Blood Feud

This is a Mafia story, with a bit of a twist. Here Bolan is between two different organized crime factions as they are at war with each other. A ruthless leader of the Naples based mob has decided to get revenge on the Sicilian based Mafia for past transgressions. While they might seem to be doing Bolan's work for him, the loss of civilian life and property in the war requires Bolan's intervention. Thus begins a series of actions ranging from New Jersey, to Chicago, and concluding in Los Angeles. One of my favorite parts of the story is the action in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. The level of skill of the six Mafia soldiers there is well above the usual mob goons Bolan has faced in most of his earlier clashes with the Mafia. This added a challenge for Bolan, making the story more interesting. I liked reading a Mafia oriented story again, and this being a super Bolan makes it even better. The overwhelming odds Bolan faces adds tension to the novel, the ending sequences are out of control, great reading to close out the book. Good stuff.

Once again a superb read from one of the better authors to write in these series. The Mafia are attacked by the Camorra who apparently are quite a powerful crime family similar to the Mafia based in Naples and with tentacles everywhere except the States it is the last frontier add in that previously decades ago the Mafia whipped their butts and kicked them out of the States the Camorran's have the will and the training and the perfect leader. Some excellent action scenes ensue where the Mafia locations are attacked by the bad guys who are ruthless and have no regard for casualties regardless of who they are. In fact the innocent victims killed soars past 500 and nothing looks like stopping it or even slowing it down. After a massive battle at a sit-down the Mafia hierarchy are decimated and in fact it looks grim for them as the Camorran's press for victory. The Big Guy has some major misgivings and the scene with Hal was good as was the attack on the "safe house" (don't know why they use that term wouldn't supposed/should be/could be/will be/yep I'm almost certain) be better inserted prior? The final battle for supremecy is set up and it looks good for the Camorran's at one stage until well something turns the battle and you will have to read it to find out what. Excellent ACTION scene dominated title and very highly recommended reading.

What I thought was just going to be a run-of-the-mill Mafia story, turned into a damn good book. The plot was nothing out of the ordinary, but the writing was very fast-paced, and the villains were exceptionally brutal. Loved the siege of the Mafia estate where Bolan gets saddled with a vengeance-minded son of a don. Great interaction. And the cat and mouse game in the New Jersey swamps was tense. Saw some pre-9/11 type incidents which was interesting. But, overall, the book was quite the surprise.

I thought this was Robbin's best work. This did not show a perfect Mack he did get captured once but his escape was fun. A few thing I really liked about the novel. 1) It made Bolan think about his war with the mafia and how saving it from the Camorra was the best thing he could do. I liked how he nearly had a breakdown and Hal had to help him back up. One a moral dilemna this was. 2) Scarletti what a villian. He and his team did more in the feweer days then what Mack was doing in years in his personal war. Granted Scarletti had a small army and cared less about civilians. 3) I also liked the fact that we see that the mafia survived not through brute strength but through brains as wall. Like not going after wives and kids, not selling drugs to kids and not getting civilians killed. Camerro seemed like a pack of mad dogs who cared less about who the hurt. Also I was convinced they are the least dangerous of foes. I do notice that Robbins usually has at least one nerd as a kind of major minor character. Invisible Invader the nerdy scientist, Breakaway the nerd who "found love" with a whore house, Precision Kill two nerds. Warlord kinda with the nerdish cop who lived with his mother. I could be wrong but I think Scarletti was a title character in a Ludlum novel. Not the same character though.

A nice action-packed Mafia orientated story with a twist....the Mafia wasn't the #1 bad guys here. Plenty of action to keep the reader interested and the Camorra made for an interesting new enemy. Although there were some plot loopholes as mentioned above. Bolan constanly reminiscing over his old 'War Against The Mafia' days, yet no one in the mafia seems to remember those days nor the dreaded 'Executioner'. All in all, not a bad entry into the series at all.

This story wasn't too bad. We have the vicious Camorra who wish to destroy the Mafia in the USA, and who do not care who gets in the way, then we have the Mafia, who are only a former shadow of themselves (I wonder why) but still believe that they are kings of crime, fighting to survive. Last but not least, we have The Executioner who is thrust into the mix. Thus there is lots of action, and several near misses for Bolan, especially when he seriously underestimeates the Mafia commando team. Unfortunately there are a few let downs. To start with, Bolan is on a mission to kill a leading Mafia figure, when he is caught up in the Mafia / Camorra war. So far so good, but then the reader learns that Bolan has been handed the first assignment from Brognola, and then receives a second assignment - find the Camorra - also from Brognola. I always thought that the Mafia was a particular favourite target for Bolan, and that he needed no orders to chase them. Guess I was wrong. We do have Bolan reflecting on the time when he did attack the Mafia in the past. Unfortunately nobody in the Mafia seems to remember this as they are all running around wondering who would dare to attack them. For this inconsistancy the book loses one star. The Camorra cause havoc where ever they go, at one stage we learn that the civilian death toll exceeds 500. Bolan is quite happy to work with the FBI (as Don Pendleton's Mike Belasko) but no mention what so ever of bringing in Able or Phoenix to assist. Towards the end of the story Bolan is in the middle of nowhere in New Jersey, five minutes later he was in downtown L.A. I was also left wondering what mother in her right mind would be out walking her dog on the streets of downtown LA at midnight, accompanied by her five year old daughter. They all die as Bolan botches his shooting and fails to stop an explosive laden truck in time. Oh well.

This was an awesome book for the most part, untill the end, The ending could hve been better though

Well, I thought this had some good action and some good bad guys. My complaint, however, is that it seemed less like a Bolan novel. It seemed sometimes that Mack was just thrown in so that we could see the action between the Camorra and the Mafia thru his eyes. Mack had very little action himself. Though it wasn't too bad, because the bad guys were pretty good and Mack did get some action in - its just it felt like he was a 3rd wheel in most of the scenes. I enjoyed the Mafia commandos - they really gave Mack a run for his money.

One of my favorite SBs(Flames of Wrath is another). It was fast-paced with alot of action and kept me going. I could hardly put it down. The plot was different, too. Not only was Mack fighting the Camorra, but he also had good opportunity to drop some high class mafiosi dudes.