Patriot Play

Superb read yet again from this author. Characters first up and the newly introduced characters from the Militia group are excellent as are the recurring characters which I love you really get a sense of continuity with titles like this well done to the author and well done to the publishers for allowing it. Ironman is along for the ride this time with the Big Guy and as usual he is fantastic, some of the scenes featuring him and the SPAS are exceptional reading. Still tossing up on who is my favourite character after the Big Guy and I have managed to narrow it down to Carl, Gadgets, Pol, David, Gary, Calvin, Rafe, Hal, Barbara, Buck, Cowboy, Bear or his Japanese genius/hacker extraordinaire who I love but darn every time you read another title it changes. Pound for pound this authors action scenes rate as good or better against any other author in these series in my opinion and it is little wonder he is rated so highly on this site for his titles. Pick one up and check if he is the author if so you are ALMOST guaranteed a terrific read. I'm not going to tell you what happens in the title this is a do yourself a favour and read it and you will enjoy this one I reckon. Highly recommended reading in this series.

This was a good read. I loved seeing Mack Bolan partner up with Carl Lyons, who has easily become my second favorite character in the Bolan universe (Bolan #1 obviously). It was great to see them travel around the USA and West Africa and blow out the enemy forces. All the action sequences are violent and well done, and overall the book was fast-paced. The Brethen were interesting and tough bad guys, always a good thing in a Bolan novel. I hope I get my hands on the "prequel" novel of this great entry because I think I would even like it more knowing the back story behind so many of the characters. I have only started the series but Linaker is becoming a favorite writer.

The usual solid work from Linaker with this one. It was nice to see Bolan teaming up with the Able Team ass-kicker, Ironman to take down a radical militia group bent on taking over the government. Even though this plot has been done a few times before, Linaker keeps things fast-paced with good action scenes. The banter between Lyons and a female victim was great, even though the character disappeared after that. I didn't feel the climatic battle was as grand as others, but this still rates as a really good book.

Mike Linaker scored the continuity jackpot here. A jaw-dropping total of six characters from his previous novels reappear, with four characters returning for the first time from (a highly regarded novel of his). This novel is the closest thing to a sequel I’ve seen in this series in a long, long time. Though with that said, “Patriot Play” runs more like a conventional Bolan novel. Here, Bolan and Lyons dismantles a hate group trying to overthrow the government. The entry offers the usual in terms of high-level action scenes, although the sortie into Africa was a bit too episodic/random for me. It offers an entertaining portrait of a militia leader losing his mind and his temper, the trials of the smooth double-agent operator Riback who thought he had everything under control, and a contrast between Bolan and Lyons’ styles. The wizardry and the marvel here is how many previous characters can one cram into a novel like this without making it appear like a forced reunion. The answer appears to be right at six.