Beirut Payback

I didn't like this book . Maybe at the time that it was published the Beriut civil war was in the fore front of alot of people's conscience because of the Marines Barracks bombing. But I found this book to be really confusing. Boy the 3 books after Dead Man Running have been real duds in my opinion. Not even the appearance of Katz could save this one, And why was he even in the book? 6 stars

This is a great book. Bolan ventures to Lebanon in search of Strakhov in his attempt to get at the KGB. The author weaved in Katz (PF series) to the story in a while I truly appreciate. Katz passed on information from his pre-PF contacts. Once in Lebanon, you have key characters being killed, heart-felt scenes involving a Lebanese boy and woman, and various evil characters that Bolan must address. The book is action-packed with many great sequences leading right up to an ending as good as any.

Another excellent title by this author who just keeps pumping them out in this series. The Big Guy has come to Beirut in search of Greb Strakhov who is present in the country as a result of information passed on by Katz through his Mossad contacts. Reading this title you are there. The author manages to place you in the location so well you almost have to duck when a bomb goes off or a bullet is fired. Non stop action abounds as the Big Guy infiltrates a summit meeting of Terrorist leaders and KGB handlers including Strakhov at a compound add in an air strike by the Israelis and it is on. Trying to escape the carnage at the compound in tow with a female ally he unexpectedly receives assistance from a hidden sniper which is a huge surprise at the end of the title. Highly recommended reading in this series grab it.

Ohhhhhhhh...........slow motion one. Jarnnnnn...it sucked for most part but the good part is that I fell asleep every time I was reading it so as a treatment sleeping disorder, the book was the perfect medicine. It is strange how easily the hero of the day can walk into enemy base without being detected and without the need to speak the native language and how he can walk around in a country in despair with the world after him just like he is the only one in the world. I kind of wonder if Bolan had a clocking device on him or otherwise invincible. Oh, yes, by the way, I wonder if it is common for the natives of Beirut to speak English? Kind of strange from my point of view. The villain of all villains....Greb Strakov is only in minor yet important manipulating making all the war factions run around like headless chicken much to his delight and of course plans. The plot was weak and Greb's plan and reasons are quite unclear apart from the revenge issue with his old nemesis in mind. The sentimental part of the book was corny and out of touch with the main flow of the book and action and it actually slows the readers perception of the on going action and feeling for the surroundings in general. The potential of the book didn´t add up in the end. So in the end the facts speak for out load. If you have trouble sleeping, then this book is ideal for you and you should not be groggy in the end like sometimes after a sleeping pill but still though you might end up being groggy after this book. It is too lame to keep you up all night. Iceland - 2008)

An average novel, you gotta love Bolan rescueing the kid in the beginning, classic. And the appearance of his nemesis - Strakhov - some good action and background on the situation. The negative is how Bolan manages to invade the foes base , not once but twice - talk about lax security - and the other thing that bothered me about some of these books is really obvious here - Bolan , the entire world is after him and he waltzs into a foreign country where he doesn't even speak the language - good thing everyone he runs into speaks english - including his enemies.

A really good Executioner novel and a above average Lone Wolf story. I liked how this novel showed a little seen aspect of Mack and how he deals with children. You know he cares about children and has gone on near beserk blitzes to protect them - Boston Blitz and Save the Children (a later novel) but here he actually has to deal with one hands on. Ok he would not make babysitter of the year. Bringing a 5 year old towards a firefight is not a bright idea but he had no choice. This book does show that he could handle children and has paternal instincts. Fighting for children is different then having to deal with one. My favorite villian is featured in this novel - Greb Strakhov. He is such a shrewd opponent manipulating people and events. Katz is also in this novel along with his nephew. I thought how Katz dealt with Mossad and the CIA was good although if Katz was working with his government to get Mack into Lebanon why Mossad would object. I will admit I did not know that the Maronite Christians had control of Lebanon. I just assumed it was always Muslim control since the fall of the British Empire. I was a bit lost on the whole point with the Iranians. Why Greb wanted this group eliminated. As the Iranian said they were all on the same side. I guess with Greb its nuance.

In "Beirut Payback" the Executioner is on the trail of the KGB terror master who has come to Lebanon. During one night and day Bolan helps to thwart a plan to kill Lebanon's president and takes out lots of terrorist baddies. This book as another middle of the pack adventure for Mack Bolan. It starts off numbingly slow: 3 chapters pass before the big guy can make it to meet Zoraya, his arab contact. She is (of course) a beautiful woman. On the way there Bolan loses his companion (Katz's nephew, a Mossad agent) and picks up some scared little arab boy wandering the streets. Once Mack starts hitting the bad guys' camps the action kicks into high gear. Chapters 6 through 11 are jammed full or fierce action and are the best part of the book. Things slow down again with some plot elements about CIA agents and possible treachery from Bolan allies. Late in the book Bolan again hits a terrorist camp with lots of gunfire and things going boom. The parts of the book trying to be warm and sentimental, like the bit with the arab boy, are just corny. The prose in these parts is silly and the dialog reads like a soap opera script. The supporting characters, except for Katz in a minor role, are not very memorable and the story is not very compelling. This book gets 5 stars almost entirely due to the scenes of action with Bolan hitting the enemy camps in chapters 6 through 11 and again in 18 through 20. It's good but the rest of the story is nothing to write home about.

A good book to go along with the excellent cover art. A solid, entertaing read.

I really liked this one. The cover is awesome-Way to go Gil!!

A very good Strahkov hunt story with plenty of action, a good location and a great book cover.

BOLAN DEFINATELY ACTS LIKE A TRUE HERO ONCE AGAIN AND IN ONE OF THE HOTTEST WAR ZONES IN THE WORLD. A DEFINATE 8 OUT OF 10.

The first Mack Bolan book I got after Terminal Velocity (my first ever exposure to Mack), and BOY can you say that this one had me totally hooked now. Never mind that Mack was avenging 240 dead Marines, never mind that he was going after Strahkov who killed April, Mack was there fighting all the savages in the Beirut conflict. The cover said it all. Mack, blazing away, hauling a defenseless kid to safety.

Action-packed and fairly enjoyable