End Game

I always groan at the nuke of the week kind of books. We get quite a bit of them. So I was quite surprised when I read this and it was very enjoyable. It's not your average nuke of the week story. It pretty much follows the construction of the bomb from beginning to end as Bolan tries to put a stop to it. I found it a lot more realistic than other stories where they hijack a submarine or carry out a massive strike and end up running away with a full blown nuke. I did feel Dupre was a bit weak for a villain. But besides that it was a very good read.

This story is one of the older nuke threat entries in the series, and would have been more fresh if I had read it back then rather than now. Even so, the plot was not too original for its time, but Linaker can be counted on for a fast moving gripping Bolan adventure. Starting from Scotland Bolan follows the trail of nuclear weapon components that black market dealers are moving around to a destination and a purpose that Bolan needs to unravel as he moves along. I like how you don’t know where the bomb is going to be used till the very end, and the villains’s plan to use it is not what you might suspect. The second part of Bolan’s mission in the mountains of Afghanistan is another good section, always in danger, navigating through foreign territory and dealing with the harsh environment. The final act is a fictional island near Columbia for Bolan’s final assault as he has dispatched the sub villains by this time and finally takes on the man who actually plans to use the bomb. Again more blazing action, on land and in boats to wrap up his mission to find this bomb. I deduct a star for a couple things that were weird, more likely a result of editing. Hacksaw happy editing seemed to be the norm for Executioner books coming out around this time period. The helicopter Bolan shoots at on the cover is his escape method out of the Afghanistan mission. Piloting it himself, we have no idea where he went with it, how he got out of that region of the world, where did he land it? The next chapter has Bolan at the Island near Columbia. Later Bolan beaches a boat in some hidden inlet in the coastal wilds of the islands and goes to sleep. Next thing a man is there, becomes Bolan’s ally, leads him out of there, then is forgotten. Where did he come from? Why was he on the boat? What happened to him? It just seemed like some fleshing out of the story was missing in this book. However this is a good action yarn worth reading.

I wasn't too impressed with this story. Once again it is nuke of the week and once again there is a mad villain who wants revenge. What I did like, for some reason, was the character of Sheppard, and I have to agree with another review when he says that with the death of Sheppard the story foundered. Liked: Scotland and Afghanistan locations. Disliked: The constant killing of companions (and thanks Gold Eagle for telling us on the inside cover that one of Bolan's compainions would be killed and for giving us the name of the betrayer. Thanks, keeps the suspense going - not!). The use of fictional islands and countries. How that bores me.

Absolute cracker of a book. Twists and twists in the story with Mack always one step behind in his hunt. The action scenes are fantastic with one scene of Mack driving a jeep down a jetty and onto an escaping boat one of the best I have read. Highly recommended reading one of the best I have read.

For a change………….a very short review as this was a very solid entertainment but not much more than that. The book started out well and had a great pace and fairly interesting characters at that point like Shepard was but after that the book slowly goes downhill from the point Shepard bites the dust. This Dupre character and the Black Skulls were supposed to be a major terror force but in the book they only looked like your average ordinary street punks but with a major revenge on their minds. If you want mindless action and little mystery, then this book is just the right one for you......(Iceland - 2005)

This is worth 8 outta 10 for the action , and the way the Big Guy gets pissed about his short lived buddies getting killed. The action is well described, and you can feel how choked Mack is. Good stuff.

Great action from Linaker with Bolan globe-hopping to stop a nuclear conspiracy. I was even thrilled to find a Jon Land-ish, outlandish-style scene toward the end of the book, with Bolan jumping a 4x4 from a dock, onto a boat heading out to sea. Cool stuff!

This was a great book, typical mack bolan action. the stuff ive come to expect from the executioner. and a new twist with the nuclear bomb.