This one started off really well, with Bolan turning the tables on terrorists who thought they were going to crash a military funeral. Interesting premise with a Russian media mogul who's implicating the U.S. in an overseas atrocity.
Mack teams up with a gutsy FBI agent, and I liked their chemistry, but the action scenes seemed to get more monotonous as the book went on. Decent confrontation with Twain, the Irish terrorist, but the finale with Trofimov seemed to take the steam out of this one.
This authors first release in this series and what a wonderful debut title he has produced.
The plot sucks as he chose to go down the VERY well worn path of a rattle the cages and climb the tree stuff which has been absolutely flogged to death in these combined series which disappoints but I rated this a nine ?
Simply this is a fantastic title to read with some excellent characters introduced and some blockbuster action scenes (more later) where you will slide through this title so quickly you will not believe it.
I think the previous reviewer mentioned polished writing and I totally agree.
The author pulls off a couple of simply superb breathtaking scenes which I cannot recall reading in any of the hundreds of titles I have read in these combined series.
Imagine an enclosed space with two dozen or more bad guys in it, in waltzes the Big Guy and starts to take them out (huh) yep using some as human shields and taking out the other opposition with head shots he finally takes them all out.
STUNNING reading and the author pulls it off twice.
Highly recommended reading you will enjoy this one.
Elmore does not disappoint, delivering old-school Bolan action as Mack takes on enemy after enemy in classic "Bolan Blitz" style. "Sabotage" is executed with an eye towards the details of small unit tactics, attention to the particulars of weaponry and other technology in use, and with a professional polish to the writing. Technically, the book satisfies on all counts, resulting in a fast-paced tear from action piece to action piece whose plot is just complex enough to provide logical motivation for the action. Those characters with whom Elmore spends any degree of time - Mack, and the primary villains - are individualized in motives, goals, and actions. This was a satisfying read, and one I intend both to loan to friends and revisit in the future.
A few points kept this from earning a perfect rating: Mack's primary supporting character (Jennifer Delaney) received little to no characterization of her own, serving mostly to provide Bolan with a conversational partner. The plot, while sufficient for the frame of an action novel, never realized the stakes of the situation it presented, so that escalation of tension - while promised in the early portions of the investigation - never materialized, plot progression consisted solely of discovering the extent of the villains plans without confronting those plans in action. Viewed another way, the bad guys never won any small victories in order to convince the reader of their threat. The climactic showdowns of the novel consisted of extended dialog between Bolan and the primary villains. While this tactic really served to highlight the differences between characters, these scenes were preceded and followed by heavy action pieces, so that the dialog felt less like a breather and more like an oddly placed debate. A few tropes of the genre were trotted out, especially regarding the novel's handling of the denoument (whose mere presence was *greatly* appreciated) and the final appearances of the principle supporting cast. As these were handled with Elmore's customary technical skill, they felt more organic than contrived, lessening the uncomfortable familiarity of their presence.
Get this one before it leaves the shelves!
