Crude Kill

Overall, I liked the book quite a bit. It is solid from beginning to end built around a good plot. Bolan is tracking down a terrorist -- Lufti -- who is using threats of release millions of gallons of oil to get big money in return. Bolan, which Jack's help, infiltrates an oil transport ship and begins picking apart Lufti's team, man by man. Upon saving the day, Bolan sets out to take down Lufti in what was several pages of very good "cat and mouse" type of action. Now to knit pick...I could only do a "7" rating because there are far too many Bolanverse inconsistencies for me. While I can come up with a dozen names for Mack from his books, the "nightfighter" is one I've never seen. The author used this countless times throughout the book, which each occurrence strengthening a pet peeve of mine against it. Secondly, another bad authorial intent...Bolan calls Jack "G-force" in the book. I don't really understand taken such liberty in writing book 59 of the series. Thirdly, at the end of the solidly written scene between Bolan and Lufti, Bolan is begging Lefti to choose life over death and Bolan tells the terrorist that he'll help him find his family. Very strange scene...not Mack Bolan. With that being said, a "7" rating was all I could go. Its a shame because it was really a well written, well told story.

A quite good readable title here which entertains from start to finish. The Big Guy is on the trail of a terrorist who has hijacked a super tanker and is making his demands but actually has a hidden secret agenda to bring the world to it's knees. Non stop action throughout which in general is pretty good reading and Jack is along for the ride in this one which is always a plus in any title. Recommended reading in the series.

This book is a perfect example of why, at the time this was released , I loved Phoenix Force ! Bolan is completely unstoppable. He is a Superhuman terrorist crushing cyborg !! It does have non stop action, but it does not compare to the Pendleton books, or how the current authors write him. A very sub-par book. Eh Kay says - groan ...

This one is one of those books where you love it or hate it, but it's worth checking out. The action is plenty from cover to cover, moving at a fast clip, the writing style is unique, I admit, but very enjoyable.

Crude Kill is, in my opinion, one of the very best Mack Bolan masterworks ever released--there's action on a submarine, there's action on a Super-Ultra-Large-Crude-Container, and there's action on an island. There's helicopter action, there's fork-lift action, and there's tricky bomb-room action. Every action sequence is written with a precision and attention to detail that would rival historical british naval records, only british sea captains had reality to guide their pens, but the author of Crude Kill had only the bounds of his imagination. The best sequence? When Mack Bolan (truly a hero for these troubled times) chases mad terrorist mastermind "Lufti" through the darkened depths of the giant oilship. In the pitch blackness, Bolan must use only his powers of hearing, touch, and memory to pinpoint the hidden location of the laughing power-mad criminal psychopath monster. Also, this book has a satisfying concluding chapter, where nightfighter Bolan finds a missing villian from an earlier part of the story. Of course, Bolan takes care of the English bombmaker with his traditional lighting-fast unswerving jungle justice, and kills him and blows up his house. READ IT! Far better than Hatian Hit, the one I just finished.

I have to agree with Doug Wise on this. The thing that made my braincells fry like they were dipped in battery acid was the fucking 60-round Beretta magazines, and the fact that he takes terrorist headquarters at full runs, not even pausing to aim, dodge or anything other than run and shoot. Calling this a Die-Hard style actioner is whipping your dick out and pissing across one of the finest thrillers of our generation. It makes me wonder what happened between the Penetrator and his Gold Eagle service to turn Cunningham into a complete and utter dimwit.

Crude Kill. I have nothing good to say about this book. So I guess I'll complain a bit. The story takes Bolan from Italy to London to France to a submarine to an oil tanker to an island and back to France. The plot has Bolan thwarting a terrorist plan involving the hijacking of the world's largest oil tanker. Action occurs at each location and while that would normally be a boon, the action here is so ineptly written that the scenes miraculously seem tedious and confusing at the same time. Bolan doesn't seem to know what he's doing. Maybe he got hit in the head shortly before this book started, I don't know. He runs, jogs and goes up steps 2 at a time while on his soft probe (and he has no plan of what he'll do, of course.) He kicks open doors and bursts in during hard hits on terrorist infested buildings, or in one case just flying kicks his way into the hidden room feet first. He hits the terrorist controlled super tanker but picks up an AK-47 dropped by a dead terrorist because all he brought was his Beretta 93-R and his Automag: "Bolan wished he had more firepower." Maybe Bolan was confused and thinking that the 93R was a submachine gun. It is referred to as a "machine pistol" and he doesn't carry it in a holster but on a lanyard around his neck: "His 93-R Beretta was too big to carry comfortably under the sport jacket, but on the lanyard there was room enough." Then, four paragraphs later: "He fisted his .44 Automag..." I guess Big Thunder was a nicer fit under a blazer? And then there are those 60-round magazines for the Beretta. Huh? To take out the submarine Bolan is carrying "two quarter pound blocks of C4" and he uses "half of one of the blocks" against each of the two propeller shafts. 2 ounces of C4 on each propeller shaft? Hell, even if he'd used a whole standard block of C4 on each one I doubt he'd do much more than rattle the shaft. Bolan seems at times to be the luckiest dullard in creation and other times he seems superhuman. Even the presence of Grimaldi can't redeem this clunker. I'll give one recommendation only. Don't read this book unless you've decided you must read every title in the series or unless you need to do penance for some minor sin. This one gets a single star.

This was the first Executioner novel I ever read, when I was about 13 or 14. I still remember how enjoyable it was, and how it immediately hooked me on the series. I loved this book.

I have not read a Bolan book for awhile, I came back to the series with this book. I'm sure glad I started back up. Bloody great

An exciting book with explosive action.

CLASSIC BOLAN ALL THE WAY. ONE OF THE BEST IN THE TERRORIST WARS. A MUST READ FOR DIE-HARD(HINT, HINT!) BOLAN FANS.

Just read this book for the second time, I originally read it when it was first published. The action starts right from the first chapter and doesn't let up until the end. Good story, good nemesis, a quick and fun read.

DIE HARD ON A BATTLESHIP! GOOD SUSPENSE! THE BOOK GETS SUPER EXCITING FROM THE TIME BOLAN AND LUFTI GO THROUGH MANY CHAPTERS ONE-ON-ONE AGAINST EACH OTHER TO ITS UNPREDICTABLE ENDING.

This books is awsome. Lots of action.

Cunningham ranks up there with the best of them. Another Die Hard-type plot that is high on action. Outstanding!