Hellground

Well something while not original namely Black Magic/VooDoo etc. was a pleasant surprise in this title and it is quite a good read. The author has produced yet another "similar type title" but with the inclusion in the plotline of the above he churns out yet another title and well......... A well trodden plot of taking down a drug Baron/climbing the ladder/rattling the cages/hostage taken/message given/endless raids on you name it/hostage released or revenge taken and..... After all that this is the first title I have enjoyed by this author for quite a while. Recommended reading especially at the end of the title where the words "Fernando de Leon Martinez, I presume?" are spoken and hey you have obviously just read the title and understand this reference yep very good ending. Good read.

Hellground turned out better than I thought it would be. The story takes place in Mexican and Texas border towns. Bolan takes on a standard drug dealer there, but with an interesting twist. This dealer uses a cult leader to help protect his drug dealings, and what turns out to be the main villain you see on the cover, Martinez, has some of the more creepy activities of the villains in the Bolan series. His human sacrifice rituals and powerful hold he had on his cult members made an interesting element to an otherwise standard drug dealer story. Newton also creates a good cast of allies for Bolan at the start of the book. Three other lawmen from different jurisdictions work with Bolan, and also some tension among the group as no one really knows each other well and suspicions arise as to who might be a possible double agent. The best of these characters was Sanchez, the Mexican federale. Newton did a great job with this character. Action scenes were sometimes great, often standard, my favorite being the short but excellent action at the camp near the end. The perspectives change from one ally or allys to the next as each of Bolans group goes there saeperate route in trying to track down information on Martinez and the dealer in Mexico. All these scenes were good. I probably would have rated this book higher, but some of Bolan's scenes were carbon copies of action scenes Newton has used many times before. And there were times later in the book where the story was bogged down by a little too much of Newton's cerebral rambling. The ending was tense and decent, but man would I have loved to see Martinez get his end in his bone pot somehow. At least that is the way I would have concluded this story. But all in all, I enjoyed this superBolan. Thumbs up.