Tennessee Smash

I give this book 8 stars because of Jacks participation in the story. Good to see him back. Also good to see the SOG crew again. I thought Hal's offer at the end was a great setup for Mack's final Mile in the Mafia wars. Good stuff. I always love how Mack walkes among his enemies and semands and gets absolute loyalty. Amazing!!

A solid 10 in my book...Pendleton at his best. While I'm sad to see the war against the mafia coming to a close, Hal's offer changed the Executioner series and brought us the spin offs. What a story! Carl and Smiley are missing and Bolan comes to town to find them. In true Bolan fashion, Mack goes undercover -- again as the Black Ace -- and injects himself right into the middle of a Nashville clash. This time, Omega takes down one side and ends up planting the necessary means in the other so that neither will stand. Tennessee Smash had a perfect blend of action, drama, and (of course) intrigue over the offer Hal made to Mack in the final pages. This book rocked from the start to the finish. I enjoyed the opening scene where Mack infiltrates...to cut a deal with the feds. From there, he saves a mafioso's wife, Carl, Smiley. He does so with the help of some old friends. Then we have Hal's offer. This is a great title and one key to not only the Executioner series, but the other Bolan' series as well.

Carl Lyons and Smiley Dublin are missing for over a week when the Big Guy is persuaded to come to Nashville to try and locate and save them. Here it is folks the last of the Mafia wars series of titles except for the final week and the introduction of the one and only April Rose coming where at the end of the title the Big Guy is again offered via the President a position at the head of the SOG to control as he sees fit and to install people of his choice to assist him. An attractive offer no doubt and little wonder he picks it up. This title well he saves Smiley and Carl and also saves the wife of the Capo from imprisonment. He manages to safe the undercover status of Carl who remains undercover and has an armchair ride into the trust of the Capo. He uses the guise yet again of a Black Ace (of spades) this time and when confirmation is requested via telephone by the Capo to the Head shed everything is confirmed (thank you Leo). Good read here which will satisfy any reader knowing what the author has coming up this final title is probably as good as you could hope for. Recommended reading

With the awfully dated cover and the setting, I was not expecting much from this installment. But I was surprised by the book. I like seeing Mack hooking up with fellow agents on the side of good as he tends to lighten up and open up a little with fellow comrades in arms. These rare scenes always provide a bit of insight in the character. The reference to the "new" technology of home video entertainment was a hoot when read with hindsight. But, at the same time it demonstrates how Don Pendleton kept his eyes and ears open with regards to the latest developments in the world. Big and small. The plot is a little hazy but there are some great action sequences. Plus Bolan gets the offer that makes publishing history: the offer to work for the government. And this kicks off the week long blitz that wraps up Pendleton's involvement with the franchise. To say nothing of spawning 100s of Bolan adventures. There are times when the war against the mafia seems repetitious and spinning the character off as a agent of the government opens the door for future stories. I'm starting the wrap up now. The week long blitz. Looking forward to it. This installment is somewhat typical of the middle of the road Bolan, but the offer at the end makes history. Read it for that alone, but read it.

What a strange book!!! The plot is fuzzy, the characters are fuzzy and Bolan´s involvement in this case in the beginning is also fuzzy!!! This book didn´t leave much after the final page and a lot of questions were left from my point of view in the end. Questions like; Why was Nick Cope left up and running his business at the end of the book? Will he reappear later on? Why was the chemist at the beginning of the book busted out and therefore exposing Bolan´s soft probe? What was SOGs real angle here? I did find it really strange and yes, fuzzy why Nick Cope was left alive to run his business as he was the main Mafia man in Tennessee. The only part that really rocked in this book was the Bolan/Omega infiltration into Nick Cope house and how he manages to work his way around the Mafia boss and pit him against other Mafia soldiers in attempt to get to his goal and rescue his friends. That part was one of those rare gem in the Mafia war books and was very well written and exciting. Needless to say a very fuzzy book which doesn´t leave you anything in the end except the fact that you should have chosen another book to read instead of this one. (Iceland - 2005)

This is a must read in the series. I was impressed with it, it was well written from cover to cover, it sets up some of the changes taking place in Bolan's world to come.

Bolan hits Tennessee after a summons from Hal. He gets involved in the fight against encroaching mafia tentacles waged federal law undercover style but with high stakes: 2 old friends and fellow soldiers in the war on crime are missing. This episode finds the big guy playing things with a bit more subtlety and caution than usual and so doesn't have the blitzing against criminal locations normally seen. Not to say there isn't any action, it's just more soft insertions than hard, jarring attacks. And the war wagon is nowhere to be seen, so no relying on long-distance rocketry! The plot itself isn't much though there is some back story and overview. Mostly it's the Executioner working to find the 2 lost feds and not blow the top off their existing undercover operation. Good supporting cast here but they really haven't very much to do with the action except for Grimaldi. This is Mack Bolan going about his business with a bit more circumspection than usual, but with very satisfying results. In spite of the lack of big-hit action scenes or any real nail-biting tension I really had fun with this book. I think it deserves a solid 8 stars.

BEING A TENNESSEAN MYSELF I LIKED THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF THE ACTION AND SUSPENSE.