Breakaway

Well Chuck's first entry in this series and what a fine read it is. Gotta say I love recurring characters if they were previously good to read and here we have four who first appeared in Executioner #236 Vengeance Rising namely two Japanese assassins a female Japanese Agent Honda and an ex Special Forces guy who went bad and got into gun running, drug running etc. who Mack actually let live in the previously mentioned title and has gone on the straight and narrow. Very similar to Mack's relationship with Jack and how he turned him around. Ironman is along for the ride this time and also Akira for a short time helps out in the field. Action scenes abound and there is some fine reading contained within with lots of original stuff which you haven't read in these series before. As is common with this author Mack doesn't have a stroll in the park which he seems to do so often here and in fact takes an absolute bloody battering which results in something happening to him in the title which is stunning. Absolutely loved this one highly recommended reading.

Out blessed standing. What a read. With Akira going into the field (sort of). And the Bear worring about getting him back in one piece (not to mention the dust up at the airport) As mentioned in other reviews the interplay with Lyons and the rubber bullet ploy were great for the plot. The advrsaries were also of James Bond caliber. This is a must read.

Just finished this one and thought it was spectacular! So many entertaining points, like the rubber-bullet shootout and the interaction between Lyons and Bolan, just to name a couple. I just didn't like the abrupt ending. Otherwise an edge-of-your-seat thrill all the way!!!!

I thought this was a very enjoyable book. Personally, I thought the characterizations were right on. Some of the standout scenes included the Ironman confronting a dojo full of hostile martial artists, the Stony Men leaving the bad guys in agony during shootouts using "non-lethal" rubber bullets, and a classic scene of the boys in a souped-up Chinese junk, taking on a pair of helicopters and two torpedo boats. I liked the Burdick character. He was a welcome addition. And Bolan was the most vulnerable as I've seen him. I didn't know how to take that, considering you don't see him as close to death as he was in this one. The thing that didn't give this one another star was the fact that the last 50 pages was decent, but I thought the battle could have been written better. And Bolan's actions during the final chapter left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

It's good to get a writer that knows guns to write a Bolan book. And it's even better to get one that knows guns AND martial arts. I agree with Alice that John Trent would have made a better comrade for Mack instead of Lyons. Ironman just doesn't strike me as being a karate man, more like a Keep It Simple Stupid streetfighter. Overall a very good read.

There are ties to a previous book (sorry, can't remember which one), which is always cool IMO. Carl Lyons assists Mack on this one, and it's mentioned that Mack's knowledge of martial arts is limited to what others have shown/taught him, which is accurate. It's also mentioned that Mack's Korean and Japanese is as limited - and nevermind his previous experiences in Okinawa and Japan, the man would still have limited language skills. (If you have a gun, there is not much call for an interpreter.) If I have a fault with the story, it's that someone other than Ironman could have been brought in - John Trent would've been ideal: ninja, speaks Japanese fluently, and can hold his own in a fight and then some. It's not the best Bolan mission, not the worst, but an enjoyable ride.

A great plot, from there the quality of the story was all down hill. The Author had no idea of the identity of Mack and his knowledge of Okinawa, both politicly and geographic was nonexistant. None of the characters resemble their namesakes in previous books.