Ultimate Game

This is the only SuperBolan entry I know of from Alan Philipson, one of my favorite Gold Eagle writers. If only there could have been more! Every page was gripping, entertaining reading. A unique recruitment tool is used to find bloodthirsty killers as they bubble to the top in a video game where only the most ruthless killers become part of a very real life deadly club. Bolan's mission is infiltration of this group and take them down. Excellent scenes from the East coast to the West coast, with Brognola even getting some taste of the action in San Diego. The focus of the book takes an interesting turn when it shifts to a small town, not far from where I live, and we have a suspenseful thriller about a group of killers bent on murdering the entire town. If you have read the classic Able Team book The Hostaged Island, you will get a little bit of a feel for how this portion of the book goes. I was on the edge of my seat as Bolan and a variety of characters, the killers, the townsfolk, a police chief, battle it out in a very intense series of events that make for thriller that you can't put down. I also liked how the night vision goggles played a major role in the tactics Bolan used to take out the villains. This novel delivers a fresh and memorable reading experience, I highly recommend it, don't miss out on this book.

Very different from your standard title in these series and a very enjoyable original read. Pretty good plot where serial killers and wannabees manage to meet in the upper level of an online game and through the use of cryptic codes known only to themselves manage to stay in contact with each other while planning their major event which will result in the total extermination of a small coastal town with a population base of 1280. The Big Guy starts to play the game and quickly beats it giving him access to the level 5 area. Of course his progress has been watched as not too many have done it before and he goes underground to infiltrate the group. Action scenes abound if you like these scenes you will love this title and it really cranks up when the assault on the coastal village is launched. Some special characters introduced in this section my standout the 80 something old lady who takes in the kids whose parents have just been slaughtered and what happens with the blonde pyscho, excellent reading how the townspeople start to organise a resistance which is surprisingly effective thanks to the actions of an unseen someone who is turning the tide of the battle singlehandedly. (guess who? He is very good in this title folks). Terrific read highly recommended reading.

Slighly above average. I didn't quite buy the premise about how serial killers and killers get together because of an interest in a computer game. That didn't quite seem believable. Not that many other plots in this seris are believable but this one it was more obvious. I also wonder if the computer technology was such in 1996 could create a game such as one described in the scene where he played the game and killed a cop. Today yes with GTA3 but 96? The book was published in 98 I assume written in 95/96. The action scenes annoyed me beyond belief. It was like the writer wrote a 220 page novel then went back in to pad it. Way too many action scenes were double the size because of 2 POVs. Instead of like many writers just switching POV while the timeline is running or do a one-two paragraph back in time mode nope not this writer. He starts many action scenes and it reaches a certain point. He then restarts the scene from the start from a second POV. So instead of 6 pages you have 12. Really fouled up the momentum. The mill scene between the cop and Butcher Boy was really annoying. Cop drives and pulls up into the mill and he and mill workers get shot at. Another location and characters. Back to Butcher Boy driving following cop then pulls in and shoots at cop and mill workers. ARGH!! Total momentum killed. Also same characters BB and friends are shooting cop while cop is escaping up a ladder. Shift to another part of the town. Shift back to POV of cop climbing the ladder. Mack was a bit too cold blooded To be initiated he allowed 2 Fed Agents killed because he didn't want to blow cover Granted he faked the deaths of 2 others but letting the other two get killed seemed way out of character. Not sure why Mack didn't use the moniker Executioner. That would have been cool. Archangel I can't imagine why he used it - way too obvious an undercover name. Fallen Angel would have been better. He didn't want to have them think he could be undercover so why chose a name like Archangel that could draw suspician. Also AT's Hostage Island was kind of like this in terms of a community being torn apart and pillaged and was a tighter novel. I liked the characters especially the murderous couple in that small community. Dumb for killing a woman and making it look like suicide then removing all foot prints.

I didn't like this book at first because there was a lot of action that seemed superfluous, but I stuck with it and was eventually drawn in ... and the eariler bits paid off for the most part. The whole premise was intriguing and a good change of pace from the usual counter-terrorist fare that marks these series. The mysterious 'X' shouldn't feel the need to hide behind a pseudonym because this is a damn fine book. Again, if you pick this up, ya gotta stick it out through the first 100 pages ... the pay off will be worth it.

I felt that this was one of the best SuperBolan books I have ever read. It has a nice style to it & the pace of the book is good too. The action is great & the storyline is a nice departure from the usual.

After the disappointment of reading bad Bolan books over the past few months this one came as a bit of a refleif. Not that it was perfect, but it was much better story than books like Uforce. Bolan is a team player in this, assigned by Brognola to infiltrate a large group of pyschopaths that are using the web to work together and plan the ultimate massacre. This part of the plot gave me the greatest problem, not that I know anything about psychotherapy but I just could not visulize a group of Hannibal Lecters coming together so easily. The rest of the story follows the usual Bolan infiltration thread. Bolan is eventually caught out and 'executed' by the bad guys who then go on the rampage in a small American town with the intent on murdering every single resident. There are many interesting side plots with well fleshed out sub characters, although at the end of the story the author (Mr Noname) leaves you wondering what happened to some of them. Needless to say Bolan and his allies (townsfolk) win through and kill most of the bad guys, although it is hinted that several got away. Overall not too bad a story, for me, though, it finished far too quickly.

I was surprised no one claimed credit for this book, as it was a good effort, especially in terms of trying to bend the usual format and cover some new turf. Nice handling in the way Bolan wormed his way into the serial killers' ranks without violating his personal code. This one would have been a ten for me if there'd been a little more credibility in the last quarter of the book.

I liked this one a lot more than I thought I was going to. It had a good pace, and enough of a plot to make it a good read. I feared excessive body count, and while there was a lot of that, it didn't bog thebook down as seem to happen so often in the series--in my opinion, anyway. I'm glad I read this one.

Good plot line and I loved the way the action moved. I felt that it could have been a better and more realistic book if Stoney Man Farm had found the location of the town faster and had Able Team fly in to assist Mack.

This was one of the best super bolans ive read so far. It was awsome when the srerial killers raided that whole town. Bolna took on every last one of the murders. Good coputer stuff and action. Was also a very original story

When I first saw the plot of this one, I knew I had to get it, despite whoever wrote it. It was such a treat. It was very original, and the plot line had one of my favorite elements, going back to Able Team-Hostaged Island---a community under siege from terrorists. The action was intense, with some cold-blooded villains. One of the best SuperBolans, I think. Snare this one!