Chicago Payoff

This is a rather weak book overall that is only made readable by some decent action scenes. I actually quit reading this book less than halfway through it because I found it so uninteresting; however later on I decided to finish it just for the sake of doing so. The problem is the author made it difficult to understand what was going on. Apparently the plot has something to do with a Chicago crime lord trying to take over the empire of an aging rival, and another crime lord is involved somehow, and there's an undercover cop in on the whole thing. Also, the characters were so thin I couldn't really tell who was who. At least the author had a good grasp of the Bolan character, and included some good action. That's about all I can say for this one.

Another in the ordinary/so so group of the series. Spaghetti plot with so many disjointed characters introduced I lost track of who was doing what and any further enjoyment in the rest of the book even with a couple of good actions scenes worth a read. A previous review mentioned it may be a cut down Super Bolan title. Works for me so many unanswered parts of the story this could have been so much better. my two bobs worth.......

I was impressed with this first Bolan book from Green. It was a nonstop action thriller from cover to cover, the writing was crisp, and the character of Bolan was right on. The story revolves around a second in command of a Chicago mafia gang by the name of Lipardo, as he tries to manipulate his way to the top and take control of his gang as well as other mafia families. Many other elements to the plot, with undercover cops, and Bolan's role in the whole deal, but what keeps this book from being an 8 or even 9 star book is that the plot is hard to follow in some places. Add to this a large cast of characters that would have worked better in a superBolan size story. The other thing that confused me was the location of some of the homes where action took place were hard to keep track of. I liked the scene with the boats on lake Michigan, one of the best in the novel, and many other action scenes were done well. A good entertaining book.

Green should stick to just writing Conan novels. I despise loose ends. This was how not to write a 220 page novel. How many gangs were in this novel? Gurrola's gang, Langos, Lirio, and a few others. Gurrola's Lipardo wanted to combine them all under his own name his boss wanted to do the same for himself. I still don't know why a drug lord Villagos sent people to the Instituto De Fraternadid. Have no clue why he did that nor do I know how the Instituto had anything to do with the story. Of course Mack was suppose to investigate that. Also what did Ignasius Luna and Dino know? Too many unanswered questions. Of course why did Angelina get involved with Gurrola? She had an impeccable military record yet she was the girlfriend? I really am uncomfortable reading violent sexual acts. It wasn't explicit but the results were for Conchita. Action is entertaining, cutting up and raping women is not fun to read. Green didn't thank god go that far beyond implying it. Vinnera was one of the more disgustting savages (sexually violent and into snuff) in the series. I was thrilled when he was blown away. The action scenes were very good especially the one on the lake and the two boats. This action scene is probably the only reason its getting a 4. Also Lipardo was a very good second to Gurrola and fun to read his scemes.

Well, I think it was a good action packed Bolan book. I found it hard to follow the characters, especially the bad guys, but hey they're gonna get lit up anyway.The Institute place, i never got why that was there, but i guess i didnt need to.Wouldn't recommend it as a 1st time Bolan book, but its still pretty good.

Bolan is in Chicago. That's about all of the plot that I could figure out in the first 70-100 pages. Names are dropped at an alarming rate. Organizations are mentioned but not discussed--I never did figure out exactly what the "Instituto de Fraternidad" is or why I was supposed to care. After a while, though, you stop trying to figure out a plot and just go along for the ride. Actually, it wasn't a bad ride. It just seemed that this one was supposed to be a Super Bolan and somebody hacked it down to 216 pages. Most Bolans are worth more than the some of their parts. This one gets its 6 stars strictly for the writing; nothing else shows up.

Why are books like these ever written?? The plot was confusing, unclear and unconsistent throughout the book making it not a very exciting reading and I just wanted to finish it off in order to try another and hopefully better book to enjoy reading. The characters in the book where too many with unclear ties with each other and events were often unexplained as the book progresses leaving you with way too many question marks in you mind throughout the book. The story and the action goes from phase to phase without being explained in order to tie the story, characters and plot together. Hecktor Gurrola was never show as a true villain and a drug lord that "rules an empire that thrives on kiddie porn, prositiution and narcotics" since he was basically in a supporting rule in this book making him basically dull and really a powerless 2nd rate criminal. The beginning of the book was a very good one but had really nothing to do with the rest of the story. Overall an little less than average reading yet confusing one that could have been so much more.............!!!

Despite other reviews for this book, I found it confusing and disjointed. I lost track of what plot there was early on, and lost track of who belonged to which family even earlier. This is not a book that I would recommend to anyone.

A well-written and action-packed entry to the series.

THE 2ND BOLAN BOOK THAT I EVER READ AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. GIVING THE LAST BAD GUY A COLD OT DEAL WITH AS WELL AS THE EXECUTIONER MADE IT PRETTY AMUSING.

An action packed entry, but there were too many characters to keep track of. Overall, just a good book.