Duane

This was one of the funniest Bolan books I ever read, but not ha-ha funny...funny as in peculiar. It started out with an intriguing premise, then zigged completely away from it to standard issue drug-money corrupted Mexican officials, then zagged back to a muddy storyline about government conspiracies--which, if I read it correctly really aren't conspiracies at all but a beneficial system of black ops meant to protect the US. Alien abductions, unidentified aircraft, crop circles...all of it is done to protect the security of our nation. Uh...right. Not only did "UForce" seem to be an intentional attempt to invalidate the underpinnings of the Comcon story arc, it also seemed heavily influenced by the Outlanders series, which was another thing which made it peculiar. This book read as if it was originally intended to be something else entirely but then was severely rewritten and clumsily jammed into the Bolan world, with no regard to continuity. All the material regarding drug barons seemed like last-minute afterthoughts. There were no real characters, just names and general physical descriptions, and the parallel plotlines never seemed to come together or have any real relevance...either to each other or anything else. All in all, an interesting concept but a very poor end product. Some of the more recent fanfic has been far more well-crafted than UForce.

This is another excellent entry by Jon Guenther, tautly written and fast paced but without skimping on plot and characterization. In lesser hands, "Cyberhunt" could have been yet another pointless search for a McGuffin, but the computer chips over which two factions contend actually make important contributions to the overall plot--they could either curtail Bolan's Everlasting War or turn it into utter chaos. The wilderness sequences were excellent, full of exciting scenes of repelling, white-water rafting and just plain survivalism in a hostile environment. Bolan's enemy in this one is very interesting and unique--the Kahane Chai are far more than terrorists, they're actually idealists and Guenther does an excellent job eliciting a certain amount of reader sympathy for their goals, if not their means. The main villain, Jurre Mendel is a former member of Israel's Mossad and a fanatic, but he's not a one-dimensional caricature of evil. In some ways, with his pure patriotic motivations, he's not that much different than Bolan himself. Ilia Yasso is very well developed too, given more depth than the obligatory heroine who can't do anything for herself and must wait for Bolan to save her. He does in fact do so, but it's due less to her being an incompetent than his own near-superhuman competence. And speaking of superhuman--Bolan actually gets seriously hurt in this one! Like in the old Pendleton days, he's wounded, he's exhausted, his temper frays, but he pushes himself over the limit but he forces himself to come through. The reader is treated to a glimpse of Bolan's humanity, the face behind the combat cosmetics. That in itself made "Cyberhunt" a winner for me.

Like other reviewers have said, IRON FIST is a hell of a book, nudging the envelope of plausibility but not completely tearing it. This is a technicolor, crazed roller-coaster ride from start to finish, like a John Woo film written by William S. Burroughs with art direction by Jack Kirby. It features a cast of extreme characters, the least of which is the bionically augmented, mind-controlled super-soldier, Splatterpunk. He's a cross between an anti-Captain America, the tortured Larry Talbot and with a little of the Frankenstein monster added for seasoning. Even Bolan can't stay his usual half-disinterested, detached self in this book, which has been his trademark persona for years­­nope, in IRON FIST he is a passionate, kick-ass, Kirk-like figure of justice and righteous rage (I wouldn't have been a bit surprised to have come across a version of Kirk's furious roar of "K-HAAAAAN!" slipped into the pages). I'm sure there are some readers who might feel Mr. Montgomery's concepts are too off-the-wall for Bolan, such as the "Kthulu" worshippers...but in my opinion this is the best tack to take to keep Bolan viable in the 21st century. Not emulating Clancy or featuring the techno-terror of the week, but presenting him and companions in pitched battles against the distilled essence of evil. They should be emotionally involved in their missions and not characterized as pest-control experts who come in, clean out a den of iniquity and then pat back yawns. Although criticisms might be levelled against Mr. Montgomery's work, the one thing it can't be accused of is a lack of passion. It has that--and more--in spades.

A very good inaugural novel by Gerald Montgomery, continuing and expanding on the material presented in Executioner 240, "The Devil's Guard"; i.e., the Order of Thule. Whereas as that novel dealt with the involvment of Nazis in the unified German government, Trigger Point goes a step further and posits their 50 year clandestine influence in the American government. This is a courageous move, and I applaud both the writer and Gold Eagle for stepping away from the "Allah Akabar" screaming terrorists, smirking drug-dealers and other straw man adversaries. The feel of patriotism in this book was genuine, not a contrivance for the sake of the Bolan formula. I actually got a real sense of satisfaction out of the Ranger and Stony Man assault on the ComCon installation, particularly since the villains were completely secure in their belief they were untouchable and above the law. Another refreshing element about Trigger Point was its non-partisan view of American politics. Too often in the past, the rather self-righteous implication has been that only conservatives care about this country. Mr. Montogomery sets this attitude on its ear, and I would hope, boot it out of the Bolan universe forever. Although Trigger Point is a fast-moving action tale, told very cinemagraphically, it has its moments of humor (Homer Gump--D'oh!) as well as a very ominous thread of warning running through it. Whether groups like ComCon or the Thule Society really exists, FEMA with its totalatarian powers and veiws certainly does...and when and if they snatch the reins the power, they won't give a damn about what political party you belong to. We'll all be the same to them...slaves to be controlled or rebels marked to be eliminated. Once again, Trigger Point is a very impressive debut and I hope a sign of things to come in the Mack Bolan publishing program. I hope the series doesn't return to the hackneyed formula of terrorists, drug-dealers and clueless mobsters...storylines that were cliched 15 years ago. This book is an example of what the Bolan series should be in the 21st century.

I have to agree with Doug on this one. "War Bird" is ery, very good. Jon Guenther has captured the classic Bolan feel (interesting locales, fast and varied action) and has a good grasp of the character himself. One of the best things about "War Bird" was the refreshing lack of cardboard (and occasionally racist) ethnic stereotypes which too often are poor substitutes for characterization in the Bolan books. There were no mousse'-haired, cigarillo-smoking Gilbert Roland type drug dealers, no turban-wearing terrorists shrieking "Allah Akabar!" or overweight, smelly and seemingly retarded KGB agents. The villain Scheyler was interesting without any of the above moldy cliches' pasted onto him, and fairly fresh as far as Bolan enemies are concerned. It was also a change of pace to see Bolan captured and tortured--not too seriously, of course. Although the Iron Skull group was not specifically identified as neo-Nazis, it was pretty obvious their sympathies lay with the swastika. It's a shame GE editors can't coordinate the Bolan program so as make even a passing reference that the Order of Thule ("Devil's Guard") and Black Dawn ("Black Dawn Rising") and the Iron Skull had some kind of loose connection. That way it wouldn't seem like all unified Germany can produce is cars and goosestepper wanna-bes. I also wish we could have seen a bit more of the K-1 jet fighter in action, but hopefully the super-plane will make a reappearance in the near future. At any rate, "War Bird" is a top-notch initial outing for this writer.