Aftershock

I am sorry to say that this book failed to interest me. Having Bolan in the middle of an earthquake was a brilliant idea - I even love the title of this story - but as the story developed it seemed that the earthquake was all but forgotten, there was just no feeling of being in a disaster zone any more, it just turned into Bolan fighting two criminal groups in a warehouse and 'rattling cages' trying to get the missing girlfriend back. I think the lack of the 'disaster movie' feel was what disappointed me the most. The two enemy groups - the very real world Kongra-Gel and the Jandarma - quickly became the usual type cast characters that are often found in a Mike Newton novel. Again this was disappointing, the lack of real menace disappeared, being replaced by nameless thugs who stick their heads up for Bolan to shoot off. I don't want to dwell on the negative too much, there were many positive things in the story. Bolan was looking for stolen medical and relief supplies not a missing nuclear weapon, the military Jandarma and the PKK Kongra-Gel are real legal and illegal organisations. The city of Van does exist (a paragraph or two history lesson wouldn't have been amiss), and it really is a bad earthquake zone. Bolan is on a personnal mission - he does call for Stony Man assistance - which does make a change from the usual Brognola pointing his finger and saying "Attack". The only other minor negative point for me were the SGT Mercy scenes. They seemed to be forced in to pad the story a little. In what is a crowded city Bolan and Abood always seemed to be the only people for miles that could help. So an okay but average story, with an unusual setting, that didn't engage me. Seven stars for this one.

With the first 39 Bolans under my belt, I thought it was time to jump around in the series and chose this one for my first leap. The book was pretty good. There were some great plot elements that added to the enjoyment. The damsel in distress was one tough cookie and really got put through the ringer. Having Mack contending with 2 enemy groups and the earthquakes were also nice touches though the earthquake element could have been better. There is a length section of the book where Mack keeps stumbling upon folks with weapons who are defending what they have. And, once the action kicks off between Mack and the baddies, the earthquake is all but forgotten. The action was good. Personally I find the writing a little hard to follow at times. This is not a fault of the writer, but rather my own personal taste. Mack does take his lumps during the big sequences. This was also refreshing since, I think, it's Mack's humanity that make him an engaging character even though he's usually performing feats of superhuman daring. Stony Man farm observing via satellite... another nice touch. All in all a fairly good read. I wasn't blown away by this one, but it was encouraging to see that at #333, Mack could still entertain and still find ways to stir the pot.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. This one had it all. Over the top violence and over the top “SGT Mercy”, a fast moving action filled plot that never let up. There may be a few spoilers here. The good: 1. The supporting characters were very interesting and there was good enough character development that I actually cared about them. I hope we get to see some of them again in the future. 2. I felt there was the right mixture of action with plot. In 99% of these books that I read they go into graphic detail about the gun fights which I usually enjoy, but sometimes it feels like the battles are drawn out to fit the required pages. One of the scenes I liked about this book was when Bolan roughs up a bad guy and tells him to pass along a message for him. When Bolan leaves the room he goes out and wastes a bunch of body guards. The battle wasn’t described in graphic detail but you knew what was going on. I thought that was classy and made more room for plot. There was just the right amount of exploding heads, caved in chests, shredded pelvises, brains on the wall etc… 3. The bad guy Arcuri was refreshing. He was an evil bastard that seemed to have realistic goals. He was not trying to take over the world with a chemical agent or nuke. 4. I thought the interactions between Arcuri and Abood were great. One of the scenes was written so well that it made my jaw hurt. 5. Some of the scenes had a spaghetti western feel to me which I thought were great. I like the way Bolan was manipulating people to do his dirty work for him. 6. Having the Stony Man Farm people being able to watch the final battle by satellite and not being able to do anything was a nice touch and added the right amount of tension. The Bad: 1. At the beginning some of the SGT Mercy scenes seemed a little too much for my tastes but they went by pretty quick and did help set the tone for the story. 2. This is more for the series as a whole not just this book, it would be nice to see some of these villains survive and come back in future books. Overall there are very few bad things I can say about this book, it was $5.00 well spent and I recommend it as a good read.

This is a nice book to read. If you have only read a couple of the books in this series you will see another side of the supreme warrior that is Mack Bolan and if you have read lots of the series you will see a side of Mack which perhaps we see too seldom. Set in an earthquake zone the book goes at a fast pace with any building likely to collapse at any moment roads becoming impassable gas mains rupturing and Mack is in the middle of it. Few weapons and relying on his wits and skills. I liked the interesting characters introduced as were the villans well written. The story just keeps you turning the pages. BUT......... Fair dinkum I must sound like a broken record on these reviews and I will ask again is it necessary for every second title to have the scene where a female close to Mack is kidnapped and held hostage so Mack can "rattle the cages" and save her in the nick of time? (although I will admit that at least with Doug she got her lumps before the find and release.) Excellent book spoiled by the above for me 2 stars deducted for page fillers being included.

This book really displays what the Bolan character is all about, he risks everything to stop and save some innocent civilians. One part Executioner, one part Sergeant Mercy. Awesome ! You've got to love those scenes. Bolan is not just some unstoppable killing machine, he cares about his fellow man - and Doug nails it in this one ! Great action and great supporting charaters ! Eh Kay says - don't miss it !

Solid story in every sense. It was good to see good dose of Sgt. Mercy in action. Minor characters as whole were most realistic so far in series of D.P.W books. I personally did not find it difficult to keep track who was who in this story since it was the good vs. the bad vs. the insane situation. Boz Arcuri was excellent villain and I hope that we will see more like of him. On negative side maybe there were one too many sommersault in fight before the final showdown between Bolan and Jandarma captain. Excellent read.

Nice, action-packed novel by Doug. Started out with a bang and didn't really let up. Liked the Catherine Abood character, and thought she worked well with Bolan. With the earthquake subplot, we got to see Bolan's humanity. The only negative I had was the multitude of bad guys, who I think I started losing track of--who's this guy, which group is he with, etc. But, the final battle and car chase sequence was a great capper to an enjoyable book.

This was a solid, action packed book with UNSANCTIONNED Bolan throwing himself in a nightmare scenario: stuck between two murdering factions, no back up, barely any weapons, on foreign soil, during a 7.8 earthquake. Did I mention that Bolan jumped in that meat grinder? He wasn't "sent" by Brognola with a tidy little cover story. The book's structure is familiar: two enemy factions, a endangered woman, Bolan playing both sides against the middle. But there are touches here and there, especially in the dialogues and characterization that give this book its own personality. And, again, I loved that Bolan went there UNSANCTIONNED. We want more of this. He's supposed to be at arm's length with THE MAN. This one shows it. Soild entry into the series. Recommended.