p0017, ch07:p0011, ch07:p0020, ch16:p0076
- ↑
- #135 Political Pressure · ch17:p0101, ch17:p0104, ch17:p0120, ch17:p0123, ch17:p0125, ch17:p0126, ch17:p0131, ch17:p0132
- ↑
- #129 Father to Son · ch32:p0098, ch32:p0103
- ↑
- #127 Market Force · ch25:p0075, ch25:p0077, ch34:p0014, ch34:p0020
- #134 Bloody Tourists · ch21:p0025, ch21:p0027, ch21:p0028, ch21:p0029, ch21:p0031
- ↑
- #135 Political Pressure · ch03:p0013, ch03:p0079, ch03:p0084
- #124 By Eminent Domain · ch11:p0166
- #130 Waste Not, Want Not · ch24:p0026, ch24:p0086
- #132 Wolf's Bane · ch03:p0071, ch03:p0074, ch20:p0030
- ↑
- #131 Unnatural Selection · ch27:p0097, ch27:p0108, ch38:p0003, ch38:p0004, ch38:p0011, ch38:p0017, ch38:p0019, ch38:p0021, ch38:p0023, ch38:p0009, ch38:p0020
- ↑
- #122 Syndication Rites · ch35:p0001
- #131 Unnatural Selection · ch27:p0097, ch27:p0108, ch38:p0003, ch38:p0004, ch38:p0011
Source notes
Same named new CURE assistant director working withSmith; retain varying narrative knowledge, suspected psychic influence and source completeness.
destroyer-125:mark-howard: Same named new CURE assistant director working withSmith; retain varying narrative knowledge, suspected psychic influence and source completeness. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000366:ch02:p0057; witness:00000366:ch06:p0045).
destroyer-126:mark-howard: Same named new CURE assistant director working withSmith; retain varying narrative knowledge, suspected psychic influence and source completeness. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000369:ch03:p0056; witness:00000369:ch07:p0021).
destroyer-127:mark-howard: Same named new CURE assistant director working withSmith; retain varying narrative knowledge, suspected psychic influence and source completeness. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000372:ch01:p0085; witness:00000372:ch04:p0082; witness:00000372:ch33:p0002).
destroyer-129:mark-howard: Same named CURE assistant director alongside Smith, compared with125:2p57; differing stage of recruitment remains work-specific. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000378:ch12:p0003; witness:00000378:ch36:p0004).
destroyer-130:mark-howard: Same named CURE assistant director alongside Smith; compared with129:12p3/36p4 and125:2p57. Former CIA role remains under separate contextual review. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000381:ch04:p0053; witness:00000381:ch24:p0086).
destroyer-133:mark-howard: Same CURE assistant working alongside Smith, now explicitly described as a former CIA analyst; compared with125:2p57 and131:2p3. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000390:ch03:p0036; witness:00000390:ch03:p0077).
destroyer-131:mark-howard: Same CURE assistant director and planned successor alongside Smith, compared with130:4p53 and125:2p57. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000384:ch02:p0003; witness:00000384:ch33:p0017).
destroyer-122:mark-howard: Book122 explicitly recalls Howard’s ship-search assignment for General Smith from120, then depicts the outgoing President disclosing CURE. Book125 explicitly explains that disclosure led to Howard’s recruitment. This establishes the CIA analyst and CURE assistant as one person without retroactively changing120’s role. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000357:ch06:p0008; witness:00000357:ch06:p0020; witness:00000357:ch06:p0021; witness:00000357:ch38:p0011; witness:00000366:ch02:p0057).
destroyer-120:mark-howard: Book122 explicitly recalls Howard’s ship-search assignment for General Smith from120, then depicts the outgoing President disclosing CURE. Book125 explicitly explains that disclosure led to Howard’s recruitment. This establishes the CIA analyst and CURE assistant as one person without retroactively changing120’s role. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000351:ch16:p0026; witness:00000351:ch16:p0028; witness:00000351:ch16:p0031; witness:00000357:ch06:p0020; witness:00000357:ch06:p0021; witness:00000357:ch06:p0024).
destroyer-132:mark-howard: Same named CURE assistant alongside Smith, compared with131:2p3; forensic opinions retain their speaker scope. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000387:ch20:p0006; witness:00000387:ch20:p0027; witness:00000387:ch20:p0030).
destroyer-134:mark-howard: Named CURE assistant continuing the Howard recruitment and Folcroft appointment scenes. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000393:ch04:p0001; witness:00000393:ch04:p0026).
destroyer-123:mark-howard: The named former CIA analyst joins Smith as CURE assistant; the transition explains the same later recruitment account. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000360:ch11:p0024; witness:00000360:ch11:p0030; witness:00000360:ch16:p0056).
destroyer-135:mark-howard: The named CURE assistant and analyst continues Smith’s Folcroft team after the recruitment account. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000396:ch03:p0013; witness:00000396:ch35:p0014; witness:00000396:ch35:p0015).
destroyer-124:mark-howard: The named former CIA analyst is now Smith’s CURE assistant immediately after the preceding Barkley crisis and transition appointment. Accepted after the independent readings and bounded lead primary comparisons; source-specific claims remain scoped. (witness:00000363:ch10:p0005).
The Last Monarch
narrative
Sources 2 references
witness:00000351:ch16:p0028witness:00000351:ch16:p0050
Syndication Rites
narrative
Sources 3 references
witness:00000357:ch06:p0001witness:00000357:ch10:p0001witness:00000357:ch35:p0001
Disloyal Opposition
narrative
Sources 6 references
witness:00000360:ch11:p0024witness:00000360:ch11:p0030witness:00000360:ch16:p0056witness:00000360:ch23:p0096witness:00000360:ch26:p0055witness:00000360:ch26:p0066
By Eminent Domain
narrative
Sources 5 references
witness:00000363:ch04:p0126witness:00000363:ch05:p0001witness:00000363:ch05:p0036witness:00000363:ch10:p0005witness:00000363:ch11:p0166
The Wrong Stuff
narrative
Sources 3 references
witness:00000366:ch02:p0057witness:00000366:ch06:p0045witness:00000366:ch32:p0001
Air Raid
narrative; dream content is explicitly scoped as a dream
Sources 3 references
witness:00000369:ch03:p0056witness:00000369:ch07:p0001witness:00000369:ch07:p0021
Market Force
narrative
Sources 3 references
witness:00000372:ch04:p0082witness:00000372:ch22:p0042witness:00000372:ch33:p0002
Father to Son
narrative
Sources 5 references
witness:00000378:ch12:p0003witness:00000378:ch21:p0001witness:00000378:ch29:p0016witness:00000378:ch32:p0098witness:00000378:ch33:p0069
Waste Not, Want Not
narrative
Sources 4 references
witness:00000381:ch04:p0085witness:00000381:ch21:p0035witness:00000381:ch24:p0026witness:00000381:ch24:p0086
Unnatural Selection
narrative
Sources 7 references
witness:00000384:ch02:p0003witness:00000384:ch15:p0001witness:00000384:ch24:p0074witness:00000384:ch27:p0084witness:00000384:ch38:p0001witness:00000384:ch15:p0020witness:00000384:ch15:p0045
Wolf's Bane
narrative
Sources 7 references
witness:00000387:ch03:p0071witness:00000387:ch03:p0074witness:00000387:ch03:p0095witness:00000387:ch03:p0103witness:00000387:ch20:p0011witness:00000387:ch20:p0027witness:00000387:ch20:p0030
Troubled Waters
narrative
Sources 2 references
witness:00000390:ch03:p0036witness:00000390:ch03:p0077
Bloody Tourists
narrative
Sources 2 references
witness:00000393:ch04:p0001witness:00000393:ch14:p0001
Political Pressure
narrative mention/appearance as cited; political allegations and CURE projections retain their stated attribution
Sources 3 references
witness:00000396:ch03:p0013witness:00000396:ch03:p0059witness:00000396:ch03:p0082