Hardline

Bloody hell this is different. hmm black magic, spirits, mediums, séances all tied in with a good complex plot involving a major defence developer for the Brit government. Well the big guy goes undercover impersonating someone else into a billionaire's mansion with major occult events happening and his attempt at staging a mediums trance is a hoot with predictable results but you have to read it. I enjoyed the characters introduced all very different than your standard run of the mill in one of these titles. Some excellent action scenes especially the ending section on the scaffold but maybe too many misses when shots are fired considering that all the players are professionals they have trouble hitting anything they are aiming at including the big guy with the exception of Williams the copper who can drill anything he aims at and I must admit I really liked his attitude throughout the title. For want of a better word this is a feel good title I reckon, I really enjoyed it and good on the author for trying something so radically different I think he pulled it off pretty well. Recommended reading here.

This marks the first Peter Leslie Bolan novel I've read, and I must say, it was far better than I expected from the write-up on the back. The plot starts out more James Bond-ish than Mack Bolan-ish, with Mack infiltrating a group of occult obsessed businessmen. Why is he doing this? Well, a sniper took a shot at him and Brognola, and the attack was loosely linked to a British company that manufactures parts for the B-2 Stealth bomber, and they think something's being covered up. The plot is weak, though it moves quickly enough, and soon we learn of a fairly mediocre scheme to make a profit, no matter who has to be killed along the way. It's not amazing, but I feel it would have been better without so much needless build-up. It's almost as if the author wanted to try and improve the story by making each character refer to the villains' plot as diabolical and terrible, even though it was nothing Earth-shattering. But the action scenes were well-written, and the villains were unique and interesting. No mustache-twirlers here. One thing that bothered me was the lack of a coherent description during a couple of scenes, namely those set in the large mansion and it's outlying property. Buildings seemed to move to wherever it was convenient to have them. Things felt muddled doing those scenes, and eventually I just gave up trying to map it out and just went with the flow. It made it easier, though somewhat irritating. There were also two stealth scenes that would have benefited from a little editing. Each was too long and unclear; very dull, unlike most of the book. There were a couple of side-characters as well, including the requisite beautiful female agent, and they held up fairly well. They never dominated the book, but had enough personality to keep from being boring. Overall this is a good read, but not a great one. If there was a little less running about aimlessly during some of the chase scenes on the sprawling mansion property and better descriptions of that property, then this one might have been a real winner, instead of a mild recommendation.

Hmmmmmmmmm..........Interesting book for those who are into occult and magic and the unknown....but too long description of magic and enemy ground penetration which are way way too long and in reality I think this book could have been a killer short one instead of being stretched to a Super Bolan with the stretching done way way out of bounce. The plot was very tough to put together since it involved a few characters with no real back ground but of course are only motivated by greed and the lust for the colour of the money. It is hard to make a clear picture of the mansion and the surroundings since it is so unclear and very tough to get a clear view of the battlefield in the book since the better part of it take place in the same mansion and the ground surrounding it. Trust me on this one. This book is not worth reading. I honestly thing you have much better use for your time than reading it. Even tough you don't have anything to do, this book will not entertain you in any way. Stay away from it (Iceland - 2007)

Well, what can I say about this book? It was different that's for sure. The best way to describe it is it's weird. The occult is a major theme in this story, which is what Bolan faces in the oddball villains in this adventure. On one hand these are not your typical run-of the-mill bad guys, a good thing, and on the other hand these villains were rather not the type that a man of Bolan's talents should have even bothered with. The plot is interesting, and as usual with Leslie's novels, Bolan has a puzzle to solve along the way (yup, there is a hang glider in this book too), with plenty of Mack sneaking around and discovering all sorts of surprises. However the villains complicated sceme is a little hard to swallow, as quite an effort is made among many conspirators and involving a huge cast of extras with everything going right just to deceive somebody. I liked the concept of their plan, but the way it was written out in this story was too over the top. Most of the book takes place in a large house, and the expansive grounds surrounding it. A map of the interior of the mansion, as well as of the grounds would have been a major help in following the action. I had difficulty in picturing how all the stuff was layed out, particularly in the big yard with all the buildings and the natural scenery. The ending was a little dorky, but I did like Bolan's tense final showdown with Salter and Scarff in the last few pages. Basicly this book was a unique reading experience that had some good moments here and there but not as good as most Superbolans. I guess I will give this novel a 6. By the way Jason Mettner is one of Bolan's allies in here but off the top of my head I can't remember the other titles he showed up in. I'm assuming he was in some of Leslie's earlier books.

Normally, I like to put a few sentences of plot synopsis here. Just a brief summary, reviewing what the book was about. That's virtually impossible for "Hardline" because the plot is nearly incomprehensible. I think the author confused Bolan with Bond for this one. The hero of this book does more sneaking than fighting. He infiltrates a bizarre cult, impersonating some sort of voodoo master. The whole book felt wrong. The plot, vague as it was, did not get revealed until over halfway through the book. Then, instead of taking out the bad guys Bolan-style, the Executioner plants some sort of taped confession. "Hardline" is not at all like the rest of the series. Avoid this dog; it's not worth it.

This one was different, I'll say that much. How about those seances? A good read.