Dan Xavier

I like Kasner's books but really hated this one. It was written like a 220 page novel expanded into 350 pages. Chuck Rogers wrote a fantastic 3 novel trilogy with ebola as the terorist weapon and that worked very well. Here 350 pages and it just seemed so dragged out. I liked the novel at the beginning. I liked how Mack and AT went to France and PF went to Germany. The scenes worked. I liked especially how McCarter verbally threatened a Serbian miniboss. Yes the boss was in the scheme of things harmless - a criminal family but easily set on the right and narrow. The novel fell apart when PF, AT and Mack joined forces. Ok the attack on the drug warehouse was fine but the killing of the cops highly questionable. Mack goes out of his way not to kill cops yet he had no problem this novel. Yes they were sexually assaulting an innocent female but a little line like how these cops crossed the line would have been nice. When the gang went to the Transylvanian castle the novel flopped badly. Lets see eradicate smallpox or protect a castle? UN chose protect the castle. In reallife no one could possibly be this stupid. The UN fouls up a lot but you would think they would not be this stupid. Plus are not usually this effective. Also since when do we lisien to 100 percent of their rulings. Nuke the castle was the only guarenteed option. You cannot let smallpox spread. The use of the Geopulse weapon by Stonyman cyberteam seemed more like a way to stretch the novel then anything else. Kasner should have written this as 220 page novel.

I thought War Load had the most annoying character ever in the Mack series. Well watch out for Nina the dumb, dumb, sweet and good hearted prostitute. Also watch out for Belle the "good" drug boss wife who wanted Mack dead but really was just protecting the man she loved. Now there could have been a real interesting character Maddy Culver. A mercenary, ruthless, killing machine hired along with the rest of her team hired by a rouge agent who really wanted to create his own Stony Man granted he didn't know abuot Stony Man but same idea. Now could there have been more chapters with Hal and Mack going through how Constindine's Scorpion's were different from Stony Man since the Scorpion's role like AT and PF were to stop the worst of the worst bad guys in the world? Or keep Constindine alive long enough to confront Hal? Could the novel had longer chapters with Maddy and her Scorpions? Yes. Did the novel need to have the silly talk of Nina go on and on? No. Did the novel need to have Belle give her lame excuses to Mack? Yes. Did the novel need to have her go way, way off the bend? No. War Load's asian-american female cop was the most irritating and truly juvenile characters in the series. Did Robbins think? Oh I found a niche. Lets add two more in this novel. Pendleton wrote women well. He wrote about women yes with quirks but also wrote them with respect. He could have written women that were cliches - dumb prostitutes with a heart of gold or mafia wives that were blind. Belle reminded me of the mafia wife in Nightmare in NY whose love for her husband saved her husbands life. Pendleton wrote that section simply but I think it was one of the more poignant real moments in the series. Reading Robbin's other series Endworld and Blade I get the impression that he really cannot write male-female relationships beyond YA level. There is just something very juvenile about how he writes relationships. Robbins when he doesn't have women in novels writes decent novels its when he involves women. Sheesh. Garbage. The action though was well written in this novel but had too much of Nina and later Belle. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Well now we know what a western novel would be like with Mack. Horses were used a lot for transportaton. Mack is a good horse rider it seems - no clue where he learned the skill. Nark for a name of a narcotics officer - sheesh. Really silly name Tom J used. Yes plenty of action. Most quite good as Max said it was a bit too much with the elephant and the Tiger soldiers. Is the Montengard really all over SE Asia? I always thought only in Vietnam - oh well will take Tom J's word on it. I loved when the headman sold most of the weapons and Mack found out about it - really funny scene. I liked how it showed a more human Mack who makes errors like letting his mind wander. Why wasn't Rafe around? It was his niece who was killed by the Tiger Company drug dealers you would think he would insist of coming. Very odd and out of character. I liked the scene at the residential compound of the Tiger boss and the sword fight. The execution scenes were rather grisly in description. I also loved the scene when Mack and gang hit the military compound of the Tigers and captured the chairmen although I thought Mack was going to execute them - he just let them be arrested. Sad that he didn't. Not a great book just slightly above average.

When Newton wants to he writes incredibly great novels. This novel is in his upper tiers for greatness. Not as good as The Trial or Eternal Triangle but oh so fine. I love how this in many ways was a classic mafia novels - for some reason the domestic mafia novels are always the best ones. I loved the return of Val Grey yes she seems only to appear like Princess Daisy from the Super Mario games - ie save the princess from evil clutches. Was this as good as Boston Blitz? No. BB was a far more emotional novel with Mack at his most primal and as close to out of control as I can think of. A true beserker in that novel. Here more mature and in control. I also liked the return of Omega and how the two bosses didn't really buy that he was really an Ace. Carboni was as close to a perfect match for Mack as you can get. I like how he used Mack as a ruse to do his hits. Carboni seemed to be a Mack out of control. Its a shame he didn't stick around as being a Mack foil kind of like Mack's Joker. Carboni would have fit the role well - beyond his burn problem. Its a shame that there has been no steady main villians since Strakhov. All just one shots. I believe Newton had one line wrong and I could be wrong but when Val was getting married I thought Leo not Hal brought Johnny to St Louis. The action scenes were typical Newton - well done and rather short. The scene in the railcar area was a fun scene and rather chaotic with 4 groups fighting each other - Hal, the two mob bosses, Mack and Vince. The lesson of the day for all Mack killers - shot don't gab.

Oh god this is the defination of boring. The entire novel seems strictly by the numbers. It also shows how easily a Stony Man novel can be so mediocre. The problam is that our heroes are on 4 different missions - tied together and not one story minus Mack's are indepth. This is written like a Mack novel with him in Panama and it should have stayed there. Katz storyline is almost nonexistant, AT well at times dumb and the Rafe/Cal in Cuba was the only interesting storyline besides Macks. Lets face it Mack had about as many pages as AT/Katz and Jack's put together. Plus some of Rafe/Cals. Three missions in a SM novel is way more the enough. Actually Mack's should be equal to one of the other missions. If they want to make it mainly a Mack story then it shouldn't be a SM novel. The villians were kind of good but I swaer they came from central casting how often have I read about Columbian drug lords written exactly the same way or SA curropt politicians/military same character - different name. This novel showed just retread villians characters. I also got the feeling that Newton sometimes doesn't get a feel for the SM characters in the early novels. He did this also in SM1 whe it really was a Mack novel with AT and PF thrown in for support. Mediocre at best.

Leslie is overall one of the worst Executoner novelists. Books 90 and especially Hong Kong Kit List ranks in my really awful list. This novel was actually better then the two above but not by much. Mack was an idiot in this novel. He teamed up with this rich American landowner in South American who just happnes to be alive with a drug killings all amongst him - he ran SAFE an enti-drug private orginization. Mack doesn't suspect Mannering is the bad guy. He takes Mannerings word that undercover cops they just killed were dirty. Sure he gets a little upset but he continues working with Mannering. Actually all the main characters are stupid. Mannering didn't bother killing Mack when Mack's usefulness is over. Why he put on the charade when the terrorists came to question him I don't know. He should have said that Belasko has served his purpose so shoot him. Ortiz when he had Mack with the guards aiming guns at Mack played around to get Mack stoned and addicted to drugs like he saw in a movie. Lets see you try to stop Mack before even captured him twice and the first time he escaped so what do you do the second time? Shoot him pronto? Nope. Talk to him so he can formulate plans to escape? Yes. The boat scene with Mack trying to destroy the drugs was good and very well written. Leslie is good at descriptions of places. Overall just a 6.

A kind of sequal to Viper Factor with the return of Simms a really anoying SAS member that had run ins with McCarter prior to his joining PF. They don't really like each other. Simms is kind of brutal. I liked how Simms character had more depth and how he really did care about his job he just went about it kind of wrong but when push came to shove he did his duty perfectly. I wish Simms had stayed on instead of being killed off. Villians worst villians in the series. Seriously they were not really all that dangerous. Sure they killed but it wasn't a group PF really needed to take care of SAS easily could have handled it. Lets face it these Scots really didn't think through on what they were doing. McGreggor was really the only reason why they were sent into Scotland in the first place - he was the new presidents crony. I loved the scene between Hal and the new president. Sadly the book didn't end with this ie "president says 'thank you'" or better yet a fnal scene between Hal and the president. I loved his confusion over Mack being alive. I also liked how Hal really didn't care what the president thought of his being blunt. The line about Hal being to busy to vote was brilliant. Action scenes are ok. Since Simms came back I have to compare the storming of the castle with the Viper Effect's storming of the embessy. VE had a better storming in scene. Overall a 6.

Steven does not know the word FLOW. This book in some ways is kind of a reunion novel and flashback book/advertising of Pendleton novels. You expect maybe one/two paragraphs like Fieldhouse does for reintroducing stable characters in each PF book. Krauzer goes on for 2/3 pages about the past interpersonal relationships. Tommy Anders his being at Stony Man made no sense except for to do a flashback on how he knew Mack. Toby Ranger once again how she knew Mack and like the Anders part brought references to the Vegas novel - book 9. Excellent book but already read it no need to rehash the novel . Gadgets mom wow a recluse and lived with her cats. Well good for trivia. I did like how Krauzer used the injury Mack got (bullett through fleshy part of shoulder) and kept referencing it as a hindrence to the rest of his campain. The references of Mack barely able to move the arm deep into the book was very well done and believable. His somewhat bizarre comparasion of English soldiers in the American Revolution and the mafia was weird to read. That was a head scratcher. Krauzers refering to mens shirts as blouses was also odd. Makes me wonder if he is from Europe. Never read an American writer using the term blouse for shirts. Blouses only use for women not men. Nothing to do with the review I just found it odd. Just too many places where the novel is suddenly halts with either flashback references or commentary that just hurts the flow.

Not one of Jerry's better novels. S Above average is about it. 1) Yagamushi a nice colorful ninja. Likes to wear women's clothes as a disguise and enjoys tormenting his partner Takaka - an undercover cop. 2) I was amazed Bear was able to find out Takaka was an undercover cop but not Yagamushi or his really rich boss. Curious. 3) PF fired exactly one shot in the entire novel. I liked their work in Beijing but except for stopping Yagamushi really didn't do a whole lot. Oh yes McCarter jumped between buildings and the gang had to avoid elderly watchdog ladies at the hotel. 4) AT's storyline was fun especially the chase scene with Carl and the Japanese terrorist wannabe and the skinheads. Good shoot out in Texas with Carl taking a bullett for Texas Governor Jack Rush - that was so obviously George Bush. 5) Mack I liked his Vietnam story. A few shootouts mostly totally onesided on his part plus he had two men handcuffed to him at one point during one shootout. 6) I was amazed that the Chinese poliburo politician Yagamushi was suppose to kill had 4 children. How? I would think all politicians would adhere to the 2 children maximum law in China. Could be misunderstanding that law. 7) Time line was a bit odd. The book had about 7 pages rotating between MB, PF and AT with bad guys thrown in and Stony Man but it appeared MB's storyline for time was the shortest while PF the longest. Although at one point McCarter going from one roof top to another had a space of 20 pages. But then not a whole lot Jerry could have done with this. So this has nothing to do with the review. A solid 7.

Slighly above average. I didn't quite buy the premise about how serial killers and killers get together because of an interest in a computer game. That didn't quite seem believable. Not that many other plots in this seris are believable but this one it was more obvious. I also wonder if the computer technology was such in 1996 could create a game such as one described in the scene where he played the game and killed a cop. Today yes with GTA3 but 96? The book was published in 98 I assume written in 95/96. The action scenes annoyed me beyond belief. It was like the writer wrote a 220 page novel then went back in to pad it. Way too many action scenes were double the size because of 2 POVs. Instead of like many writers just switching POV while the timeline is running or do a one-two paragraph back in time mode nope not this writer. He starts many action scenes and it reaches a certain point. He then restarts the scene from the start from a second POV. So instead of 6 pages you have 12. Really fouled up the momentum. The mill scene between the cop and Butcher Boy was really annoying. Cop drives and pulls up into the mill and he and mill workers get shot at. Another location and characters. Back to Butcher Boy driving following cop then pulls in and shoots at cop and mill workers. ARGH!! Total momentum killed. Also same characters BB and friends are shooting cop while cop is escaping up a ladder. Shift to another part of the town. Shift back to POV of cop climbing the ladder. Mack was a bit too cold blooded To be initiated he allowed 2 Fed Agents killed because he didn't want to blow cover Granted he faked the deaths of 2 others but letting the other two get killed seemed way out of character. Not sure why Mack didn't use the moniker Executioner. That would have been cool. Archangel I can't imagine why he used it - way too obvious an undercover name. Fallen Angel would have been better. He didn't want to have them think he could be undercover so why chose a name like Archangel that could draw suspician. Also AT's Hostage Island was kind of like this in terms of a community being torn apart and pillaged and was a tighter novel. I liked the characters especially the murderous couple in that small community. Dumb for killing a woman and making it look like suicide then removing all foot prints.

Except for the scenes between Flor and Carl I really disliked this book. Why? Frost really seems to hate teenagers. Not a fan of them myself with some forms of music they like but then I was a teen myself. Frost seems to think in both this book and book 4 that teens are natural born killers. Sadistic, easily manipulated and love to kill, maim and more like zombies from the Romero Dead movies then real people. Both books have scenes in apartment complexes filled with teens that AT just goes through blowing them all away. Without remorse or thinking "hey these are kids". How often a Mack when having a teen mafia soldier, drug runner etc will Mack try to give the teens a chance and will try to take them out using nonlethal methods. I keep thinking how Mack would handle teen killers like in these two books. I come up with he would have made the attempt to do something else. At least ponder what he is doing and avoid killing those under 18. Carl especially thought they were punks and boom trio of shots in head and chest. Again a good Mack writer. Thank god Frost never got his hands on Mack. With AT being a spin-off of the Executioner series I think Frost is a bit off the reservation.

Is this really the same guys from the original 38 Executioner novels and first few AT books? There was a scene that they regretted killing dogs but 0 regret in killing teenagers. Mack has always tried not killing teenagers and these guys just do it with no real problem. Katz with a limp? I know he had a limp in books 1 of PF but it disappeared by book 4 of PF it was gone. Why is he still having a limp? The action scenes were fine. No mercy in any of the scenes. Mack always condemned torture and yet Lyons, Gadgets and Pol slice off a terrorists feet and hands to get info - they got none. Is that not on the same area of doing a turkey? Never did Mack torture to get info - hit, slap around but never dismembermet. I think Carl was lucky he wasn't with Mack I can't imagine he would have tolerated his behavior. Also didn't Carl learn nothing from Mack about bigotry and how wrong it is. Carl often referred to muslims as ragheads something Mack would not have tolerated. I don't know how they could have fought the teen terrorists but I would think Mack would have found a way to do minimal casualities and would have thought many were victims themselves. AT was unlikable and can't give it a good grade. A 6.

This is the first Ramirez novel I read and its the last. Who were these characters? Katz willing to sacrifice Rafe and later not even attempting to rescue Young Sam. Ok tactically I can understand but Katz always seems to be above all else loyal to his men and allies. PF were a bit too cold blooded in this novel. Shooting escaping troops granted North Korean but still they were running away? Mack would have not have done this nor in any other PF novel. The biggest complaint though was David McCarter referring to Koreans as "gook." This is a guy that has many friends in Asia from his PF time. Many of them contacts. Using such a racial slur seemed so inappropriate for David. Sheesh. Also why would Katz be using German for comments? Wasn't he raised in France then went to Isreal? A stunningly bad novel.Only gets a 2 since it was not 220 pages.

You need to read book 29 first to get a sense of who Rafe's brother is and a bit of their history. Granted the history is repeated in this book. Sadly they killed Raul but I think there really wasn't much to redeem from Rafe's brother. He just seemed that he had to pay for his crimes. Sure he was brainwashed as a child but he still made decisions to kill as an adult. Rafe what a great character. I like how Fieldhouse didn't fall into a trap by making him Bolan like with his solo mission. Mack never would have made the same mistakes he did. Rafe tried to take charge of his friends but never really grasped the concept of firmness. Mack never would have let his civilian friends join him on the mission. There was no need for so many of his friends dying. Mack would have figured out how to get them safe even if their feelings were hurt - better alive and hurt then dead or wounded. Just proves that Rafe as good as he is that he isn't quite there yet for solo work like Mack does. The rest of the PF gang were searching for Rafe but it seemed more comical then serious. Good shootouts but almost a humorous tone especially with the Soviets. A really good novel. A very solid 9. One of Fieldhouse's best.

Mike, I greatly enjoyed your book Extreme Measures Stony Man 55. The book though made me extremely mad. I have been closely following the 9/11 hearings the last few weeks and just reading this book which you had published in Oct 2001 made me furious. As far as I know Linaker doesn't work for the Pentagon or the White House - well thats obvious. Yet he figured it out about 9/11. 1) Various Muslims from around the Arab world working together. 9/11 - Egyptians, French Muslim and Saudis. 2) Not just hating the US but also willing to hit any Muslim government working with the West. I remember this theory dismissed as late as 2002 until the bombings in Saudi Arabia. 3) Main target NYC. Yes you used a biological bomb and 9/11 was planes as missiles. 4) Internet as the main means of communication. Same with Al Queda and 9/11. 5) Sleeper cells same as book and reality. Lets face it substitute Falil for Bin Laden and you have a match including rumors of Bin Ladens bad health. This was eerie. The characters were great I liked the story also in Afghanistan. Kurds seem to be the only Muslim ethnic group that seems to harmless to us. McCarter was his old grumpy self. Lyons though acted like a jerk to Jack. If I was Jack and alone flying with Carl I would hit a nice big air pocket. Also it was realistic how a cop got a bit gung ho and tried to capture Joseph himself. Just got himself and his partner along with civilians killed. The character of Habib was a really nice twist. A sleeper cell who looked beyond idealogy and got to know the Americans and befriended them. Sadly it never happened with any 9/11 hijacker. But I do think it probably does happen. Well I hope it does.

I agree with the others what happened to the Brotherhood? Was Goss a good or bad guy or both? For some reason this novel reminded me of Pendleton's novel that took place in Cleveland. Bolan realized that a weak kinda harmless mafia boss was better then a vacuum where a strong nonharmless mob boss could take over. Pietro was that rather harmless mafia boss that would have been good to keep in place as boss since a vacuum would have been worst. Pietro was not all that bad of a mob boss. Loyal to family, made sure they remained out of business, won't use turkey doctors. He would have been perfect to leave in -leser of two evils. Also Shadow has a very distinctive boss so why would he ever talk? Even a mask doesn't hide voice. Everytime he spoke people should have recognized him. The action scenes are rather good especially the scene storming the cabin. Ok why did Mack call Hal constantly? It really was out of character. Also on issuue of findding out who the Shardow was instead of contacting Aaron wouldn't Leo be a better choice? I got the impression that Green didn't know what to do with the Brotherhood so he just dropped them. Vast number of good Mack vs Mafia novels. Skip it.

Barely worth reading. If it wasn't for Hog the book would have been a 5. The action scenes were very good. The hand-to-hand combat scenes were some of the best written. Hog vs Tho was a fantastic fight. Well scripted and although fantastic visually perfect. Too often a written fist fight leaves me scratching how did this happen or well that was fast. Stone is a typical action hero. Serious, dedicated, strategic and very deadly. The Brit to me was kind of a nonentity. Hog he was a wild and fun character. Hog if part of SM would have been bounced. The story starts with Hog missing a meet with his two partners because he is in a whorehouse screwing and fighting. He puts the lives of Stone and the Brit in danger when the fight turned deadly. Hog is the character that made this book unique - totally crazy. He also had way too much attachment to his Mickey Mouse watch. The story line with Winslow the POW who was destined to be killed by Po right when Stone and friends came to rescue him was way too coincidental. Would have been way more believable if it would have been a typical POW day instead of meeting his doom after 10+ years the same time he is rescued. This I call a coincidink - way too contrived and seriously hurt believability. Also all the allies of Stone get killed off. Thene a Loatian freedom fighter was a fun character but nope he and his 11 friends died throughout the book. Mertz' Executioner novels are so much better.

Scooby Doo realized that if you swapped the letters of Strieb you get RiBest as in "Its ri best Shaggy." Except its not its RiWorst. What a pile of poo this novel was. Did he know what citizenship Katz was? Likes to visit Isreal? Ah how about a former member of Mossad. Sheesh. Lets see Hal can ship from Virginia info and weapons faster then PF can get from Egypt to Yemen. What did he use a teleporter? Why were PF using their real names? How exactly did the CIA agent know Katz identity? Aren't the identities only known to the president, SM and thats about it. Jesus walked in Beirut? Really. I can't remember reading about this in Catholic schools. The president-elect is kidnapped overseas. How would this ever lead to a possible coup? We do have a constitution. The president-elect would be considered incompasitated therefore wouldn't the VP-elect get sworn in. Also we do have a president until then. There would be outrage but thats what we have a constitutional process for. Sadam is both a CIA agent (a dirty one) and a leader of a terrorist organization. Why? I never knew why this agent was a terrorist leader. Not that I cared. I didn't. The PF crew guns down a plane and they cheer? I couldn't believe this. Cow poo.

Zombie hunting we will go!!! You should read book 12 first although not required. I thought the action scenes like all Fieldhouse books were very good and is one of the best writers of the PF crew. I liked how James felt sick of going from mission to mission and the feeling of losing himself to multiple identies. Yes he should have been chewed out by Katz for disappearing for a night so he could have sex. The scene in the cotton field was very fun and rather chaotic but very well put together. Also the scene in the bar with James slicking off a man's thumb was also good. I really liked the character of Bristol. He went from an obnoxious jerk and slowly as you learned more about him you liked him more. The main plot was a bit disoriented. Ok the Haitians were first using covert ways to kill Americans to the zombies. I still couldn't figure out who exactly killed the Americans coverty. Obviously not the zombies. I guess Penn's people but you never knew who did it beyond the Haitians being behind it. Also why not do the zombie killings from the start? A solid 6. Slightly above average.

An exceptional novel. The action was very fast paced including the farm house scene between Heine and Mack. Ok a 90 year old villian is kind of like taking candy from a baby but still an excellent confrontation. Heine I never thought was going to be an interesting character. The start it was stated he was around 90 and a 90 year old interesting? Nope. Thought it would be the other two at the excavation to be main characters. Boy was I wrong. The oldest yet one of the more interesting. It was amazing people followed him but the young skinheads did it because it seemed like he was the personification of an idea they loved - Aryanism. A truly evil concept yet one these punks went to. Well plus the Order of Thule which had political/medical and business leaders involved in. I am not sure why Mack didn't just toss out the knife over the Atlantic and pretend he had it. I know it went embedded in Heine's chest but still I hope the knife was destroyed after. German political bureacracy - yuck. Same all over the world. Sure Mack goes into a soft probe and boom it goes hard. What did these bureacrats do? Say at least you got the bad guys? Nope. Say you broke all protocal. Yup. The hospital scene was a great action scene and a scene where things can go wrong very rapidly. I also liked the fact on how psychotic Heine was and how he really was Mack's best ally by getting rid of many of Mack's enemies. By getting rid of his own members of Thule this was also good seeing how people change with time and what was once embraced now seems idiotic and wrong. The members of Thule changed with the times either being practical or change of heart. Yet Heine never changed if he had he may have won. A 10. Read it.

This is for fans of sniping action. There are tons of snipe scenes in here and basically about who is a better sniper. Ok Mack was not really a main character just one of many. The two El Salvadorean brothers and the drug lord had slightly bigger roles. The two brothers in many ways drove the novel. These were snipers almost as good as Mack. For killing as good but concealment one brother made one tiny mistake and poof - no more face. The other brother went insane and just wanted revenge. I would have liked the scene in the city hall tower slightly longer - way too short. Hawkins for may be the only time that he and Mack teamed up. Hawkins was also a very good sniper. I liked the scene around the horse farm with him and Mack 1000 feet away from the other snipers. The scene in the farmhouse was kind of ordinary but still good. The only flaw was I could not quite understand why the drug lord had financial problems and wanting to go after the team Hal set up in South America. Also the start 6 years earlier was good with Mack grading the two brothers and their friends on a hit against drug dealers. The brothers/friends at that time were with the good guys. Absotule read.

This was a pretty sweet and exciting story. Chiun was at his most tender. Remo also had a fairly good adventure with the Nazi's. I liked this story. The story with the lepers brought out a rather tender side with Chiun. He told the story of how an ancient master had transported a leper colony to a small pacific island and promised to never let harm fall on them. The Nazi doctor a doctor during the death camps and did massive experiments on Jews wanted to attack NYC using a brainwashed Jewish pilot. This doctor also modified seagulls into human killing machines. There was also plenty of humor with Chiun and Smith when they went to the island and Chiun had Smith row. Also Chiun having to use a pay phone was also funny. The girl was also a good character. On one hand devoted to the lepers and also brainwashed by the doctor. A story rather on the serious side but with nice moments with Chiun and the lepers. Read the book well worth it.

If you don't like Grimaldi then don't buy the book. If you like him then hunt this book down now!!!! Jack really is the hero in the novel not Mack. Sure on the ground Mack is unbelievable and Jack well his ability to throw wouldn't get him on a little league team. Flying? Sure he gets shot down once and gets inprisoned but he took it well. Then he flew back after Mack rescued him and shot down using a helicopter an Russian advanced VTOL plane with an Ace Russian pilot. The purpose of the novel. The golden triangle drug dealers were typical drug dealers - "we are businessmen who just wants to earn a living" speel so common. The action is very good on the ground also with Mack fighting it out and being silent in the jungle. Still the air scenes were fantastic and the heart of the story. Again a great Grimaldi novel with Mack as support.

Overall I really am not a fan of trilogies. Also how about one writer - one trilogy. There were a lot of problems with this trilogy. 1) What I call peanut butter/chocolate problem. I enjoy both but please don't mix them. Jerry's novel was very rapid paced and had very short segments. Mel's two novels were slower paced, far more serious and rather long segments. Book two by VanCook was a rather funny novel - James and his vegan/fruit interregation was a riot. Just thinking of that banana = shiver. The scene in the bar with Able Team was also very funny. There really was no humor to Odom's two books. One writer - one trilogy. 2) Executioner novel should star the Executioner this really came across more as an Stony Man novel. I really don't consider PF to be really Executioner characters and AT somewhat. I don't mind a little bit of them but this should really have been a SM duology. 3) I enjoyed the concept of the Hunter and liked how the first novel chapter fit in slowly. I thought the most poignant moment and a rare scene showing the long term affects of survivors of their love ones killed by bad guys. I liked how Lyons saved the Hunters wife that was spiraling out of control not with guns blazing but words and compassion. 4) The action scenes were good. I liked Mack's action scenes the best I did get a bit lost in the boat scene with AT. 5) It would have been nice seeing how the conditioning of hunters worked by having Giselle go through it or a new hunter. 6) Thone was a fun bad guy. Loved Hollywood yet also felt superior to them. His guns for drugs business made no sense. Guns for cash yes - it seemed far to risky and harder to do both a gun and drug business. Overall if you don't have this trilogy don't bother hunting for it. If you come across it read it ok but other then that you aren't missing anything by skipping it.

See book 197. One review for total trilogy.

See review for 197. One review for all of trilogy.

I really didn't buy the premise for the novel. Lets see a general and his militia party allies join forces with Hezbollah to take down Stony Man and expose it to the people. If the general wanted so much to expose this secret organization that is working just outside the constitution to protect America I can think of easier ways. Lets see he had the former SM guard, aerial shots, names from the guard. Couldn't he have just connected the dots and leaked it to the press? The idea of using terrorists seems iffy at best. The action was rather good. The storming by Mack of the militia headquarters was a great scene very sniper like. The scene in the Blue Ridge Mountains - not sure why he was alone with just Jack. Could have brought in a team from SM to do this. Also why no mention of AT or PF? You would think someone would have said "should we call them in?". The one mention was how they would have to disappear if they were exposed. Of course only the operation would have been exposed as long as the core members were not known they could have still functioned as a different entity. I liked how there is a dilemna about staff that work at SM and then leave. There is a later novel around book 165 thats about the storming of SM that is a far better novel. Also this is book 200 nothing important happened. Could have been book 204 for that matter.. Book 200, 50, 300 etc should be special event novels. 100 was, 300 was, thi wasn't.

A very ordinary by-the-numbers Schmidt novel. Not bad but not good either just a 5. This has nothing to do with the review but the cover makes Mack look like such a metrosexual. How much did that hair cut cost? Sheesh. Bannon a very typical radical leader/mercenary. Although he wasn't really a mercenary. Bannon is a fairly typical Schmidt villian. An ambitious single-minded ruthless likes to kill his own men kind of villian. I did think though that Bannon was the type of villian that Timothy McVeigh would have routed for. Also like most merc's Schmidt writes about Bannon and crew are all exgovernment workers ie federal agents, military, cops etc. Bannon's speech to Mack about how this country went to hell in a handbasket from the civil rights era is so typical right wing/militia crapola. Schmidt did nail this character right. But then there have been better written right-wing fanatics like Bannon. The American Trilogy even though a lousy trilogy the main character in book one was fairly better written. Dawson was a good character. As a state trooper he wanted to do the right thing but was in over his head. I also liked Little Joe and his friend. Two men that were outcasts due to bigotry yet wanted to save their town. Heroes I doubt if the town would ever appreciate them. About American Indians Schmidt's first novel which also had Indians was a far better novel and also book 188 was also a far better novel. The print was huge and if it was normal sized an ending could have been written. Way too fast but honestly at this point I didn't care. The book should have ended at the airport outside of Honor. Instead of that quick Washington fight. Mack uses Belasko quite a bit wouldn't one think that name would be very common amongst the criminal elements? Oh well. Very ordinary.

This review and Knockdown are the same. I consider it one story. I like to think of it as the Five Families Saga. This is about the mafia and just about the mafia. The characters were excellent and the portroyal of the mafia was excellent. 1) I liked how Furst showed this new generation of mafia trying to keep control. Frenchi and Barbosa were of the old school - liked killing the wrong people. Rossi was seen as the new mafia - yes crooks, swindlers, drug dealers but not really into killing especially not feds. A total lets keep below the radar mentalilty. In Deadline they got it right tryig to really steer clear of Frenchi killing a Fed. Bad idea. A way to get the bastard Bolan to return. And return he did! In vengence. 2) Ok there were a few mistakes in this duology. A line about how no one was ever in control of NY. Well what about Augie? He had total control and was considered the don of the dons. It also would have been a really good idea to bring back Leo Turrin. He still has connections plus a Bolan expert for the mafia. Would have been nice a few chapters with him or references. 3) Salina B. the finest female villian in the series so far. Wow. A smart, intelligent, ruthless killer. Not a psycho-out-of-control nympho-bitch seen way too often in the series. She would have been a great recurring character in the series maybe even have her be a Xena like character for a spin-off. So sad when she died. 4) Kidnapping is not smart when it comes to Mack. Ya kidnap someone he likes and guess what blitz. They would have learned. Twice in Boston and again in NY. 5) The good guys were very fun. Mack's pair in Deadline were fun especially the former mafia enforcer and old friend of Mack. Very fun coupling with Mack. The SOG assistant for Mack was a riot wearing that dress especially when the burst into the den of Rossi and the commission. 6) There was a problem of having way too many characters. Got a wee bit confusing and had to be some backtracking for a who's who - Knockout was really bad for this. 7) Mack hesistant to kill the LA Don. Huh? Since when. You have to assume he was a drug dealer. Sheesh. 8) I did like how it ended - minus Selina dying - was that the weakest one would keep the NY mafia in place but stay under Mack's radar was nice. It reminded me a lot of how Mack dealt with Cleveland. I strongly suggest you read this as a set with Deadline first. Pick up Deadline read it. When finished read Knockdown. A 9 for both books and a 10 for it being a duology. Rivals Frontier Wars as best duology/trilogy.

I really liked this novel. I liked the small touches. 1) Cubans in this series do love Mack Bolan. How many times have we seen Mack and the Cubans get along perfectly and act like brothers. I guess it goes back to book 4. A legend in the Cuban community seemed to have taken root. Although in this novel they didn't know him by name - odd although it could be they knew but didn't want to admit it. 2) The plot was a bit confusing at times with all the backstabbing by the pro-Castro Cubans. I liked the scene in the race track kind of cute. 3) I liked also how Mack made a mistake not realizing his friends compound would be hit. The girl was seen as being fairly careless with vehicles. She reminded me a lot of Mack's female friend in books 4 and later on when Mack meets her sister. 4) The marksman medal was such a nice touch in the novel. Got the bad guys running. Did a wise thing not taking Cuerzo out at that time instead bring disarray to the villians. 5) The boat chase scene between Miami and Cuba was good although I did have to backtrack a paragraph to figure out how Mack got on the boat. Overall a 7.

This is NOT how a Bolan mafia book should be written although it is a symptom of too many mafia novels which has a "each Don is an island" mentality. There is a structure to the mafia and each Don is accountable to NY. Sure Mack shattered it but even with the LoneWolf mafia books there was still a structure - weakened but still there. 1) Who in the mafia could identify Mack Bolan? Isn't anyone who could identify him dead? 2) Why didn't Fatman who was losing millions ever hear from NY about either being removed or having reinforcements. The mafia was losing millions because of Don Fatman. 3) Wouldn't this have been a nice time to bring back Leo? Lets see Fatman realizes he has Mack. So instead of contacting NY and the Commission to collect the money and to turn him over to him he turns Mack to his own turkey doctor. 4) Cordero macho in the extreme. How does his swimming pool of pirahna stay alive? Doesn't the pool need to be cleaned? I know silly thoughts but it occurred to me while reading the novel. 5) Mack was lazy in this novel. He set up a bomb to blow away Fatman, Cordero and their cohorts so Mack stays at Fatman's home to steal documents? Totally out of character for Mack to just walk away from a job like that without making sure it works and picking off any survivors. 6) Mack has infiltrated how many mafia compounds? This would have been an ideal novel for him to go in as the Ace Frankie. I can never recall any Pendleton novel where he was scared he would be discovered - he always went in self-assured. A real lousy novel. A 1.

Oh god I thought I was reading Warrior's Edge again. Mack goes into another African fictitional country and help lead a good man into taking over the country. Warrior's Edge was a far better novel then this. I liked how that book kept Mack as a supporting character. I thought Baptiste was a good man and wanted to take over the country for just reasons. I am not sure if this is what Mack's job should be though - helping in coups. He did what he had to with the lady chemist maker of the Acid Bath that fries the brain so one can get info. Not sure why he didn't kill her when he had the chance. Her skills were killing people and Mack has killed people for a whole lot less. A huge plot hole. Why did the gang flee France? I was not sure why Mack got them to leave France so quickly. It seemed like Mack was in England then went to Africa. The action scenes were pretty short except at the end when Mack and gang stormed the palace. The use of manniquens to confuse the british merc was quite clever and rather funny. Let me get this straight killing poor defenseless elephants for their tusks will make one a better killer? Huh? I can see going of other poachers but not killing elephants. Its really hard to miss an elephant. Read Warrior's Edge. Avoid this one.

I didn't buy part of the premise. Ok Samson and Vega were making a very potent addicting pain-killer to sell on the black market like Oxycontin and cocaine. Now why chance getting caught by stealing the medication at hospitals? I understand one hospital to get a way to see how the drug is made but to steal it then sell it when it would be far safer and smarter to wait a few months seemed needlessly risky. This is why the book is getting a 6 I didn't buy this part as being believable. It came across as dumb. I also found Samson and Vega fairly ordinary for villians except for the twist their sons being dead via the DEA. I did love the action. Very well written. The airport scene was done well and the scene in the plant with Pol and Mack fighting side-by-side. Wow!!!! I also loved how Pitt, Waters and the other good guys were trying to figure out Belasko (Mack). I liked how they tried to find out who he really was. This was really astute of Tresslar. I also liked Juan Vega. A banker, son of Vega who wanted revenge on Pitt the head of the DEA for the death of his brother. Granted he may have been a very good banker but because of cocaine he lacked total common sense. He should have just instantly killed Pitt not yammer at him. Or at least gut-shoot him then while dying tell him who he is. Stupid Juan but believable because of the cocaine swilling in his head. Carl was a total GOM - grouchy old man. Good lord was he annoying taking over Pitt's security. Almost overdoing it. Also his reaction to Hal at the end was also annoying. I wasn't really sure why he was so frustrated something must have triggered it. It seemed it was far more then the lack of recognition. He was offered a job by Pitt. A solid 6 slightly above average but not by much. Also and this has nothing to do with Tresslar but the print was far to close to the binding. I really had to open it up wider then usual and was worried about the binding breaking.

Killer Crap is more like it. 1) D'Angelo is a mafia boss. Ok. Since when does the mafia kill wives and children of their employees? This was always pretty much stressed as outside the code of the mafia that was used in Pendleton books. Also terminology seemed a bit off like using the term "Families" why not "La Commissione" or "Costra Nostra" just didn't seem like a typical phrase in the standard Mafia novels. Sanson should have read the entire mafia saga. 2) Ok let me get this straight. A black operations group uses the mafia for information about what companies do. If the OD is that secret such that even the Secretary of Defense is on a need-to-know basis for what this group does then shouldn't they have access automatically to any project in the industrial-military sector? Why resort to the mafia. Also since a black op group is sanctioned by the government why was Mack so willing to kill them all? They weren't involved in the deaths nor in the sabotage. Seems to me they were doing what they were suppose to be doing granted stupidly. 3) Ok the russian KGB finds out it was Mack Bolan involved. Shouldn't that name be ingrained in the mind of every KGB agent exactly who this man is and how dangerous he is. Did the writers read about his exploits against the KGB and Strakhov's group? For them to even consider for a second that Mack was in it for money was jawdropping. 4) The lady assassin. Ok a throw away character. She could have been interesting but two small scenes and she kills herself. Ok??? Surprised the mafia would hire a female assassin. I think she was working for them. Not sure. Sanson just never really explored her background. She nearly got Mack to. 5) I cannot ever remember Mack ever using a blackjack. Never. His mode of infiltration has not been to knock out mafia then tie them up but to use a silencer or piano-wire. Tying up lookouts seemed so stupid. A 2. Avoid at all costs.

Very standard PF novel. 1) The only reason why it is getting a 7 and not a 5 is Briggs. He was a totally insane American neo-nazi leader of a bunch of psychos with some German neo-nazis. The scene going through the German/Czech border was a blast between Brigg's troops and the communist troops. 2) I also liked how Prague was shown as a city torn and not completely run by Soviets. Svoboda really showed how on one hand he played ball with the KGB but his heart never left the concept of a free Prague. A very well developed character. 3) I also liked how Hahn's character was also further developed. I would love to have a book devoted to his blitz against the terrorists that tortured his partner. 4) Brigg's idea of blackmailing the soviets into freeing Czecheslovakia by not blowing up Prague with nukes was so idiotic especially since it was completely suicidal. 5) Fieldhouse really writes good action scenes the restaurant scene at the end was fantastic. A 7 overall.

What a fantastic novel by a first time Mack novelist. From fanfic to published novelist - a rare and excellent feat. As others wrote Mack was human. He could get hurt. I think he was shot twice in the arm, once in the body but protected by armor and a foot injury. Wow! Too often Mack is seen as a uberhuman. The characters of Trahn and Michelle were great. I was heartbroken when Michelle died but it ended for her realistically. Tranh what Cindy would have been like? Fiesty yet ever so tragic. The closest to a daughter Mack could have had. I love referencing previous novels. A rare, rare event in the series. Something that should be done more instead of having each book exist in a vacuum - post 101 is bad on this. This novel did not. Also on a pure visceral level it was so good. Lets face it no villians have a more universal hatred then pedophiles. Something on a gut reaction you just want to destroy these people. The scene with the Cal in the hospital when the agent said he did it because of "love". Sure the guy was defenseless but Cal did what the vast majority just dreams of. After I read this scene was in reality the following would happen: Psychologist pundit on TV: "Yes this was a extrajudicial execution. The man had an illness and insead of getting the treatment he needed he was killed in cold blood." The action scenes were very well written and planned out. I liked the scene in the slave farm. I did have to reread a paragraph with the truck but I figured it out. I also loved the reference to Sticker - so many maybe 200 novels hae gone by since that reference to Leo. Heck any novel with Leo is really nice - he is one of my favorites. Also Sgt Mercy another reference so rarely used. So nice to read a novel that you know is written by a hardcore fan of the series that really understands the full back story. The only downside was the scene with Carl, Mack and Cal with the interrogation. Too clownish for my taste. I prefer the typical serious way Mack interrogates. Still a very solid 10.

LOC/Breached is really one long novel. I liked the action the best and how Mack was written. The spirit of Pendleton's Mack was very evident in this novel. It is so refreshing also to see Mack as a real character not as a superman like you sometimes see. Mack was shot twice in the novel and both times needed medical care. Also far a trilogy/duology this is the first time that I have read Mack working all along except with Jack. I have not read every trilogy but the ones I have read a few other SM characters get involved or both teams do. I also liked Rojero she was a nice headstrong character. Sure she fell in love with Mack but I liked how he broke it off with her. Except he seemed to have forgotten Barbara although she clearly didn't forget him. The action scenes were fantastic. I liked the action in both Las Vegas and the climax in Hong Kong. Also it was nice how he took out the key players in steps. The villians. Well to me they were the weak spot. The Mexican drug dealer was a very typical villian. Shiu was a slighly more interesting guy but none really stood out. Also I got a bit confused what the arms dealers role was in this triad/mexican drug war. I liked the arms dealer's wife although I was shocked to read she was an informant. Why? Not sure. The lovesick Shiu was fun to read at times. The problem was Jon wrote a positively fantastic villian in the novel set in Greece - Ring of Retaliation. He would have been the kind of villian perfect for a long 700 page novel. The villians in this duology was a let down from that Greek villian. The story also in this duology was far better then the one in Ring. Combine Hellenos from Ring plus this duology's story and it would have been a 10. A solid 8.

See my review under Breached. This novel and Breached is clearly one novel broken into two parts. I can't see how you can read Breached without reading Line of Control. Anyways see my review under Breached the number review is the same for both books and review covers both novels.

A perfect 10. Great novel by VanCook. Once again proves he is one of the best writers. The more I read the closer he gets to be almost Mike McQuay's level. The DEA husband and wife were a great, realistic duo. I liked the fact how realistic they were. Tana was so out of her element in how to survive that she just didn't understand. Although she was a bit of a ditz but a believable one. Her logic at Mack's instruction to not let herself be seen through the windows turning into her stepping outside to put out trash was mindboggling dumb. Also her running to a car with 3 men asking for help was also mindboggling dumb. But both dumb mistakes were really steeped into part shellshock and not really understanding what mortal danger was. Mack helping them survive and the basic 180 page chase was fantastic. No matter where they turned the Lima Cartel was figuring out thanks to island informants and strategy along with having a whole army of cartel killers. Action scenes were very realisticly done. Granted most of the hunters were idiots but these men probably only went after defenseless people before. Marino was a good villian and I liked how Reuban the DEA agent thought of him as having a good side something Mack refuted by pointing out that he was a drug dealer. Too often in various novels/movies that emotional connection between undercover and target is not seen and it came across as realistic. The shootout at the end with Jack and Mack seemed a bit reminiscent of the last scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In a motel, running out of bullets and realizing the end was near. Granted saved by the cavalry but I will forgive 1 page of a really conveniant ending for an exceptional novel. A 10.

Never quite sure what the purpos of the Kuro's plan was with JAICO. What was Kuro going to do with the information gathered? Never clearly spelled out. The acton scenes were fantastic. The hand to hand combat especially. Of course this is also the major problem of the novel. Mack faced experts in martial arts who knew exactly how to fight with their individual weapons ie hands, bo, or sword. Yet Mack who is not an expert in martial arts was victorious each and every time with no major problem. I like Pendleton's Mack a lot more and how most writers have him as a man who is exceptional at soldiering but still human. This novel pushed credibility too much. On the good side Kuro and especially Yukiku were such fun characters. There was almost a homage to martial art movies to this novel. Yukiku was such a fun psycho-bitch. On the other hand the vision mumbo-jumbo was annoying. The action scenes were well written but pushed credibility. Mack is not invincible like Rainey has him. Kuro and Yukiku were fun characters. At best a 5.

A good Fieldhouse novel. 1) I liked the fact that Leo Turrin made an appearance. Ok a small appearance but a fun one with an apprehension in Florida of a gun dealer. 2) Its nice too see Mack stating that he does not do what he does to help the president for political problems he may have nor for scandals. That scene with Mack explaining this to Hal was a nice scene. Yes Hal knew this but it was nice seeing Mack reinforce it. 3) The action scenes were great especially the one in the embassy. 4) I agree with Automag's review why did Mack bring along the twins. Except as guides they were so-so for battle even with just shelling. One died the other seriously wounded. Mack should have brought the CIA agent granted he limped and one twin. 5) Valdez a fairly fun villian I actually liked his assistant more. Valdez at least wasn't a homicidal maniac. He was homicidal but seemed also to be a true-believer. OVerall an 8. Fun solid book. Nothing spectacular.

OMG this book should have been Time To Sleep. God was this a dull novel. The only real action wasn't until the last 40 pages. The castle scene with Mack, RAchel and Harry in 3 different locations all fighting to survive and destroy was the b est part of the novel. Yes there was some action before but it was very short scenes. The other first 210 seemed at times like a British mystery novel. Rachel and Harry seemed more appropriate for an Elizabeth George novel then a Mack book. BTW George is a very good writer granted dry at times. Yes it was interesting about how the two teenagers in love were killed in the castle and seeing her father grieving but good god an entire chapter about him driving to the castle and running. The "monster" at the castle. Why was there a monster? It was just a soviet killer in a suit. If trespassers were killed at the castle why couldn't it have been guards doing the killing. Its not like the monster was used to scare people away. It was to kill them to make sure there were no witnesses. Very dumb idea. Fit for Scooby Doo not a serious novel. I know its nice readng about Mack enjoying the sites and sounds of Scotland but give me a break. Rachel was one dumb British Intelligence agent. "Ohhh lets go look at McAllisters files at his office late at night. I am just a novice trying to prove myself and oops I don't need backup. Oh lets not tell anyone like Mack." The torture scene was rather graphic. Kind of surprising GE let in a rather sexually graphic torture scene. A real stinker of a novel. Avoid.

I vastly prefer American Nightmare and Day of the Vulture over this novel. That is not to say the book is not good. It is very good but not quite up to McQuay's other novels. Still a solid 8 from a master. 1) I loved how Mack really didn't want to protect a mobster. This was like having a cat protect mice - just not in their nature. Its rare to see Mack just not wanting to do a job and facing such extreme inner turmoil. The innter turmoil was throughout the novel and came across as very believable and added dimension to Mack. Also I did wonder why these two families were not part of Mack's Mafia war? Curious since these are two old families. 2) I like Joan Merideth. She was in American Nightmare and knew Belasko's real identity. I would have liked Mack to reveal himself to Sam at the end. Also why didn't he go after the boss that sent Rocco to kill old Sam? 3) I did not like Burnett and his gang. Burnett was a trained killer from Vietnam with misfits. This kind of reminded me too much of American Nightmare and the "Family" was such a fun evil family that Burnett and his gang just paled. 4) I also did not like the scene where Mack unravels the entire plot with Sam's children being the guilty parties. Too much like an oldfashioned parlor mystery. 5) The action like always was good. Burnett and his gang had some very good scenes going after the mobsters in protection. I really liked the scene between Mack and Burnett and his biker friends. Not very long but complex and very well described. 6) Chasen was one of the most utterly screwed up characters in any Mack novel. Wow!!! I am shocked he got into the Justice Department. His mental collapse was astounding. Very fun character. 7) Also can one really get from DC to Oklahoma and filling up the gas tank nnce? I got the impression thats what Chasen did. This book just reminds me even with the flaws how sad it is that Mike McQuay is no longer with us. Hell of a writer.

Great concept not so great execution. This seemed more like an experimental novel then a regular novel. It was one of the most unique Bolan books I have read. 1) Very little action. Which by itself isn't bad but the action there was it was really just between Otis and members of the cult. Mack's scenes excpet for chapter 1 which was a whole different assignment it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Except for the last scene he wasn't even fired on. 2) There were so many useless scenes. The band members were stooges nothing more, they really as characters added nothing. It didn't propel the story except in terms of people listening to their music. The prayer session with the members and Slate was a very long 12 pages. It added no info that Otis had provided Mack. I also thought the 2 mass scenes with the reverend were way too long. I would have stuck with just the second one. 3) Mack seemed off his game. With the death of the first girl in Denver he should have been in blitz mode to prevent the second instead he went to the Wiccan mass with Cassandra. Why? Seemed pointless and took time away from preventing a second death. Ok he got luck at the mass with Cassie. Do Wiccans actually incorporate sex in their mass? IF yes. I will convert pronto. 4) Repeat after me. Necronomican does not exist. It was a book solely in the mind of HP Lovecraft that he referenced in his stories. To me this was not cute but annoying. 5) I wish I knew more about Slate. I also wiched to know what happened to the drug dealer that Mack gave his medal to. That went nowhere. This story had a very interesting premise about heavy metal, satanism and real satanism but it never gelled. It just seemed like the heavy metal was a prop and nothing more. A 6 but just barely.

Wow! I loved this novel. Yes Mack was a supporting character in this novel but the story was excellent and it came across as believable with Mack being a supporting role. This tale really was about two men Fowler who wanted to take over the fictitious west African nation and Mulembe the head of security of the nation. Mulembe he to take over the nation while Fowler had the president elect kidnapped. Mack was there to support Mulembe. The action scenes were good. The massacre scene which solely had Fowler and his Desert Knights killing of upper middle class and wealthy party goers at a dance was very well written. The firefight in the mountains though was so-so at the first 1/3 part of the novel. Mack acted like a soldier and an advisor which was believable for the story. He made few decisions and only advised. I did like the interrogation scene between Mack and the merc Australian. The scenes in the cave with the captured president elect and his staff for some odd reason reminded me too much of a Phoenix Force novel that also took place in Africa - South Africa. Fowler was a very fun villian. Mulembe was a fantastic character. One hand being tough yet also balancing it with mercy - all to keep a lid on the civil war. Read the novel very well worth your time.

Green should stick to just writing Conan novels. I despise loose ends. This was how not to write a 220 page novel. How many gangs were in this novel? Gurrola's gang, Langos, Lirio, and a few others. Gurrola's Lipardo wanted to combine them all under his own name his boss wanted to do the same for himself. I still don't know why a drug lord Villagos sent people to the Instituto De Fraternadid. Have no clue why he did that nor do I know how the Instituto had anything to do with the story. Of course Mack was suppose to investigate that. Also what did Ignasius Luna and Dino know? Too many unanswered questions. Of course why did Angelina get involved with Gurrola? She had an impeccable military record yet she was the girlfriend? I really am uncomfortable reading violent sexual acts. It wasn't explicit but the results were for Conchita. Action is entertaining, cutting up and raping women is not fun to read. Green didn't thank god go that far beyond implying it. Vinnera was one of the more disgustting savages (sexually violent and into snuff) in the series. I was thrilled when he was blown away. The action scenes were very good especially the one on the lake and the two boats. This action scene is probably the only reason its getting a 4. Also Lipardo was a very good second to Gurrola and fun to read his scemes.

I did not like the fictional country aspect. I vastly prefer realworld locations. The villian Nissam was a typical megalomanic dictator/religious fanatic. The action scenes were rather short scenes although for this book it worked since there were so many locales in this country Mack and his team went to. I could not figure out why they dropped Mack and his team so far away from the capital. Ok 20 miles out but nearly half of the country away. I liked the teammates and it was fun watching Mack being a teamleader. Also the idea of having to escape the country was fun to read. Mack didn't seem like Mack though. The Mack I knew would not have hesitated to rescue the last hostage. It seemed like he was motivated only when he found out she was American. As long as he thought she was Sudanese he didn't really seem to care. Also why didn't Mack seem to want to overthrow the dictator while he was over there? This is the guy that dropped Mafia bosses left and right. You would think he would have said "lets rescue the hostages, get them safe then we will take out this animal man." The traitor could he have acted so stupidly? Didn't he realize that as soon as he ran out to the enemy saying he was friends of the dictator.He would be shot by his fellow hostages and teammates? A 6. Read it if you have time it is fast paced and fun.

Wow I am shocked people liked this book. I strongly disliked it. 1) The action scenes were great especially how Mack tried to penetrate the nursing home. The shootouts and even as Doug pointed out the long range scenes were very good. 2) The scientist was very evil and rather fun. A good mad scientist kind of lady. 3) I didn't buy the premise of turning people into automotons. Yes drugs have shown you can make a person into a near catatonic state and have them be zombie like. The next step to be able to give them a drug then based on the drug give them person a task then they will do it until they drop. Drugs can make a person into more readily willing to follow. But have a drug that will make them perform a simple task like sweeping the floor until they drop I have problems with this. Especially the driving zombie. Doesn't driving require thought and decision making? 3) What I hated the most about the novel was that Mack seemed to have no regard for the zombies. He knew they were innocents yet his bombings in the compound probably killed some zombies. Of course not once did he think about trying to rescue the zombies. He also didn't try to get them help once he was rescued by the old man and his granddaughter. He should have immediately have used shortwave radio to contact Hal about sending cops and medical staff to the nursing home. Instead he spent a while getting fixed up.

Not giving it a number since I did not read the books in the last 24 hours but a year ago. This review encompasses all three books. The trilogy was fantastic. The first book showed how the end of the world happened and how the father and son team went back home to their the boys mother and sister (father's wife and daughter). They of course didn't see them. The world ended with an astroid. The books contain action. Society is broken down but no mutants. The quest to find their missing family members is the most important part. They meet interesting people along the way and end up in a strange small town where the father is basically held hostage by a demented mother and daughter. The last book they find their women-kin with a shootout and battle in of all place a mall. If you like end of the world books this is worth picking up. Its a rather good compact trilogy.

I really liked this novel. One of the funniest Executioner novels I have read. The scenes with the professor were a riot. There was a small detail he told Mack he had but just couldn't remember it. Of course it was the fact his kidnapped wife was wheelchair bound. Just a tiny detail. I hope he isn't like that mixing chemicals in class - BOOM!! Roche and Chambers two men and opponents Roche a wannabe drug lord and Chambers DEA both allowed their penises to do all their thinking. Josepha really used them. Chambers was a pretty funny character how totally naive he was well so wasn't Roche. If Josepha was ugly they would have seen through her in two seconds. The action scenes were pretty good. I liked the RAT fighters. When they were all in the room with Chambers, Mack and Josepha you could tell that they both wanted to laugh at Chambers idiocy and kill him for screwing them so idiotically. My one grip about the novel was why didn't Mack make sure Chambers was not packing and handcuffed better. Allowing him to kill Josepha could have cost lives to the good guys. Although the mission was pretty easy. One of the more harmless of the villians rather small time. Yes he had an alliance with the Japanese mafia but not sure if that would have lasted long. A 9. Read it.

This was one of the best nonExecutioner GE novels I have read. 1) The novel started out with the gas peddle down and never let up. Each scene had lots of action. In some ways it was rather reminiscent of how George Romero would have done an Able Team. Of course substitute living dead for druggie bikers. 2) I liked the fact that these were not soldiers/mobsters in biker clothes but bikers that acted like bikers - beer drinking, drug taking, not too bright bikers. 3) The citizens of Catalina acted realisticly. Sure many were sheep that did what they were told. But others acted like leaders especially Max. Max was a Hitchcock hero an ordinary man when pushed in an extreordinary situation becomes extraordinary. Also Glen how he took care of his wife and the two teenagers. Of course the teen Jack who was a coward but also fascinated by the bikers. 4) The action scenes were very good with Able Team and how they started off at one end of the island and slowly methodically moved in too take it. There alliance with Glen was also good to read. A bit similar to the first novel but this novel is far better. Its like the first novel was a rough draft and this was the final result. The first novel was still very good though.

This could have been a 10 so easily. 1) Hal Brognola was a major character. Even got into a firefight with Mack. This is such a rare occurance and so fun to read. He also was fighting verbally with the police chief who wanted to arrest Mack. 2) The action scenes were so well written especially the scene at Soldiers Field in Chicago. The character reactions especially the cops were well done. I also enjoyed the aftermath when Mack and Trebeck a good cop were fighting hand-to-hand and Mack had to hold back. 3) I also liked the character of Trebeck. I liked how he wanted to find out who Agent Fox was and then noticed similarities between him and a Mack Bolan who came into the city years ago. Agent Fox was Mack Bolan. The way Trebeck described Mack was perfect as a "Joker in the deck". 4) I also really liked the plucky reporter who kept trying to get the scoop. On the other hand why this book doesn't deserve a ten is: 1) What was Dreyse's point? Did he want to create terror or to make money? This was never really clear nor were there goals beyond money and terror ever explained. 2) Driving nothing but Volkswagens could these terrorist be any stupider? Sheesh. I cannot picture real terrorist ever stating "hey lets just use Volkswagens". 3) The last scene on the Alaskan island. If this was between the US and Russia wouldn't you think this would have been a monitoring station at least? With American troops stationed? Having the terrorists use this as a base not too bright - could easily be trapped with bad snow storm or ice. I suggest a really good story with some flaws. A solid 8.

Fieldhouse's PF books typically better then this one. The action was exceptional at the end from when he was found out on the poppy field to the final hand-to-hand fight with the Colonel. The story was pretty run of the mill. I did like the Colonel Treung. Too often foreign bad guys thought just like American bad guys in terms of money deals but the Col just was a bit naive. He couldn't relate how Burma's economy for drug worth was different then the US. Not sure why Fieldhouse used the Belasko cover. Using a cover known world-wide for being Justice Department and suddenly switching it to having Belasko being a mafia/cartel go-between was not smart. Common sense would probably indicate that Mack would have different fake names for underworld activity and leave fake names for legit organizations like the JD seperate. His Pollack name probably would have been better. The NY scenes with the blood baths with both Triad and Burma drug dealers dead why didn't the police at least say "god this reminds me when Bolan was in town". Did everyone have amnesia? I would have liked a bit more depth of character for the Colonel especially with him seemingly acting the way he did because of his family killed by the opposition. I could understand why he reveled in torturing them but not the drug dealings. Did his family's murder have anything to do with the drug dealings? Or was he always into the drug dealing and just added torture because of his family dead? A semi-solid 7. Also had really no idea why it was called Evil Code. Maybe a reference to Code of Honor? But then it would have been better if Treung was Japanese not Burmese. I think Burma White would have been a better title.

Wow this was Schmidts very worst novel. The first 94 pages were basically set in a diner. I couldn't help but think of the start of Flight 741 in which both books were set in an environment considered overall safe and yet chaos erupts with bad guys. Mack also felt rather safe. 741 book did not jump from one useless character to another. The biker and accountant had way too many pages devoted on their backstory. Both also bought it. Even the dumped wife didn't need that huge of a backstory. Her story, the accountant's and biker's stories could have been told via dialogue with Mack or when Thorton tried to hire the bikers and mafia. I also was confused about what was going on at Area 51 that was never fully explained. Why did they have antigrav equipment? What kind of a nuke was that? It would have been also nice having another phone call between Mack and Hal to see what Hal was doing maybe provide some background. The action scenes were barely ok. The fight with the bikers was ok probably the best one. Also wasn't Area 51 destroyed in the book in the 270s? PRetty fast construction workers. Cromman never really jelled as the main villian. Sure he was deformed from an accident but so what. I couldn't really figure out what made him a leader. If you need to read a Schmidt novel from this timeframe read Blood and Sand. Far better.

Do the artists actually read or get conulted? Don't know who did this cover but the girl on the cover was blonde, blue eyed and white. Her father is Cambodian, Katherine May the only female in the book is described as raven hair. Raven is not blonde. The covers almos always show reasonly well the characters in the book. This was so far off. The beginning was horrible when Mack first showed up in the book. Who sent Mack did he decide to do this himself or did Hal suggest it? Why did Bishop know Mack's name? Why didn't Mack have Bishop use an alian to introduce him I suspect Hal sent Mack to meet with Bishop about his problem with May. The journey on the road into Cambodia with the Thaii colonel and the Vietnamese officer was fun. Never had a clue that the Vietname officer was working with May. I had to reread the last 3 pages to figur it out. Enough seens with Katherine to give us a hint. The tunnel scene with Mack barely able to move but having to with his twisted ankle was good. I didn't quite understand the geopolitics of Cambodia. I thought the Khmer Rouge controlled all of Cambodia not just pockets. I do recall their utter brutality and how they did kill those with glasses (sign of having money and education). The scene rescuing the Cambodian officer was a great scene. Very depressing how innocent people were treated at that work camp not the the officer was an innocent. Did Trang consider him to be counterrevolutionary and sent him there to take his job or was he sent there for different reason. This is an extremely fast moving novel large print and lots of space. Its like it was written to be 180 pages long but had to be expanded.

This was going to get a 10 until the last 20 pages. Yuck. The rest of the book was fantastic. I liked how Mack really had no clue who was involved in the murder of over 140 cops and he was solving it right with the cops. I also liked how Mack was a cop and how he dealt with the officers. All except one was good. Too often he infilirates bad guy groups this time a good guy group. The part in LA was good too with Mack and four cops in the car with him and how the cops disliked the Internal Affairs officer who was a good guy but because of his job was seen not to be. Of course his theory about the dead cop didn't endear him to the others. The Houston scenes were fun especially with that young cop's like of blasting Christian music. His question to Mack if he liked Jesus was just funny. I did not understand why having police officers be national was unconstitutional. Some oversight probably isn't a bad idea especially in terms of communication. VanCook seemed to equate this with the Gestapo and I don't understand how. I wish a few paragraphs explaining why its bad would have been nice. Yes anything can become bad if the bad guys are in charge. The ending. 1) Mack had all the cop killers to come to a secluded home. Couldn't he just have had FBI agents barging in to arrest them? It seemed unnecesary to gather them then kill them. As each were arriving as soon as they stepped in they could have been arrested - simple enough. 2) Ok they got the Senator and he was let go by the grandjury on lesser offenses. Mack picked him up turned him over to agents for greater offenses - treason. When the senator was arrested the first time they should have charged him with treason. Didn't make sense. This was all done in 4 pages. I recommend read the first 200 pages and stop, That was a 10.

Clarence the head of a clandestine DEA SOD wanted what? I knew he was a bad guy but I was not sure if he was in league with Alchupa or not. Did Viper act on his own or with Clarence? Schmidt did not do a good job explaining this. I noticed that all those who could identify Mack were killed off except for Atright but then he came clean at the end. I also hated the scenes with the arab mercenary. Lets see he wanted to make a name for himself and get power back home by killing Mack. Yet when he was about to confront him he decided to play games? That made utterly no sense. Schmidt should have picked one not both. A mercenary with any brains is far more practical then this and would not survive long just playing games. I also would have liked to have seen more scenes with the mongol mercenary. He seemed like an interesting character who yes a merc but also one of honor. Alchupa was your garden variety bad guy with a Bolan obsession although they never crossed paths before. I did like the concept of an evil Phoenix Force but never really jelled that well. The action scenes were fantastic and Schmidt writes very good ones without being confusing or unrealistic. Very good desscriptive writer. Note to bad guys - if you capture Mack just a bullet through the brain in the first 30 seconds. Not play games and lug him around. Overall just a 6. I was a bit confused with what was going on and what Clarence wanted and lets face it if there is confusion with the plot and purpose of what the pivotal bad guy is doing the story does collapse. I consider Clarence a rather pivotal bad guy..

Wow the first review for this novel. One of Schmidts better novels. Why? Dante Marquis. This was an unusual villian. He seemed until his wife and child were killed by Mahmad the terrorists just a ruthless businessman who loved his family. He wanted revenge on this terrorists and those who worked with him or touched his life in any way. The problem was he had his mercs kill everyone including innocent women and children. He was like a wealthy, nonsoldier Mack Bolan but walked down the darkside. I also liked how with each loss Dante was slipping further from reality. Mack had a tough time although he in some ways he was just fighting with a huge number of soldiers and the planes were doing a lot of damage. He even had Dante do a huge hit for him that softened both the terrorists and Dante's people. I like how Schmidt does action scenes. Everything seemed so planned out and there is a believability about his battles like he takes the time to choreograph how an attack could proceed and what would happen. Nothing unrealistic about his fights. The firefight between the Feds, Syrian terrorists and French mercs was a case in point this was in the US. The problem I had with the novel was the ending. To pat. The interpol agent who we never meet shot it out to the death against police and lost.Dead in less then a paragraph. The American agent traitor took his own life. Wow all less then a page and a half.

I really disliked this novel. The action was good I did love the scene with Cal being the racist cop. I also liked the scene with the senator and reverand in urine - seemed like a natural place. What I disliked about the novel was the minute details of the political aspects in South Africa at this time. It seemed oddly dated. Sure KGB/Communist Russia stories are dated but that was part of our culture and way of life (threat of WW3 and communism). They don't seem as dated as this one. Even KGB stories reference organizations but not people. This book seemed rather specific with people like Amin, Bishop Tutu and a few others. I don't like having to recall events and people. I did like Calvin James fiery spirit in this novel one of my favorite James novels. I also liked the hospital scene with Rafe in the hospital for a skull crease via a bullet. I did find it odd that once they got to SA never once did they try to inquire how Rafe was doing. They do have phones in SA. He just seemed forgotten. Oh a 6. A bit too detail orientated on SA's problem which dated the novel for me.

Gotta go with the other 10s. This was a masterpiece. 1) The humor. I really liked how the NSA and CIA so despised each other and the CIA agent calling McQueen "Queenie". Also when the NSA agents were relieved when a 5th agent came in so it would be 5-5. 2) Its so rare to show Russians having internal battles. I liked how the GRU Popotov didn't like the KGB and even hated innocent American's getting killed. So often the Russians in this time frame are shown as really one mind. Its nice reading a distinction. I also hoped the GRU agent had lived. 3) The action was top notch. The finale on top of a Montana mountain was brilliant. Sure PF was surrounded by 100 Russians but they survived and killed most Russians. 4) Manning keeping secrets. It was nice showing how Manning was smart enough to hide one of his holdings from SM yet in time of crunch to help his mates he revealed it. It also showed how wealthy he is. Too often its forgotten. One tiny nit. Ok Rafe had a gun pointed at the Russian who just had a bayonet. Why didn't Rafe just shoot him instead of a) wasting time fighting with knifes and b) take a chance of getting killed/injured which would affect the entire group. Just shooting would have taken care of the problem .instead of playing needless games. Read this book.

Far better then the Thuggees novel. I had not read book 17 which involved the Trio - Japanese/Chinese/Mongol crime group alliance. The acton was very good. Loads of shootouts although I can't imagine how safe one can be holding up a dead body while .44s hit the body. I would think Manning would have been hit with bullets going through the body. I loved the character Mahmoud which was David's friend prior to David joining FP. The story about bundling drugs inside dead baby's was just chilling to read The character Ferris really didn't go anywhere. Ok an American who killed fellow officers all for some ancient Columbian trinkets but he seemed after chapter one just an onlooker who really didn't do much. I did enjoy his perception of the ceremony honoring the thieves of the antques by the Trio. I really didn't think the book needed the Phillipino secret police. I think just the intelligence group and the torturer would have sufficed. You had the secret police, Trio, Phillipino communist group, the secret intelligence and the Trio's mercenaries. Too many groups. A very fun novel and yes deserving of an 8.

Hong Kong Grocery List this should have been called. The first part of the book was good especially the prison break-in/break-out section. Thats when it became a grocery list novel. Ok Mack has the Faceless Chinese terrorist group grocery list for attacks. So the novels turn into item one - prevent, item two - prevent, item seven - prevent. Boring and predictable. I really despise James Bond-type killings. Twice the Faceless leader had Mack so what did he do? Shoot him? Strangle him? Nope. Nope. First put him into a air compression chamber so that leaves time for a rescue. Second cut a small hole in stomach and attach a cork - don't ask seemed convoluted and set him in low-tide. Talk a whole lot about how it would be done and boom a rescue. I liked Felicity Wong but was not sure if her placing Mack on the plane that was suppose to be hijacked was a coincidence or not. The hijacking scene was interesting but no where near as good as the one on Flight 741. The scene in the Russian sub was fun. I liked the humor of the commanding officr being kind of happy that the political officer was winged in the hand with Mack's gun as a warning. A subpar Leslie novel.

Can't help but compare it to Return to Armaggedon book 11. Both books are about a return of an ancient cult. I liked RTA slightly more. I thought the Hashassins (sp?) were slightly more interesting. In both books the followers were really nothing more then brainless followers. I also liked the fact how this was not an assigned mission and how Katz pushed it into a mission and how the rest stood by him. In this novel. Well the Thuggees history was interesting. The killers were probably the most mindless I have read. The main villians well the Prince was a fun villian a total coward and spilled at first oppurtonity. I also thought the scene with the NSA agent at the first meting was pretty funny and how he kept thinking they were CIA and how Katz hhreatened him politely. Although the second meeting was very dry. The scene heading into the mountain and on top of the mountain was very fun reading and exciting. It did seem the PF gang had infinite bullets though. Killing and maiming a slew of bandits then cutting up and killing near 100 Thuggee followers. A clear 7. Also a very good 10 novel dealing with Kali is the Destroyer novel Arms of Kali. Very funny, interesting and added a further mythos to the series. Although a major difference is how Kali is seen in the Destroyer novel as a lover/foe of Shiva but in this PF novel Kali is seen as the daughter of Shiva. Although in the Destroyer series Kali inhabits Remo's daughter in book I believe 105.

I liked Flight 741 far more then this book. I found this story rather dull and not just the action it was the pace. The story at times dragged. I am not sure if the Klan initiation was based on real initiations but that scene just ground the story to a halt. We know how evil the klan is but why go through a 3 page initiation which is basically dialogue. Also Newton and dialogue. Not his strong suit. When he just has: "dialogue" "dialogue" I don't want to have to look back and figure out who is saying what. This book has a lot of scenes like this. For 5 six dialogue lines ok but not half a page or more. I liked the return of Axelrod the homosexuality angle was kind of squashed in this book compared to 741. Also why no mention of Toby? Wouldn't she have tried to have tracked Axelrod down? He did try to get her killed. I liked the scenes with Lynn and her uncle. Actually her uncle was one of the really good parts of the novel. How does a reverend deal with being part of a mad dog Klan? i would have liked to have played up the religious aspect especially with the Reverend Little. A meeting of these two would have been good. Also how did Axelrod get the goods on Andrew Micheals that was never explained. You do need to read Flight 741 to understand the references of Axelrods history. Also reading Continental Contract book 5 is also important since it introduces Wilson Brown.

His Savannah Swingsaw and Fire Eaters were far better novels then this. This was slightly above mediocre. The story and infiltration by Mack was rather ordinary nothing to write home about. What made this book more readable was Tanya and Thomas (twins) two rather creepy psychos. To me there seemed to have been implied incest which added to the creep factor. As villian go these two rank high on creepiness. I did find the use of 4 Olympic athletes to be rather dumb. Especially the karate expert and the archer. Somewhere it is written you do not give weapons to hostages - giving an archer a bow and arrow is just plain dumb. The karate athlete why risk it? Not a very smart plan. I liked how Jack was used and used for comic relief. A big plus was the scene with General Wilson and Jack Grimaldi was reading a German newspaper and just looked at the pictures. A very short novel 2.5 hours maximum for anyone to get through. A solid 6.

I really liked this novel. An excellent SB novel. There were a few problems like: 1) Which Raven hijacked the plane? I suspect it was the original since he referenced being injured in Lebanon but it could have been a previous time? 2) I don't know why Newton didn't just say who Mike Blanski was. Actually he really didn't have to since it was a name Mack has used countless times. Seemed like a fake mystery. Like asking "was the person murdered?" when a body is on the floor sliced and shot 5 times in the head. 3) Did Karl and Julie live happily ever after. What I did like a lot was how Toby, Lyons and Mack worked together in Canada. Granted it was coincidental but oh so nice. Very Pendletonesque scene. I loved how Toby Ranger's character was explored. I do think she was burned out - she took a needless risk following her "boss". I liked how Newton wasn't shy in stating how she felt about Mack and seemngly jealous with the late April Rose. I do think for action scenes the cemetary was the best scene. Not a whole lot of action. Ok the scene on the plane that lasted 100 pages was so suspenseful. Very clever to have the hostages strip. I also liked how Newton wrote how Mack was fairly hopeless from doing anything. I did think it did not last long enough though. I do think this book would have been nn absolute ten if it was just a 250 page novel and just taken place on the plane. As much as I loved Toby coming back the overall final 250 pages never lived up to the first 100. Maybe have it be 170 pages for the hijacking then 80 pages with a chase after the Raven and his associates in Lebanon. I think it was written between the Trial and book 92. Maybe have a later novel with the multiple Ravens. Overall an 8.

Ok for a Bolan novel let me just say that Mack got in the way of an interesting story with the Haitian rebels. Mike should have just made the novel about the rebel leader, the priest and Michelle. This was the most interesting sections of the book. Also the villians Solange and Descartes. The scenes to rescue her with Mack were scenes we have read countless times. Do a hit, call the bad guy to release the hostage, make an assassination, call another, do a major financial hit (a first time bank robbery btw where were the bank guards?) then get the girl and kill the kidnapper. To me this was so by the numbers. The saving part of the novel were the demonstrations, the priest who was a pacifist to being hard, and Michelle who was just coming into power, this was the best part of the novel. Mike should have kept the novel on this struggle for freedom. Granted it would not have been a Bolan novel but who cares it would have been better without Mack. A 5 for the Mack/Mafia storyline. A 9 for the Haitian rebel/Junta power struggle. Overall a 7.

I rather liked this novel. It wasn't fantastic but very above average. Why? Characters. Its nice seeing a novel in which Mack works with people like the two sheriffs and Donna. The two sheriffs were rather believable in which they were hard working and wanting to do the right thing in protecting the townsfolk. Granted McGraw was way in over his head but his heart was in the right place. I also liked the scene in which the townsfolk really tried to fight the drug dealers themselves. Granted it was idiotic for common folk to have done this but a believable idiocy. The action scenes were rather short but well done. I liked the scenes especially on the barge. The Japanese villian referred to having met Mack before but not sure what novel. Keppler vanished - not sure if he is in another novel - but he was probably wiped out financially with this scheme. As for the villians I could never quite figure out the result they wanted. If the government wasn't going to pay them for not blowing up the locks (river locks) why do it? I am not sure what they ultimately wanted to accomplish beyond shutting down commercial traffic on the Mississippi river. I can see the drug money making on the river but not the blowing up the locks. A solid 7.

Mack had such a lousy time with this novel. Almost bought it twice by the bad guys. Ironic since he thought twice how weak these Arabic terrorists were. Well actually three times with the third with Jack but then Jack has an excellent teacher in Mack. Why did Grazli make such a big production about killing the journalists? There had to have been safer ways then the idiotic catering scheme. How about shooting at them when they got in their cars? Stalking them? It was so idiotic. Also why didn't he call up Hassan at least once when he hit LA? It seemed like he should have been working on putting on a Broadway show. Also did he forget about the other journalist? He must have realized the attack against Jordan failed when his assassins never reported in? He called the LA killing of those journalists the end? How? Grazli wanted to bring the captured Bolan back to Iran with him? How was he suppose to get him back to Iran? Did he just assume the Iranian officials would have wanted Mack? Not sure what a trial would have gained the Iranian government since it would have exposed to everyone what they were doing and why Mack stopped them. A lot of spin would have been needed. Actually i think they would have preferred Mack dead then brought to trial. The torture scene was interesting. Can't really recall a time of an extreme torture of Mack like that. Also how come bad guys can be shot in the sides and they go down but Mack stays up and continues basically fine? Villians or others get shot they crumble, get thrown back, are in agonizing pain. Mack bleeds but keeps on moving. It was nice Mack went after the arms dealer but Mack's lines were just so corny. Also another reviewer compared it to American Nightmare well the Blocker family were so, so much better villians then these terrorists. AN had a few problems but it was a masterpiece compared to this. Both novels had terrorists going after journalists who covered a story years ago. Very average novel with an over-the-top not that smart villian.

I know this is awful and really does not affect my review but I couldn't help but wonder what Tony Hillerman could have done with this story also how Jim Chee would get along with Mack. The actions scenes were extremely ordinary nothing to really praise or denounce. Mack's reliance on using rifles was rather odd especially at the cemetary. The thing that drove this story was the characters especially Ironeyes and his coming to terms with his grandfather's murder. Ironeyes wanted to solve the case via the justice system and to do things by the book. The cemetary scene between him and his cousin Martin was very well written. The best part was the court scene. Mack was watching Ironeyes trying to solve the problem the legalistic way and you knew this was going terribly wrong. Of course IE was the last to know but even then he rather stuck to his by the book attitude. Also Ironeyes chat with Granny was also a well written scene and how he felt betrayed and yet still felt sorry for her. Detheridge was a pretty much a typical villian but he believed he could change into animal form ala Skinwalkers Odom does a really good job on characters and dialogue. A very much above average novel.

This book is clearly as good as the books in the 90s sequence. I would put it about equal to Blood Testament. This book is a vastly different type of novel. Scene a field, barn and farm. Usually there are over a dozen scenes at least. It kind of reminded me of old black and white movies - Bogart or Cagney as Mack? The Chadwick's were such a believable family. I really liked the father in law. Sure he was a GOM but highly ethical and wanted to do the right thing - most GOMs I find are. This family epitomizes who Mack fights for. Sure there was little action but for characterizations it made up in spades. Sometimes a character driven story is good especially one that shows how innocent deal with killing zones. I think this could also make a great fanfic story involving Mack's kid. Toni and Mack's child would be interesting to see. Not sure why Mack slept with her but then he did lose April so many he wanted intimacy. I agree wih Doug this could have been omitted. The action scenes were very good. I did find it incredible how Mack can get shot and still function well. Also what incredible pain control Mack has. The downside to this novel was how dumb the bad guys acted storming the house. Long range rifles and patience would have been the best plan. Also who was Cowboy's boss? This was never established. Strakhov maybe? Although I think he would have been on scene. A clear 10 you can't get much better then this.

I don't think it was all that bad like Dexter and Doug said although in many ways I agree - book 65 was so much worse and this book didn't quite make it there in badness. The last 2 pages were total WTF totally came out of the blue and made no sense in context to the novel. This should have been in the first two pages with some tie-in with the novel or even a "sitting here relaxing with these two noble old-timers I recall my feelings of ....." to link the novel. Anyways the novel. Finally there is some glimpse into the US President. In so many novels (usually SM) he says "this is what needs to be done" or words to that effect but here he was a major character. I thought his scenes were the best ones. I thought this book was half-Destroyer/half Executioner. Dr Dunning was such a loser with these grand schemes of world peace but he did it in such an idiotic way. He abhors guns and violence but killing 20,000 US/Russian citizens is ok. Dr Dunning seemed far more appropriate for a Destroyer novel. BTW if you get shot in the thigh will you really just lose half a step? Also Dunning's belief that his new codes were nondecodable because no one could figure out the expression he used was laughable. Computers would be decoding not paople thinking "oh I wonder what phrase he could have used" computers don't care about phrases just letters in sequence. Also the ability to block tv network signals and take them over didn't make sense these aren't phone signals being used the jamming used would have to be strong. Kitty being killed was also dumb. Did Cunningham believe since Mack had sex with her there can be no theories later about her being pregnant with Mack's child? This was a shrewd woman to just mindlessly try to kill Mack (who she said she loved while dying) made no sense. Seemed like pld Bonanza episodes where you know if Little Joe wanted to marry a woman she was going to die at the end. I also had no clue besides greed why Yamagushi wanted to blackmail the world. Where was his backstory? I did enjoy the scenes with the president and thats why I am giving it a 4.

A really good Executioner novel and a above average Lone Wolf story. I liked how this novel showed a little seen aspect of Mack and how he deals with children. You know he cares about children and has gone on near beserk blitzes to protect them - Boston Blitz and Save the Children (a later novel) but here he actually has to deal with one hands on. Ok he would not make babysitter of the year. Bringing a 5 year old towards a firefight is not a bright idea but he had no choice. This book does show that he could handle children and has paternal instincts. Fighting for children is different then having to deal with one. My favorite villian is featured in this novel - Greb Strakhov. He is such a shrewd opponent manipulating people and events. Katz is also in this novel along with his nephew. I thought how Katz dealt with Mossad and the CIA was good although if Katz was working with his government to get Mack into Lebanon why Mossad would object. I will admit I did not know that the Maronite Christians had control of Lebanon. I just assumed it was always Muslim control since the fall of the British Empire. I was a bit lost on the whole point with the Iranians. Why Greb wanted this group eliminated. As the Iranian said they were all on the same side. I guess with Greb its nuance.

Wpw Doug was kind to this book. Lets see there is only one piece of good news. This writer never wrote again in the series. Who in f***ing h*** was this writer writing about? He not only was off the mark but if he read even one prior novel I would be shocked. 1) The racist language like referring to Vietnamese as Orientals and primitives that would be shocked at hearing their voice on a recorder. Mack was a hero to the Montengards yet he killed off a leader because he was suspicious. 2) Killing a russian officers wife because she could be suspicious? Since when did he start killing noncombatents. 3) This is the cardinal sin committed. To me this was the most unforgivable part of the novel. Mack referring to Eng as a friend. This is a woman who had a traitor and his family killed to serve a lesson. 4 children were killed on her command. Killers of children which she was and she used the lamest excuse possible was someone Mack would not have hesitated in killing. Yet he thought of her as a friend fighting a good war. No. Mack has gone into berserk mode if anyone kills children or harms them even with the mafia killing children was taboo and very, very rare. Also why the hell didn't he try to stop them from being killed? Is it because the writer considered American lives worth more then Vietnamese/Cambodian? Mack has never once thought in these terms. Yet he was written as one who took this basically as a "so what" position as long as he could free the American POWs. Innocent blood was so much on Mack's hands. Also Mack and gang grab the American POWs yet orders were made not to rescue the others? WTF????? Lets see the logic. Go in pull out all the Americans then trot out. Next everyone knows the POWs are home yet we didn't rescue other nationalities when they were in the same camp? Gee. I would love to see how the State Department would handle this one "yes Prime Minister your soldiers were at the camp with our POWs. Why didn't we rescue them?" Totally unrealistic - not in the same camp - the fallout would be astromonical.

Wow this book was craptacularly bad. Lets see to buy the premise you have to believe: - if codes for a military base GPS system are stolen or suspected stolen no one would state the obvious "why not just change the codes". Why are codes created weeks in advance btw that give times that they will be used? Makes it kind of useless. - if you remotely get the codes why can't you remotely use it? If the backup is in another facility why couldn't these brilliant computer engineers Schneider hired simply hack in? The battle scenes were rather good. Mack couldn't shoot that well which was odd. He did bleed a lot - a hole in his side. The worst thing was how lifeless this book was. All it was was a series of action scenes. Nowhere do we really know what Mack is thinking beyond getting from point A to point B. It read more like a newspaper article then a novel. Did Price ever read a Bolan novel? It was like he wrote an action novel and just slapped the name Mack Bolan as the title character. We also didn't really know Schneider's motives just that he was a bad guy. Also what in gods name was Mack doing ordering one military man to shoot to kill another military man and a CIA agent if they interferred with his job. They were on the same side I couldn't believe Mack said that. Also forcing Cherie to come along into a battle. Sure she could identify the bad guy but she was still an innocent and since when did he deliberately put them in harms way just to get a job done. One could write the most spectacular action scenes but without any character development or being able to identify with them either positively or negatively its just a waste of time. A very solid 1. I thank god this is the first and only Rick Price novel. Its one of the worst.

A good above average SM novel. The story was very exciting athough AT really didn't do a whole lot but it did provide a very funny moment at the end. I also enjoyed Pol's old homeless man reutine including taking a bite out of a thrown out pizza slice. PF had very good battle scenes. I liked how they really didn't fare all that well. They lost their plane to a patriot missile and a Turkish gov't building was hit. Actually even Mack's side of the story had some disasters like losing SM blacksuits and not stopping a missile launch in the US. The villians were flat and even the Turkish traitor was fun but not all that smart. I do wish more time was spent on the rich Kurdish money man. I couldn't quite figure out the book was published in 2001 so was written around 1999 but why have the main attack by the Kurds be the Turks? Yes I know they hate each other but at the time the hatred for Saddam should have been more. This book ignores the entire aftermath of the post Gulf War 1 retaliations by Saddam to the Kurds. Also I know how extreme terrorists are but even they could not be so stupid as to target a mosque? Kurd's I believe are muslim and this is the fastest way to lose sympathy. Again an exciting story with great PF and Mack scenes. Loved seeing them lose a few battles and some SM workers. Reminded the reader they are not invincible. Also I liked how Mack told no to an order by Hal. Mack does not work for Hal and it was nice it was stressed and a reminder of the readers of this fact. Also a tiny nit. Same time US President was eating lunch the Kurds in Turkey were eating supper. I am pretty sure there is a 8 hour time difference. Yes these were terrorists eating but it is rather late for dinner. Seemed to conveniant of a scene with both enemies eating a meal at the same time.

Can't believe he wrote Brothers in Blood which I hated. I agree there is a bit too much introspection in this novel but I dismiss this as GE trying to build a readership. I also couldn't believe that Bear was smoking a pipe while working on his computer. I know its from 82 but I do know that it was rather common knowledge that smoking and computers did not mix. I wonder if Wethers was based on this early Bear? Bear seemed more like Wethers then how we know Bear today. Kudo's for getting Adamian perfect. I have a cousin who is married to an Armenian and he and his family talk about the Armenian holocaust like it was yesterday. A few years ago I was at their house for Christmas Eve and his sister and her family were there along with his friends. They started talking about all these thousands of people killed and the way they talked it seemed like it was current until I realized what they were talking about and they explained to me what the Armenian holocaust was. An extremely dark chapter in European history and oddly never once was it taught in any history class I had. I think its great this book looked at this chapter and even though it was partly a drug story it was also a story about blind prejudice and allowing history control your life today. Paradine not a bad villian. Over the top at times. Still have no clue about his backstory. Why do I get the feeling he was meant as a main villian for this Terrorist saga? With him living at the end and knowing so little about him I get the impression this was an attempt to create a recurring villian. Yes he does show up in book 55. The ending was emotionally good. Action scene was rather standard. I liked how Adamian learned how stupid blind prejudice is and sadly it took a Turk to sacrifice himself so he could live - granted contrived. . A 10 for the character Adamian and lessons he learned and getting the modern Armenian culture right (at least my experiences with it). A 6 for the rest of the story. An 8 overall.

I don't know if Kasner meant this novel to be a western novel but it sure read like that except in Bosnia with modern weapons AK-47s instead of rifles, mortar instead of cannons. This story is a classic evil land baron with group of thugs wanting to control all the land around him and the village people. A gunslinger comes to town and convince the townsfolk to fight agains the land baron. I really enjoyed this story and thought if you want to read how Mack would deal with the old west this is the novel to read. The doctor was one of the most sniveling idiots I recall in any Mack novels. How the townsfolk didn't string him up I don't know. His actions which were so misguided got townsfulk killed. He did realize what I did. The battle scenes between the villagers and the Serb thugs was good. It was nice seeing Mack as more of a general then a main fighter. He did fight but he also taught the townsfolk how to fight. The gypsy was a fun character although if this was an actual western he would have been an indian - his knowledge of the land and area was something you would read that an indian would have in a western. Only real flaw was how did the russian agent know that she was working with Mack. Not sure if she got the info before the meeting or if she recognized him from pictures. Didn't take away fro the novel though. A must read novel.

Wow this is just a great novel. Jerry really knows how to make good characters and exciting scenes. If ever there was a character that should become a member of Stony Man and that is Muhibbi - really great character. A very good fighter and like Jack Grimaldi saw the light and went from a very grey character to being a disciple of Mack. Plus he had an interesting backstory that is made for a long series character - father the head of the Assassins and brother a delusion terrorist who wanted total Jihad - kind of like Osama bin Ladan type character. I also liked the anxiety felt with the poor victim Sharon Walker scheduled to be hung by the terrorists and what she went through. Saved with just a minute to spare. Other writers this would have been cheesy but Jerry wrote it well. The ending had rather a swashbuckling feel to it. Sure there were guns but saving Sharon Mack had to stand under the gallows so she would land on his shoulders especially with all the terrorists trying to pull the lever and hang her - well one did and thats how she landed on Mack's shoulders. It was almost written like it should have been Errol Flynn type scene. A 90s level novel and so far VanCook's best one.

Mack didn't sound like Mack at times. The book was published in 1991 probably written circa 1989 and Mack used "hey, man" at least twice when to his allies like Doc. I can't recall him ever using the term "hey, man" post Pendleton and I am positive that expression was so passe by the late 80s/early 90s. Way too many characters. Some of the characters especially the Vietnamese ones could have been merged. I liked the vengence story by Lousa although Mack didn't kill her husband - well her brother-in-law. Mack was quite cruel which is rather out-of-synch. He forced a drug dealer to overdose then walked away. Mack always kills with mercy ie no suffering. This guy he let him stay on the bathroom floor to live or die based upon if a person comes to help him. I did like the fact that Mack was remembered by the Vietnamese for his fighting in the country but most importantly as his role as Sgt Mercy. A somewhat good novel. Way too many characters. I also got a bit lost in the last action scene in the rug cleaning business. A good action writer nevers lets his readers get lost. Overall a 6.

I hated this novel. The reason a lot of chapters were written like a text book. One chapter in particular had a list - one item per paragraph - about reallife terrorist attacks. It just brought the entire book to a screeching halt. It took you out of Mack's world into the real world but worse it broke the story tempo. The editor should have cut this chapter back. The villians were pretty good especially the cowardly Tex. Jill was your typical good girl getting into the wrong crowd type. Yes she did the right thing at the end but if she hadn't been abused would she have turned back to goodness? The action scenes were fairly good especially the meeting when all the terrorist factions started killing each other.

Wow a Jon Gunther novels that is a 90s quality book. I loved the fact that Jon included the Lone Wolf saga into this novel and was a semi-sequal to his war against Greb Strakov and his comrades. The former Russian general was almost of the same mold as Greb. Greb though was far more complex but then he was a good part of the Lone Wolf saga. The action scenes were very good. The Russian girl seemed torn between duty and whats right. She did do the right thing and liked. I expected her to have bought it when pushed from the plane but then they weren't high up. The action was very good especially that chase scene in the artic base. I loved the mystery with Gadgets and Hal on the US military base. Jon did a very good job showing how perceptions can be so different from 2 people. Mack was positive who the traitor was yet Hal and Gadgets liked the one Mack thought was a traitor and thought Mack was incorrect. Good to show that Mack can be mislead at times. Gunther is not a fav of mine - Fear RaLly to me was horrible and does have an annoying habit making tough women fall for Mack and he picks a different country for each woman to be from - Isreal, France, England, Germany and now Russia - the women though seem interchangabe. This typically would have cost Jon 2 points but the fact he brings back the old Lone Wolf/KGB background was just terrific since this was one of my favorite storylines. A score a 10.

Not a very good novel. If the novel just stuck with the three Jamacan gangs it would have been ok. I do think instead of bringing in the NYer it would have made more sense for the Washington gangs to fully unit. I could also not quite figure out why the Deacons hit the Vietnamese airplane. What really was the purpose of creating a war between the two cultures? Never really explored. The good Jamacans seemed to have an IQ of 0. Well so didn't Mack for letting them join with him. These good guys were good hearted but untrained fighters basically a neighborhood patrol with guns. If they were former military ok but they weren't. Phung could have been an interesting character but we really knew 0 about him. Yeah he was honorable, "good", worked closely with the CIA but why? Actually I would have left him and the entire Vietnamese angle out. If the story just was based on gang wars with Mack sent in that would have been a better focus or at least explain in detail why the Vietnamese were hit at the beginning. Pitt was an ok character but I swear this character appears too often - a second in command who leads the villians troops and wants to always beat the big fighter but never does and has to explain it to the boss. A solid 5.

This book is not a great book but te last 70 odd pages make it worth it. One huge battle 3 sides then 4 sides - Mack is one side. A very pitched battle in the Algiers desert. One of the longest and coherent battle scenes I have read in this series - too often long battle scenes get a bit coherent. The french arms dealer was almost a duplicate of the NY drug dealer in 104 - both very annoying and snivelly. The german assassin Auxeldarth what a cool villian. Would have liked more scenes between him and Mack. Got to love a killer that revolts other killers - he likes licking blood from dead and dying along with injured like Jack's. As good as he is he lacked the brilliance of the Vulture - Day of the Vulture. A definate read! Solid 8. Downside - a bit too many arms dealers. Fantastic battle scene at the last 70 pages - heck if you lack time to read just read these last 70 pages.

I will give Krauzer credit for getting the backstory of Mack's war against the mafia right in those flashback scenes but thats about all I liked about it. The scene where there was a flashback to Mack's childhood was also a very nice scene. We learnt something about his childhood. What I hated. 1) This had incredibly long sections of travelogue. It took so long to get to the rapids and there was a description of his route, the history of the area and population census. Blah. Ok one shootout along the way. I also found myself bored with the description of the river and area - but that wasn't as bad as the trip. 2) It took Mack 10 minutes to learn as a young child how to flip in a certain way from under water to above water what it takes adults and pros months to do. This dealt with whitewater rafting. I know Mack is a great fighter but this was stretching it soooo much. Maybe memory/nostalgia for Mack. 3) This bonding by Mack and Johnny Kerr was sweet and it showed how much Mack misses his young brother but maybe because of the times we live in but Mack calling Johnny Kerr "brother John" was just creepy. Actually on this bonding and memory part I actually liked. The "brother John" part was just creepy but then it could be the times we live in that is clouding my viewpoint. Although in todays world I doubt a 15 year old would tolerate an adult 30-something male being called "brother John". 4) What I hated the most was why can't Mack simply go on vacation in peace? If he was "ordered" to go on vacation why not use SM trasportation and safehouses? Also lets see you are pushed all the time physically and mentally so you chose whitewater rafting and later a long cave in Norway (book 90)? Plus both vacations get shot at and nearly killed. I actually liked book 90 more then this one if you have to read a vacation novel read this one. I also didn't like the fact that there we no scenes with just the villians even one would be nice to understand Vigoury more. A very blah, below average novel.

A kudos for Odom mentioning Susan Landry too bad she never appeared. I would have liked the scene which would have had Hal contacting Susan about the CIA idiocy. I liked the best the characters. The good hearted loyal Bowen who really wanted to the right thing even if it meant going after the CIA who he loved. I also liked how Khoi wanted vengeance against the rogue Vietnam force. Although the book mentioned events that helped push the US into the Vietnam War that were really staged attacks by the CIA which was blamed on the N. Vietnam. Not sure if Mel was refering to real events or made stuff up. Mack did have to solve this puzzle especially about the evil Hacker character that was behind these events. Still not sure who Hacker was. The book just hung there. The action scenes were sparse but then this was really Mack unraveling a plot. Also not sure how Mack figured out where in Cambodia this group was going to be. Cambodia is not a small country. Overall an above average novel. I agree with Monsta Mack not as good as Ice Wolf but close. A solid 7.

I also suspect its a Leslie novel. His use of caves is pretty much gave it away. The only flaw in that is that the book seems to be two novels stitched into one. I suspect Leslie wrote the last half. The first half focused far more on the victims of Jaques and how they are using drugs to win votes. I thought it was interesting seeing Mack infiltrate the school camp. I wish there was more of those scenes. At one point after that drug-user girl came to him wanting help it seemed like he wanted to help these kids. Why did this go away? Suddenly its all about destroying the main headquarters. The helping these poor kids is gone. Also it would have been nice if Mack found out what happened to the old man who tried to help him? Three good people died helping him not two. An 8 for the first help and a 3 for the second. Total of 6 average - rounding up. The last half is so standard infilitrate and destroy.

The only good parts I liked about it were the hostages and Sweetie-Pie the French gundealer. The hostages should have gotten more time. To me they were interesting. I also would have liked to have known or at least had some clues who was the government worker that needed savings. The rescue mission was kind of blaise. Nothing too memorable about it. I also found all the PF characters so flat. Nothing really distinguinshing them. Lets see imagine you never read any Stony Man novels and only PF1. Would you really buy book 3 in this series? I don't think so. Yes I have read a few SM novels and other PF novels so the characters are distinct but trying to look at it from a perspective of 1982 - no I would not have continued. Let me just state that Calvin is a far better character then KO.

What a truly fantastic SB novel. Its not often but this was truly a SB novel and not an Executioner novel dragged out to be 350 pages. Mack is really not in this book a whole lot. But for a change of pace this is not bad. Granted if there were more books that did this then that would be bad but for a change of pace this was not bad. What made this book so good were the villians and supporting characters. I really enjoyed Uncle and nephew Wal. In many ways they were the heroes of the novel. Two honorable, good men. The uncle fighting the psycho Shili brother was a great scene. I also enjoyed how he protected his students then joined in the fight. For villians Briley the whore. She was fun - all she wanted was to be in movies. This was no prostitute with a heart of gold only coal. The Shili brothers. I liked the oldest brother. I liked how he seemed like a good person who got swept up down a bad road with Neshah. Of course he did try to kill the Man and the Indian Prime Minister - which did make him a villian. But still he just seemed like a villian who could just as easily have gone the path of good as well as bad. The psycho Shili who held up the school was also fun. Of course the story was rather serious but did have levity with the traitorous British Aeronotics Engineer who defected due to the lack of respect and Briley. His breakdown was rather funny and how Mack, Wal and the CIA agent did to get him to spill the beans was a very funny scene. The only glitch to the novel were the scenes at SM. Sorry but those are fine for a SM novel but include them in phone calls with Mack but thats it. I also did like the heavy presense and his sidekick Kissinger with his dragon fire flamethrower. Did Mack ever use it after this novel? A must read for the SB series. One of the best ones.

This story was perfection. I loved how Mack used the night to track down the vlilians and kill them. The vilian was great and fiendishly brilliant on how to get people to vacate - arson the area. Now I did have one problem. Mack seemed off. Remo would play these games by taking the identity of a dead cop to haunt the bad guys. Mack plays games yes but I can't recall him ever going to these lengths especially with the cab number. Its like Murrey took the best portions of Remo's personality and merged it with Mack. Plus the motivation seems pure Remo. Yes Mack would be outraged with the cop's death but he wouldn't personalize it so much. Remo would. Remo would drop a mission to do this one. Mack would be more practical. I can picture Mack asking if Able Team could do it while he finished a case. The characters were great also especially the radio host. I really liked how she was so afraid of guns and had a distaste for Mack then realized he was correct The description of Mack's safehouse was a riot - it matched. The story was a classic, great action scenes, focused but Mack had too much Remo in him. Fantastic first book and easily matched 90s quality.

This book had a great story but I did not like at all how Mack was written. Mack is a killer obviously but not a cold-blooded killer. Kasner stepped over the line into the cold-blooded killing. Two points: 1) Killing all the people to send a message up the line. They were in Alexandria and to send a message Mack wanted every pirate killed. The people unloading the cargo many were just local people probably never harmed anyone and just was doing it for the money. Also Mack doesn't kill everyone just to send a message - yes the guys at the top he has no problem killing but not footsoldiers or those unarmed. 2) They stormed a mafia slave dormatory. Mack killed a watchman who was asleep and drunk. He was the last one they killed. This again a footsoldier. I know Kasner wrote a lot of SM novels but I don't think this interpretation of Mack is right. Mack kills those who destroy lives and those that pose a threat. Pendleton has often written that Mack goes after footsoldiers only when they pose a threat or are in the way. The most appealing thing about Mack is that he does discriminate on who he takes out and taking life is not an easy thing to do. Killing all to send a message and killing a drunken sleeping man shows a man who takes life without any thought. Yes in many novels by Pendleton and Newton (since he is Pendleton's heir so to speak) he does target small places like gambling halls or loan offices but he kills no one unarmed except for the boss and those who pose a threat. I know the line in thin but Kasner just way stepped over it. I loved Jasmine. I would love to see her return. I liked how she went from a scared victim to being brave and heroic at the end. Although she learned how to shoot way to fast. I also loved her ralationship with Katz a nice father/daughter kind of relationship. I actually enjoyed the story and the around the world aspect. But did it need to be 350 pages? No. I thought it was like a marriage between SM and Execuioner. We did not need all the scenes at SM. We did not need the scene with Barbara not being happy that Bear did not tell her about the job or the scene with Hal telling Bear that it was not a good idea not filling Price in. Or worse the scene with Price telling Bear to go to bed. This story could have easily have been told in 220 pages. Adding the SM stories really did nothing to progress the storyline. Many Executioner has Mack talking to the SM staff sometimes in person but more often on the phone. To me much of it was padding in this novel. A novel should get to the point not add really worthless scenes it loses focus.

Naming the terrorist Kamal was a truly juvenile idea - camel to Kamal. Total distraction. Gave me thoughts of Beavis and Butthead. Also the CIA agent Cruller well later on he was toasted like a pastry. The story. A whole lot of action. This novel followed the excellent Rescue Run and there was a "not much there" kind of feeling to the book. I did not like how we never really found out why the CIA wanted the merc alive. Yes he had info but there seems like there should have been more. Gorman is like a lot of Schmidt villians. Yes you know he is a psycho and you know he is also smart but never knew the motivation besides greed. The scenes with Gorman were good and rather fun. The terrorist Kamal was extremely flat. He was just a terrorist who wanted to destroy America and Isreal. Also why were there Iraqi terrorists in Israel? Didn't make a whole lot of sense. In 1995 Isreal had enough terorists with the Palestinians besides sending money and training what could Iraqi terrorists do that the Palestinians could not in terms of actual terrorist attacks? The action scenes were very well written. Kudos to Schmidt for that. I enjoyed greatly the battle scene with Gorman rescuing the terrorists. Also why didn't the prison camp have backups if the radio/radar went down? Or some other means to communicate? A very solid 7.

This I thought was a very light book. Yes Mack's mission was serious but did have some humor to it. I did find fault with the premise. American's love old movie actors even B-film actors along with modern action stars. I think the young action actor was suppose to have been Jean Claude Van Damme. If actors in 1995 were in trouble for their lives in Rwanda the public would want everything done to save them. I can' picture the president doing nothing without public outcry. The president in this book wanted nothing done. Also what was the link between Hal and Morrison? I know Hal wanted his friend to be rescued but why were they friends? I really loved the scenes with the actors both in the bunker and on the run. I am shocked there were no ramifacations to the young actor. If I was Morrison and the actress I would have wanted him gone - since he did try to rape her. Streak was also a humorous character and did show bravery at the end. By far the best parts were the scenes with Sal. Sure he was a sniveling weasel but he added so much humor to the scenes with Mack. I also liked how he started to realize that Mack's way was the right way it was written very believably. Lesson in life - do not get drunk, sing while driving a military vehicle that is stolen. The two englishman so asked for it. Rather good gallows humor. Lesson 2 in life - if you are in an underground bunker in the wood do not flush the toilet especially while being hunted. Don't do it. Better to be rude but breathe but polite and dead.

Not as good as the first one although I liked Rourke more. Too know-it-all in the abstract in the first book but appropriately know-it-all in the field. I liked how we were going from Chicago, Georgia and Texas. The chronology in the first half was excellent. The major problem I had was suddenly the Russian troops interrupted the paramilitary/brigands war. How did the Russians know about this battle? We knew exactly what the Russians and KGB were doing in the first half but suddenly a chapter seemed to have been missing. Yes they were searching for the new Prsident and after Rourke's capture they were told about the spy. But until this point Ahern gave backgrounds on what was happening but last half really none. Also why Chicago as the base of ops for the Russians? Wouldn't a coastal city be far smarter? Richmond Va or Seattle? The coast still needs to be secure so why not put your operation base on the coast? Didn't make much sense.

This is such a fast paced novel that went from Pakistan, Moscow, an iceberg, Washington, Canada, New Mexico and Georgia. Now many writers would have made it into a mess but it was laser tight focusing on the events that lead right to WW3 which just lasted a few minutes. It also showed the bad mistakes that people made and how circumstances went out of control. I found it rather funny in an ironic way about Russia wanting to grab the Kyber Pass to secure Afghanistan so that the stream of Muslim fundamentalism would not get out of hand. Flashforward 20 years. If we had helped Russia secure Afghanistan 9/11 would never have happened or Bosnia or Gulf War 1 and 2. Too bad in reality the Russians didn't do this what started Total War in this novel. Two tiny nits that did annoy me a bit - the utter pervasiveness of smoking. I think if this would have been written today Ahern would not have had everyone smoking. A bigger one Rourke faced 40 brigands and he was in the middle. Why didn't they all open fire? Kind of dumb.

Stuart Jason hit a homerun with this novel. Truly fantastic - the best Butcher of the 6 I have read. Why was it so good. Pepper Howard. A villian yes but also the epitome of "good intentions gone awry" and why one never asks the Syndicate for help no matter how well intentioned you are. I liked also her 8 foot brother Goober who idolized Butcher. Pepper had known Butcher prior to his leaving the Syndicate. She had a crush on him and still loved him at the end. You learn a lot about Pepper and how she thought. A very unique girl. I liked how heartbroken he was when she used hemlock when she discovered how wrong her actions were. I too was heartbroken. A really well written character. I also liked the people and the stories told. These people for the most part were ignorant hillbillies. The moonshine driver was just a riot when he described why fed agents "kill themselves". They chase him down a mountain path and since he knows how to travel the winding roads and the feds usually don't they crash. He called that killing themselves and not his fault. Ok one annoying part of the novel is Pepper wanting to discuss oral sex. Remember even though she was well read and very bright she was an innocent. This part of the book is extremely embarressing to read. You could also see in the novel how easy it was for the syndicate to take advantage of these hillbillies. The fist fighting scene near the end especially when one of the wives wanted the hillybilly thug killed plus the bets on the fight - was very unique. I wish all the books were of the quality. Quirky characters, fair action and not a bad mystery. Ok the oral sex talk could have been omitted This book actually have changd my opinion on the series. Although Hollywood Assassin is not up to those standards yet - I am halfway done. If you read one Butcher novels this is the book to read.

A slightly above average Butcher novel. The action is fairly good. I liked the scene in the nudist spa. Butcher keeps his gun on his lap under a towel. Good way too hide it. Koosh. When he leaves Paris and goes to Mexico to rescue the daughter and her father the scientist it gets good. The daughter he rescues first and comes across as a brat who at one hand wants to save her father and also wants to go fighting with Butcher. The last 30 pages. Ok you learn a lot more then you ever needed to know about the garrote chair and how that was used as a execution chair by Latin American countries before they used the firing squad. The villian - the fake White Hat girl also buys it in the chair. Not a bad mystery which Butcher novels in a way are you learn as he learns. I liked the fact that no matter what he did in this novel he was always one step behind. Always arriving right after a source of info was killed or an ally was killed. Good level of frustration.

This makes me sad that a fantastic writer like McQuay is no longer with us. He wrote really fantastic Executioner novels. This and Day of the Vulture are two fantastic novels and had two of the best villians since the original mafia days. Blocker and his family. Well you know what they say "A family that slays together, stays together". What a "family". The daughter was a pure psychopath but did love her brother. I loved her reaction to taking up a new name - Zenna. Blockers kids that he raised since children were "adopted". Mack and beaurcrats - not a good combo. I liked how he just couldn't get through to them. I did like how he just blew up at the Senator who wanted to get him fired. Of course he wasn't a fed employee so you can't fire him. I didn't like how the Secret Service assigned to the Senator did not know who Mike Belasko was. I know the president gave him free reign in Rogue Force but no one got it that he was the Executioner. For a long time the president had a "shoot to kill" order during his lone wolf years and McQuay did write a few lone wolf books. Also how did Mack's assistant not mention or think "gee I am working with the Executioner" since Hal gave her his name. Odd. Hal knows that you can't put Mack on a short leash or any leash so why try? I was shocked that Mack kind of took it. The characters were great though - the senator, Blocker and his family especially. If Blocker and his family were not such great villians this would have gotten an 8. They made it a clear 9. I thought Day of the Vulture was an overall better story but for villians I kind of thought the Blocker family was more entertaining but that doesn't take anything away from the Vulture. Again sad he is no longer with us he would have been such a powerhouse writer to the series. I think we just have to enjoy th few that he wrote which were powerhouses.

This book follows true classics of Code of Dishonor, Blood Testament and Eternal Triangle. Ooops doesn't quite reach these books heights actually not even close. I did like this slightly better then Meltdown. Hal seemed so off in Meltdown that it really hurt the book. Does McDade know about Able Team and Phoenix Force? At one point Mack wonders who will continue his fight when he is gone. He mentions his brother Johnny and then he stops as if thats it. AT and PF both are his legacies. Also Mack thought of Hal as his only friend. What about Leo and the AT members? Bear? People who knew him for a long time or later friends like PF? The story was pretty dragged out. Meltdown was far faster moving. A lot had to do with whats going on in the mind of the characters. I liked the main villian and Collinsworth. Which more time was spent with that traitor in the CIA. In 1987 would the president drive pretty much unprotected in the streets of Dallas and in the same spot that Kennedy was shot? I believe the president would have ridden in bullet proof limos. Also not having Secret Service members on the roof tops of ever building? That was unbelievable. Also if you are going to through the trouble of shooting at the president why not actually shoot him? If the blame could have gone to the Executioner the president being dead would have helped the KGB. This part stretched all believability. The ending in the two compounds in New Mexico were pretty good and I did enjoy Albright. A basic rookie to death and mayhem and his reactions were believable. Would have made a good contact point in the CIA for the series. He did live. I also liked how Mack made mistakes. He should have listened to Albright instead of dismissing him. Yes Mack did lose his temper but his judgement flew out the window in that scene. Pretty funny when Mack heard Albright tell him that he waved to the jeep of Russian agents. Slightly above average novel. It probably would have been better as a 180 page novel. Pacing was not good.

Gotta agree with Monsta on this one - way too complex. Lets see fighting in Alaska - A US mercenary group hired by the CIA, Long Knives, drugged out criminals, a faction of Russians subdivided into 3 parts ie the head of the Alaska team, the assassin following Mack, the head's first officer freeing the criminals. Plus Mack and Jack. I would have left out the Long Knives this group yes added some comic relief but they took away overall from the novel and they seemed more appropriate for the Destroyer series. I wish instead of focusing on the Long Knives (as a subplot) they should have had a character or characters of the insane asylum be the focus instead. Who were these criminals? Lets face it the Long Knives was run by a short man with a Napoleanic complex - kind of blah. Still if the story just focused on the Russians, mercs and on the traitors it would have been more smooth. Why did the American traitors defect? A few scenes showing what went on in their mind would have been welcome. I am not sure why traitors would be tortured by the countries they are defecting to. The cuting off the fingers of the two American traitors didn't make sense. Lets see traitors volunteer for money, women etc to give info to the enemy. Why torture them when they volunteer info? Something was odd about this. Not taking points off though. A slightly above average novel.

This book has about 60 pages plot (at best) 160 filler. This should be a lesson 220 pages is not 500. 220 pages should be used wisely and with economy. 1) What in god's name was the point of 20+ pages of Judge Mayer and his lust for the court reporter? Was he really just a criminal's dream judge or was he being bought off? I don't know. Does Chuck Rogers know? 2) Why did we have to read pages 38-126? No reason to. Sure he found out about his former snitch/friend being killed but wouldn't it have been wiser if Hal sent him the letter and to verify if the dead man was his snitch? Why send in him Judge Mayer's courtroom. 3) Did we need 25 pages of Lyon sitting in a plane thinking of his time with a counselor when he fired his first bullet. Plus his opinion of Miami. It added nothing to the plot. 4) The bad guy Lola showed up with 20 pages to go and boom a shootout. At least 4 pages were devoted to how the guns work and how a bullet leaves a M-82 and something about Kentucky wind. 5) What happened to the FBI traitor? Was he caught later on? What happened to Judge Mayer and his lust for the court reporter? Was he paid? What happened to Lola's boss. Who tipped off the Cubans to AT's drug buy? 6) Is Chuck Rogers the First as opposed to our own Chuck the worst of the worst GE writers? Yes. Avoid, avoid, avoid. I have book 31 and seriously debating not reading it and just turning it in for trade.

This is the first AT novel I have read and let me just state that this action novel commits a huge sin - its dull as sin. The main villian Gunther is in exactly two scenes and thats it - an introduction of him and his death. On and on about Pol's life history - did his teacher catch him in what he wrote, a huge coincidink involving two hell's angels and Carl's girlfriend. Carl and his gf went to Napa Valley fought two thugs then both the thugs and girlfriend go on the exact same plane to New Orleans. Hal was never one to dance around words he sure did in this book. Also wasn't Carl Lyons married and have a kid? Rogers wrote the book as if he was never married and has no kids.

Lets see Hal knows that there are plans for anti-nuke/KGB to take over a nuclear power plant in NY 50 miles away from the city and on the Hudson River. Does he warn the plant? Nope. Does he have FBI agents watch the plant and more importantly be guarding? Nope. Even just using Mack as good as he is was one huge gamble and could have cost potentially hundreds of thousands of lives if the terrorists/KGB accomplished what they wanted. You mean to tell me that a high ranking Justice Department agent who talks to the president couldn't have gotten the place secured? It made utterly no sense. Also the guards at the plant. What were they doing at the time of the seize? Playing cards. Yes the book was published in 1987 but you would think there would have been better security. Hal's character just came across as off. I can never recall a time when he lied to Mack when asked a direct question. There was no reason to lie to him. Its been stated in numerious books prior that Hal would trust Mack with his life and would not lie to him. It just seemed like a different Hal in this book. The villians were pretty good especially Parsons who ended up allying with Mack and Rachel. The scene between Rachel and Parsons at the plant was an excellent scene. I even liked the hierarchy of the villians. Andrey was also a rather good KGB agent. Athough I do find it odd that Parsons never heard of Mack Bolan given that his war with the mafia was suppose to be national news and he was the number one wanted man. The entire storyline with the powerplant and Hal not doing anything to secure it came across as so dumb. Also Hal's character just seemed so off. I just have to read book 98 and will finish the 90s saga. Meltdown was so far the worst of the bunch. A solid 5.

This was a very unusual Destroyer novel. Very serious novel with only 3 humorous scenes. About half the book takes place on Death Row where Remo is suffering from amnesia believing he has been on death row for 20 years and his time is about up. The scenes with Remo and Popcorn were just so dreary and depressing. You knew Popcorn would be fried but Remo kind of felt sorry for him and he was just a little over 18. Although you find out Popcorn lied and he really raped and killed his sister. He claimed he killed his girlfriend that was in bed with his friend and he discovered them together on is birthday. He still deserved the frying though. Were there any light scenes? Just two. Chiun telling the Sinanju children about how whites landed on the moon was a riot. He said that when he approached Smith about this he discovered all the brought back was rocks. Chiun offered to go out and get rocks for them at half-price Smith thanked him but said the moon was fine. Lesson was that whites can learn from repeated stupid adventures and stop doing them. Getting ordinary rocks was the stupid repeated adventure. The taking back of Folcroft for Smith was good and having Chiun discover the treachery by a replacement and trying to regain Remo's memory was good. But still the last 30 pages could not replace the 100 odd pages of the death row storyline. Depressing to the max.

This is simply one of the best Bolan books. I think it ranks with The Trial. The characters were oh so well written. Edgar especially. He started out as such a spoiled arrogant young porn actor but slowly decided that there is more to life then making porn. Yes he stupidly became a hero to save Patricia but at least he decided to save himself and to do something. At the beginning I thought he would turn Mack and Johnny in. I agree with Monsta Mack yes Mack was in bed but still still so deadly and still at the advantage of the mob. Patricia Dane. I admit I was glad she got it at the end. Yes she was an innocent but she was so stupid and a princess. I felt no pity for her. Her parents yes not her. She did not want to be saved and did not even make an attempt. So different from Melody. I would like to know what happened to Melody. Opposite of PAtricia wanted to be saved and helped her friend to save herself. The action was good. The scene with Johnny infiltrating the Don's site was kind of funny. So unlike Mack's approach. I also thought it was funny how mad Mack was with him. Showed his strength was getting back. A really spectacular novel. What did if for me was believable character and character growth especially with Edgar. A good companion piece to Save the Children. This book gets an absolute 10 from me.

You need to read Sunscream first to understand the motivation with the Russian Antonin. This was one of the most unusual Bolan books I have read. This is also a rather difficult read since it is almost all description and very little dialogue. For dialogue probably the least of any Bolan book I have read. Also the details with the kayak and the shooting a lot is going. Its not like a shootout on the streets - its easy to imagine roads. A fast moving river with ice, lava, waterfalls and gunfights you need to read it carefully. The two agents were rather dull but noble. I couldn't believe the ending where the female agent's partner is dead and she is trying to get in Mack's pants. That seemed a bit unbelievable and rather cold. Along with being juvenile. That is my one real knock against the book. Mack and his friends descent and plans for blowing up the cave was very well written and very exciting. Overall one of the best Leslie novels.

A very lackluster Newton book especially for one glaring problem. Didn't he look at Sunscream which was about 3 books prior to this one or did he and decided he could do better? The 80s into early 100s seem very sequential yet this book is remarkably similar to Sunscream. Both books have the premise of the KGB wanting to use the mafia and create a unified force. I thought in fact Sunscream was a better novel overall. I liked the flow of Sunscream more. In Defenders I could not quite figure out why Mack was shot at so soon to his arriving. I thought the NY Don wanted him gotten rid of later on and still he made no real attempts at it. I liked how Mack created confusion in the manor. I also liked the russian and the French Interpol agent. He was a psycho. But still this plot was done before just 3 books back. Ok Sunscream had the most idiotic last 30 pages possible.

I wanted to Scream at the last 30 pages. The book until this point was rather good. The execution was tight especially with the idea of Mafia/KGB getting together. Although I thought Camarro and Mafia were mortal enemies. I hate, hate, hate contrived Act of God scenes. Mack is in trouble, two thugs holding him when boom right at that moment the volcano decided to erupt. This is a Bolan novel not a ERB novel. You can get away with that in a ERB novel (Edgar Rice Burroughs). To me that volcano exploding right at the ideal moment was just dumb and horribly unrealistic and kind of insulting to the reader. Couldn't the volcano erupted before Mack was caught? Or create a seperate storyline where Mack has to go to an area where a volcano was erupting to save someone? Not as an act of God ending. The villians were pretty good and it was interesting how Mack figured out how to "kill" the French cop at the conference. A 7 until the volcano erupted. A 1 for the ending/Act of God. A 4 overall.

I liked this book. I did not swallow the premise at all about the bioweapon that was developed during WW2 that could kill Chinese but not Japanese. I thought a) during WW2 that technology that could do this would have been impossible and b) I can't imagine that a disease like this could be created. You do have to really pay attention since the narrative jumps all the time from character to character. Especially when they all start converging in the Chinese caves. I really liked Mun and Hu. They really were interesting character Mun a tight seemingly cold female spy who wanted to destroy the virus and Hu the helicoptor pilot determined to save her. Think 70s Italian movie Swept Away. Sorry thats what I thought of. I assume that lived happily ever after or was he the guy with no feet that was given the disease? Not sure. I assume he had frostbite in his feet and lost them. Vesh was also a good character a poor slob/villian that you just couldn't help but cheer especially against the Russian Strakhov. I think a chapter was needed to fully explain why Mack was so drugged out at the end that he gave a speech stating he was no long an American citizen. This was a horribly written section. The last 20 pages. Suddenly boom he is in a hospital drugged out 2 pages later he "awakens" and goes on a killing spree/arson and saves the day. The action was sparse. Hu and the wolves were the best action part along with some of the cave scenes. A good first try. Would have liked to have seen him write more.

Nowhere near as good as Shock Waves 81. Here is why. 1) Repeating scenes from Shock Waves. In SW he goes into a money operations place and says that the police are coming and walks out with the money. In this book he was to a gambling place tells them that the police are coming and walks out with the money. 2) Giambi had to have been the stupidest Don ever written. He and his heir storm the NY bosses joint. He knows Mack is doing the work for him but nope he has to fave the boss himself for some vengence. Although the phone calls between Giambi and Mack were funny. 3) Stone made for an interesting enforcer and liked how he read through the Omega scheme of Mack's. 4) Doesn't the mafia get it by now that kidnapping is not wise when Mack is in town. You would think they would know by now. I am not a fan of kidnapping stories. Too cut and dry and lets face it kidnapping tends to be more dumb then anything else. 5) I did like Mack's practical thinking that a small hood like Giambi was far less harmful then having a NY boss take over a small base like St Louis. Not as good as Shock Waves and nowhere near as good as The Trial or Blood Testament. Although Trial and Blood Testament seem to be continuations of these stories. Still this book is just a slightly above average mafia story. Read book 81 first though.

Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzz Is it time to wake up ma? God this was one dreadfully boring Mack novel. I hate reading a novel and keep looking up at the page number to see how far I had to go before the ending. 1) Rafe tells his uncle about Mack? Isn't Stony Man suppose to be a secret? Isn't Mack and what Rafe do suppose to be secret? Isn't telling an uncle who is involved with the anti-Castro movement dangerous? Lets have a terrorist kidnap the uncle if he suspects something is up with his nephew and boom secrets are told. 2) The beginning was interesting with Mack going after those two drug dealers. That was it though. 3) Lets see someone you know goes through a lot of trouble tracking you down and says their life is in danger. So what do you do? Go to a funeral in Europe or try to save a life? Lets see. Hmmmm. Mack's character is one that would have cancelled going to the funeral since their was nothing he could do for the duchess and help the poor slob which is something he could do something about. So out of character for Mack. 4) The shark scene wasn't bad but why follow that up with your next opponent be eaten by a leopard? Too much animal eating in one book. One scene fine two scenes pushing the limits. 5) Wow going in and out of Cuba is so easy. 6) For villians you had a potentially interesting villian with the preacher instead focus on a cuban drug dealer. A drug dealer that was kind of ordinary. Such a waste. A really poor and very boring novel. Shark scene was good and the first chapter. Thats it.

This was at times a good Remo novel but two huge problems - wicked short with large type and skipping pages for chapters it seemed Murphy took a novelette and expanded it to barely novel length. The second problem - oh so dated. Ok you really have to be very familiar with late 70s politics and the antics of Billy Carter - Jimmy Carter's brother. If you were born after 1980 or too young to recall the Carter administration the reference will not make too much sense. Trust me if Billy Carter had gone missing the first person suspected would have been Jimmy. Warren does get these two perfectly. Overall a fairly standard adventure although Chiun's previous master story does fall flat - usually his historical tales are much better. I also liked the former British spy too and loved how she realized that she was at the end of the game. Her personal history is rather funny. Also the Libyan agents approaching the president's brother is rather funny - they believe he is powerful and all they want is a little nuclear power plant.They also believe rescueing him will give them what they want. One of the weaker novels. If you see it you can finish it in 2 sittings. A little bit over 2.5 hours. Read this and Executioner #81 and should be done both in a day and a morning.

This was one excellent Newton novel and a truly fine mafia tale. This is a continuation of Pendleton's mafia saga. I loved that they brought back Sally from Mack's old days. Now she is a moll for the Seattle boss. The Marinello family line was strange but fitting. It seems that Augie was one randy Mafia don. The action was top-notch. I do wish that not every mob boss was wiped out. I would have liked to have been wiped out. I did like the scene when they realized Mack was back. Until then I liked how they blamed the Marinello for attacking them but then they were not entirely sure. Overall matches with the best of Pendleton's Newton really matched his style and story perfectly. A 10.

I really enjoyed this novel. I do need to hunt down that trilogy 59, 61 and Day of Mourning? I liked the fact that it involved Hal, Mack and Leo. I really like it when Leo is involved. Too many books are just Leoless. The good parts are the: 1) Scenes with Helen Brognala. I really liked how we came to know about her more and how she percieves her marriage and Hal. Sadly we still no absolutely nothing about the kids. I would have liked to have had a scene when they were fashioning their weapons and get into their heads a bit. 2) The action was very tight. I really think Mack did the absolutely right thing blowing away that pervert with the young boy. God what animals were in that compound. 3) I really like that journalist. She seems to have been forgotten about. She and Mack would have made a nice couple. 4) Cameron and Nick. Two rather ok villians. For a mafioso Nick was a bit shallow. Maybe more scenes with Nick and not those scenes with the madam prior to Mack's entrence. 5) I also would have liked a scene with Mack and Helen being introduced by Hal. But then it probably was best not to have a scene like that. 6) The scene with Mack calling up Leo after Mack hit the NY Don seemed very contrived. It would have been more believable with Leo contacting Mack and Mack returning his call. Just a very good novel. I still think The Trial is a far better Newton novel but still this novel was very good.

There were some really good parts to this novel and some equally as bad. Good: 1) Mack going back to his old stomping grounds - Stony Man Farm. This was a truly emotionally written scene. I loved how Newton went through Mack's emotions about going home. Then meeting Bear and all his old friends. The reunion with Jack was rather funny. 2) The battle scene between the rogue military officers and the contras against Stony Man forces and Honduras troops. Newton really knows how to write a battle scene. Easy to follow and did not get lost. Poor Mack and Pol stuck on the wrong side and trying to get back. The bad: 1) Mack and Barbara barely meet and the following evening Barbara is surprising him in his bed. Sorry but this was so juvenily written. It begged the question "ok Barbara really doesn't at this point know Mack's history so does she sleep with all the members of Stony Man"? Plus Mack is not Bond I swear I have seen this countless times in Bond movies. Although I did find the last scene with Barbara picking Mack up in Washington a nice rather adult written scene. 2) Pol being such a babe magnet and the juvenile triangle story he got himself into. Ruiz a smart strategist was also the stupidest man when it came to women. 3) The head bad guy who was earlier portrayed as a rather cautious prudent man albeit psycho suddenly decided to kill the president in a rushed matter. This seemed to contradict the first intro to his character. I also found the story way too dragged out. I would have dumped the entire Pol triangle story and concentrated solely on Mack's mission. Maybe some mention of what Pol was doing but not in such detail. A very average novel except for the exceptional scene with Mack's reunion at Stony Man. That was very well written along with the final battle. But that was it. Price surprising Mack in bed just insulted my intelligence as a reader - that scene dropped the novel a few points

I thought this was a really good novel. A very solid 8. I liked the storyline where Mack had to figure it out as he went along. It was not a straight forward adventure. He only got bits and pieces of info then had to slowly put them together and too often the info like the imprisoned man and the missile were deceptions. The characters were also very good. Gunther though has an annoying tendency to make female characters like Arisa to be tough, smart but oh such a soft heart for Mack. Mack is not Bond. Very annoying aspect to his novels. Lets see so far from the Gunther books I have read about a German, Isreali, English, French and now Japanese all with those character traits. The villians were fantastic. I liked Pak and the billionaire Japanese character. They totally did not trust each other and both competent. I also liked how good guys die just as easily as villians. It shows that yes Mack is a fantastic fighter but also how very good American fighters can die against villian fighters. Sometimes I think that maybe Mack just fights against idiots but seeing Strack and the NSA man die I realize that maybe Mack is really from talent, knowledge and experience really the best of the best. I give this book an 8 just really for the fact that Gunther's female characters seem annoyingly too similar.

Scmidt wrote one of the best novels - Devil's Horn and now one of the worst if not the worst. 1) Were Powers, Greevey and McClintian left overs from Renegade Force? I swear these rogue lawmen were identical to the ones found in the far better Renegade Force. Powers though was a really good psycho. 2) The book sets you up with the villian briefly mentioned by arab terrorists known as the Messanger who these arabs believe is like god himself. None of the white american terrorists think that though. Odd. Now how many scenes are with the Messanger? Two plus two phone calls. Who is he? Why is he doing this? Why does he have a hold on these terrorists? Totally undeveloped. 3) But we know way too much about the Sudan leader who is really nothing more then a landlord to the terrorist moneyman - one of the wimpiest, spoiled vllians I have ead. Sayyid is described in aboundance detail, we know about his cruelty to women, his murderous attacks on the poor plus how can you not have pages about his love for crocadiles. Sorry Sayyid was really a nothing character - a landlord. 4) Powers was shooting up drug users, homeless and drug dealers. Mack let him live? Why? If Schmidt wanted to show Mack as capable of erring this was not the way to do it. It was a one second decision to kill him. Greevey his partner could have just as easily lead Mack to the other partners. Why let Powers to kill other innocents. Moronic writing. This was pretty much why I gave the book a one - it was so nonsensical why Powers lived. Also the part about Sayyid was such a waste of reading and knowing so little about the Messanger.

Not a bad book. I really liked how Leo Turrin had a really big role in the novel and how he was involved in the witness protection program. I also liked the enemies although they were unbelievably dumb. What precisely was the point in killing people in the witness protection program and getting money to do the hits by the mafia? Except for Leo the Justice Department really didn't notice it. I can think of a whole lot of easier ways this 4th Reich group could have made money. Ris' caretaker didn't know that Helene and Ris were brother/sister? Helene was in a sexual relationship with her brother and even though there were about 4 scenes focusing on her we didn't know it? Ris also was a rather dull villian. I hate more then anything else a rescue or stopping of a plot withen seconds to it being pulled off. Very cheesy and very unbelievable. Mack stopping Ris from killing the presidents and Gorbechev at the last possible moment was very unbelievable. Also I really liked the scenes with Hal and that rising agent. It was interesing reading how Hal is put on the spot about Mack and how he has to cover for him. OVerall a very average book. The best scenes were with Leo and Hal. The ending was horrible, the nazi's were idiots and the incest angle could have been dumped. I do not know how accurate the portrayel of General Rommel was. I will assume Mel Odom portrayed him accurately. The first chapter was a very interesting scene showing the last night in Rommel's life. Read the book for the Hal and Leo scenes. Even the mafia scenes are good. It would have been a far better novel focusing on the killing of the witnesses then a silly 4th Reich novel.

Sorry people but I thought this was the one of worst written Bolan book period. It also shows what a good editor will do. The chapter Apologia to me drove this book down to a three. This chapter just drove an otherwise good novel to a scretching halt. The flow of the novel was rather good until we came to this chapter. Why? Pendleton decided to write 4 pages on what is a soldier and how war is the first artform. Is this from the mind of Bolan? Nope. Does it further the novel? Nope? It is nothing more then an editorial piece on what war is. Also the last page of this chapter where Pendleton says this is the World of Bolan? It seems written for people who don't like the series. It had no place in the novel. If Pendleton wanted to do this as dialogue about what a soldier is thats fine and it would fit. If Pendleton wanted to write a Author's Introduction and do this that would have been fine and interesting or better yet a War Journal chapter like in novel #14. Did I otherwise like the novel? Yes. Did Pendleton destroy the novel with this chapter? Yes. He broke voice and rythm. The description on what a turkey is was very good and the small world concept of how Bruno found Mack and how they knew each other in Vietnam. I also liked the description of Mack as a child from his classmates. Also how he started the novel seemed bad. REferring to this book as installment 17. It seems like these novels were someone's journal kind of like the author is a character. I agree it added to the mystique of Bolan but it was done very poorly especially with that Apologia chapter.

This is an exceptional Bolan novel. I liked how this story showed what Bolan may have been like if his war with the mafia was about blind hatred. Stanton and his Deliverence buddies on the surface wanted what Mack wanted in his mafia war. But scratch the surface and this was really about blind hatred and vigilantism that was about racial superiority and they didn't care if innocents or good cops died in their way. Basically vigilantism without a conscience combined with racial hatred. I like the character Daly and how he wanted justice like Mack did when his family died but Daly let his desire for justice eat him alive and turn his desire into a suicide run. Yes his death was foreshadowed with how reckless he was. I did wish Daly had lived but him living would have made no sense since he really wanted not just revenge but he didn't really care about living and wanted to be with his dead wife and son. The action was quite good and intelligent in terms of killing of the Deliverence people a chunk at a time so they would lead Mack to HQ. The book gets a 10 for characters and how Stanton and Deliverence was a Bolan and a Stony Man but went down the path of hate and lack of conscience. For Daly a Bolan but one who self-destructed and who sought his own death to kill Stanton. Plus good logical action. Schmidt's best book I have read since his earlier novel Devil's Horn. DH is still an overall better novel but as a Bolan novel this is a 10 novel.

Lets see Warbird - a scientist is kidnapped with his daughter. Mack and a German female agent have to rescue them. Lets see Fear Rally - a diplomatic is kidnapped. Mack and a French female agent have to rescue him. Now lets see Ring of Retaliation - a diplomat is kidnapped. Mack and a English female agent has to rescue her. Gunther uses the same premise for Mack to go on a job - kidnapping all with a different female international agent. The way he uses to kidnappings to weave a story do make the stories different. I like RoR story the best but the agent being a former lover of McCarter just goes nowhere. Why didn't McCarter go to Greece instead of Grimadli? Wouldn't it have been nice to see a bit of character exploration in terms of how he deals with an old lover. I really liked the character of Helanos. This was a really interesting villian. In many ways it seemed like if he wasn't a terrorist he and Mack would have been great friends. Gunther does a good job in showing the thin line between good and evil. Helanos was not a pure villian. He genuinely cared for 17 November members and did really try to be a friend to Mack. Even his goal for Greece seemed noble but somehow his way of doing it got twisted. Yet he treated that elderly English diplomat rather brutally. If it wasn't for the fact that when reading the start I just thought "didn't I read this before - twice?" just annoyed me and the fact that the agent and McCarter's past was just barely mentioned then forgotten really seemed like a lost opportunity. Also Warbird's scene with the German agent and Jack saving Mack at the last minute in a car was repeated here except of course a different setting. One more book by Gunther that starts off with a kidnapping and Mack has to rescue the person will be the last novel I read by him.

Ok this book should be the model of how all Bolan books should be written. Yes there was a logic problem which was how did he get from San Fransisco to Boston in one day with all his weapons. I also had a problem about how he knew where and who owned all the small mafia shops when he first hit Boston. Here is what all books should have: The Record: A one chapter journal by Mack on what he is doing and his thoughts on the case. This to me was such a brilliant idea. I really loved this concept. Yes after 400+ novels his thoughts on life could get repetitive but why not about the case itself and his thoughts on the case. I don't even think any books today mention he keeps a journal. -------------------------------------- I also loved how out of control Mack was when he believed Val and Johnny were dead. I also loved how later writers stuck to the impulsiveness of Johnny and how at times he just doesn't think. His act of bravado protecting Val's honor was idiotic and could have been answered with a bullet. Also telling a classmate about who is big brother is was so idiotic it defy's mentioning. This is the same Johnny in Death Has a Name and Resurrection Day. All 3 novels I wanted to slap him. I swear he is a Bolan just in name. I also liked how Val finally understood what Mack is fighting for. She is a great woman that Mack has in his corner. I also liked how Leo's character is growing and how tough it must be to play 3 sides and be in balance. Mack's side, letting the mafia think he is on their side and being with the Justice Department. Even though this books had some logic flaws the strength of how Mack was written and that tremendous chapter The Record makes it a 10.

Like Carribean Kill it had one huge flaw - the ending. Both books had a nebulous kingpin that was not really part of the Mafia but pulled the strings. Both novels had the characters killed. But do we know anything about them? Nope. What I loved about the book was the sense of humor it had. The totally confused Mack with the porn girls was a riot. Poor Mack he seemed so uncomfortable with them. Also China Doll was a fun character. She seemed a bit confused and way over her head but stuck with Mack all the way through. Another big problem was Pendleton saying that Mack fought in Korea. How? I thought Korea ended in 52. Mack would have been 10 years old. Book was published in 1972 and Mack is 30 during his California Hit.

Rather good book - I have not read books 5-9 though. The action was almost nonstop. The scenes with Evita were very good and I think she made a good partner to Mack. Of course the growing bond between Mack and Grimaldi was what made this book shine. I hated the ending though. Lets see Mack went to Haiti tore through a mansion and killed the big boss. A boss who we did not know except by a code and thats it. What did not know what he really did, what he thought nothing. Bam you're dead. We just knew he was a huge international kingpin.

Ok I really did not like this novel. It had very good action scenes although 2 car chase scenes in a row was a bit repetitive. What I hated most was the almost literal cast of thousands. I don't want to have to keep a scorecard on who is who and what triad they belong to. The ultimate problem is that you really don't know any of the villians. General Lu had the potential of being a top notch villian along with his mother but North bounced to the Triad Chui and the underboss bounced to Marcel then bounced to the Russian Don. I like to know the villians maybe have one or two main villians. Instead he had around 5 main villians and I really couldn't get inside anyone's head. Personally I would have dumped the Russian angle. It really wasn't needed and added just excess bulk plus diluted character depth to the main story. If the story would have focused on Mack disrupting the Triads and the General. Learning more about the General, his mother and scenes with his father the senator it would have been so much better. I also liked the DEA agent and how he wanted revenge on the Triad's for what they did to his brother and sister-in-law. Also how did Lu's mother get killed? Her character seemed to have been being built up then poof she is dead and her scene with Mack was terrorific but I would have liked a confrontation at the end between Mack and her. It would have been an 8 but that Russian storyline to me just took away from what really could have been a great story.

Dan Schmidt wrote the best Bolan novel ever which was Devil's Horn. I have read couple of others by him and not one lived up to that book. This book had potential. 1) The Serbian colonel was a pure psychopath. His scene with in the car with the dead Karina was pure lunacy. But I am not sure why he wanted to use the dirty nukes on Macedonia and start a Serbian war. He was Serbian so why start a nuclear exchange with Serbia in the middle. I understood his going after the Iranian mob, Italian mafia and that African-American mob but the nuke story didn't make much sense. I know it could have started WW3 but if the world knew the cause it would have been nipped in the bud. 2) The action scenes were very well done. The casion scene was great. 3) The Russian mob boss and the underboss had really great phone conversations. The underboss was also a fun character. Totally annoyed with the circumstances. As he would have put it a runaway train. 4) The scenes with the Secretary of Defense, Gray Man and the general was really not needed. The characters were so undeveloped and didn't really make sense what place they had in the storyline. Yes they would have loved to have seen WW3 because America wasn't great? We could have done without these 3 or place them at the end when Bolan came knocking. 5) Speaking of the ending why did Bolan go in after the General, American Colonel and the SecDef? Two were killed - one suicide and he cpatured te SecDef. Why? Shouldn't this mop up be done by the Feds? Hal had the info which he could have just handed to the FBI to book them. With Bolan capturing SecDef it just seemed like it needlessly risked Bolan's cover. If I was the SecDef's lawyer at trial I would have called Bolan as a witness for the arrest and as the shooter. It just seemed stupid. 6) When two people are on the phone for 3 pages it would be nice to know who is talking. I hate having to figure out who is who. Two chapters were like this. Bolan/Hal and the two traitors at two points i had to count back to see whose dialogue it was.

Ok did the old Indian shaman miss the line for his Destroyer role and entered into the Executioner novel by mistake? It is obvious that he fits into a Destroyer novel not an Executioner novel. A "vision thing" about a man that will come and save the indian village is totally out of place with an Executioner novel. I kept expecting Remo to show up at any minute. The villians were good especially the snake loving Engels. I also loved how Mack dealt with the fiancee and later with that indian young man. I especially loved how he wanted to punch that young man when he froze in battle with a RPG. It was very realistic. I hated the ending though. Very contrived with the fiancee just happening to show up out of the blue to kill Travers. That desert was large and her to just happen upon Mack and the others didn't make sense. I also hate when the bad guys capture the hero and do they kill the hero right away? Nope? Do they tie him up? Nope? Do they think of a perverted way to kill the hero? Yup. Sorry but when Mack was captured they should have instantly just shot him not transport him to the snake pit giving him ample time to figure out an escape. A slightly above average story brought down by the shaman's vision which did not fit in this series and a really contrived ending. A very solid 7. Read Devil's Horn a far better Schmidt novel and one of my favorite books of the series.

I was so lost in this novel. I thank god Bolan seemed just as confused as I was. Way too many countries and almost seemed too easy especially the overthrow of that African country. That could and should have been way longer and harder -maybe that should have been the entire plot without hitting 3 continents and 6 countries including Washington and Florida. The only two reasons why it is getting a five is: 1) The reporter. I loved that chapter where he described Bolan and how he took out that opium plant in Montenegria. 2) The escape from South Africa. It actually seemed like the writer either had been to SA or used a geography book and atlas of the area. Although I could be wrong but it seemed very believable.

I really hated this novel. This could have been an exceptional novel but Cunningham blows it with little things and rather juvenile scenes. 1) Manny Marcello tells Angela that the mafia would never allow women to handle anything in the business. Yet in Chicago a woman Jay Lupo is the drug czar. So what is it? Why was Lupo the drug czar? Also why was there a picture of her with 7 rather major characters? She really was never physically described and was in 2 pages and mentioned by name only once before. Chet really could have explained a bit why a woman was in charge of drugs in Chicago. This was so blatantly inconcistant and sloppy. 2) The Angela storyline was annoyingly juvenile. The scene where she and the girls are together in her bedroom and she takes off her blouse to get comfortable and she reveals a pink bra. This seemed to have been aimed at horny 13 year old boys. Also why did she go to Acalpuco with her galpals when she just insisted to father to take over one of his clothing shops? Shouldn't she have been at her shop and from there discuss with her galpals how to earn extra income? Also why wasn't her shop mentioned again? I know she burnt down her competitors store. Sloppy. With the drugs she got why didn't she think that would be a great way to launder drugs through her shop? That would really have proven how good she and her galpals were instead of the one-time payment from her dad. 3) Johnny Bolan is a shmuck. Lets see he is in love with Sandy. Yet he goes swimming with a topless Angela? Why didn't he say "Angela you are very pretty but please this is not appropriate and I really must leave". Also he knows how dangerous the mafia is so he doesn't get in touch with Leo to ask him for help after Karl is attacked? Also at the end Johnny tells Mack that Manny's office is on the second floor of his home because that is what Angela told him. Huh? I reread those scenes with Johnny and Angela nowhere did she say that. This is a kind of line that really should have been in. Extremely sloppy. When Johnny found out that Angela was Manny's daughter and Manny was in the mafia why in god's name did Johnny tell her this. Stupid idiot. His idol worship of Mack was good but his really stupid handling of the mafia made me think he learned little from Mack. Why he didn't immediately call up Leo to ask his help after Karl was attacked was recklessly stupid. No way could Johnny handle the mafia alone. The turkey scene with Sandy was disturbing. I don't know why they just didn't kill her in their apartment then kill Johnny when he arrived home. 4) The scenes with Karl I liked the best. This was just an average Joe yet because he accidently witnessed something he should not have seen he is plagued by the mafia. Karl was the type of person who Mack fights for. 5) The Lebanon scene was also fantastic and thought it was very well written. 6) Mack well he killed the guy with the scar way too fast. He was absolutely ruthless even killing that old woman drug dealer. I think it was also sheer luck that he didn't shoot at Johnny. I thought in many ways the attack of the drug line almost seemed by the numbers. I just thought in many ways it was a sloppy novel and the juvenile writing at times - the ones involving Angela especially - took down the book. I also hated the entire Angela storyline. I give it a 3 only because of the Lebanon scene and Karl Darlow a character I really thought that came across as a well written victim of the mafia.

I really did not think this book was nearly as good as the first three novels. 1) Lack of a real 3d villian. Ciro didn't really cut it as a main villian and we knew something about the 2 brothers but didn't really have any scenes with them. 2) I did like the Cuban expatriats they were a fun bunch they cried too much either through joy or sadness which was annoying, Margaurite what a great female ally to have far better then the females we saw in this book. Bimbos mainly. God do these mafia men love bimbos. Its a shame that the head cuban wasn't Rafe - it could have been fun making that link. 3) Ciro what an idiot. I know he wanted to get rid of the competition but his ploy to kill a capo to solidify his control was so idiotic. At least the brother figured it out although a chimp could have figured it out. 4) The police force. They were doing there job. Actually some of the best scenes were with them trying to come to grips on what to do and their reaction to the Feds telling them to lay off. 5) I also liked the social commentary. This book acknowledged that our nation was in turmoil with the antiwar movement and how we dealt with Vietnam vets. I especially liked that scene with the police captian and the detective talking about what Bolan was doing and how the captain associated Bolan with his kid. Also looked into killing bad guys on the streets to killing bad guys in Vietnam. If it had better villians and more scenes with the brothers it may have scored an 8. So just a 7.

This truly should have been a 220 page novel. This book was overall good but extremely padded. The scene in the graveyard and later in the airport was just so boring. Do we really have to have the same scene replayed from 2 perspectives? It breaks up the flow. I liked how there was one main villian Ulric and how he was on a lifetime vendetta against the Katz family. I think in some ways this novel would have worked better by actually having a section of the book in Dachau and in the post Bolchevik Russia just to get more indepth into Katz' dad. Also how could Mack and Katz get foiled repeatedly by one man whose guns kept failing him. Sheesh. I could understand a group holding off M/K but not one man. Sharon seemed like a sweet girl and would love to see her again. Its also nice learning about the Katz family. The end scene was a bit heartwrenching though. I hope that Katz goes back and really whollops that Mossad agent for nearly getting his daughter killed. I am giving this book a good review for the fact that we really do learn a lot about Katz and his family history. The padding though really brings down the book to an 8 along with how Mack and Katz got so easily foiled.

I thought overall this was a very good book. 1) The scenes with Mack and the students were wonderful. Mack seems like he would have been perfect in this life as a teacher. I also loved it when he talked to Hal about teaching. 2) Grady was an excellent villian and I can imagine there are a lot of children of mafia and other groups whose fathers died to Mack would want revenge. 3) The scenes getting the job was good. Action packed but nonlethal - ya really can't kill jerks of this world. 4) Grady was a really good psychopath. I wish some time was spent with him and Marla. Also wouldn't it have been better tying Grady with the imbeciles then include Gudonov? What I did not like: 1) The imbeciles creating the drug then admitting they wanted to use it in Vegas to make money and the concept of having the students kill their parents if they were caught snooping. The headmasters belong in a Destroyer novel. 2) What I really had a beef with was how Mack played games with the bad guys. Not just shooting Grady was idiotic. With a beach with witnesses and putting the leash on him made no sense. Grady was running around on fire. Bolan should have just shot him at point blank range. He needlessly risked innocents. Also the scene in the doctor's office made no sense. Bolan should have just shot the bodyguards as they were walking into the office then shot their boss.

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.

Sorry but I cannot go higher then a one. The book was published in 03/02. Gunther used a real person and group ie Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Obviously he wrote it prior to 9/11. My question is who was the idiot at GE who allowed it published. 9/11 is just way too big to ignore in 03/02. GE should have immediately sent it back to Guenther for reediting or had a simple page at the start where they give credit to World Health Org a line underneath simply stating "Story takes place prior to the tragedy of 9/11." Also I seriously cannot see Bin Laden hiring any women to work in his labs no matter how brilliant they are. Bin Laden is a fundamental Islamist. Again a danger of using real people in a story. The story itself was ok. Bolan teamed up with a brilliant female German officer in Warbird and now in this novel a brilliant but utterly flaky French officer. The German female officer was far better written and more believable. The villians seemed almost too alike. Again like Warbird two main villians one subserviant to the other but still in Warbird they were far more interesting. These two liked it each other too much so as a result they could have been one character. I found it hard to believe that Bolan who was 187th after 2 legs of the race was not disqualified. I thought in rally races if you do not come to a certain place you get cut from the race. 187 is really far to the back. But then I could be wrong. Also this seemed way too much of a Bond type novel. The one score is aimed far more at GE for utter laziness then against the writer. If this was pre9/11 published probably a 4. Warbird is a far better Guenther novel.

I gave Death Has A Name by the same author and I gave it a 9. This novel was even better. This book was of course action packed but also examined the concept of honor. Hashi and Bolan could have been really great allies. But their concept of honor was so distinct that it left then on a collision course. Hashi thought it was about family history and ideals even if those sacrificed innocent people and his own daughter. Yes in some ways he was a very sympathetic villian which is exceedingly rare in this series. You could imagine a young man wracked with guilt over not only hiding out instead of fighting but knowing 2 cities nuked. Keep in mind this is Japan a land where honor/face and tradition along with culture is very different from our own. I also felt so sorry for Junko. Blind loyalty to her father even though she knows what he is doing is wrong yet got herself killed following his orders. I could just feel Bolan's heartbreak when he had to kill her and give her a mercy shot. Junko was really a victim to her father then a victim to Bolan. Bolan was not the confident man seen in so many novels but a man torn and made mistakes like not taking in Japanese thinking more and let his emotions rule him in terms of Junko. Even though he saw Johnny make the same mistake in Death Has A Name. Really an exceptional novel.

This was an exceptional book. I really liked the examination of who Mack is. The Sabra woman in Isreal calling him crazy was an interesting comment. He does have to be a little bit crazy to fight an almost unwinnable war like this. The villians well the Arabs seemed like ordinary Arab villians nothing really stood out. The scene where the Arab willingly blew out his brains was odd. I know there are some who will blow themselves up in order to take out others but for doing it just to make a point. Seemed just odd. Also suicide bombers seemed to have been coming out of the woodwork. I know there are many in reallife who do this but this many? The mafia guy. Evil but it was interesting that line about common criminals don't kill women and children was a good comment. I liked how the writer showed that as evil the mafia is at least there is a line they won't cross. Also did the mafia boss's daughter ever get married. The real downside is what a freaking idiot Johnny was. Maybe there was a reason Mack went alone without him? Calling up the Sabra girl to meet him was beyond idiotic. She died for absolutely no reason and Johnny was 100 percent responsible for getting her killed. At least he has to live with it. Mack what a great characterization. Really liked how he came in terms with fighting and religiion. Religion is usually not looked at in the novels but his views on religion was examined. The action was also good especially the scene at the Wailing Wall. Overall a very supurb novel. Not perfect but close.

Not a big Newton fan but this book was a masterpiece. Why? 1) It showed why Bolan works in the system. Without his taking out and disrupting mafia families allows people like Kendricks, Stone and Price to do their jobs. This book explained why the legal system is bent towards the mafia and crime syndicates and how impossible it is to go after them. Granted in the real world people like Bolan would not survive very long. 2) The courtroom systems were gripping. The explanation of what a turkey was was totally chilling and the reaction by Stone and the others were believable. Did the book have much action? No maybe 30 pages total out of 250. The villians though were dumb. Did they ever hear of "attempted" jailhouse breakout where a guard accidently leaves a door open and then opens fire against the prisoner. Dumping a second prisoner in the same cell as Bolan was idiotic. This should have sent it a point down but the book worked just so well and really fantastic characterizations. I liked how this really examined who Bolan was especially in the minds of the good guys like Stone and Price. One of the best Bolan books period.

favorite scene when Remo I mean Bolan tied up Tanaka. I thought what Chiun would have said "about time leaving the noisy one behind you pale piece of pigs ear". Sheesh was she noisy and so immature. Hal really must do maturity tests. Mack when it comes to relationships came across as so immature. His "she likes me but do I like her" moments were annoying. Especially when he was heading into the Fortress and realized that oh she really likes him. Not the time to think about that. He knew how immature she was so why have sex with her. It just encouraged her. The action was good I do think he badly bungled it with the two elderly citizens. Also since he was in charge why did he allow Tanaka to overrule him with the cop? If he acted like the leader the cop would still be alive. The scene in the fortress with it blowing apart which Bond film did this come from? Dr No? Kind of reminded me of that. Bond deals with women better. I did like the fact that a lot of the novel dealt with Hal. I liked how he figured out who the traitor was. I would have liked more scenes with Abigail. Maybe a scene talking to her son on the phone. Like "Hello mommy", "How's my little soldier boy", "Great America is about to be destroyer", "I am so proud of you son. All grown up." Do this in the voices of Johnny Bravo and his mother. Also since Jack flew 800 miles to pick Mack/Tanaka up why didn't he fly them the 800 miles to the fortress? Robbins would make a rather decent Destroyer novelist. His characters tend to be quirky and interesting. Evil Alliance and Invisible Invader comes to mind. He also writes funny dialogue. The cop, Tanaka and Bolan provided a rather funny scee. Read Evil Alliance its a better Robbins novel.

I really loved this book for one main reason - great characters and humor. I loved the fact there was a good female villian called Madame Rhee. Wish there were more scenes with her though. I also wished Mack had dealt with her and not Hal who had were arrested. Cruel sadistic woman. Sin Fang was also a very good villian. Very tough and believable. He wasn't all evil but really cared about his nephew and Kon-Li. Walker who basically thought with another piece of anatomy was a funny character especially when he decided to be a hero and realized that the brothel was not all he thought it was - especially the women. It was also nice seeing an interesting "ally" in Hin. His scenes with Soh were very funny. Hin was an honorable North Korean government killer who teamed up rather believably with Mack because they were both hunting down the same man. Kiri Tanaka looked like she would have been a fun character but since she is in War Load which I think I will read next I will hold judgement. I tend not to like SM novels since too many seem like dragged out 220 page novels but this had a large cast of characters - very good characters and humor to lighten the book up. Also I liked the fact that Mack had to think through the fights and not fight 12 men at once and have hundreds off misses but Mack gettin all of them. He was more a hunter/stalker slowly eating away at the enemy and not just blasting in. It makes him a far more believable character. Does Robbins know what a cell phone is? His books tend to be absent them. Hope War Load is different.Although in Invisible Invader in 2001 he also left out this device and there it was just absurd. I hate giving 10s and it would have gotten a 9 but it made me laugh in a few spots and Madame Rhee was a fun villian. Actually all the characters were believable and had depth something too many books lack.

I never thought I would read a dull Destroyer novel but I have now. This book seemed like a novelette then a novel. There was not much to the book and worst the book contradicted book 1 with the meeting with MacCleary. It was nice seeing Remo's Vietnam past meet his present life with the insane commander of the monastary. But it seemed forced how Remo had a flashback about his days in Vietnam before he sees the commander. The villians were dull and the humor limp. Chiun believed Smith really sent them to Santa Fe so he could meet a soap opera actress. Yes the scene when he did encounter her was funny. The only good part was the story of Wang the Great and how he became great. I liked the story. It was nice reading more about the great Wang. But that only lasted 3 pages. There is a rather strong sadistic violent scene where a nude woman was being stoned with rocks and there was a sexual aspect to it. It was a bit too graphic - thank god only about 3 paragraphs. I don't mind buckets of blood and Remo/Chiun knocking bad peoples heads off but sadistic violence is not my cup of tea especially against innocent women. I wouldn't go out and buy this book. It does not take long to read - two sittings 2.5 hours total. But other Destroyer books are far better.

Why oh why can't there be such a thing as a good 3rd book to a trilogy? Why? I am combining comments for books 2 and 3 since both books really is one novel. It seems obvious that this writer has read little Bolan books prior. Take the kidnapping of Hal. Why didn't Stony Man dispatch Able Team or PF? When the big boss is kidnapped and you sit on the news for 36 hours that is incredible. You pull out all your guns not just rely on Bolan. AT and FP must really have been doing something important to not be able to get pulled away - even 1 or 2 members. The action scenes were way too long in books 2 and 3. The hit on the mansion with the gold in book 2 was 40 pages. Between the ship assault by Bolan and saving Hal was a good 70 pages combined. Even the action scenes were a bit nonsensical. Its one thing for Mack to be ambushing and being faster then the other shooters but they were shooting back a lot and everyone missed. One scene he ducked while a stream of bullets went above him. Huh? No bullets went low? To much of Mack the invincible. Why did this action lenght hurt the book? Unresolved issues. 660 pages and what happens to Samosa? He gets away with it. If this writer cut back on the action scenes by 10 pages per scene it would have an extra 40 pages. Enough to finish the story. Totally unforgivable for a trilogy. The premise of the story was to get Samosa and he gets away with it. If this was a regular writer - fine that may be acceptable. But for a writer who sems like he wrote Also where was his desert eagle? And why didn't he bring some LAW's to battle when going after Hal? They would have helped. Usually he always has these weapons especially the desert eagle. Some good parts were the boys perspective of the battle and Hal trying to talk to them. I even liked the scene where the female agent discovered who the boys dad was and Hal trying to figure out what to do.

I really enjoyed this book and wished to know who this writer was. I thought the characters were rather interesting along with the setup. I enjoyed the fact there is a big powerful villian but there are no scenes with him. He is just talked about. Makes him even more powerful that way. The Murrillo brothers. Interesting cold blooded killers who didn't want the two kids to see killing. Wow what a contradiction but it worked well. The action was really one very long almost 100 page scene from when Bolan first penetrated Murrillo's land to the escape in the Cessna. Well done by showing the various action by different points of view even the childrens. I thought it was an interesting comment by the oldest boy that Bolan had the same fearlessness as their dad. Makes the upcoming comfrontation that much more exciting to happen. Brognala and the actress. Interesting scenes. I wasn't sure if the writer needed to use the stereotype of the Mexican female temper.Very much surprised me that they killed her off. Bolan having to tell the boys their mom is dead. I wish the writer actually had that scene. I wondered how it would have been written. The book ends when he tells Hal that he will tell the boys their mother is dead. Sure we know Bolan can escape and fight through countless enemies but how would he handle this type of scene. The writer really chickened out by not following through with this. A very good start to this trilogy. I had a lot of hopes after I read the first book in the Border Fire trilogy so my hopes are not that high. I hated the last book in the BF trilogy.

This book surprisingly worked best when Bolan was not around. The scenes with Leo Turrin were fantastic especially the scenes with Julia DiVenzenco. I especially loved the two scenes when he faced down Galvano. I would have liked this if it would have been Leo alone for the first half then bring in Mack. The priest. This book could have done without him. Yes he had one touching scene where he shared a meal with a young teen girl. But I was not sure what he was before he became a priest. There were hints but they never panned out. This guy was a killing machine almost as good as Mack. Yet we learned almost nothing. Dump Lupu and use him more would have been better. Lupu was really just your typical overcomfident thug who wanted more then he could handle. We learned too much I thought of Lupu stuff that could have been reduced to a paragraph. This book had a lot of potential but it never came together. The priest had the most potential. Also I got kind of lost in that action scene at the end between Fr Light and Bolan against Lupu and Galvano. Not a very good Odom novel except for the Turrin scenes. Those were well written and done. If you are a big Leo fan then this would be a must read.

A slightly above average novel. This novel was brought slightly from average because of the Drakovich family. Not the brightest family going but family loyality and belief that a father's wishes were of absolute importance was done well. I liked the scenes between Gregor and Vlad and how they reacted when they heard their father was killed and how it went from jealousy to bonding. The Drakovich partner Mr S.. was just one unlucky dude who kept geting knocked out and captured by Mack. I also liked the fact that Jack Grimaldi was one hand to back up Mack. Poor Jack when can he sleep - shooting the bad guys then flying to Moscow and driving Mack around then to flying directly to Pakistan and then Yemen. Does this guy sleep? Also using blacksuits that Stony Man had was a good idea - tired of Executioner having Able and Phoenix Force all the time. Just some nameless blacksuits that backed Mack up in Yemen. The story itself is not a great story but the russians did make good foes especially the family dynamics. I didn't totally understand why the Saudi prince wanted to nuke two Saudi cities though. But then he was a drug addict.

This is one of the best Bolan books and one of the best novels I have read in a long time. 1) Great characterizations. Playboy Brennan who went taken out of his rich element is really a whiny opportunist. Kam Chek is one of the most brutal, sadistic characters I have read in a long time. His killing of a very young boy to prove a point is one of the most brutal things I have read in a Bolan novel. 2) Bolan was not invincible. Each battle once he arrived in Thailand had him dealing with the costs of fighting and surrendering. Yes against Chek before he was taken prisoner he could have weighed the cost of having 7 prisoners dead to save the rest or surrendering. If chose the path that all innocent have to be saved including gambling on surrendering. 3) The death camp. Very well written section. Schmidt didn't do anything dumb like have a sympethetic guard or have one of the prisoners say "shouldn't we tie are captures up to be brought to trial". No clear cut bad guys and clear rage to kill all the guards and drug dealers. Also the way the death camp was run seemed true to life - ie having snitches, having prisoners beat each other for punishment etc. The Bataan death march was referenced a lot I suspect Schmidt researched that death march. 4) Narrative. The narrative was almost a third person. The author clearly caught up in a hatred for drug dealers. Its not often that you read a novel in which the narrative is not neutral. Usually a novelist uses narrative in which they look at the world that they write as very much a third person. Letting the characters set the pace. 5) For action there is not a whole lot. A lot of brutality - beheadings, burnings, whipping. I can't really find any negatives. Yes there would probably be better ways to get the cocaine from the fields to the capital but it seemed believable since Talqulamand was a sadist and seemed to look at these marches as a game and test of strength. Also Jack Grimaldi was a big part of this novel and he is my second fav character in the series - Mack is my fav of course. It was nice knowing that he really is not as tough as Bolan. His scenes showed that he is very human tough but not Bolan tough. Although Bolan only could take so much physical pain. This is the kind of novel that all Bolan books should achieve being. Excellent characters, excellent story, and got the details write along with a very believable plot.

This book is probably one of the worst Bolan books I have read. 1) A Supreme Court justice is dead then on a news clip referred to as federal. Then another one is found dead. Since the first judge is simply described as a Supreme Court judge the others would have to be to. Now wouldn't it be logical to take all the other federal supreme court justices into seclusion with armed Secret Service? I was shocked to see Judge Douglas referred to as a Surpreme Court justice. What was he doing at home? Why wasn't he immediately placed into seclusion with his family? This utterly made no sense. There are 9 federal supreme court justices. If VanCook meant state supreme court justices he should have said it. By not giving an id except as Supreme Court Justice as description to the first judge then it would apply to all others killed. Bad editting or lack of knowledge of the justice system. You need to get the details right in books especiallly things like this. Either better descriptions or better knowledge. 2) Bolan/Brognala were in Washington when they heard the death of the first Supreme Court justice killed in Arlington. O'Banion was in Bolivia. O'Banion is then described as arriving in Washington. B/B arrive at the judge's home and gets shot at. Did O'Banion use a teleporter? I reread this section slowly again to see if one scene was a flashback but it was not. 3) Book was published in 1994. Lets see you could remodel a living room into a lab to make a nuclear bomb? Really? I could see one storing a nuclear bomb in a lab but making it? I don't think so. 4) The action scenes were very good. The last 140 pages between the infiltration into the corporation in Bolivia and the two terrorists groups fighting each other at the end were fantastic. The only real saving grace in the novel. 5) Resource management. Judges are being killed left and right in the US. Shouldn't that have been Bolan's top priority not the Swedish problem. It seemed like that was a secondary problem. This seemed like it may have been tacked on to make it 350 pages. It seems like FP should have been left to handle this by themselves. 6) O'Banion was a good villian and the fact he was a rapist and some of the sexual description surprised me. Way too often villians are seen in this series as pretty much nonsexual. There was a sexual sadism that seems to be asbent in this novel series that showed up in this book. This is an extremely below average novel. I thank god I got it in a tradein and just spent $1.25. If you have it and can get a different one do it. Don't bother finding it. I thank God I read rather fast. It took me 2 days to read it. Too late to take back the time.

Personal gripe - I hate books loaded wtih technospeak. I was bored throughout the many wonders of the IOCW. Its a rifle with laser sighted vision with a grenade launcher. There described. Instead loads of explanation about what this item can do. I was also bored with the Pol scenes where he was configuring his computer with StonyMans and how it can get into the NRO computers satellite images. I loved the premise about a Isreali terrorist group. A lot of interesting political aspects of how a terrorist group can create havoc in Isreali and still be fighting for an Isreali homeland. I just hope there are not in rl lots of Jewish multimillionaires itching to join terrorist groups. The first part of the book was the best especially the school scene and how PF was basically useless to stop it. I also liked how the terrorists filmed and then sent the film to news organizations. RAfe was injured in a rather dramatic scene. Definately thought it was the best action scene in the book. I thought Lyons and Gadgets fight was a bit too protrated. Also how did Lyons survive that firefight any of those terrorists using an ounce of brains would have just launched a grenade at him and not use bullets. Wow really stupid. The last part was neat especially in the gym. That poor receptionist she was so clueless. Also Pol did a very good job blowing away those terrorists especially that woman. If you don't mind technobabble scenes then rank it a 7 if you do like me then a 6.

Sorry but this conclusion to an overall very good trilogy was horrible. 1) I understand why the Iranian wanted to start war between Mexico and the US so they could steal the Persian Gulf ports. But I never understood why he would go to that witch and her two sons? It was never explained why them and not a Marxist killer? The witch was a loon and could not be trusted. Also the witch and her sons storyline was wrapped up to quick and would have liked some answers besides a fast heart attack by the witch. 2) The line about Leo Turrin describing him as a Washington lobbyist disturbed me. He is a parttime capo and in other books he is described as working for the Justice Department. Did VanCook really write this book? Continuity error I believe. 3) The boxing scheme was so idiotic. Why did McCarter just let this one scheme develop? He and his men were mainly sitting around. Why didn't he send 2 PF men to also investigate other avenues to get Hix and Quartel. I am shocked that Hilgera even went for the scheme - it was so transparent. Also this boxing scheme had so many holes like what if Toro had lost that championship match. 4) Yet another man with a knife in his shorts. Sheesh that got to be an overdone cliche in this novel. Don't fear I can escape with this knife in my back pocket/shorts. I wished Lyons and friends had escaped another way. 5) AGain why doesn't Able team wear their kevlar jackats all the time or carry them all the time? Lyons should have immediately mentioned or remembered kevlar jackets at the Kombat store. It just lacked sense. 6) I would have liked some pages on how Bolan found out Razon was the link to the Iranians. Also why was he going to betray Blanco. 7) Also the plot to start a war between Mexico and the US. Lets see even if the Marxist overthrew Blanco how would that lead to a war with the US. A civil war would have started first. A Marxist overthrow would have caused incredible internal instability. We would have worked behind the scenes to overthrow the new government and maybe use military advisors and a massive border buildup but not an invasion. The Marxists would not have been able to hold the capital and wage war against US. The Iranians would also have faced a massive attack if they attacked the Persian Gulf. At the time we could easily have done both. (the above paragraph did not really influence the number) The line about president going to war because of Quartel being kidnapped sounded implausible. A surgical strike would have been used. Clinton would not have waged war because of Hollywood backers. In fact that kind of ticked me off but at least GE seems to be evenhanded in president bashing since Bush also had a backhanded comment in a SM novel. I was just very disappointed in this book 3. VanCook wrote a great book 3 in the Storm Trilogy but really dropped the ball on this one. He also wrote a great book 1 and 2 of this trilogy.

I hate needless diversions in novels. I hated the fact that the last parts of Able's trip in Alaska is described along with PF's trip to Iran. Pointless diversions. It didn't propel the storyline nor add anything to it. More time should have been spent on the border, at SM, or with Brognala instead of wasting it on Alaska or Iran. I did like the scenes at the border especially in the tunnel with three PF members on one side and two on the other. That was exciting and nearly made up for those pointless diversions. Why doesn't Bolan always wear a kevlar vest or all PF/Able members? In some novels Bolan always is wearing one in this trilogy he is not. He should have had one on under his shirt at the Blanco summer home. The scene with Able team and Bolan eavesdropping on Blanco was a riot - predictable but a riot. At least it answered the reason why Blanco loves that singer's voice. Robert and Santiago nearly outwitted Bolan. Kind of surprised me. Speaking of which does every man carry a knife hidden in their back shorts? Sheesh. By book 3 it got really annoying - yes I know this is a review of book 2. i also liked seeing the human side of McCarter and that young DEA agent. I thought it was amusing how Chris thought it was so nice getting a battle scar. I would have liked to have read more about the politics about the situation. It seemed like in this book we read snippets about what was happening but some pages could have been spent with Brognala or on phone calls to SM so that SM could give them info.

A solid 8. This is really a good start to what is shaping up to be a good trilogy. I didn't really like Rafe and James side story with them going after the bandits and the kidnapped woman. This seemed like a sidequest more then part of the main story. The knife fight was ever so predictable. Calvin's mastery with the knife and his fav knife is mentioned so much that you knew a big knife fight would ensue. I also was uncomfortable with referring to Demonnio as being well named because of the burns on his face. I don't know how good or bad Mexican presidental guards are so I am assuming VanCook knows what he is talking about. I did really like the Mexican captain who is becoming friends with Mack. Also I thought last names of PF people are not suppose to be said to non SM people but they seem most comfortable with letting the DEA know their names. I also like Nelson's character. Mack's storyline was the most interesting. I liked the action but also how this is shapping up to be a mystery. Is the president clean? Is his General the bearded one that goes to the witches house? Who is this witch? The Hix/Quartel story is good to. Not only is this semihumorous but it does show that there could be some "good" revolutionaries. Too often they are shown like the Marxist - kill, kill, kill and let god sort out the bodies - mentality. This Hilgera seems to be a honorable terrorist.

I have to go with a 6 on this one. It is so slightly above average. If it wasn't for the rather funny villians of the nerdish-brilliant-love-sick-pup Bernard Craker and nerdish-brilliant-greedy Helen Paisley it would have gotten a 4. I tend not to find anything funny about any of the Executioner novels but those two cracked me up. AFter Craker kissed Helen he wanted to put his hand on her leg but realized that she did not want to go that far just was so funny. I also liked the fact that Bolan wasn't a killing machine blasting away at a room full of trained terrorists killing all of them without a nick. He fought and out smarted his opponents. Charita was an excellent opponent but we knew zero about him - which took away from the novel. I would actually of liked to have learned more about Charita then spend 30 long pages on Bolan's fight with killer fisherman. Beaten and wrapped in a net by 2 fisherman was too much. I would have spent more on backstory on the main villians. This fisherman story just seeemed to have been padded to fill out the 220 pages. Also I really did not buy the premise of nanites being put into the blood stream then in a few minutes all the calcium from the body is gone. A virus would have been far more believable. Executioner stories are about reality and possible scenerios. This premise seemed far more apt for a Destroyer novel then a Executioner novel. Shouldn't Bolan's standard stuff he carries around with him include a cell phone. The book was published in 2001. Cell phones even if written 18 months prior were very standard plus even in the 80s Bolan used to carry around equipment to talk to Stony Man even in Kuwait - Storm Trilogy. A Few saving parts of the novel but the negatives far outway the positives. Also this is a very fast read.

Really good final to this trilogy. The only read flaw for me was the sudden apperance of the UAR. I don't know how in 2 days this new organization came to be along with uniforms for all Iraqi soldiers - in Iraq and in the US. Not sure why Jerry VanCook did this since Mel Odom who wrote the first two books did not include this. The action was fantastic including with Able team overtaking a Zeppelin. Also with terrorists actions happening all over the US in about a 6 day time frame I cannot picture a MLB game being played. I would think even in 1992 all major events would have been cancelled. Plus why isn't the Man's daughter and her husband not with her father who collapsed giving a speech in Washington? They should have been there or in an undisclosed location. I did like the book very much as a closing book to a trilogy. Most trilogies fizzled by book three this one did not. For this reason the book is getting a 9. I didn't like the idea of a rogue colonel with messianic visions in book 2 but his character was especially well handled by Jerry. His character turned into the key for the series. I do wish Peck would lived though. The scene where he Eldridge "interviewed" one of his men was a chilling scene. Note you do need to read the first two books to really know whats going on.

Not as good as Storm Warning. Three major problems for me - one the Florida politician scene seemed like it should have been in a Destroyer novel. Sorry but having the politician having people sign waivers about not suing if there is an attack while he speaks is just plain dumb. That is fine for a Destroyer novel but not a Executioner novel. Another big problem was Eldridge. Here is the US second command in Kuwait and he is on a messianic delusions. There is enough going on without this sidestory. I assume this will be a major plotpoint in book 3 but I would rather it focus on the Iraq/KGB storyline. The biggest problem is this. What in gods name is plans for stealing a Isreali nuclear bomb doing in the US army's hand. This does not make sense. This should be CIA only info and maybe a tiny covert team be given the info only and only if the CIA gives direct orders to attack. This is not the type of plans to have basically sitting around. This is the type of information that only a handful of people should know about since information leaking would have devestating effects on the mideast - Isreal having a nuclear bomb. For Eldridge - a Colonel to know that means everyone up his command chain would know + Defense department + CIA - too dangerous for that many people to know. This part of the story was illogical. It still was a fun novel and a good bridge novel to the third novel. Hope Storm Burst is good.

I really enjoyed this book. Very fast paced almost seemed like what a Stony Man novel would be reduced to 220 pages. I am the opposite of the other review Max I like my trilogies to flow and end in cliffhangers. I also really like trilogies to be set up to last 3 novels. This book has passed that test. The last trilogy I read the American trilogy did not past that test it should have been a SuperBolan novel and thats all. The really big problem that I had with the novel was how improbable it was. You have to accept a premise that Saddam Hussein is in exile, a more extreme leader leads and he is stupid enough to brag about an attack killing Americans at a war memorial dedication in Washington + 2 attacks and kidnapping of american soldiers in Kuwait city. You also have to accept the premise that the buildup of troops which was huge in 1992 wouldn't have flattened Bagdad as soon as the admission was made. Plus the murder of a senator and congressman besides. Sorry George W Bush would have had a gigantic blitz into Bagdad withen 12 hours. He wouldn't have pussyfooted with any covert action. The public would have demanded severe, overwhelming action against Saddam's successor. This is why its getting a 8/10. Other then implausibility this was the best start of any trilogy I have read of this Executioner series.

I didn't like it any where near as much as the first two. I liked the action scenes most of which were far more believable then some in the 200s like when he takes on a roomful of hardened criminals and they either all miss of are too slow. Its also nice that Bolan notices women. Too often he seems oblivious to them. My major grip with the novel is how they introduced Brognala. It seems in book 2 the justice system and especially the LA police wanted to capture Bolan and I am not sure what Brognala wanted to do? It seemed a bit too sudden for the feds to give Bolan help. I would have thought that the feds would be showing up at Deej's place as soon as Bolan arrived to kill Deej.

I kind of started backward in the series - the bulk of books I have read are in the 200s - about 30 of them. To me book 1 answers why Bolan started the War Against the Mafia and his origins. Kind of like comic books where each comic has an origin episode which shows how they became a superhero or villian. This book answers why this was a one man war. I also liked seeing Lyons for the first time. A rather green detective who later one will become almost as good as Bolan. In retrospect of all the original 10 members I would have loved to have seen a Able Team of Lyons, Andromede (Flower Child) and Loudelk. Sorry of the ten keeping the two most boring characters in the book made little sense. But as Stony Men characters I like Pol and Gadgets. The only reason I am giving this book a 9 is for the horrendous editting. Seeing " without closing them drives me batty. Having none and realize that you are reading a paragraph is sloppy. I know this is the job of the editor to proofread but the writer is ultimately responsible. This is beyond any doubt the worst editting job I have ever come across.

Two reviews since this really was two different stories. 1) First 150 pages - a very paint-by-numbers bring down the mafia family story. Nothing too impressive. Did enjoy the interchange the interplay between Mack and little brother Johnny. A 6/10. 2) Last 30 pages - The Council of Kings the actual story. A very interesting pre-Executioner #1 novel. Tied in with the first 150 pages with the mob boss. Well written and interesting take. I am kind of shocked though that Bolan never took out this mob boss way before. I would think if my buddy was killed and stuffed body with drugs to be shipped home that mob bosses death would be right at the top of list or at least after my family was avenged or better yet kill 2 birds with one stone. Not wait all those years or 78 battles/novels. This got a 8/10. I would not have tied the mafia boss in and just left it as a lesson about why having a buddy was not safe. The mafia boss being part of the CoK pushed credibility. So first 150 pages a 6/10 and last 30 a 8/10.

I thought it was a fun novel. Ok I think Crowe should have been the only villian in the novel. I thought the toxic dump saga could have been another book. What saved it for me was the first 1/3 with Syxx. Too often we see mafia heavy's as all bad with nothing redeeming. I picture that Syxx will one day be offered a choice by either Bolan or Turrin to join the other side. Its a shame he was only in the first 1/3. I would have liked him to have remained and then at the end Bolan giving him a choice to come with him or to go back to the mafia. Although I got the impression he probably will anyways with the mafia daughter. I am still unsure how Bolan or Turrin will explain why the 5 million is lost to Boston don. The ending was pretty fun. Not sure why Crowe insisted on doing both the kidnapping and storming the Japanese vessel same night. It didn't seem like the brightest idea - overreaching a lot came in mind. Although the book overreached for 220 pages three major villians were too many. For 350 fine but not 220.

This is the only Outlander novel I have read I will buy more though. I was lost a bit because I had not read the first 3 books. I do like how it really tied into the origin of Deathlands book 1. I liked also how Ellis dealt with time paradox. Usually time paradox stories fail on logic but this made sense. I loved the reaction of Kane and gang when they discover the Earth they go to is ours. I also really love how it is established the our Earth and the Deathlands/Outlanders is set in a parallel Earth. When you read Deathlands book 1 which I read just last year you think "my god did this creator really louse up his predictions" (which is very good).

If I wanted to read a James Bond novel I would buy one. This had too much of a Bond feel. Lets see - a megamaniac superrich godcomplex supervillian who wanted to take over the world, a rather bizarre supervillian henchman with a name of Mr Jest. Oh yes the supervillian who like all good Bond supervillians has to spill his guts out to Bond and the girl about his plan for world domination. Of course this is ultimately his undoing because Bond I mean Bolan escapes because no one is paying attention then goes after the supervillian with seconds to spare. The reason why I like Bolan books is the more realistic pragmatic villians. A villian who just wants to be rich from drugs or a terrorist. This was too over the top.

The last trilogy I read by Mike Newton was Red Dragon. This book was slightly better then the first novel in the RD trilogy. I liked how the story was setup and the infiltration into a militia group. I am not sure how accurate Newton's portrayal of militia's are - granted the Paul Revere group was over the top. For villians Stone just isn't all that great. I liked Pike and would have liked more scenes with him. It was a rather good.