Colors of Hell

Mack turns his gang-busting techniques against two rival gangs in the city of San Francisco. I thought Mike Newton did a pretty nice job of adhering to the classical Bolan formula while keeping the plot fairly fresh. Using street-gangs as the villans was nice. Having them wary enough to suspect that Bolan was trying to set them against each other was a smart choice. My only real complaint is with the character of Corey Souder. The story really didn't need yet another "innocent hostage held until Bolan shakes them free" sequence. I was really struck in this book of how Newton utilized the classic Pendleton technique of describing gun battles and conflicts in broad, narrative terms. Many of the New War books read like the novelization of a 1st person shooter. They are just long sequences of Bolan running, diving, triggering while the author searches for yet another adjective for a 9mm or .44 Magnum round. If you read the original Pendletons, the gun battles often covered 5-10 pages for an entire novel. Newton made use of this concept in this book. You follow Bolan as he builds toward a gun battle...but for several of them, it was more interesting to follow other characters moving towards the conflict Bolan was starting...so Newton went with them and let the gun battle take place off screen...picking up Mack later with a basic statement of how the fight was going. As is common with the Newton books, he acknowledges Mack's history and Bolan runs across characters he'd meet in previous adventures in San Francisco. Cleverly, Newton solves the most difficult question that a writer faces with the Bolan novels (how does Mack find the villans he's hunting in the 17 minutes he is in any given city as he saves the day), by having Mack pickup intell from the local police, who think they are giving it to a federal agent. Mack uses the pretty standard Newton armament package in this one. The 93R/Big Thunder, a silenced Uzi, a Marlin .444 for a sniper scene and the M-16/203 for the big finish. A nice touchback to the Pendleton days is Mack using what is clearly the M-79 40MM grenade launcher at one point. Definitely a book to pull out and reread on a warm lazy day.

I remember reading this as one of my early Gold Eagle readings. I was still new to the Bolan series back then. I was lucky to have come across a Mike Newton "Bolan book", since he has a grasp of the Bolan character and type of story (even though he repeated the basic plot structure over the years). I remember liking Bolan acting as a vigilante and defeating street crime (i.e. the gangs). Good seeing Bolan smash the punks! I especially liked his brief introspective musings just before he engaged the enemy during the final showdown scene. I particularly liked the fact that the cop Barney Gibson knew what Bolan was doing and approved of it, even though it was vigilante justice. It was a good post-Pendleton "introduction", for me, to the Bolan series. A good vigilante story with Bolan behaving true to form and given some depth (though not as much as in some later books).

Ho Hum, Ho Hum well how many times does Mr. Newton release the same title with the names changed. I am/was/still sort off a Newton fan but two many titles if you are reading the series in order as I am by Newton are almost entirely the same plot with the names changed to protect the already published. But if you are just reading some of the titles then this is an okay book to read about middle of the road as far of the titles released to this one. my two bobs worth............

This is a street gang story set in San Francisco. It is basicly a takeoff on the Bloods vs the Crips scene in L.A. Here we have the "blue" gang called the Skulls and the "red" gang called Savage Nomads. Bolan used the standard tactic found in most of Newton's novels of getting the two gangs to fight each other while Bolan picks them apart. The book has good pacing, the action is done well, and some good characters on Bolan's side. I liked the story about Captain Gibson, who Bolan had met before, how he had to keep his knowledge of Mack's presence secret to his fellow officers. It added some suspense and depth to the story. Souders was another good character, helping to keep this standard action novel more interesting. Bolan appears to be more ruthless than usual in this book. His enemies are quite different than the average terrorist or Mafia goons. Young street gang members make all of the bad guys in this book, but Bolan hoses them with lead like a shooting gallery. The ending wasn't one of the better action segments Newton usually writes, but it was ok, and overall a good adventure for the soldier. A solid 7 seems fair.

Good reading,probably the way a lot of us would like to take care of the gang problem in this country,just knock off a few of them and set the rest to fighting amongst themselves.

Bolan answers a call concerning gang violence in San Francisco. Two warring factions have gone too far, and Bolan intervenes in his usual fashion. Good Bolan blitz. Bolan is at his best domestically, blitzing hard and fast, playing both sides off against each other. "Colors of Hell" qualifies, as Bolan gets the two gangs at each others throats before long. Much of this novel takes place from other point-of-view -- the cops, the gang leaders, the activist -- and this brings a refreshing change to the series. However, the last action scene was a little disappointing, as much was "skipped over" an left for the reader to assume. Overall, however, this is a good read, and worth picking up.

I remember THE MACK laying the smackdown on some candy ass gangbangers in this action packed story. And the return of Barney Gibson and Bill Philips is also mentionned, characters created by the Don himself,back in the day.So I appreaciated the sense of history ,if you will.Also, Mack is really in his vigilante mode here, barely backed,barely sanctionned. And he is pretty street smart as well. There are some clasic "Newtonisms":playing both gangs against each other, kidnapped girl,etc...But it's still a glimpse at old school Bolan the Bastard. Solid.

A standard actioner from Newton. Not great, but it had a good final shootout.

EXCELLENT BOOK. IT WAS GOOD SHOWING BOLAN TEACH THOSE STREETPUNKS A THING OR TWO ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH.

BOLAN SHOWING YOUNGBLOODS THAT THEY'RE NOT EXPERIENCED ENOUGH TO TAKE ON THE MASTER. HE SHOWED THEM A THING OR TWO! THUMBS UP!!