Hostile Proximity

A quality entry that had enough potential to have been an even better book if it had been written for a super-Bolan. A bold plot of Soviet KGB types working with traitors in the Cuban government as well as other groups to dispose of Castro and take over Cuba to install an even more die-hard communist regime run by the Soviets. As if Castro's Cuba wasn't bad enough... Here enters Mack Bolan, along with Grimaldi, to save the day. Great action takes place in the islands and waters around the Cuba area. Even more in central America. Not only are Bolan and Grimaldi's heroics fun to read, but the plot development and all the large cast of villains makes for a excellent page turning adventure. The conspiracy within the Cuban military was great reading. The author managed to shoehorn a lot into this 220 page format, and pulled it off very well. The only gripe I had was that it could have benefited from a larger epilogue, including what happened to many of the villains involved in the story that didn't obviously get killed off. I am developing a stronger desire to read more from Somheil, I very much enjoy his stories, and Hostile Proximity is a good representation of his talents as a writer in the Bolan universe.

I have to say that I found this story to be okay, but no more than that. It was typical a typical cookie cutter, there are bad guys up to no good, so Bolan runs around attacking the different factions, building up a massive body count, until he takes out the villain in the final pages. And that is it. Oh there is a plot in there, really, and it is just screaming to get out. If it had been utilised properly, if a little more thought had gone into the writing, then this would have been a really good action novel. Unfortunately it gets smothered by all the shotting that pads out the novel. And it is a lot of padding. So lets see, the bad guys want to rule Cuba, and to do this they need a massive army consisting of ex-KGB guys, mercenaries, drug dealers, and even local hired help. Yet by the end of the book they are down to a quater of their original number yet still have no problem in getting to Castro. So what purpose did the other 3/4 fill? Target practice for Mack, thats all. Very disappointing. And why did they need two Russian V/TOL's for? Bolan destroys both planes, and they are not even missed. So it was a wasted plot. Which is a shame because it could have been so much better. And unless I am really dense, I always believed that admirals belong in the navy, not generals, unless the Cuban military is very very different to the rest of the world (like I said I could be dense) And I am sure that the word lite switch doesn't exist and neither does eyesite, both of which our eagle eyed editors missed.

The plot involves ex KGB generals/agents etc. who have been misplaced/sacked/retired and are pissed off at the collapse of communisim in Russia deciding it would be pretty cool to engineer a takeover in Cuba thereby not only rebirthing a pure communist state in Cuba but a country with nuclear capabilities on Americas doorstep. The start in terrific where we find Mack trying to discover the plot and in the middle of the ocean where a drug transfer is going down between the Russians and the Cuban military as the sale of the drugs is going to finance the Russian takeover. Excuse me we can't have that and Mack is on the case. It doesn't slow down at all with Mack taking down operation after operation of the grouping of the Russian and mercenary forces who are going to launch the assault on the Cuban government with the assistance of corrupt members of the Cuban military. Hang on the Russian general says to himself we need more troops to complete the takeover and a drug baron is also brought in on the action having been offered an attractive deal when the new Cuba is a reality and agrees to supply his troops to the cause. Bring in Jack Grmaldi and his helicopter and with Mack infiltrating Cuban airspace and the attack on the convoy of the drug baron's forces who are supposed to lay the ground work of the assault with a strafing of them with grenades as the helicopter is unarmed. A Russian attack helicopter is sent to take them out and you will be impressed how they manage to negate this threat. The final assault by the airborne Russian troops and Mack defending the Cuban capital virtually solo as all of the defences have been moved out of the capital by the conspirators in the Cuban army is very good reading. I thought this was a fantastic read and would highly recommend you read this title.

This one had a good build-up for the first few chapters, but then around the middle, where Bolan was yanking out the support of the Soviet invasion, it seemed kind of dry. It was only when the deadline neared zero and Resnikoff was still in action that this book picked up again. Albrecht and Fagen's mercs disappeared to quickly, and too many "good guy" Cubans went down too easy, esp: Juan Oriol. I'd have been VERY interested in Bolan working with Oriol or Perrin. In all... it was an ok book, with some good action, but the ashes left from the victory just didn't feel worth the fight. Oh, I also loved the convoy scene. "You can't expect every trick to work every time." A bright note in a depressing book.

Overall, a very good read. Started in typical Bolan-style (action, what else?) and then got pretty slow. The plot was foggy for a while as well, however, towards the middle you can begin to see it come together very well. The ending didn't let me down either. The part where Bolan stalks the mercenaries is almost worth the price of the book alone. Scale of 1-10 a solid 8.