Thermal Strike

This book has some good things going for it, nonstop action, standout scenes being Bolan’s turning the tables at the snakepit, and the scenes in the elevator shaft of the Empire State building had me on the edge of my seat. The author’s first two super Bolan titles: Shock Tactic and Precision Kill, were far better written books than this however, and I will mention at least four things that marred what would otherwise have been excellent action/suspense thriller. 1. The premise. I just wasn’t buying it. I just didn’t find it believable that the army would train their squads in the countryside using actual live nuclear bombs. The mockup bomb that Brognola brought in to the farm for Bolan to look at would have been more realistic thing used for such training purposes. 2. A silly scene where Bolan infiltrates a mansion of Akbar, the terrorists backer, moves around the grounds and climbs up the side of the house. Gee how luck for Bolan that the two Dobermans never bothered to bark at him. Really? It is difficult to find ANY dog that doesn’t bark at strangers prowling in their yard, let alone two Dobermans who are obviously there to keep unwanted folks away from his home. 3. At the bottom of page 268, while Bolan is chasing one nuke packing Nidal, the terrorist leader’s second in command, an odd paragraph mysteriously pops up reading as follows: Apparently Ahmed Tufayli (the main villain) had split the Golden Jihad into two cells. Nidal’s five-man unit had come to New York from Norristown, while Tufayli’s cell was either already in Washington, DC., or on its way there. umm, what? How did Bolan know this? Either editing chopped some part of the story out, or the author was trying to stretch across a plothole here. The word “apparently” at the beginning seems to indicate the latter. 4. The ending was less than spectacular and to be honest, very predictable. Without giving anything away, I think at the risk of being a backseat driver here the author missed an opportunity to put a different twist on this that not only would have been better but would have negated and turned around the issue I had with point #1. Overall, this book missed the mark in too many areas to rate it any higher than a six, which is a shame because there were good moments, and the threat was much larger than your average Bolan adventure, the book was never boring, and it had lots of potential. Perhaps if I had read it at the time of publication I would have been more gripped by the backpack nuke idea, but these days it gets lost in the nuke of the month pile. Some of the action scenes were hard to follow as well, leaving me with an impression that this book in general was rushed, lacking in the polish that I have read in this writer’s other novels.

While this plotline has been done to death, it's interesting to read this one, written pre-9/11. The strongest aspect is that it's done very tensely. Bolan is tracking a terror cell that has backpack nukes and he opens things up in the bayou. Classic snakepit scene and it's chilling dispatching of the bad guys. While the action is just average...the cat and mouse/chase scenes bristle with tension. The NY engagement with Bolan racing inside the Empire State Building and the car chase through the crowded streets keep you holding your breath. The final confrontation has a surprise in store. All in all, pretty good, but with annoyingly cliched Arab terrorists.

Well it's a nuke of the month story actually two backpack's and a locate/chase/capture/disarm title. < collective groan > But no it is a superb read even with the plot line. Excellent action scenes abound in a very fast paced title where the heart rate increased a few times whilst reading this. Some standout scenes include the snake pit in the marsh, the elevator scene after the Empire State building is bombed and one of the better car chase scenes you have ever read. Many things included here which you usually don't get in one of these plot line stories firstly some excellent stuff on the US soldier who steals the two backpack nukes in the first place and how he is coping being held hostage by the terrorists as his wife and baby are also being held. Heaps of characters introduced who are actually important to the overall story and actually insert seamlessly into the ongoing storyline. Bolan is written superbly here let me tell you and I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended reading in this series it's a cracker.

There is little I can add over what Glenn has already said. Thermal Strike was dull and flat and ultimately boring. The characters had no depth and the plot was linear to a fault. The prose was over explained and bloated at times and other times sparse and unclear. The inclusion of the backpack nukes I found unbelievable. The very fact that the US Army would even possess, let alone have specially trained units for them, was just too much for me. The entire opening of the book where the soldiers goes rogue with one of the backpack nukes was stretching logic to the breaking point and he wasn’t even given a proper motivation. The villains are one dimensional racial stereotypes that I found outright offensive and Bolan was flat and uninspired. The entire plot was explained in the first few chapters and no surprises, or even changes, came along later. As a writer I find this sloppy and inexcusable. It is not difficult to reveal the plot and story as events unfold. To tell everything in plain, descriptive prose at the beginning is bad form and better left to amateurs. Of course, many elements of this book are tropes better left to amateurs.

For me this story was average. It really was average. The plot wasn't anything special, Arab terrorist have stolen two nuclear backback bombs and are planning to set them off in two US cities. Mack has to stop them. That's it. No twists or turns or suprises, just a paint by numbers story that probably was a regular Executioner, but because the typeset was double the normal size, the crafty staff of Gold Eagle managed to turn it into a SuperBolan (that's my theory). The characters themselves were cardboard. The Arab terrorists were flat and bland and had no background whatsoever. Their only motivation was to be wicked. Bolan was equally flat and bland, change his name and he could have been FBI agent of the week. There was nothing that marked him out as The Executioner. What was stiking was the complete abscence of Phoenix and Able. Only Bolan and a team of nameless faceless blacksuits were assigned. I found it strange ehat the two teams were not mentioned once. It was as if the author was unaware of their existence. So just a bland story. Nothing to get excited about and nothing to feel too disappointed about either. I thought that the snake pit fight was okay, but that was it.

This was another GREAT story!! I loved it from start to finish! The only problems I had were the death of Akbar and co. (nastiest death to date) and little Thomas getting killed. But I'm glad justice prevailed in the end and the head Arab lived long enough to see his plan fail. That sub-human should have taken another shot from the Desert Eagle, IMO. Like I said, GREAT book and definitely a keeper!!

This was my first Bolan book as well. I picked it up in a grocery store just out of boredom and I've been hooked ever since. Excellent storyline and good action sequences. This one is definitely a keeper.

A fun read, with a potentially memorable character in Anderson. And, yes, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the producers of The Peacemaker had read it.

This is my first SuperBolan book and it's the best. I liked the part about the terrorists terrorizing the seargent and his family and then finally killing them before finding out how to set off the nukes. Boy, if this was a true story, I'd kick Tufayli's butt for his madness towards America. Overall, a darn good book.

My first Bolan book. This is the book that got me hooked. Great story, I was not completely happy with the ending. but other then that I would recommend this book to anyone. A great choice for a first book.

EXCELLENT STORY! EVER SEE THE MOVIE 'THE PEACEMAKER'? I THINK THE FILM PRODUCERS BORROWED A LITTLE FROM THIS BOOK.

This was one of my favorite super bolans. awsome story and action. A great ending!!!

This one immediately started out explosive. Although it lags behind in scenes about the officer and his family it is more than made up in the scenes when Mack is chasing the terrorists around New York. This one has a climax ending.