Sold for Slaughter

This book was extremely average. Newton is one of my favorite authors, so this was somewhat disappointing. I applaud the idea of bring historical characters back, but Smiley is not one of my favorites. It's remarkable how easily and often she gets into trouble, and its fairly obvious when she's in a story that Mack will be continuously saving her. The Omega reference at the beginning was the highlight. The Black Ace brings back to memory some of my favorite Pendleton story-lines. Starting the book with that may have added to my overall disappointment when it turned into the standard kidnap-rescue themed adventure. Some of the scenes in Algiers were okay. The sniper scenes brought some action, but overall not my favorite work from this author.

Very disappointing entry here with the author unfortunately just going through the same old story line with the names of the previously published changed and locations changed yet again. The title opens with the Big Guy having to rescue Smiley Dublin who has been captured whilst undercover (yet again perhaps she should consider another line of employment) and relates to a pipeline moving illegal goods into Europe and the States (not heroin this time women). A standard start at the bottom of the ladder title ensues where the Big Guy climbs the ladder rungs while rattling those cages to discover the unknown ringleaders. The classic sniper scenes are in full vogue as are the bombings of premises connected to the leaders of the gang with some classic reading to be had <yawn>. Now all of the action is occurring in Algiers and guess what Smiley is along for the ride after having been rescued in the States. (The intuitive reader here may be considering what the hell is she doing there she has already been saved what good could she possibly be?) Well she obviously couldn't be captured again by the Bad guys gee that has been done dozens of time by this author surely not again? <cough> Umm well Smiley has been captured again and the Big Guy is in rampage mode hitting place after place across Boston and leaving the same message someone has the woman and I want her back unharmed. Blitz after blitz he single handedly is crushing the opposition until .... ? Hang on back peddle you said Boston you wanker this is a review of Sold for Slaughter dick. Uhuh !!!!! If you have read the Executioner title #12 Boston Blitz you have already read this one but that one was brilliant this title is nothing more than a complete pathetic copy of one of the best titles released in this series by an author too lazy to release his own work yet again relying on cheap shoddy crap like this. In case you were wondering this is not recommended reading in this series.

Twenty-five years after its first publication and time has not been kind to this novel. The rating is based on my contemporary reading. Smiley Dublin is the world’s worst federal agent who gets captured two too many times. Where are the other Ranger girls? Why hasn’t the Ranger Girls been ever serialized? These questions and more kept me occupied while I read this by-the-numbers entry. All of the elements are here. The differences are striking - Bolan is more emotional here, more angry, than his current incarnation. He also carries a lot of aliases (four) for this short work. The newer novels are better written, light-years ahead of this one. This author did improve over the years. Massively. And he knows his stuff. How this is tried with the first thirty-odd novels are interesting and diverse, a true sequel to the classic stretch, before they proved to be static emulations. Bolan was never threatened, but Smiley was. Also, for all of the insidious and carnal nature of the white-slave trade, why no mention of Cindy?

What can I say about this book? Mostly negative things as it was sadly yet another dull reading and overall a rather bad book. The only positive thing was the black ace theme in the beginning, which was a great one and was an explosive beginning of this book but this kind of faded out as the book went along as it really didn´t catch my attention after the initial battle in Kansas. Man, I think Smiley Dublin has made it as the worst Bolan sidekick as she didn´t seem to do anything right from start to finish in this book and the presence was quite annoying and her actions as ridiculous oness since she is supposed to be a federal agent. Why have a love sick agent running around as a loose "cannon"? I wonder who would have made her an agent in real life?? Short and "sweet" the book is very boring and flat and didn´t leave anything apart from the opening. Yet another dull Mike Newton book in my mind and is from my point of view hardly worth reading. (Iceland - 2005)

I thought this one wasn't as good as the previos Newton books.Maybe it was because i had high expectations of it, after being blown away by numbers 41,45 and 49.After reading many great Newton novels since, i still think this is one of his weakest ones.An average Bolan at best.

Mack Bolan works against a white slaver operation in "Sold for Slaughter" and goes from Kansas to Algiers wiping out the bad guys. The book opens with Bolan rescuing Smiley Dublin, one of the Ranger girls from previous Executioner books. She has been investigating the white slaver operation in the states but after she is discovered the mob boss puts her up for sale. Bolan, posing as a mafia Black Ace again, crashes the slave market in Kansas and rescues the drugged undercover fed. The trail of the white slaver operation leads to Algeria and the flesh markets there. Bolan, with Smiley Dublin in tow, begins to rattle the local slavers. The Executioner hits the local boss with a sniper attack on his home after introducing himself to a contact as mob guy Frank LaMancha. Bolan's attempts to take apart the slaver operation are complicated because Smiley Dublin, in a move right out of the April Rose playbook, takes off on an independant operation, gets captured (again) and causes Bolan to tear the underworld of Algiers apart trying to get her back. Action is OK. Not the best in the beginning stuff but when the story moves to Algiers things get better. Bolan uses the .460 Weatherby for his sniper attack. He also uses an Uzi and an XM-18, some kind of automatic .40mm grenade launcher with a drum magazine. Very effective but it seemed as if Bolan had uncanny powers to predict which type of .40mm grenade (gas, flechete, HE, etc) would be needed for each shot before he loaded that magazine! The villains are not especially memorable or evil (for white slavers, that is: they're still plenty evil) and don't seem to offer much threat or challenge to Bolan. This one was actually pretty good. Without the annoying presence of Smiley Dublin I would have called this a 7 star book. Her ridiculous actions and lack of moxie (for a veteran federal undercover cop) were so lame that the book gets only 6 stars.

GOOD ENTRY INTO THE SERIES. GOOD TO SEE ONE OF THE RANGER GIRLS ONCE AGAIN.

A good one with one of the ranger girls. Exciting!