Volatile Agent

I really enjoyed this book. It has something that a lot of recent titles lack. Mack really goes through hell in this one. Sure, Bolan goes up against hundreds of gunmen and nuke plots every few titles, but in this one he really takes a beating. We all know Mack is going to save the day, but it's very rare for a title to have you on the edge of your seat thinking "How in the HELL is Bolan going to pull it off?!" This title definitely gave me that vibe. The parachute scene was great, showing sometimes events out of Bolan's hands can screw things up. The scorpion scene and buffalo scene were all very tense. Some very good writing in those scenes. My only major gripes are pretty similar to those of other reviews. There are times when Bolan doesn't seem like Bolan. Plus, Bolan checking his cell phone several times during a battle seems pretty odd. I understand he is trying to get the information into pertinent hands just to make sure it gets through on the chance something happens to him. But almost getting killed because of it seems out of character. And even though I know these are action books, this title was pretty much 190 some pages of non stop action with really no story at all. The only plot points are pretty much introduced and concluded in one sentence. Not that that is a major problem with these kind of books, but when Bolan goes through absolute hell, it's kind of odd that the stakes aren't higher. The text message went through, that'll teach them to do bad things. After all that, I just wished there was a bigger payoff. Overall, a very enjoyable outing that was very tense and well-written.

Excellent have to say this author grabs the reader from the first page and hangs on until the end amazing again here with this title. Now lots have been said previously in reviews but there are some seriously good sections contained within this title regarding parachute jumps, scorpions, Cape Buffalo, spiders and assorted bugs. Action scenes abound which seems to be a bit of a trait reading this authors titles and are excellent with this title . ONE STANDS OUT---- (Spoiler !!!) The Big Guy is in a vehicle being chased by shit loads of bad guys being driven by a teenage girl who has been abused big time by the chasing guys. The car crashes and the girl is killed in the rollover from a snapped neck. If you have seen the movie Matrix I was reminded of that when reading this, basically the Big Guy goes I think you call it up there Postal and just starts waltzing towards the bad guys bullets flying left and right blowing them away one by one. EXCELLENT section to read. There are a couple of authors in these series who like to give the Big Guy a bit of a battering in their titles which I actually think is good occasionally but if you read this title you WILL BE STUNNED on what he goes through in this title the ending is pretty special stuff with Jack coming to the rescue and how it happens and what happens after. Absolutely loved this title and it is highly recommended reading in this series.

This was actually my first book by Meyer, and I found it to be a good read. When the "Agent" of the title is introduced, the pace picked up, with her trapped in a hotel with rebel forces outside. I also like how Meyer showed how brutal the African elements could be---torrential rains, wild buffalo, scorpions and other critters added to the situation. Bolan's infiltration of the hotel and his siege to get out was very tense reading. Bolan is also put through the grinder in this entry and it all culminates in a last-ditch effort by Grimaldi to rescue his friend who is shot, beaten, bruised and battered.

I have been reading the Executioner series for years, and I can say as a 20 year old female that I love this series. Volatile Agent was by far my favorite installment, and I have read most of the books back to Executioner 100. I absolutely loved how Mack was human in this novel. In many of the other novels Mack would go through extreme experiences with unrealistic results. It's not so in this novel Mack gets injured and has to rely on the help of his long-time friend, Jack Grimaldi. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys reading the Executioner.

This is a tightly written and gripping tale that starts with a bang and doesn't let up. I was swept in by the moody atmosphere to the extant I felt I was witnessing the tale unfold in real time. Of special note is the scorpion sequence near the beginning and Bolan's escape towards the end. Like Meyer's previous effort, the amount of research was intricate and detailed, adding to the realism of the African locales. My only nits concerned the young girl and the data Bolan was sent to retrieve. At times I felt the girl was there only to guide the story along a certain path, while the importance of the data itself got lost in the action. Minor things, though. This is a page-turner.

I totally agree with Editreject’s review of this title. The tension and atmosphere were outstanding in this book. The scene with Saragossa under her hotel bed was perfect in my opinion. I genuinely felt a rush of adrenaline and was covering up the parts of the page that I hadn’t read yet so I didn’t accidentally see what was going to happen. This was some outstanding writing, not just for a Bolan book, but any kind of fiction. The environment seemed to be as much of a character as the bad guys were. Bolan also seemed human in that he made mistakes and certain things he tried didn’t work out for him. This made for quick page turning on my part. I did kind of lose track of what the importance of the cell phone was but with the flow of action and suspense going on I didn’t care. There is a scene where something happens that Bolan gets very vengeful. The way this was described on the page made it come vividly to life in my minds eye. It actually stirred emotions in me and I found myself cheering the big guy on and was feeling his pain. I admire writers that are able to draw those kind of scenes with words. I strongly feel that this title should be near the top of the list and I encourage every Mack Bolan fan to read it. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

TIA. This Is Africa. And Africa is anarchy when there is a civil war. I couldn't disagree with Chuck's review more. There were no clear cut villains because there never are in a civil war. And the information that Bolan was trying to retrieve wasn't important, I suspect that the author was tipping his hat to the film Ronin. The mercenary leader, James du Toit - recently release from a prison in New Guinea - is obviously modelled on real life mercenary Nick du Toit currently serving a life sentence in Equitorial Guinea, and shows that the author did do some real research on this novel and not pull ideas out of his hat. Bolan, after making a foolish mistake (never play with your cell phone when your enemies are live and kicking) gets badly wounded and almost dies. Only Jack Grimaldi saves him after a daring and over the odds rescue. I imagine that after the punishment that he took, Bolan will be out of action for at least a couple of months. So it was a well written story, but a few little things niggled me. The first one was that Bolan didn't always feel like Bolan, he was at times more reminisant of Sylvester Stallone's version of Rambo. It wasn't anything definate, just my impression whilst reading. The second niggle was that the author painted Venezuela as the country that wanted to get hold of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (or what ever it was in the building in Ghana. Yellow Cake lab?) and I find that to be a little implausable. Venezuela tends to be painted as a 'rogue nation' by Fox News and the White House because president Chavez is anti USA with regards to oil. Here I had the impression that the author was banging the Fox News drum for whatever reason, and this didn't sit quite right in this novel. Still, it was a good story, and I am sure that Nathan Meyer's Executioner stories will improve even more in the future.

This book was pretty good. The main premise of the book seemed typical for most recent Bolan books I've read. The things that were good about it was how Bolan went in, tried to nab Saragossa, getting her cell phone and the info it contained, and his getting out of the area. Lots of great action! The only thing I found unrealistic was his run in with the cape buffalo's. A small caliber weapon, even up to its nape, probobly isn't enough to kill it. A minor point of inaccuracy, but even that isn't enough to disrail this awesome book! Especially the car chase towards the end, and Bolan's eventual extraction. I reccomend this book highly! Thanks!

This was one book that I absolutely could not get interested in. I have read all he books to date and can not remember another one where Bolan took such a beating, even going as far as dying on the plane with Jack right there. I couldn't figure out what the inormation was that Bolan was supposed to retrieve and that it was meant for. Other than the 2 rebel groups and the merc's there was no clear enemy as the opposition. Give me the days of either mafia, terrorism or the KGB.

This is by far one of the better books in the Executioner series as of late. So much so that it was read in just a couple of sitting. What makes this read so good you ask? Two words. Tension and atmosphere. There was genuine tension in every chapter. From the opening chapters with Saragossa holed up in her hotel room, Bolan's run-in with the Cape buffalos to his daring escape attempt toward the end. The tension lept through the pages, along with tons of atmosphere as well. Many of the locales in the Executioner books are described pretty generically, but I really got a feel like I was there in the Ivory Coast in this book dealing with the heat and the constant downpours even though I have never been there at all. A definite above-average entry in the series that all Bolan fans should not miss!