Death Line

The conclusion to the Border Fire trilogy. This is a Stony Man novel really, and I did like the Able Team scenes as well as Bolan's encounters with the creepy brothers. Overall, lots of action and a few good scenes here and there, but I had issues with this book. The first two volumes were much better written in my opinion. The review from Dan Xavier touched on some of my gripes with this story, so I will be brief with my own. I felt like too many side characters were inserted into the story that just were not needed. With AT and PF included as well as Leo, I thought there was plenty that could have been done with these characters. Manning might as well have been a shadow in the background, Encizo had an important but very brief role, and Hawkins was not involved. New characters that were thrown in seemed to be cookie cutter add-ons that bloated the large cast of heroes. Too many times during the book, It seemed that there were small plot holes created, then bandaged over, and this cycle continued as the main foundation of the narrative. The part at the end where the villain didn't recognize Bolan was just one too many. Very disappointed with this conclusion, but at least plenty of good parts to keep the book afloat enough to cap a trilogy that was better than the previous one from Schmidt.

I found this to be an average finale to the trilogy. Mack Bolan has to escape from kidnappers and find the voodoo priestess, then locate the mastermind behind the plot. Okay, not too bad there. Able gets sidetracked with drug smugglers, while Phoenix comes up with a plan to go undercover and rescue the hostages. The action scenes were very blah in this installment. The finale scenes really had no punch to them. They were over quickly. The other two books were a little better.

Thus ends the brilliant final installment of a terrific trilogy. All of the sub plots are brought to an end and folks it is surperb reading. It is very hard to say a lot without giving away some of the plots but... Example: You will be shuddering at the final confrontation between Mack and the satanic mother of the brothers when she bites his lip .... (huh don't tell me he kissed her? no but it happens) Example: Gadgets is dead but is he? Example: TJ is dead but is he? Example: He didn't take time to count. But the Executioner estimated there were at least three thousand men. "Well," Katz quipped. "Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." He turns to face the Executioner, "you take the ones on the right of the building. I'll take the left." Without looking over his shoulder, he added, "Probably won't need you, Juanito. But stay ready just in case." Very small example of the humour running through the book. It is great reading from the start to the end and I have no reservations in recommending the entire trilogy for reading as a fine example of some of the best titles released in the series. Do yourself a favour and read it you will love it.

Overall a decent end to one of the better Bolan trilogies. All the extra characters added to the Bolan universe in this trilogy were given ample book-time to wrap up their plots/sub-plots. I liked the attention to character detail that was given in this book.

Sorry but this conclusion to an overall very good trilogy was horrible. 1) I understand why the Iranian wanted to start war between Mexico and the US so they could steal the Persian Gulf ports. But I never understood why he would go to that witch and her two sons? It was never explained why them and not a Marxist killer? The witch was a loon and could not be trusted. Also the witch and her sons storyline was wrapped up to quick and would have liked some answers besides a fast heart attack by the witch. 2) The line about Leo Turrin describing him as a Washington lobbyist disturbed me. He is a parttime capo and in other books he is described as working for the Justice Department. Did VanCook really write this book? Continuity error I believe. 3) The boxing scheme was so idiotic. Why did McCarter just let this one scheme develop? He and his men were mainly sitting around. Why didn't he send 2 PF men to also investigate other avenues to get Hix and Quartel. I am shocked that Hilgera even went for the scheme - it was so transparent. Also this boxing scheme had so many holes like what if Toro had lost that championship match. 4) Yet another man with a knife in his shorts. Sheesh that got to be an overdone cliche in this novel. Don't fear I can escape with this knife in my back pocket/shorts. I wished Lyons and friends had escaped another way. 5) AGain why doesn't Able team wear their kevlar jackats all the time or carry them all the time? Lyons should have immediately mentioned or remembered kevlar jackets at the Kombat store. It just lacked sense. 6) I would have liked some pages on how Bolan found out Razon was the link to the Iranians. Also why was he going to betray Blanco. 7) Also the plot to start a war between Mexico and the US. Lets see even if the Marxist overthrew Blanco how would that lead to a war with the US. A civil war would have started first. A Marxist overthrow would have caused incredible internal instability. We would have worked behind the scenes to overthrow the new government and maybe use military advisors and a massive border buildup but not an invasion. The Marxists would not have been able to hold the capital and wage war against US. The Iranians would also have faced a massive attack if they attacked the Persian Gulf. At the time we could easily have done both. (the above paragraph did not really influence the number) The line about president going to war because of Quartel being kidnapped sounded implausible. A surgical strike would have been used. Clinton would not have waged war because of Hollywood backers. In fact that kind of ticked me off but at least GE seems to be evenhanded in president bashing since Bush also had a backhanded comment in a SM novel. I was just very disappointed in this book 3. VanCook wrote a great book 3 in the Storm Trilogy but really dropped the ball on this one. He also wrote a great book 1 and 2 of this trilogy.

I hope all the new trilogys are as good as this one was. These were some awesome books. I liked mack going up against that witch women and escaping from her sons, I also liked Able with the texas rangers and Hix was a pretty cool character also. Most of all I liked the action scenes when Mack had to protect the mexican president!

Let me say this. I started 252 on Tuesday. I finished it Friday at work. It so satisfied my Bolan cravings, I sent Ryan Hillis the Dan Schmidt book from my bi-monthly shipment and decided to relax with the first Harry Potter book. I was that swept away by the whole of this trilogy... if I had read all three books in a row, my brains still might be frying. What did I like? Able Team, full outlaw, and working with a crew of Texas Rangers also stepping into "cowboy" territory. (Jerry thankyouthankyouthankyou... true Able has returned! Wahoo!) Mack undercover, on the run, working on his own resources and intelligence. Phoenix Force gets a rest from hard knock action, but McCarter and Turrin truly shine, and I LOVED Toro. We need to see his big butt in action with Stony Man more. More Hix. Too bad he's getting married. He'd have proven an awesome addition to Stony Man. What I didn't like? The fact we'll not likely get to see great characters like Hix, Oliverez, and Toro in action again. Out of 10, a 9.9. :) (Damn Russian Judges!)

A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, though I definitely got the impression that something drastic was going to happen to T.J.....