Retaliation

Well I was pretty disappointed with this one which could and should have been so much better. This title follows where Katz has been killed and you would think that all of the warriors from Stony Man would be racing to the scene to assist after their leader/friend is taken out. Obviously not as only David and Katz's niece team up with the Big Guy with Jack along to provide transportation only (this sucks he should be included on raids more often come on he has vast experience) but he does feature in a scene which wasn't authorised by the Big Guy but ends well. Problem with this title is simply the author had a fantastic vehicle where he could have written one of his brilliant titles but no he took the lazy course where this is simply a chase story where we jump from location to location. Well during the title we visit Macao, Jakarta and Athens to name some and what happens every time. The Big Guy contacts Hal and arranges a contact to an arms dealer as they are travelling commercial. Upon arrival we are informed of the type of rental vehicle obtained and the seating position of the four characters involved. A visit is then made to the previously mentioned arms dealer and weapons are obtained. But it is so vitally important to the ongoing filler that we have to read the same stuff over and over again which I am sorry gets very repetitive and boring very quickly. Once again this author who has written some of the classics in these series maybe was on a time frame and well didn't feel compelled to put much effort into this one at all. Shame this should have been a standout as should the previous title where Katz is killed. Katz deserved a lot better I reckon.

Gold Eagle authors fall into three different catagories. 1. There are those that really care about what they write, care about giving the characters something different to do and to experience, and enjoy writing an adventure story. 2. There are those that treat the series as a 9 to 5 job, not really putting in much effort, and are gone at clocking out time. 3. There are those that wouldn't know a storyline, character or adventure if one of the authors from group one walked up and handed it to them. Mike Newton falls into catagory 2. He can write well, there is no denying that. He does research his locations, although little things slip through from time to time (Greeks use Euro's not Drachma since 2000, and this was written in 2002/03 ;) ) BUT he constantly uses templates for his stories. I thought that he blew it with Warrior's Requiem, where he could have sent out Katz on a high, he didn't. And with this story being the Revenge of Katz, he could have written another knockout novel. But he didn't. To quote the back cover "Mack Bolan has a score to settle,". Yes, and it is a shame that this never really emerged. What we had instead was a photocopy of other larger Bolan books such as Vendetta and Blood Debt. Bolan and friends wander around the globe shooting and shooting and shooting but never really getting anywhere. They a) attack a terrorist camp in Israel, capture a prisoner and with the flimsiest of clues fly off to b) The Bekka Valley where they attack a terrorist camp, find the flimsiest of clues (which they didn't need, common sense should have prevailed) and fly off to c) Macao, where they attack a villain's mansion, capture a prisoner, learn a flimsy clue and fly off to d) Jakarta, where they attack a villains office building, capture a prisoner, learn a flimsy clue and e) fly to the private island of a villain, attack the island and manage to kill all the villains - one for Bolan, one for McCarter and one for Mindel. I bet that if I were to re-read Vendetta or Blood Debt I would find an identical number of location jumps with identical villains and identical vague motives. So this really is a cut and paste template, and a waste of time to read. The one thing that I really did like was the fact that Bolan and friends had to buy their weapons on location, and not fly around with their signature guns. I sincerely hope that I never read another story that guest stars the wooden Rebecca Mindel again, but seeing as I never intend to buy another Mike Newton there is little chance of that - hurray. I have another six or seven Newtons sitting on my shelf that I will some time read, but for now I am sticking to catagory A authors.

I read this book having not yet read Executionaer 300: Warrior's Requiem. However, never once was I confused about what was going on and what had come before this. Newton does a good job of relaying the action and the motivations of the characters without boring the reader or under explaining anything. The action was engaging and well written. I do not like pointless gunplay and explosions in the place of a story in either books or movies. Many Bolan titles fall into that trap. Newton does a great job of offering plenty of action while never making it pointless or excessive. This novel has Bolan teamed up with other agents instead of the typical lone wolf attitude and I quite enjoyed that aspect. The adversaries were well written and believable while their plot did seem a bit far fetched. Overall this was an exciting and well written book that I would reccomend to fans of Mack Bolan and non fans.

It is easy to fall into the trap of reviewing this book for it is NOT rather than what it IS. As a twenty five year plus admitted Mack Bolan fanboy would I have preferred this story were a massive controlled rampage of revenge of near apocalyptic proportions with everybody from Leo Turrin and Tommy Anders to Lao Ti and John Trent screaming for righteous justice and reigning unabashed hellfire on those responsible for the death of one of their own...with the last few chapters featuring the entire Stony Man crew sitting around the war room and trading fond memories of the never to be forgotten Yakov Katzenelenbogen? Of course! But we didn't get that... What we did get what a action packed tale with some vile villians who, while not entirely original, still were very interesting. A whirlwind of different locations kept the story flowing smoothly and quickly and made the book hard to put down, keeping you wondering what would happen next. Unlike some who read the book I found that the introspection on Katz, his fate, and their mission experienced not only by Mack, but by McCarter and Rebecca Mindel was quite insightful and utimately, satisfying. ...and speaking of Rebecca Mindel, I found her to be a well developed character who deserves further exposure in the future...possibly as a replacement member in Phoenix when Rafe finally gets too long in the tooth and replaces Katz at the the control center...(gee...is it too much to think that having a female member on the team would be helpful to PF in some situations...) Mike Newton has penned some of the most crucial episodes of the Bolan saga...The Trial, Eternal Triangle, etc., and as such was the perfect choice for this book..and while not the top of the heap, it stands above many in the canon... It was undoubtably an editorial decision to have Katz's demise take place in a Bolan arc rather than a Stony Man for reason's unknown...and as I said, I was disappointed by the lack on the inclusion of the other Stony warriors, but it was reasonably explained, as could be expected, that they were on other missions... The ending and the final fate of chief villian Napier was vague enough that I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn up again...an actual REOCCURING enemy for the Stony Men in their war everlasting...maybe even in a Stony Man novel...that would be something! And hell...maybe even Leo or John Trent could get some licks in!

Quite average entry. Thing that bothered me personally was fact that only intresting villain Wasim Jabbar seemed to be killed in gap between Executioner 300 this book. He was not present in shoot out where Katz died and he had allready been killed at begin of this book. Also what the hell happened to palestinian attorney that captured Rebecca Mindel. I have never been any keen fan of Katz or PF but as I see Katz death would have deserved more forceful Retaliation. Not just hopping around globe and gunning down goons that all seemed to fumble with their guns. Island of Thyra was good and interesting choise for final showdown with trio of unintersting main baddies. Golfcart and Buggy chase in the end was just stupid. None of the main villains were confronted eye to eye. Shootting running men to back are not much of revenge for slain friend...

A minor letdown from the first book. This was one of those generic Newton-penned missions, with only average action scenes. I would have preferred a stronger villain, instead of one who whined most of the time. The three-way whine-fest in the climatic battle between the three bad guys made me cringe, although I have to say the chase scene on the ATV's was fairly decent. Not the way I was expecting this book to pan out. Would have liked to see more introspection by Bolan and Co. on Katz, etc.

After the abomination that was Warrior's Requiem, damn near anything would be an improvement. But this sequel is only a slight improvement, at best. It astounds me that Mike Newton could write two novels that suck so badly, let alone one right after another. In the past, Newton has written many excellent Mack Bolan adventures...Maybe he had to rush to meet a deadline with this duology or perhaps his heart just wasn't in it. But this is is glaringly unimaginative, by the numbers, boring and bad Bolan. It suffers from the same lack of characterization as Warrior's Requiem and the same lame, pathetic, cookie-cutter villains. You would think that in the wake of Katz's death that Mack Bolan and David McCarter would show a little emotion. I know they are hardened fighting men, but, come on, man, they're not fucking robots! Once again in Retaliation we are subjected to a non-plot that plods at a glacial pace. Pages upon pages upon pages describe action that should take place in a matter of paragraphs. The redundacy practically retarded me. I can barely write this review feeling so retarded! In the past, I have appreciated Mike Newton's rather crisp dialogue and strong supporting characters. There is little evidence of either in this book. Rebecca Mindel seems like she should be a cool character and like she should be interesting. Sadly, she just isn't. Her personality---or, rather, lack thereof---is about as compelling my mother's favorite fucking doily. Oh, and I forgot to ask in my Warrior's Requiem review---where in the name of fuck is the rest of Phoenix Force? Playing video games? Eating pizza? Drinking beers? Whacking it to the new Britney Spears video? Give me a fucking break! Katz is dead, these guys are NOT going to sit around with their thumbs jammed up their bungholes. Encizo, Manning, and James---and, yes, even that retarded, worthless poser, T. J. Hawkins---would scorch the fucking earth to avenge Katz's death. This book is just garbage. Lazy storytelling at its worst. In the final battle, when the villains were defeated, when justice was supposedly served, when Katz was supposedly avenged, I felt absolutely nothing at all. This book stirred not one single emotion within me. Well, that's not quite true, actually. I feel angry. Enraged that this book was so damn lame. What a fucking waste of my time. I mean, the time I spent reading this novel could have been used in a much more productive manner, like, say, staring at the dried shit clinging to the hair by my dog's dirty asshole. At least that fucking shit is real. And it isn't betraying me or ripping me off.

Second one was better and sweeter because Bolan goes after the bad guys. Writer wrote great action scenes and endind afterthought about Katz and Everalisting war was great tribute to great warrior.