Hellfire Trigger

One of only two Mark Ellis Bolan novels, and I can understand the James Bond references. If you were to replace the name Bolan with Bond and picture Pierce Brosnan then Hellfire Trigger could be a new 007 adventure. The villain who thinks he is a god, the weird henchman lots of uniformed minions and a lady Russian scientist. A mix of Doctor No, You Only Live Twice, Moonraker and Goldeneye all mixed together. It was an easy read, but for some reason it took longer than expected to get throu. But all in all I agree with those that praised the story but I also agree with those that did not enjoy it so much. Otherwise I do not have so much to say about it. It was a middle of the road story for me.

The creator of the awesome Outlanders series gives us this offering of the Executioner. The story is told with a unique voice, giving it a flavor that adds more diversity to the adventures that the writing stable at Gold Eagle can bring. While some readers seem to describe Hellfire Trigger as a James Bond type of story, I thought it was more of an Executioner/comic graphic novel kind of infusion. Given the author's background, this only makes sense. Above all else, this is an entertaining adventure, with colorful villains and some high tech plot devices and plenty of action to move the story along. The book begins in Algiers, and as the plot develops, we get a more of a focus on the main villain and his holdings on the coast of Florida, and his secret base on an island nearby. My favorite part of this novel was the action on the island, the crazy setup Bolan discovers there and his thrilling escape. The action at the villain's building (kind of his Trump tower, lol) was a good conclusion to the action, and as a bonus we find maybe a future possibility that the villain could return again. Good read here, two thumbs up from me.

I thought I was going to be the odd man out again but thank goodness Dan Xavier at least agrees with what I am about to type. This is rubbish, boring, tedius reading and I totally agree it would have made a fantastic James Bond title but it is NOT a Bolan title. The adversary is a super rich snob who thinks he is a god and wants to obtain god status. His main henchman and partner is a cross between a gymnast/acrobat/tall skinny guy who can take mortal blows which would leave any normal person dead and rise yet again. He gets his kicks setting up devious little traps to protect the penthouse where all of the action occurs at the end of the book. It's crap these two are just laughable as the main villians and the assortment of bozo's, clowns etc. employed who are supposed to be a force to protect Mr. Rich gets more bizarre as the title continues with there antics and I was blown away when one of them on a boat which Mack has come onto throws himself on his knees with his hands to his face begging Mack not to kill him. The shock/horror/I can't believe it scene when the ex KGB guy who turns out to be a renegade and clocks Mack is pathetic and surprise value is zero as anyone reading this title would have expected this for the last 70 pages plus. The incredible detail and use of ridiculous descriptive words made me think I should have a dictionary to refer to whilst reading this. The plot is bizarre/unrealistic/ridiculous. We even add a prototype plane purely to give Mack access to the penthouse roof but no we decide to go in the floor below when parachuting out of it as we have to write in another of the bizarre little traps left by Mr. tall and skinny. As I said I thought the character was laughable but on reflection his name was Mr. Jest so maybe I am missing something here ? I thought this was just dribble and would not recommend you read this.

Not a bad entry into the Mack Bolan series. Bolan faces off against a Bond-like villain with a Dr. No/Goldfinger complex....LOL The action was top-notch, the writing was crisp, the plot held my attention, characterization was dead on. This made for fun thrill ride into the Bolan universe. I also liked the open-ended ending with the villain getting away to face Bolan another day. My only complaint was that the Russian agent(s) sub-plot & subterfuge was too predictable.

Bolan in a James Bond situation worked very well in this book. He was still the Mack Bolan character I've been reading off and on for last five or six years. Deveroux's threat was believable and if he came off as larger than life like a Bond villain it was all to the good in my opinion. I thought this was an excellent novel all the way around.

If I wanted to read a James Bond novel I would buy one. This had too much of a Bond feel. Lets see - a megamaniac superrich godcomplex supervillian who wanted to take over the world, a rather bizarre supervillian henchman with a name of Mr Jest. Oh yes the supervillian who like all good Bond supervillians has to spill his guts out to Bond and the girl about his plan for world domination. Of course this is ultimately his undoing because Bond I mean Bolan escapes because no one is paying attention then goes after the supervillian with seconds to spare. The reason why I like Bolan books is the more realistic pragmatic villians. A villian who just wants to be rich from drugs or a terrorist. This was too over the top.

I've been back-tracking through all the 200 numbered books, reading them in no particular order. Hellfire Trigger is a big surprise, an excellent entry in the series. It's probably has the strongest James Bondian flavor of any Bolan book I've ever read. Kudos to Mark Ellis for creating a fascinating and loathsome villain and a credible threat. The way the story bounced back and forth between the standard Executioner type of scenes we've come to expect to the Bondian sequences--like on Deveroux's island and the aireal assault on his building--flowed extremely well. I really enjoyed the scene set in the strip club in Tampa, where Bolan recognizes one of the "customers" as an old Mafiosi who escaped his "Boston Blitz" way back when. That was a nice touch of continuity. It was also a nice touch that Bolan was pretty much on his own during this mission. He got a little help from the local FBI field office, but it was for the most part Bolan's show from start to finish. A very enjoyable book from the first chapter to the last.

I loved this book! I should say, though, for the record, that I'm a huge James Bond fan, so that did color my perception of things. This book reminded me of a James Bond movie. It read, to me, like a comic bok or a great adventure novel, which was what I'd hoped for after reading the back of the book. I know, I know, Mack Bolan is not a comic-book superhero, yeah-yeah-yeah, but this book was just good fun. I mean, even the villain's name, Dexter Devereaux, sounds like it could've come right from the pages of a Fleming novel. I really look forward to more by Ellis.

Pretty good reading. It was a fast-paced uncomplicated mission. It was very much like watching a movie. There was nothing new to this book, but I didn't mind too much. The action was intense, the characters (though fairly run-of-the-mill) were good enough, and I had some good fun reading this. The ending was somewhat unexpected - hope to see more Executioners from this writer.

good book but a little lame of a plot. about a 1 in a 10000000000000000000 chance of getting all the things the antagonist(forgot his name) had without being detected.

There's a lot of character depth to the villian in this one, and the attention to detail is refreshing. (And yes, all the locations mentioned in Tampa are real -- except for Deveroux's buildings.) I also liked the fact that Mark Ellis treats Bolan well -- he doesn't make it seem like Bolan's forgotten everything he's ever been through and not learned anything from the experience, which sometimes happens in the series. I also liked the fact that Stony Man's involvement is limited and it's mostly Bolan's play all the way through. The plot twists at the end are worth the wait, and although the action's fairly run of the mill, I liked this one. Grade: B

Enjoyed this book, I'm glad that I joined the book club of Mack Bolan because I could not find his books anywhere, so now I receive my books every two months. I enjoy reading about him executing the bad guys. I like the thrill it gives me and I also like the Stony May, Phoenix Force and Able Team. I like fast pase and action impact reading, I hate to put it down. I also read somewhere on the internet that this is a mans book,times has changed, that's not true women like these kinds of books too. Keep up the good work. I would like to know if I could receive some of his early editions? Would you let me know how I could order them. Thanks

I enjoyed reading this book like i do with all the others. thanks for a great book.

I liked this one a lot it put a new spin on the nuclear bomb type story that i thought was played out. I liked the plot twists in this one too as others have mentioned. And for my theory on the ending. The bad guy was picked up in the ocean by the hardliners so he could be exploted for his "talents". I hope to see a tie in with these charactors again.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BETTER BOLAN BOOKS TO COME AROUND IN A LONG TIME. LATELY IT SEEMS THAT THE NEWER BOOKS ARE MORE ACTION-ORIENTED AND THE PLOTS ARE VERY INTERESTING. I LIKED THIS BECAUSE ALL THE CHARACTERS WERE INTERESTING, BOTH THE GOOD AND BAD GUYS AND IT PLAYED OUT JUST LIKE SOME KIND OF JAMES BOND MOVIE. IT WOULD BE REALLY COOL IF THEY BROUGHT BACK DEVEREAUX SOON IN A FUTURE BOOK. HE WAS BUILT UP AS A REAL EVIL CHARACTER TO JUST DISAPPEAR THAT EASILY AND THE ENDING LEADS US TO BELIEVE THAT HE WILL BE BACK FOR A SECOND TRY HOPEFULLY SOON. DEFINATELY TWO THUNBS UP!

This book is awesome! I read it not too long ago and I really liked it. I like it

I liked this novel. It reminded me of the better Peter Leslie novels like Ice Cold Kill and Anvil of Hell where Bolan has to deal with a web of intricate betrayals, pretty much on his own, and in his own indominatable style. Doctor Jest was a great opponent too for Bolan, but with the short, quick "death" of Devereaux, especially after Devereaux' stunning display of lethality against Tommy in Chapter 4, you know that Dexter will be back, badder than ever. I just really hope Dexter's sister's name isn't Dee Dee. ;) (PS: Could Peter Leslie have been a previous nomme de pen for Ellis?)