Devils Mark

Another good Bolan effort by Chuck Rogers. This isn't the first time, or the last, that Mack went up against satanists, but it was certainly the best. The action is fantastic, and the book reads like a slick horror thriller. Its only flaws were that the villain was way underdeveloped, and the author is far too fond of killing off great side characters. Also, what happened to the old guy with the garand? He just disappears midway through. Anyway, another memorable effort from one of the best Bolan writers out there. Definitely read this one ASAP.

I don't normally go for SuperBolans when looking for something to read, but entries like this make me glad I do every now and then. Bolan's in Mexico and finds himself battling against a brutal, insane drug cartel/Satanic cult fronted by The Beast, some kind of former German black ops specialist kook gone rogue. Armed to the teeth and brainwashed and crazy, the cartel spend most of the novel hunting Bolan and his party down, until the finale, when he does it to them. Along for the shenanigans are a cast of colorful characters, but if I go into describing them this review would be much too long. However, I'll say this: killing off the first team of ragtag misfits was totally pointless. Why? Because the people who join Bolan afterwards are the exact same templates, just with new names and alphabet organization backgrounds. Action scenes are plentiful, exciting and well written. There's a body count bordering on Dan Schmidt levels and sometimes it seems like a shootout takes place for no reason other than to meet the word count. The most disappointing fight in the book is, sadly, the confrontation between Bolan and The Beast; the entire fight lasts only two paragraphs before Bolan kills him. There's a very thin plot here. It's little more than a revenge story, but Chuck Rogers' wacky-ass ideas make it livelier than if, say, Newton or Schmidt had written it. A cartel who takes its victims' heads? Yawn. A cartel whose members have RFID chips in their ears that instantly brainwashes them and allows The Beast to come forward, like they're possessed? Nice. A highly recommended entry in this series.

Rogers pens another of those original, far-out types of adventures for Bolan to wade through. The story is gripping from the very start, with Bolan and his party being engaged by the demonic "Beast" and his minions. Normally I'm not crazy about the plotlines which has Bolan saddled with a team outside of Stony Man. But, this team clicked...probably because of the solid characters we got to meet. The female fed, the Chinese hit man, the rogue Mexican cop...then later on, some para-military types. All were memorable. The action rarely let up, and was fairly brutal at times, but I didn't feel as though they were as explosive as the author's earlier entries. Still, a very ultra-cool plot, loads of action and great characters made this a above average read.

A really enjoyable story that'll have you page turning as quick as possible near the end of the book. It appears that the Executioner has met his match, while he searches for answers to what apparently is "supernatural". There were many enjoyable characters with many added throughout the book. It would've been a 10, however, at times I had trouble following the plot. All-in-all an outstanding write.

Right from the start, Rogers plunges the reader in a whirlwind of non-stop action that never lets up. The relentless pacing and futile escape attempts that make up the bulk of the book really communicate the desperation and pressure that Mack and his team are under. The cast of villains is kept mysterious and secret until nearly the end of the book. Mack draws soldiers and civilians into his web of charisma and makes them into something more than they were before. Excellent characterization, brutal action, and relentless pacing make this one of the best novels I've read in a while. If there is a flaw, it may be that the stakes of the mission are a bit underwhelming once revealed, and that little attention is paid to the denouement. Even so, the climax is more than satisfying. This is a keeper.

Planes, helicopters, submersibles and boats as Mack must keep moving in this non-stop action thrill-a-thon to stay ahead of The Beast. There is no down time for the Big Guy in this action packed adventure filled with everything from bat guano to a VW Thing. Especially entertaining is Bolan thinking on his feet for weapons like the homemade fuel-air bombs to defend the adobe home turned fortress on the Island. Many interesting allies help Bolan along the way including a drug running pilot I thought was interesting and I really enjoyed the dogs. I can’t help but think that the cover name Matt Cooper must be known in many circles by now, I would like to see a new cover name :) This is a must read entry.

My, was this one action packed book. Non stop explosions and shooting from cover to cover. As this was my first Bolan in six months I found myself really enjoying it. The way the minions of the Beast knew where Bolan and company would be almost before they arrived was brilliantly done. For me the stand out action scene must be the seige on the island. These few chapters are worth the price of the book on their own. But as brilliant as this story was it did have a few down points. Bolan goes along collecting allies to assist him in his wars - so many in fact that I lost track of who was who, which characters had died, which were still living. When character X dies then I had to flick back to find out which one that was. Very distracting. Additionally - and it could be that I missed a few lines somewhere (or they were edited out) - I could not fathom why Bolan pinpointed Berlin as the villains location based purely on the fact that a few goons were speaking German. The demise of the Beast was also a mild disappointment, in fact the whole Berlin sequence felt rushed. This book is worth buying. It isn't quite as good as Savage Game or Oceans of Fire, but it is way way better than a lot of the Bolan novels out there.