Punitive Measures

"...where liberals could hang out and ignore reality." page 81. Strange thing to say and I feel it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, even 23 years ago when this book was written. I found this story to be bland. There was no real challenge for the various teams. PF spent the book in Northern Ireland, AT in New York and New Orleans, and Bolan managed to fly from Australia (where there was a nonsensical gunfight) to Japan to Jamaica to Stony Man and then join up with the rest of the gang to fly to the Caribbean. The timelines did not match up. I am not too sure why Stony Man were involved in the first place. Sure, guns were being manufactured and illegally distributed but so are a lot of weapons around the world. But somehow they got involved. Colonel Maddox spent the book being a dick of a villain and his henchmen were not that good. Guess I was not overly impressed with this one.

Overall, a decent, action packed entry. The only thing that didn't sit well with me was out of the three way story, there was no final endgame for the enemy organization like there usually is. Usually the bad guys are working toward something big, but not really here. Able, Phoenix and Bolan were all used well with some good shootouts. Able in NY, Phoenix stopping an assassins bullets in Ireland, and Bolan in Japan and Jamaica. Wrapped up a bit too fast.

Well this may be a little bit different but I would suggest you click on the link to this title and read the previous review to mine by BolanFan_3_29 on this title which is basically everything I would have said but is one of the best reviews I have read on one of these titles for quite a while. Well Done. What can I add? The author has a strong knowledge of the characters in which he is writing and has balanced this title giving equal time to all of the MANY characters. Many many excellent action scenes contained here folks. The strong thing with this is you will NEVER have to say to yourself WHO/WHAT/WHY/WHERE ? I loved it and highly recommend this title.

One of the best. To make this review both short and sweet, “one of the best” would be how I would describe this Stony Man entry. The action was spot on, and flowed well throughout the entire novel. I always love when a Stony Man book can incorporate pretty much everyone that has ever been involved in the Mack Bolan universe, with cameo appearances by memorable characters like Leo Turrin, Charlie Mott, Felix O’Prinity (Special Agent and Friend of David’s) and a whole lot of Black Suits. The action sent Able Team chasing down eliminator leads in New York, Louisiana, and Alabama, decimating biker gangs, the KKK, and the “Falcons,” a street gang with deep connections. Phoenix Force as usual were busy half way around the world, running all over IRA country chasing down their own leads. While the lone wolf, Bolan, was going international to chase down some leads of his own in Australia, Japan, and Jamaica. My one disappointment, however, was the somewhat under-whelming ending. There was no real EPIC final fight with “Mad Dog” Maddox or his cohorts. Out of the three major evil doers, the Native American, Staggs, and their boss Maddox, only one was even slightly challenging, the other two went out like a summer breeze. This is the one thing that held this entry in the series back a little, and lead me to give it a solid rating of 9, close to perfect, not quite close enough.

I am begining to really enjoy these Stony Man books. This one was quite good. Another 8 stars. I thought that the ending was quite acceptable. Nice to see the big man get an assist against the bad guy (yes I know some would have preferred to see Mack take him instead of Able team). Some of these Stony Man read more like mysteries of how the SM gang finds and gets the bad guys. I like that.

First Stony Man book, I read. I thought the plot was very intersting, and it started off well enough...but then it went downhill for me, becoming just another action-adventure romp where it could've been something really good.

I REALLY enjoyed this one. This was the first "Stony Man" story I have read, and I was impressed. I was familiar with most of the characters, having read several of the "Executioner" series, but it was cool to see some other characters come to light (haven't read any Phoenix Force). The action was great and the plot was somewhat believable. I only have one crtisism though. I thougt the final confrontation between Bolan and Morrison could have been more exciting. It would have been interesting to see how Bolan would have taken this guy out one-on-one. I think VanCook copped-out there. The ending was great. Blancanales' and McCarter's final lines were classics. On Stinkeye's Scale (1-10...10 being best) I give it an 8!