Reviews (10)
This authors first crack at this series and what a wonderful opening entry he has produced.
Excellent plot where an Arms developer tied up with the Star Wars protection plans becomes aware that he has a grandson fathered during the Vietnam war by his eldest son who was a pilot in the war but killed. Negotiations for a three million payment are made and he arranges for his other son a merc to do the trade for the boy but fails to tell him that in fact the plans for the Star Wars system is actually what he is going to swap for his grandson.
Off the younger son goes in company of his merc buddies all three of which are excellent characters introduced to arrange for the swap. Waiting in Vietnam are a bunch of losers who have stayed there after the war and are totally unscrupulous and care only for whatever money they can make out of the deal.
Add in a couple of excellent Vietnamese characters introduced especially the Hit man and an CIA section chief who is only interested in his own career and all the makings are present for a top class read.
The Big Guy arrives in Vietnam and finds out that the grandson has been forcedly removed from his Vietnamese family who were killed for their troubles and is quite rightly a bit miffed.
Lots of good action scenes and an exciting storyline which will keep you interested and turning the pages climaxing in a very good finish and also includes a little epilogue to tidy up a loose end.
Loved this one a highly recommended reading in the series.
A very good entry for the 20th anniversary year of Mack Bolan: a tightly written plot dealing with traitorous activity involving 'star wars' tech, a quest for a half American-Vietnamese child to the tune of 3,000,000 dollars, Russian KGB involvement, and a return to automag fire power from Mr. Bolan.
The 'star wars' tech does date this one a bit, but hey, it was written at least 20 years ago. Intertaining reading from Mel Odum and Gold Eagle. Have shelves full of these Bolans and still welcome more.
Semper Fi.
I was wondering if this new author was up to snuff. I put down the series for a few years (and got waaaaaay behind)
and finaly started up again with number 122.
I just read war born and I would say that yes, Odom is
up to snuff. complex plot, but a great read. Good job.
Bolan's mission starts off vague and ill-defined. Something about Star Wars plans, but Bolan is just spinning his wheels for a while. The plot then develops into a chase for a half-Vietnamese half-American boy who is to be bartered for the plans. Everyone is after the boy. The kids grandfather send a mercenary team in. The Vietnamese Army wants to snag the boy, and thus the plans. A rogue CIA agent is after them as well. Oh, and an ex-US Army sergeant named Bolan.
The diverse plots slow the book initially. By the time we have each side figured out, the book is well under way. The number of enemies also makes the conclusion somewhat disappointing. It seems as if the author ended the book, then realized that he hadn't dealt with the CIA guy. He gets like 3 pages at the very end of the book to wrap up his plot, and it is poorly written and very contrived.
However, the meat of the book is very tasty. Once the sides are established, the interaction is good, but it just takes time to get going. Bolan's soft side with kids is again exposed, giving the character more depth. Not the best book in the series but still a good read.
Outstanding book with great plot and amazing action. I love it when Bolan is caught in a battle where he doesn´t know the plot and the key players involved. The plot of this book was great and varied as there were players like CIA, KGB, Vietnamese and indivitual like Stuart Wingate running the game from a different angle and with different vision and motive. It was very hard to put this book down before it was finished!!!!!
A good entry to the series. I liked the return of the automag.
Not only was this a great little 20th anniversary issue, not only was it Mack returning to the Automag for one last fling... but we also had Belle (of sorts) (Mack's Beretta 1951 Brigadier) as the weapon in review. Seemed like everything pointed towards making this an anniversary shot bar none. Throw in a slam-bang slugfest in a maze of deceit and violence, and you have a hoot and a holler.
A little better than the others. There wasn't much emphasis on the importance of the Star Wars system if it fell into the wrong hands. Has a good plot, but could of been hurried allong. An ok read.
A really good Bolan entry. He used the Automag again!!! Yeah!!!
