Sicilian Slaughter

I came in to this book knowing its reputation; it’s the only one of the original 38 books not written by Don Pendleton. It has also been said that “Jim Peterson’s” take on the Executioner isn’t exactly faithful and because of this most fans don’t like this book very much. Having only read books by Pendleton I have to imagine this is a particularly bad take because there are 500+ books written by other writers and few of them are as reviled as this one. So in order to try to give this book a fair shake I came up with the following prologue in my head; “A Vietnam veteran gets in a car accident and injures his head. He wakes up and believes he’s Mack Bolan.” That should let me enjoy this book on its own merits, right? That lasted one chapter. The book starts with Bolan injured from his last battle and seeking out a doctor who turns out to be crooked. Bolan’s dying on his feet but he’s sure the doctor is mobbed up and is going to sell him out for the $100,000 bounty on his head. So… Bolan kills him without remorse. In the next chapter Bolan is able to knock two armed mafia hit men unconscious, but Bolan just kills the doctor. Bolan’s a guy who has shown mercy to far worse than that poor doctor before, so what happened here? I don’t mean to dwell on the first 10 pages but it sets the tone of what to expect as the characterization of Bolan doesn’t get any better as it goes. Early on Bolan finds himself in a tough situation and thinks along the lines of “I’ve never harmed a civilian, but I might have to start in order to escape”. He then recklessly throws a grenade but luckily only kills a mobster. As somebody quoted below, he later puts a gun in a cop’s ear and threatens his life. You could explain away the scene with the cop as Bolan bluffing but his disregard for innocents is baffling. Bolan is known for his luck with the ladies but this time he completely uses a woman, first for sex and later to smuggle his weapons. Oh, and he leaves her a marksman medal to remember him by. She is later predictably hurt by the mob to get to Bolan, something The Executioner went to great lengths to avoid in Chicago Wipeout. Even if he was going to love her and leave her, leaving that marksman medal was essentially painting a bulls eye on her head. Symbolically, it would lead one to think that he doesn’t care about her life at all and wants her dead (though his inner monologue later would indicate it’s not the case). At the end a cop is mortally wounded and Bolan is to blame. Bolan is perturbed by this, even if the cop was as crooked as the doctor at the start of the story. This death didn’t bother me as much, maybe because it was at the end and I knew I was almost done and that this would never be mentioned again. What bugged me more was a scene where Bolan wants to destroy a mansion but can’t seem to take it down, so he feels like crying. Yes, the man who admires his multiple showers of gore is about to turn in to a toddler throwing a tantrum. Throughout the novel Petersen keeps referencing the previous book as well as War Against the Mafia. It wouldn’t shock me at all if it turns out those were the only two books of the series he had read. It would make sense, as Bolan was a little rougher towards women in the first book. While he always valued innocent life, in his first outing his attitude towards undercover and plainclothes cops was “Well, they better identify themselves, otherwise how am I supposed to know?” Obviously Petersen got things wrong, but if my theory is correct you can at least see the origin of his mistakes. When I read War Against the Mafia I felt it had more of a sleazy, grindhouse feel than the other books that followed. Maybe Petersen felt the same way and decided to ratchet up the sleaze when he was up to bat. While Don Pendleton doesn’t shy away from cursing, it is usually constrained to the dialogue. Petersen peppers his third person prose with swearing and just about every slur that could possibly come up. He’ll bring up button pushing topics like pedophilia and abortion rather casually for no real benefit to the narrative. However, the worst of it has to be his descriptions of women. Hardly any females escape having their breasts described as if the writer was a perverted old man on the subway. Not to say I was offended by the writing style, it just wasn’t consistent with Pendleton’s and it comes off as Petersen trying way too hard. The fact I’ve gone 700 words without describing the plot isn’t the bad sign you might think. Not that the story is great, but it is solid enough. Mack Bolan goes to Sicily to strike the Mafia on its home turf to eliminate a hitman training camp that has beleaguered him in the past. Meanwhile, one mobster is using The Executioner’s arrival to make some big moves of his own. While I won’t go in to more detail of how Bolan was out of character, at least the Mafia scenes are close to the quality of what I’ve come to expect. Not that there’s anyone as interesting as the Talifero brothers but the villains are equal to some of the lesser Pendleton antagonists. I did think it was a nice little twist that one mobster who was developed happened to be killed unceremoniously 40 pages before the end. An Executioner book is often defined by its action so at least this novel delivers to some extent. There are no absolutely outstanding sequences but Petersen is almost as detailed about weapons as Pendleton was and the action is good. Well, it’s good when it isn’t over the top. For example, Bolan shoots a head clear off its owner’s shoulders... Twice in one book! Grenades cause limbs to wiz through the air and body parts rain down from the sky after a mortar hits. The worst had to be when Bolan was on a plane and took out a not very dangerous woman by shooting a pressurized window, sucking her out. Is that really the smartest idea? I could think of at least a dozen safer ways to have neutralized her, not to mention the fact Pendleton made a point of saying Mack had never shot a woman before in the 13th book. There is a pretty good chapter where Bolan takes out a dozen Capos in short sequence, sending the mob in to chaos. At least it was good until I realized that Petersen didn’t do anything to establish how he tracked them down, especially considering he just arrived in a foreign country. The epilogue promises an interesting sequel in which Bolan will be hunted by his equal, but it never came to pass. Pendleton would later use a similar idea likely with better results. A good way to compare Petersen to Pendleton is how they deal with Bolan’s injuries from the last book. Pendleton made a token mention of this book, but otherwise acted like it never happened and as such Bolan is suffering from in injuries from #15 when #17 starts. In my review of Jersey Guns I was critical of how quickly Bolan went from injured to perfectly fine. Well, that book seems medically accurate compared to this one. It seems like Bolan goes from his death bed to on a plane in 24 hours, never to mention his injuries again. At least Pendleton had him on the shelf for a while. Later in this book Bolan is shot again several times but gets over it with morphine and using cobwebs to patch his wounds. Really, cobwebs? This is an old timey remedy I’ve never heard of but a Google search shows people claiming it works for a cut. That may be, but I can’t see it being effective for a bullet wound. Even if this is completely true Petersen just throws it in there like its common knowledge. Also, I’d have to question the logic of anyone who shoots up with morphine to avoid his sense from being dulled. This is the 8th Executioner book I’ve read, so I fully acknowledge that I’m hardly an expert on the series. Never the less, even a rookie like me can spot the glaring flaws in this book. I’m not saying that this is an objectively good book; No, it’s the worst of the series I’ve read so far. And yet, I was glad that I read it. It could be because it moves quickly and there’s enough craziness to carry you through. However, I think I enjoyed it because it defined The Executioner by showing examples of what he isn’t. Even if it was a bad outing, there was something about it that made me write a 1500 word review. Not that I would have liked to have read a second Petersen book, Sicilian Slaughter remains a failed experiment but at least it’s an interesting one. Executioner Kill Count: Approximately 76 (It’s hard to tell for sure with explosions)

Hard to rate this book. It was sucked big time. You can see and feel that this is not our Mack Bolan in this Sicilian Slaughter. Killing that women on the airplane, just isn't Mack style. All the bad language and Leo taking money from the sale on the car. Very hard to read this book but since I'm reading them all in order I didn't have a choice. Thanks ice_cracked for all your reviews and info. His review tell you Everthing you need to know before you read the book. 1 star because it, just wasn't the Bolan I read in the first 15.

Okay the first title not written by Don Pendleton due to his contractual dispute with the publishers of his titles and this one is written by who knows likely an in-house author to maintain the series continuity whilst the dispute is sorted out I guess. So readers of this series must automatically rate this title a one or two as it is not written by the Master? Gotta say here back in the early days of this site a review which featured the following.... "This book was stupid. I threw it away after about 40 pages." being lodged today I am confident would NEVER be saved come on you read 40 pages and the title is crap? So trying to be impartial I actually enjoyed the opening scenes of the title (with the exception of the grenade being tossed in the hospital where I balked) and thought the author did quite a good job of continuing on from Pendleton's previous title. MONUMENTAL STUPIDITY from the Big Guy to keep the Maserati what was he thinking? or maybe we can excuse him with the wounds he was suffering. The following sections after being treated by the doctor and the successful escape from the Talifero crew was quite good reading and was all contained within the first 40 or so pages ? go figure to each their own I guess. Sure the rest of the title features character lapses from recurring characters like Leo and maybe from the Big Guy himself on occasions but I tend to look at this title where the author was probably given very little time to prepare for this when it was dropped in his lap. Excellent action scenes throughout the title especially getting closer to the finish of the title and including the injuries the Big Guy was carrying the way he decimated the opposition was very well written and the closing scenes with the helicopter pilot and the taking down of the Capo's mansion fine reading indeed. I ignored the epilogue section as it was never going to be included in any future titles written by Don himself but couldn't help to think to myself what if? Hey it wasn't written by the Master that is blatantly obvious but you could do worse than read this one certainly it maintains the original series continuity and let me assure you there are many far worse titles to be read in this series after the original series finishes, go for it especially if you are reading this series in order don't be swayed to ignore this one.

I'm glad that one's over. I was ready to quit reading after 40 pages. To be honest, the last 40-50 pages weren't too bad. Good action sequences and I was really intrigued by the last scene. However, three major flaws with the book. 1) As has been pointed out throughout the reviews, this was not Mack Bolan. I don't know if it was a dig at Pendleton, but either the publisher or the stand-in author clearly created their own "Bolan". He's violent with by-standards, taking advangtage of women, and content with killing a cop ... I don't think so. 2) There was no character development at all. It seemed like the author's only intent was to change everything we know and enjoy about Pendleton's Mack Bolan. 3) The dialogue was awful. Nothing like vulgar language for the sake of it. It seemed like every isolated incident had a secondary character lusting over a woman (body guards daydreaming and cops looking a nudie mags). Very strange. Anyway, I'm glad it's over, surprised I made it through it, and looking foward to Jersey Guns ... Pendleton's sequel to Panic in Philly.

Jim Peterson failed critically. This book was stupid. I threw it away after about 40 pages. He missed the mark on all the characters, especially Mack, when he tosses a grenade in a busy hospital, saying something retarded like, "Gee, I usually avoid killing citizens, but alas, all good things must come to an end." But the grenade bounces into a stairwell, explodes and only kills the mob torpedo. Leo Turrin becomes a self-important Douche-bag, and 'charges' Mack $15k for his help. As Marla Singer in Fight Club would say, "Call it an Asshole tax!" Skip this one, it is trash.

I just started re-reading the entire series from the beginning and was chugging along just fine until I hit the wall known as "Sicilian Slaughter". Bad bad bad from beginning to end. This thing is so painful to read, but I didn't bother even finishing it last time so I purposely kept at it through to the end this time around. As mentioned by others, the guy in this book is NOT Mack Bolan. Not even close. If I had to venture a guess, I would say Jim Peterson read (or browsed) maybe a total of 4 prior Bolan books before writing this. Let's just say it's going to be a nice treat getting back into the flow of the series with Jersey Guns!

I actually rather enjoyed this book. There were parts that weren't great but, then again, none of them are amazing. Mack was definitely different but, to me, he was almost better. This book is what i was hoping for when i started reading the series. The dialogue was even better in here then in most books. I also liked the end. Cleared it up to have mack venture to seattle but instead mack goes to jersey. No one cares about jersey except kevin smith. Definitely better than jersey guns.

This one got a 2 because of all the great action. If you take that away it should have a ZERO. The Mafia books are not like this one. I do not know why Don did not write it but am glad this guy stopped. This book brought out the bad side of Mack. He used women for sex and left her to be hurt by the Mafia. When doed Mack do this? Never. Action was packed into this book. Blowing up houses and taking out all the mafiso that was in his way.

I agree with Monsta Mack on this one. Lots of action, which I like, and a good read. But lets face it, Jim Peterson is no Don Pendleton. For someone who was using a character like Mack to base a book on, I expected a better effort to be put into the writing. The Bolan in this book was certainly not the Bolan we all know. Nice try though Jim, don't give up you're day job, whatever that is.

This was my first Bolan book. At the time I thought it was pretty good and I went on to read other books. Boy was I wrong, compared to the rest of the original books this one stunk. While the story was ok, Mack was way off. The thing I found wrong was the swearing in the book. It was just not Don's style of writing. I had heard that Don was thinkig of going back and rewriting the book and I wished he had. I am glad that this book did not turn me off from Mack. Live large everyone.

This is the first one not written by Pendleton. I enjoyed the book, it was action packed, never boring, a good read. The problem it has is the guy in here is a Bolan impersonater, not the Mack Bolan we know. The writer didn't do a good job of getting the character right, so the book gets docked a couple stars.

This book sucked. I can't put it in better terms. Whoever Mr. Peterson is he had no idea about what he was writing. The man changed the Bolan character to make him seem like a giant ass. Yes, an ass. He gave Bolan this sometimes Southern voice with the use of the word Darlin' and totally screwed up an incredible man's charachter. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Mr. Peterson had never read a Bolan book before he wrote Sicilian Slaughter. In the book the author has Bolan treat an airplane pilot like dirt, put a gun to a policeman's head, shoot into a crowd and kill a woman, which up until that point was fully out of the Bolan character. In my opinion Mr. Peterson had no idea what he was doing and should never have been allowed to writte the book.

Sicilian Slaughter. Where do I begin? Well, let me say that I'm reviewing this book as a part of The Executioner series featuring Mack Bolan. Here goes. OK, this book was NOT written by Don Pendleton. I'd heard about this book and I'll admit I was prepared for a pretty awful book. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared enough. This book was even worse than I expected. First, whoever that big guy in the black suit was it was not Mack Bolan. Reading this book is like reading a book about a guy who was doing a very bad impersonation of The Executioner. Bolan's character doesn't match up with the way he was in the previous 15 books by Don Pendleton. In Sicilian Slaughter Mack Bolan is written as some kind of cold-hearted, mean, dickhead who goes around killing people. Also, Bolan willingly endangers a young girl uninvolved and ignorant of his mission or danger to further his mission objectives. This seems completely out of character. By the time "Bolan put the cold wet muzzle of the .44 Automag in the [cop's] ear" we know we've left Pendleton's creation far behind. This Bolan also shoots himself up with morphine because he's been wounded and "he could not hope to function, keep his senses clear and alert while fighting such intense pain!" Huh?!?! He's worried about keeping his senses clear so he shoots up? That doesn't sound like the bolan I saw in the previous books. And his willingness to engage the enemy on a crowded dock from a ferry seemed wreckless and not at all Bolanesque. Leo Turrin also makes an appearance early in the story but he also seems to have been replaced by an adolescent boy impersonator. There's a lot of action going on in this book but it's not written well enough to be either believable or incredible. It's all a bit overplayed, like most of the rest of the narrative: we're told how tough the hero is, in great detail and with much swaggering. One thing you miss here besides Don Pendleton's handling of the Bolan character is just the man's writing. Sicilian Slaughter is a longer book than the previous books, with 36 lines of type per page to the 33 in the others (yes, I counted.) Unfortunately that means this book runs about one twelfth longer than the previous books and in this case that's a bad thing. Summary: Beware. If you've never read one of Don Pendleton's Executioner books you may not find as much to dislike in this one. But then, if this were your first introduction to the series you might never read another one. I'm giving this one a single star. I really didn't enjoy it as an Executioner book. I don't think I'd have bothered finishing it though if it weren't part of the series that I've decided to read in order.

I can't even vote for this. sure, sharing is good, we learned that in kindergarten, but this type of sharing is a bad thing. Bragnola isn't a person. Mack actually thinks about things. i didn't enjoy this one. really a letdown after panic in philly.

Finally found this S.O.B. Okay. There has been a lot of contreversy about this book. Bottom line:did I like it? Sure,it has plenty of action and carnage and mayhem,and some suspense, it is not a bad action novel. Is it a good EXECUTIONER novel? Hmmm...well... Bolan is a jerk in this book.Leo sees him as a self-centered @$$hole...and I don't really like that. Furthermore,Leo is a whinny,two-faced pr*ck(excuse my french) Also, Bolan is not James Bond:he may be a little macho,but he won't just have sex with a young girl and seduce her and use her as a cover. That characterisation does not sit well with me. There are dozens of Bolan writers out there now...Nobody characterized him like that. I don't wanna hear about originality and creativity as an excuse,Bolan was out of character many times in this book,I found... Anybody can write sex and violence...That alone is not enough to write a good novel...Bolan deserved a little better.

Even thought there has been controversy over the writer of this book, It was one of the better ones of the Mafia wars, I thought. Very action-packed.

You can tell Don didn't write this one but the story is good. Mack seems colder which makes reading a little distracting but lots of action kept me involved.

Quite interesting, but not as great as some of the others. Much of this probably can be laid at the feet at this Peterson character, as even Mr. Pendleton himself could not stand to read more than a few pages! However, it can be a good read for those action lovers out there, as there is plenty of that.