Miami Massacre

9 out of 10; WoW, the pace, the tone, the characterization! So far, as I am reading the original Pendleton run in order, Miami Massacre is my favorite. The writing is tighter than my wifes' chequebook. Bolan shows he is a patient, methodical tactician. He cleverly locates a mafia conference, infiltrates it and shows them who's boss. All this with the police and feds after him. Of course, the action scenes were great. I would have given it a 10, but I thought the love interest was a little unrealistic, as with the ending with the beach hippies. Well done Mr. Pendleton!

A solid 10. There is so much that I liked about this entry. Where to begin. First off the Execution of the 2 mafia hoods with the sniper rifle. What a way to announce you're presence to the miami conference. I liked the floor clearing at the tidewater plaza Good stuff. I liked the cuban expatriates and how they felt about Bolan"El Matador" and Mack's discussion about what Constitutes modern weaponry. Mack's down time with Margarita was well written. And the way she died was brutal. I liked how Mack dispatched those bastards who killed her. Modern weaponry. Glad Turrin made an appearance And good to see Hal here too. I can go on and on but I wont. Soild book.

Bolan catches word of a meeting of the Capos in Miami and sees this as a chance to take out a number of high profile targets at one. Bolan gets some help from Cuban nationalists but the mob has reinforcements of their own in the form of the infamous Talifero brothers. The plot of this book is one of the simpler ones as this book is all about the action. It starts off with a great action scene that could have been the climax of any other book. In fact, it does feel like another book’s climax as it is the end of a Bolan campaign we didn’t see (as if it’s the end of book 3.5). I like the idea of there being unseen adventures that weren’t complicated enough for their own book. After the opening scene the rest of the book doesn’t disappoint on the action front either. I’m writing this review close to a week after finishing the book and I can remember four of the action scenes vividly, so I’d consider that a good sign. Aside from the warfare it was good to finally see the Talifero’s finally face off against Bolan after being built up in the last book. I’m glad they survived to plague The Executioner another day. However, the rest of the Don’s in the book are numerous and forgettable. The idea of Bolan getting a ‘hunting license’ from the government is turned down, but interesting considering the future direction of the series. When Bolan meets the Cubans he’s introduced to a woman with a gun on her hip. When I read this I thought ‘Great, a woman who can take care of herself” and thought it would be good to see a female character who doesn’t sleep with Bolan, get kidnapped or tortured. Of course she then sleeps with Bolan, can’t take care of herself in a firefight and then gets tortured to death. Later Bolan literally slaps some sense in to a hysterical woman. I understand this is “Men’s fiction” from the 70’s so perhaps it’s unfair to judge on today’s standards, but I look forward to the day when I find good female character gracing the pages of The Executioner. Not much else to say about this book. This one is all about the action and it pays off in spades Executioner Kill Count: 46 (The climax features additional “combat wounds on 52 passengers”, but there’s no way to tell how many wounds were lethal.)

Brilliant yet another blockbuster to follow the first three in the series. The Mob have relocated to Miami for a conference on what to do about the Big Guy who is starting to pester them enough that they are starting to take notice of what he is doing. The introduction of the Talifero brothers and their Black Aces in this title and also another plea from Brognola to come in from the dark and accept a sanctioned role within the Government which is again turned down are major events. The Big Guy gets tied up with some Cuban expatriates who assist him big time in this title and also comes across a female member of this group Margarita who he spends some down time with but is unfortunately destined to be the second ally who is tortured and killed for no other reason than their association with him. Action scenes abound in this title with massive attacks against the Mafia in different hotels and the final scenes aboard a floating palace where the Big Guy and his Cuban allies riding in a surplus PT boat pound them into dust. Superb title in the series and the first four of these titles remind us why this series is probably the most successful series ever written in history it is a privilege to have read this yet again do yourself a favour and do the same.

Miami Massacre... what can I say? It is certainly different in some aspects. Bolan had to do a bit more of intelligence gathering than he would normally do. Even the information he had, it wasn't all that much. Bolan made do by identifying the hard site and blow it all to hell! I enjoyed the part where Bolan tricked the Mafia idiots at the airport. Also, the part where he managed to elude the cops with a help of Toro was decently plausible. The only thing I hated about this book is Margarita's death. Thus, this is the book where Bolan heard the words: Live Large. Sig

I've rated this as a 10, because I can't imagine a better Mack Bolan read. Pendleton, once again in these early books, creates a very deep character in Bolan and puts him along several very entertaining supporting characters. Pendleton surely develop a deep and thoughtful character in Mack Bolan during these first books. There are several very interesting aspects on this story. First, in this book, Bolan continues to develop Bolan's character and plants the seeds for the relationship between Bolan and Hal Brognola. Also in "Miami Massacre", Pendleton develops intrigue and suspense as the Feds had placed a mole in the Mafia leadership and the concern is how Bolan will interact with this agent. Finally, Pendleton again provides massive action sequences in the "Matador's" fight against the Mafia which culminates in a large-scale battle aided by Bolan's new friend, a Cuban protestor.

For the last few years I've been working on collecting Don Pendleton's original 38 and was amazed when I found this one sitting in a used book store. I read Miami Massacre over the span of two days and must say it is now one of my favorite Mack Bolan books of all time! It was especially nice to see Bolan making another friend in Cuban exile "Toro" and them seeing themselves in one another. I would recomend this to anyone.

This title is a great addition to the series! It's make at his best going straight at the Mafia and keeping them on the defense the whole time. Bolan gains a new friend that pulls him out of a tight spot and returns to assist in the storys big blitz finally, plus a small run in with Leo and Hal add to the great flow of the story. My main disappointment was the final attack on the ship was almost an after thought to the rest of the action and a lame showing for the highly built up Talefero Bros. All and all this earned 10 stars for me cause I don't think I ever put it down!

Hands down one of the BEST ! This is what Bolan is all about to me. Action, drama , action, intirgue, revenge, action and some more action, then mafia kills a loved one, and more action. Bolan moves around Miami - stalked by the cops and by the most malignant menace known to man - the Mafia. A true classic - Pendleton is God.

After reading a lot recent so-so books in this series, I went back to the master and totally dug Pendleton's work here. Nice pacing, crisp writing, and a lot of trademark action. As a Vietnam vet I especially related to the parts in the story dealing with all the turmoil and protest surrounding the Vietnam war. This one's probably hard to find but well worth the effort.

Of the earlier books, this is one of my favorites. The story seemed pretty realistic, the action and settings were good, and the characters were believable. The events in this book were pleasantly varied, unlike some other titles.

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 is one of the top books in the series, Bolans' war kicks into high gear in one of the most classic beatdowns in the mafia days.

Mack Bolan´s early Mafia war continues here with the development of the long-term relationship with Brognola and Turrin who are always a sheer joy to have as a support characters in single books throughout the years. Funny how simple and basically stupid the Mafia seems to be and how Bolan can toy around with them and killing them off one by one or a bunch of them if that suits his needs each time. This time around the Mafia boys are so secure that Bolan couldn´t get to them and this is as usually their downfall as he gets them every single time often without much effort. It´s always great to witness how swift Bolan is with his instinct reaction, decisive and ice cold actions towards the scum of the earth who pray of persons, countries and the world in general. Toro and the Cuban gang made an interesting support to Bolan´s Mafia war and it´s always special to see a more personal side of Bolan instead of the non-stopping action from first to last page as it often is the case. Brognola´s package was interesting and his way of making Bolan "an export product" for Uncle Sam but this is a challange too tempting for Bolan to resist at this point in his everlasting war as the next two books will show clearly. For some strange reason I rarely find the first few Mack Bolan Mafia books interesting but this one is though rather good one compared other similar ones. Read this one and enjoy as it´s one of the best I have read from the Mafia war so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another great book. It great to see what sort of person Mack becomes in the aftermath of Balboa. It was a shame to see soldada Margarita bite the proverbial bullet

Another great action packed but character driven adventure for Mack Bolan. Bolan faces some smarter enemies here and has to use all his talent and skill and rely on some timely assistance. The Executioner saga continues to develop as links with the police and feds and some new friends are strengthened. Death again hits home for Bolan and he returns it to the mob with interest. His weaponry (except for the Luger, odd choice that one) is kicked up a notch here. I particularly enjoyed the scene where he thwarts the mob ambush. Long odds there are overcome by swift decisive action, cool thinking, instinct, skill and a little help from his friends. I could almost feel the whisper of air as the bullets zinged by! 9 stars here also and it looks like Pendleton is in the groove.

A CLASSIC! Brognola's package to Bolan. The enigmatic Raphael (I still wish he were Encizo). The Executioner's Honeywell 40mm cannon, and his first ever hell-blast with the M-16/M203 in the Mafia Wars. Also, Bolan's only outing with the Luger P.08, and the big guy, written by Don, at his best, and still being pressed by a powerful enemy who almost manages several times to kill him, and to actually kill sweet little Margarita.

While the first 3 books are often seen as a unit, I tend to add this one to the mix as the fourth part of a tetrology. All of the series major characters are now in play, Mack has an idea of Bolan's plans for him, and the duel with the Talaferros/Black Aces has begun. Excellent subplots with Margarita and Lavangetta. This one completes the initial story arc and readies us for the European Wars.

A decent enough entry into the earlier part of the series. It was neat to see some of the foreshadowing that in later years would be Stony Man SOG. Too bad about the girl though.

One of my all time favourites. The last few chapters were just FANTASTIC

ANOTHER SUPER BOLAN BOOK. THE DEATH OF MARGHARITA ALMOST PUT AN END TO THE FUTURE OF MACK BOLAN ALTOGETHER AS DESCRIBED. I GIVE IT 5 STARS.

Okay, this book is pretty good. Didn't think it was as good as the first three, but the action was good, and i though the scenes with the cubans were fun. It was unfortunate what happened to Margarita.