The title of this book should have been called "Plothole".
A bomber is loose in Manilla, and Bolan is sent there to find him, as well as Harding, who is the mastermind of a plot to destroy and/or take over the Filipenes. Hardings motivation is explained, but not very well.
The opening chapter was cool, showing the actions of the bomber, whom I guess to be Cordero. This character seemed to get lost in the shuffle, and even at the end, Cordero was an afterthought, thrown in at the last second, almost as if the author simply had forgotten about him. Bolan wasn't involved in his demise either. Other characters seemed to show up with no real reason or importance to the not so clear plot in this novel. McRae shows up, apperently an ally, Bolan thinks he recognizes him, no reason is ever given for this. McRae's role in the story isn't really clear, and neither is Tom Colgan for that matter. And there is the mysterious Mrs. Colgan, who rescues Bolan from a downtown Manilla confrontation. It was never explained clearly why she was at that place at that time.
Another gripe I had with the story is although McDades displays his usual attention to detail, he somehow neglects to describe which shoulder Bolan gets shot in. You just guess until a few chapters later, when it is hinted, and also apperently gets shot in the same arm again, but it is vague that it even happens at all and it doesn't seem to affect his actions.
Also, when Bolan confronts McRae in the jungle, the scene ends abruptly, suddenly the next chapter starts with Bolan infiltrating Hardings' building in Manilla. Too much of a gap there. Other parts in the novel were lacking in detail I won't bother mentioning.
After playing "where's Harding" (the main villain) for most of the book, Bolan finds him in Hardings' warehouse, which is one of the parts of the book that was exciting, a good scene there. Another great scene is Bolans infiltration of McRae's camp and the awsome rocket devastation Mack unleashes there. There was enough action and suspense to keep this book from being a loser, but it was not very well plotted, a letdown after reading Backlash.
