Lockdown

Loved it so different to what we normally get with this title it stands out. As has been said many times in previous reviews Mack Bolan meets Resident Evil and with the exception of Chapter 2 I thought the author delivered a terrific original page turner full of suspenseful moments and quality reading. Many things to like which doesn't require me to repeat again but a couple of things I didn't like. The title seemed to me to finish abruptly and seemed rushed as if the author had been informed at the last minute to massively cut the overall length of it. Chapter two I am not even going to mention, disgusting and so far out of character of the Big Guy. Overall a very good read and recommended especially if you want to read something very different to what is normally served up in these series.

This book was a big disappointment. I am a fan of the zombie genre and the idea of Bolan vs zombies was one I liked - even if they were the modern "fast" zombies from 28 Days Later and other works and not the classical Romero zombies. After reading the book, I think I've found the 1st Bolan novel that will be done as a movie. Unfortunately, the movie will be done by The Asylum and will broadcast as a SyFy Sinema Event some Saturday night with a cast comprised of ex-StarGate actors. It was that bad. The character of Luther Harkin was one of the most illogical, over-the-top b-movie villains I've ever had the displeasure of reading. Dennis Hopper on PCP for three weeks could only begin to approach the level of scene-chewing this character indulges in. The plot is so blasted weak that the writer felt compelled to add a mercenary "executive protection team" - one of whom is named Romero - who manage to muscle their way into a top-secret lab locked down by multiple government agencies to "rescue" Harkin. Individual scenes are very poorly written. An action sequence is lengthily described by one character...then the author seemed to realize that the door is open and zombies are flooding into the room and there are other people present...so something has to be done about that. I've seen multiple viewpoints of a situation done in other books and done well. This was not another example of that style of writing. Much of the book reads as if the author didn't have an actual "mental picture" of what is going in the story...he was simply patching together paragraphs and sentences until he had enough to declare a chapter done. The meeting sequences at Stony Man Farm were painful to read. Barbara Price has to be the single worst meeting organizer ever in terms of actually having a reason to assemble a group of people. The meetings simply exist for the author to spill some narrative and soak up a few pages towards filling the book. As the end of the first meeting dragged along, I could almost see the author checking off the characters in the room one by one as they departed so he could get down to just Bolan and Price for their "dramatic conversation". The zombie sequences are not even particularly well done to me. The zombies alternate between uberdestructive and being stopped by a flimsy door when the needs of the story dictate. I didn't mind that they are fast zombies...that is a style choice...what I did mind is that they are not particular threatening even though they are so fast. Most damning, the entire point of a zombie story is what is happening with the people who are trapped by the zombies. Zombies exist as a hurricane or earthquake or a martian invasion. They are a force that is applied to a group of characters to put them under pressure and make them react. I had little interest in these characters and what happened to them. They are so broadly and poorly depicted I just didn't care about them. If you want to see a good zombie story, pick up Day Of The Dead sometimes. People yell and scream and shoot each other; there is a lot of action. But the plotting is such that it is more believable. Crazed as he is; Rhodes is a lot more realistic as a villain that Harkin ever could dream of being. Since I simply can't resist beating this thing just one last time to make sure it is in fact going to stay down and not lurch up like the gut-shot undead, I will state that this is not a book I am going to reread. Ever.

Sorry everyone, I just couldn't get into this book at all - some high security lock down they have going on , Bolan and McCarter waltz thru and walk into the old hot zone - how, you have to read to beleive ! Hey, your boss is an ass, lets let some dudes endanger everyone on the planets life. Then some other guys toss some CS or smoke and run in as well. Who were these clowns protecting this place? Not to mention that people manage to escape as well. I was hoping to read some cool zombie inspired action, and all we get is them running around some hallways and up and down stairs the whole time . And another thing is this book is only like 180 pages, it's got 30 pages of filler from another upcoming novel. Ripo off ! In my opinion, I'd say skip this one !

Bolan’s mission to rescue Brognola from a biohazard “Lockdown” goes horribly wrong in this unique entry. The chapter two sequence was totally arbitrary and had literally no reference to the rest of the plot. And no reference is made to this previous action. It’s even more puzzling when it prefaces one of the more original plots of the Executioner series. What I like about the novel was the breaking of a mold. This is something he has never encountered and it is a treat to see Bolan figuring his way through a problem never seen or contemplated. Unfortunately, the novel ends with an unoriginal thud. Bolan has chased people before. I know what will happen. It also had a sizeable number of disposable characters who actually live. The violence was too restrained. Bolan and McCarter were packing pistols with only a couple of reloads. Their capacity for extreme violence was limited by a logical plot point. It had a lot of unanswered questions. The potential of this novel should have been mined, expanded and made into a SuperBolan. However, I liked several parts of this book. His friendship with Brognola is a true highlight of the book. Other books detail this friendship better, but here, its touching to the lengths Bolan would do for the head Fed. The scenes of horror, suspense and sudden violence were executed well. A word of warning. The novel ends at page 184. The rest is a preview of SuperBolan 100. However, this is not a shortened novel. The font and the words per page is denser than most other full-page novels, so we are getting roughly the same word count. If you still consider this a shortened novel after my argument, then you probably do not appreciate the Executioner novel lengths prior to the “The Trial” and you probably consider, like me, that chapter two was just another 7 pages of padding.

This story was the first Executioner story I ever read and it is still one of my favorites. It was like taking the monsters of 28 days later with the punisher. Very smart and full of action. I also liked the second chapter of the story even though I felt that it had no bearing whatsoever on the overall plot. Other than that, what a great story.

Okay, so this was one of those original plotlines for a Mack Bolan novel. It certainly was interesting and suspenseful, but on the whole, this just didn't seem to fit into the MB universe for me. Like everyone else, I too thought the notorious Chapter 2 was real bad. I also had issues with Mack's logic in picking McCarter to accompany him. Heck, as far as scientific knowledge went, I figured Gadgets would have been the perfect choice. And Pol would have been the best playing an undercover role to the hilt. The Harkin and Pratt characters were deliciously dispicable IMO. So, not a bad book. I'm just old-fashioned when it comes to what MB books should encompass.

Mack Bolan Meets "28 Days Later" Ever wonder how The Executioner would fare against a murderous zombie horde straight out of the latest horror movie? Well, in David Robbins' terrific new installment, you finally get to find out. Hal Brognola, along with a cadre of military and varied "spook agency" VIPs, is trapped in an underground bio-research facility when an aggression-enhancing toxin is accidentally set loose. As the psychotic infected run amok, Bolan and Phoenix Force leader David McCarter resolve to sneak into the quarantined building and bring Hal back alive. Good points: First off, I have to give a hand to the author for really nailing the spooky atmosphere inside the Harkin facility. For a Mack Bolan novel, this one sure does lay on the creeps hot and heavy. Some may cry foul at the change of pace here, but I really enjoyed the jumpy horror movie vibe. It's nice to see that the authors are still finding ways to keep these stories fresh and different. It's always nice to see Hal get to take an active role and here he acquits himself nicely. Until Bolan arrives, he puts up quite a fight and takes charge of the situation like the leader we all know him to be. Even if we all know the eventual outcome, there were points where I wasn't too sure he was going to make it through in one (unmaimed) piece. Good show! Excellent action scenes. Claustrophobic and tense but clear and to-the-point. Seems like a no-brainer in an Executioner book, but a lot of the authors are inconsistent when it comes to writing lean and unconfusing action. Well handled and absolutely brutal violence. In the best tradition of George Romero, the crazies in this one do some seriously heinous bodily damage to their victims. Really sets a frightening and nerve-wracking tone. Not for the faint of heart! The bad (or at least not-as-good) stuff: The convenience store robbery. Why was this chapter even in the book? It had nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the story and once it happens it's promptly forgotten and never brought up again. A pointless and unnecessary detour. Luther Harkin. A real twit and thoroughly one-dimensional. His only purpose seems to be to provide someone to hate in between zombie attacks. I did hate him, but he really doesn't serve much purpose in the story and becomes pretty annoying pretty quickly. The Pratt and Stenger subplot. This needed an ending! We get invested in their story and then it's simply dropped without a resolution at the end. What happened when Pratt's boss showed up to take over? We'll never know, I guess. In conclusion: Overall, David Robbins does a stand-up job with this short but sweet Executioner yarn. A few minor annoyances notwithstanding, this is a super-fast and enjoyably different installment in the series. Well worth your time.

For some reason I really enjoyed this book. They really broke the Bolan formula with this novel and instead of having the usual menacing villain or terrorism playing a major role it was a simple storyline. Lockdown is a very refreshing novel and a change of pace especially with the fact that there really isn't a main villain. The sci-fi elements work perfectly and the novel flows right along. Another great thing about this novel is that we see more development of Hal Brognola and that he CAN hold is own in the field when needed. The novel is shorter than average Executioners as a good 40 pages or so is reserved for an excerpt from Devil's Bargain but it helps the story. It doesn't force the author into strecthing it out into a 220 page novel and drag on and the timing was perfect. My only major gripe is Chapter Two, which not only adds nothing to the storyline, but like mentioned previously shows Bolan watch innocents die and do NOTHING about it. If Chapter 2 had been omitted then this novel would have been a 10 but because of this poor section it drops 2 stars.

In "Lockdown" Mack is embroiled in a science fiction scenario closely resembling (if not identical) to the circumstances of the "Resident Evil" franchise of both the video game and movie fame. The first have or so of the book sags a bit, but then the second have really takes of into action most readers will have to read straight through to the end. I will have to admit, this was not one of my favorite Executioner’s, however. There was no real villain to latch onto, save the somewhat clichéd-prone characterization of the industrialist, Luther Harkin. Also, several promising characters sort of fizzled into a somewhat fizzled and very sudden ending. Still, though, it was worth reading for the teaming of Phoenix Force’s David McCarter, who in many ways emerged the hero of the book. All in all, worth reading but not a top page-turner.

Mack Bolan meets Resident Evil. Okay, so I haven't seen the film, and I haven't played the video games, but I have just watched the movie trailer and it seems that the premise for Lockdown is identical. A powerful corperation in a top secret underground facility have accidently released a virus that turns normal people into super-strength flesh eating zombies. Instead of Mila and Michelle we have Mack and David. I have no problem with the idea being copied and placed in a Mack Bolan book, lets face it, Resident Evil isn't exactly original, but it is original for The Executioner. There are no suprises or plot twists, the standard 'B' movie plot is used of running down dark corridors while being chased by hungry, invincible monsters. And it works. Bolan and McCarter want to rescue Brognola and any other survivors, and you just know that any cardboard personalities will not survive for very long. So on the whole I enjoyed this semi horror romp...except... This is a short story! It is only 183 pages long. The rest of the 218 pages are taken up by a preview of Devil's Bargin aka SuperBolan 100, which isn't even a 'special' or 'milestone' story. I felt cheated. Lockdown could easily have been longer, and I am not sure where the blame should be placed for this. It was my understanding that GE want 68,000 words for an Executioner novel, yet this falls way short. Maybe Robbins was instructed to write a shorter story by GE. I just don't know. And then there is chapter two. It has already been pointed out in another review that ch 2 has no place in Lockdown and is slightly disturbing. If you wish to read Lockdown then take my advice and skip the second chapter entirely. Here's why.. **SPOILER** Bolan has just finished of a mission and is feeling hungry. He is unarmed, after fed-exing his guns back to Stomy Man. He stops at a store to buy some chicken sandwiches. Whilst he is there the store is held up at knife point by two drugged out thugs. The only other people in the store is the owner and a mother with two children. And of course the Executioner. The man who took down the Mafia and has difeated hundreds of foes including Splatterpunk. So what does the great man do? He cowers behind the shelves and hopes that the thugs will go away. Yes, you read that correctly. Bolan thinks that he is too far away to be of any use so he hides. The store owner grabs his shotgun and starts shooting only to miss and die at the hands of a thug. Only then Bolan decides to act. But he acts too late and the mother and her two children are gunned down as well. Of course, Bolan kills the two thugs and another one outside the store as well, but the damage has been done. Four innocents, two of them children, are dead because of Bolan's inaction. And what is Bolan's response? I quote "Bolan thought about the mother and children. He had tried his best, but it hadn't been enough. So be it. He had no choice but to lock the memory away..." In other words he doesn't give a damn. Is this really Mack Bolan? To be honest I have the feeling that this chapter was written by somebody else and slipped in as an afterthought. Later in the book when Bolan and McCarter encounter their first mutated zombie, they do everything in their power to stop themselves from killing what was once a woman. So much so that when Bolan does evenutally kill her/it he appologises. And this is the same Bolan who feels no regrets in his failure to save a family from some two bit street punks? I don't think so. This book had a lot of potential, could have gone a lot further in the horror of the laboratory but fell short. And chapter two was an absolute disgrace. Only six stars for this one.

You will enjoy reading Lockdown if: - You like the occasional stroll from the strict Bolan universe (e.g., COMCON books), and don't occasionally mind reading something that may or may not be canon. - You enjoyed reading Able Team #8 Army of Devils. - You enjoy the concept of Mack Bolan and David McCarter doing an Alice (Milla Jovovich) in a Resident Evil situation. I thought the author did an excellent job in the portrayal of McCarter's character. The shortage of ammunition by Mack and David made it more interesting. Although I would wonder what kind of party would ensue with the rest of Able Team and Phoenix Force, especially with Lyon's Atchisson booming away.

After reading MM's review of this entry, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I'm one of those Bolan watchers who doesn't mind a change of pace and a dash of science fiction added to the series once in a while...as long as it exsists somewhere in the realm of possibility... a biohazard agent that turns people into mindless berserkers...OK, I can buy that... I had high hopes for this book and it delivered...almost... The problem is David Robbins just doesn't seem to "get" Mack Bolan at times... First the good...this book is really original in terms of an Executioner adventure, it is edge of your seat suspenseful...Bolan and McCarter thrust into a situation unlike they have ever encountered before...and with limited firepower! McCarter really shines in this one! The bad...well, the premise itself, while a first for an Executioner, is in the final analysis just tooooooooo much a pastiche of Resident Evil...I almost expected Nemesis to show up at some point. Would it have been that hard to modify the plot to make this homage less obvious? And finally, the ugly...quite frankly this book contains the worst overall chapter I have ever read in a Bolan adventure...and it isn't even relevant to the story...the throwaway events in Chapter Two bothered me for days after reading it...I'll try not to give too much away, but who the @#%& was this guy calling himself Bolan in this chapter...a man who literally hides when two thugs enter a store he is in...thugs armed only with knives...a Bolan who figures it is better to wait out the attack while innocents stand hopelessly by...a man who allows said innocents to meet a horrible fate by failing to act soon enough...WTF?!?!? You really have to read it for yourself to understand... This ain't The Executioner I know...The real Executioner would have had that situation finished in seconds, without the loss of innocent life... Two street thugs...with knives...against MACK BOLAN... C'MON! It is too bad this unnecessary chapter wasn't just edited out...this book could have been great with a little polish, but in the end what might work for Robbin's other heroes, like Blade,...just don't work for Bolan...too bad.

Oh my god! Lockdown is unlike any Bolan book you've ever read before. I always thought that the element of suspense is something lacking in too many Executioner novels. I havn't seen very much of it since #108 Time To Kill. With Lockdown, I found myself with a book not only loaded with suspense, but I got more than I bargained for. But more than that this is really a horror novel. I'm talking about Mack Bolan meets Resident Evil here! The author really cuts loose with this title, so much so, that It's a wonder it even saw print. GE has a fairly tight formula they like to stick to, but hopefully books like this would be an indication that they are willing to allow more diversity in the stories. Personaly, I think books in the series that break the same-old same-old mold is a positive thing, not only for entertainment value, but after over 400 books, a series should remain fresh with flexibility rather than stagnate with the usual retreads. And a book this well written is a welcome addition to the lineup. I'm positive there will be readers of the series that will despise this novel, as there were a few that didn't like a book like Iron Fist, but whatever the case, this is entertaining storytelling, and that's what matters to me. I was on the edge of my seat, as this gripping horror novel of Bolan's rescue of Brognola, with McCarter at his side, explore the harrowing nightmare in an underground complex where Bolan comes across a horror unlike any he's seen before. Great scenes with Hal Brognola as well. I suggest reading this novel at night with a flashlight with erie music playing in the background for full effect - lol. There were only a few minor flaws here and there, the one thing I missed the most was in the epilogue there should have been a mention of exactly what went wrong in Lab 22. But I loved this book, it was good from the first page to the very last, and a unique reading experience in the series. I give it a 10.