Day of the Vulture

Wow, reading the previous reviews it seems like I am the odd bunny out here. I found this to be trash and that is exactly where my tatty old copy finds itself. In the paper trash where it belongs. The characters are cardboard throughout, no background, no motivation, no nothing. Why is the Vulture who he is, and what was his name? Who cares. He has a numpty for a second in command and hundreds of mercenaries at his beck and call who are all to willing to die for him. At one point, when Bolan goes full Rambo, the bodies were "stacked ten feet high". What rubbish. The female characters he meets along the way are instantly forgettable and often just disappear. The computer guy goes from being a coward to Rambo II in no time. And stupid things happen like Bolan jumping out of a exploding helicopter and landing on top of a hot air balloon. But what got me was the 15 years ago intro. Wasn't 1982 when Bolan became Colonel John Phoenix and the terrorist wars started? Was there any mention of this? No, because the intro might as well as been a month ago. But we are expected to believe that 15 years later the Vulture is still the most wanted person in the world and Bolan has been carrying a grudge ever since. For 15 years? Come on, get real. A real trash story.

Took me a while to get around to this one. First, let me say that it was a really good read. Lot's of action that was fast-paced. My only complaint is the author's use of three woman that were not needed to further the plot. The first would be the sheriff's wife, who was a deputy herself. Her "escape" from the hospital in her weakened condition seemed far-fetched and her final scene in which she showed up in an evening gown showing no signs of any of the trauma she has just been through was ridiculous. She blew Bolan's cover and then she made a revenge kill and we never saw her again. The second unnecessary woman was the girlfriend/cousin of the arm's dealer that the Vulture kidnapped. He lets this girl hang on his arm in the middle of an important meeting with some guys from the Middle East and dotes all over her and then kills her when they get to the hotel room. Stupid! The third unnecessary woman was Remmy's girlfriend in Switzerland. She has no military training and all of the sudden she has the nerves of Rambo when she goes up against an army with Bolan?! Really!! Other than that, I enjoyed the book.

A terrific last entry from McQuay here. Bolan hunts down the Vulture across the U.S. ending up on the west coast and ultimately thwarting the villain’s plans. This is just the first part, Bolan then has to track down the Vulture at his lair in Switzerland. All along the way there is much storytelling, characters, and action that is original. This is one of those books that you don’t get the feeling that you have read these scenes before. Some of the action is over the top, with hollywood movie types of cars exploding in fireballs and people diving through plate glass windows and the like. But still it is one heck of a thriller and I found this story to be a breath of fresh air after the last couple super Bolan books I read. The Vulture is one of the most ruthless and weird badguys I can remember. It just seemed odd to me that after escaping from custody, he then embarks on some grandmaster plan of terrorism, including some strange connection with Anti-American presence in Iran that went nowhere, then after Bolan derails his scheme, he then is content to hole up in his giant castle in Switzerland and party. Nevertheless, this is one very entertaining read, and would recommend it highly.

This title is very much segmented into different sections I reckon. Firstly there is a very nice prologue which informs the reader why the villian The Vulture wears a patch over his right eye what is missing and how it happened and who did it, good stuff. The next section ending with The Vulture's escape to his castle is brilliant many many things to like especially the chase scenes involving a semi-trailer transporting toxic waste and there is a huge body count rising indeed The Vulture is an extremely disturbed person. But that is it the title stops dead in it's tracks, didn't like it at all the second half and quite frankly thought the final assault with who was with him and what he had and how his two allies suddenly became expert marks people with no instructions except point it at them and pull the trigger was laughable. But the quick one line instruction was a good lesson folks let me tell you as the recipient of these words ( a young innocent female ?) can a short time later with no further instruction load and fire a 50 calibre machine gun from the turret of a tank and not only that how good is this girl hundreds of mercs converging on the tank and the Big Guy says as he scales the castle wall hey they are coming from in front and the rear so keep a eye on both and while you are doing that take out a few on the ramparts as well for us as we climb up. AND SHE DOES! The way The Vulture is taken out is good reading and poetic in a way and the last two pages of this title will remind you BIG TIME who this guy is we love to read about and was a fine finish to the title. So up to you I enjoyed the first half very much.

This book is a bit over the top with past praises. It has some great things though….sure. One of the most vile villain of the series, nice action and exotic locations. Yet the book was a bit long. It started out well but stated to slow down as it progresses and lack the cohesive writing throughout since the book was stressed a bit to make it longer than is should have. Usually the villain is just some wannabe thug with big dreams and little brain but let´s face it, the Vulture has earned his spot in the hall of the famed villains. He is so bad to the bone, merciless and kills just for pure rage and joy. It was nice though to see his personality developed through the book from the mad dog to the count of a small place in Swiss, like a king of a small town were everyone was praising the protector of the town. The ending was very fitting as Bolan finished him off in a very similar way the book started The settings of the Swiss part of the book is something more from a James Bond like Her Majesty Secret Service. One of the magic part of the book is the Vulture´s breakout in the beginning. This was a beautiful scheme and very well written but sadly this was no the case through out the book. The ending was very nice and again Bolan is the man of mercy when it comes to the regular johns in the world. The final result is some great writing, nice and exotic locations and very memorable villain. Great ingredients for a good book? Yes, from a certain point of view yet not good enough the give the book a top notch praise (Iceland – 2008)

It has been sometime since I read this, but it still is one of my favorite ones. The Vulture is one of the most vile villians to date and you gotta love the way that Bolan finishes him off the same way he almost did in the beginning. Can't wait to read this one again!

This is one of the best written, action-oriented Bolan books I've ever read. The characterizations in this one were damn near perfect from Bolan & his nemesis to all the secondary characters. I couldn't put this one down because I never knew what to expect next nor where this story was going to take Bolan. The ending was a nice touch to show Bolan's Sgt. Mercy side BTW.

It was a good story, but I just didn't feel like it deserved as high a mark as it's got. I did like the Vultures breakout, and the California freeway chase with the tanker truck, and the tank battle. Overall, Rennie was totally annoying, but got a bit better towards the end. I thought it was nearing a 7, but the read didn't blow me away with explosive action, like a few of McQuay's earlier works.

What can I say? One of the best (if not THE best) story I've read to date. This one has so many good things that I don't have space to write it all. Definitely my favorite villian thus far! EXCELLENT and a must read!

only book that i can think of off the top of my head where we go back in time at the beginning of the book and learn how the vulture got the patch on his eye. a must read.

This is probably the best modern Mack story yet. Its pretty much due to the fact that the Vulture is one of the greatest bad guys in Mack's history. This reads like watching a great action movie; great characters, locations, and some wild fights. A must read for Bolan fans!

Day of the Vulture is what started me on the whole Mack Bolan adventure series, to this day I can still remember every mental picture I imagined while reading this book. This one is pure gold. The Vulture is a very well made and presented bad guy and provides a worthy although futile challenge to the Executioner's war machine.

GREAT BOOK!!!!!!! First bolan book I ever read. It sure got me to read more, now i have like a hundred....

Day of the Vulture is a really good book. It's one of my personal favorites. It has something that I haven't read about yet in the series. At first Mack fights with the villian, but he escapes and only to appear years later. Mack has to chase this wealthy elusive villian althroughout the world. The settting is also great in this one.

This is a fantastic read. The action is nonstop, the villian one of the worst, and it allows us to see that personal human side of MACK that is often missing in the newer books. Kind of takes one back to the Pendleton days.

One of Mack's better villians he's faced since the 80s. It was nice to see the vulture's personality developed through the book. Overall one of my favorite Super Bolans.

I've read about two dozen Executioner novels and this is the only one I was disapointed with. The begining was good but it slowed down in the middle and Mack did a few things that were (I'm sorry) rather stupid. But, in the end it picked up.

Awesome, what great action, chasing the Vulture all over the world. And the action in chapter 18, doesn't get any better. The chopper, the hot air balloon, and the tank. Then just when i thought the book/story was done, He does what he does best. He helps the ones that need help the most. My 5th Super Bolan. I don't know how it can get any better.