Mission Apocalypse

I really enjoyed this story, despite it sometimes feeling comic bookish. Bolan is surrounded by outlandish characters and allies, which is often a hallmark of a Chuck Rogers novel. We have Mexican wrestlers turned drug smuggler turned good guy, along with his girlfriend, then an ex special forces Russian drunk, followed by another Russian special forces and on it goes. We, the reader, are not really sure what the bad guys are up to. The cultists want to smuggle a dirty nuclear weapon into the US to do what exactly? And where? And why? We are not told. Similarly, the cultists have a mad scientist (a cardboard character) on the International Space Station with some bad germs, but what he is doing and how and why also isn't explained. Akira gets to go up on the space shuttle to stop him. So, a vague plot. However, the action sequences were wonderful, I especially liked the Moscow gunfight. But the action in Mexico and Argentina were equally good. I have also seen in previous reviews of Chuck Rogers novels that time and distance were never considered, in fact it became a bit of a running joke with some reviewers. Not this time as we are told how long it took Bolan and pals to get from A to B, so I guess the author must have listened :) A fun adventure and I do recommend it.

Had some enjoyable moments from this one. I actually thought the scenes in Mexico chasing the culprits of the dirty bomb were reasonably exciting. What stood out for me in this entry were the colorful characters. Memo, Ramzin...and a very well-done Calvin James. I loved the witty repartee between him and the Big Guy. The infiltration of the Heaven Now base in South America was extremely tense, and the finale scene was a different change of pace with the boys armed with outdated weapons. Oh, and Akira in space was a decent addition, too.

This title is a two part story where the first section thankfully the smaller part involves the Big Guy chasing a nuclear weapon before it reaches the States from Mexico. yawn The second section is excellent where the Big Guy sets his sights on the person responsible for the above mentioned first part of the title. James and Jack are along for the ride here and some of the things that happen between James and the Big Guy are priceless. Action scenes as usual are plentiful and fine reading which will keep you turning the pages. Recommended reading here.