SuperBolan · #168

Payback

by Michael A Black · September 2014

7.5 / 10 average from 2 rated reviews

In Mexican cartel country to rescue an undercover agent, Mack Bolan arrives to find the stronghold smoked and his man missing. It's the second failed play at the same site, where five years earlier a mission went deadly sour. This time, Bolan suspects betrayal in the highest places. And when the mission shifts from rescue to revenge, the trail extends into the corridors of Washington. Bolan uncovers a wealthy industrialist selling arms to drug dealers to finance a daring political gambit. The billionaire has a rogue, high-level CIA official in the game and ambitions to put a puppet in the White House. With genetically enhanced supersoldiers to do his dirty work, he's unstoppable. Until one of those soldiers dedicates his last fight to helping Bolan take down this enemy of the state who's convinced he's got the power to commandeer the U.S. presidency. The Executioner won't stop until he proves him wrong.

Reviews (2)

Gunslinger 5/10 December 20, 2015

Looking at some of Mr. Black's other storylines on the back covers, they all seemed to lure you in, and this one was along those same lines. But, I didn't feel as strongly as the previous reviewer in regards to the overall product. It did have a good story, and the Lassiter character was well drawn up, even though he was a "super soldier". Those types of plotlines don't always win me over. The action scenes were just average, so the book wasn't as fast-paced as I wanted. Grimaldi was more of a comedian than usual. Overall, it was well-written, but just a few things that kept it from being more than "good". But, I will look forward to seeing how his other books play out.

BolanFan 10/10 December 31, 2014

This is an absolutely great book! This is my first read of a Michael Black book, but I can't wait for more (if there are any). I thoroughly enjoyed this story as it had an amazing amount of depth. In "Payback", there are a host of characters...scandalous Senator, villainous sponsor, Russian mafia, drug runners, drug lord, biker gang, and genetically enhanced soldiers. This book has it all and the author generated a wonderful story bringing all those characters together. After getting setup on two occasions, Bolan and company set out to find a missing federal agent and fall into this wicked word of play counter-play. Not only are the feds setup, but so is an enhanced supersoldier and it starts a massive game of retaliation. Throughout the entire book, the reader anxiously awaits the meeting of Bolan and this supersoldier...in what seems to be a powerful alliance. In getting to the final scene, Black brings together fives different entities converging upon the same missing goods (military weapons) in what was truly a great final 50 pages. This was the most enjoyable book I've read in some time!