Vengeance

Set mostly in Algiers, Bolan is in town to take out some Islamic extremist groups. He has a local sidekick for this mission, rarely is he alone in this story. What seems at the foundation to be the usual hit list, getting two factions to fight each other kind of plot, actually has a lot more to it in this finely crafted action book that has a lot of perspectives from the various groups and the interplay between them. What I liked most about the story was the infusion of the American muslim that was acting as the counter-Bolan. He was trying to negotiate with the faction leaders to unite them as Bolan was trying to tear them apart. The Filali character that was Bolan's contact was another perspective I thought was written well. I found the book to be compelling and kept me entertained, the setting was interesting, the action was consistent, the drama of the faction characters was excellent. All around, a good installment in the super Bolan line of novels.

Well I checked the back cover and came to " Employing a strategy as old as war, his blitz pits rival factions against each other, sparking an all-out shooting spree ". hmm wonder who wrote this title and upon checking of course it is his nibs. Algeria is the location of this latest rewrite where there are numerous different terrorist groups and the plan is to attack their holdings creating mistrust between the various factions with the overall outcome to be that they attack each other saving the Big guy the trouble. Upon arrival he meets his latest ally and together they meet up with an informant who supplies a list of addresses of holdings of the various terrorist groups. These locations are then attacked and any personnel on the premises are killed and the locations are torched. Standard scenes are now inserted where of course a sniper scene will take place (the telephone survived again how about that?) and the reams of pages where we will read wondrous text on how the leaders of the various factions are perplexed who the bloody hell is attacking them. Everything is going well but what is the only thing that could stuff up a good day and we can't go home early? Why the informant is kidnapped by the bad guys of course. What to do? Well start another campaign identical to the first but this time leave one person alive with a message to the boss that the prisoner should really be released safe and well or the campaign will continue. So with the wondrous functions of spreadsheets namely cut and paste and search and replace yet another rewrite churns off of the Mike Newton production line. Disgusting, how this same title has been published thirty times plus now the publishers, editors, proof readers should be ashamed of themselves and sacked. SURELY SURELY sometime over the last thirty years SOMEONE has read something which has been lodged and said to themselves " hang on I have already read this? ". Obviously not.

I feel I'm being generous with a 5. This was your standard Newton of going from place to place, hitting the bad guys and having them turn on each other. It all seemed flat. There was a lot of action, I'll grant you. Some of his books like this work for me, other's don't. There was an extremely large cast of characters and I started to lose track of all the terror groups involved with their initials.

I really liked this book. Bolan dishing out Vengeance for some murdered americans by terrorists. hEAND HIS GUIDE HEAD OUT and deliver the ultimate piece of justice. By attacking both sides and playing them against each other. This was classic Executioner. My favorite part of the book was when he tracked that American piece of scum down back to detroit and left eight gunners dead. The killing of Malik Al-salam was justified he wanted a race war. I like it when Bolan goes in and only uses The Berretta 93 R and the massive Deasert Eagle. Would of been easier if he used the HK he was carrying but thats not his style now is it. Great book.

This was the first book I read from the latest shipment, and I'm the first reviewer... >snoopy dance.< Mike Newton revives from his slump in this one (well, I haven't read the 4 Horsemen Trilogy yet), and for the first time in a while, Bolan is actually facing foes who don't crumble with the first few whacks. The Algerian GIA has to be one of the best terrorist groups that Bolan's fought against in the past 10 years. It the standard Newton/Bolan plot: Mack smacks both sides up, and gets them fighting each other. But, this time his enemies ARE hip to his plans. Newton finally breaks his mold, and puts Bolan's butt wagging out in the middle of a classic ambush. Like I said before, the GIA didn't fold easy, which is a refreshing relief from the squirming, running-scared weaklings like Schmidt's mobsters and Russians, or the so-called deadly conspiracies where the chief bad guy kills one of his own henchmen every chapter, thus denying us the right to see Bolan kill some of their butts. And... Mack finally gets laid for the first time in how long? On a scale of 10, I give this one a 9