The Bone Yard

Bolan versus the mafia again. The story is one that uses the same elements as other ones where Bolan is making moves to get the different factions to take action against each other. Story went fast and additional characters were great and call backs to previous books was fun. What was really fun was the interview from Don Penelton in the back when he signed a movie deal with Burt Reynolds and Stallone. The cover of this one gets a 10 and that scene in the book was great.

Mack is back in Vegas with an old friend in an entertaining, but nothing extraordinary, storyline that pulls from some of Pendleton's earlier stories. Mike Newton writes a good story and pulls from some of the original storylines and characters...such as Tommy Anders and Hal. The backdrop for the story is in Las Vegas, where three mounting forces are about to collide ... the mafia, a Japanese ninja-like organization, and the old school founders of Vegas' casino action. As these three organization build to a seeming crescendo of aspiration and destruction, Mack arrives and steals the show.

So the Big Guy is in Vegas and there are numerous groups trying to grab the action namely various Mafia families add in a Yakuza triad also a group of aged Jewish Mobsters who had the territory stolen from them years ago. Standard stuff again where the Big Guy travels around the place rattling those cages making those phone calls and getting the opposing groups to attack themselves where he can than step in and clean up what is left over. Yet another title from the Mike Newton production line and like so many other releases it is well so much like so many other of his releases. Read it if you have to.

Another Mike Newton book that touches back to a previous Bolan adventure. Here, the setting is Vegas. The enemies are a mix of Yakuza, the ruling Mafia structure and the preceding organized crime members, looking to repay a 30 old debt by kicking the current ruling Mafia house down. The grandaughter of the leader of the Old Mafia Guard is in the mix (unusually for a Newton book of this era, she isn't dead by the end) as Mack is throwing lead in all three directions trying to orchestrate an implosion to clean up Sin City just a little. There is no nuclear weapon, biological terrorism or other "the world will end unless you save it Mr. Bond" moments...but Newton makes a good old-fashioned mob-war worth reading. Mack and Hal are smoking again (or still...depends upon your perspective). Tommy Anders is briefly about. Mack compliments his "Newton Standard Armament" of the 93R/Big Thunder and the amazing "always has the type of 40mm grenade you need at that moment in the chamber" XM-18 with a Mini-Uzi and a .444 Marlin. The heavy rifle was a nice addition. Bolan's skill with a sniper rifle sometimes doesn't get recognized by authors. There is a very nice scene where the fear and destruction that can be inflicted by a sniper is depicted from the part of the Mafia goons under fire. Another fun, fast read that will be reread at some point

The Bone Yard shows Mack Bolan back in fine form taking the war to the enemy rather than just reacting to an imminent threat. With this kind of book Bolan actually gets a chance to recon and plan a bit which makes his victories more satisfying and plausible than when he is simply shooting the designated 20 or 30 goons ambushing him at every turn. The plot has Bolan coming back to Vegas to attack the mafia. There is a yakuza element in town trying to muscle in and though it doesn't make any real difference to the plot their presence provides more opportunities for action. The yakuza apparently use ninjas though they seem to be some kind of samurai-ninja confabulation. But they make satisfying targets for Bolan whatever they're called. A gang war and some folderol about the old jewish gangsters taking back Vegas provides the opportunity for Bolan to hit several targets. The characters here are slightly more than cardboard. Perhaps it isn't a big problem when most of them won't be drawing breath after the last page. The girl is not very memorable but that is a vast improvement over so many of the annoyingly unrealistic women in these stories that I feel I should praise the author's accomplishment. Tommy Anders appears just for old time's sake but actually contributes nothing to the story. One thing I have to mention that really began to annoy me was the use of "right" and "sure" and "damn right" as flavorful interjections peppering the narrative. These were a harmless writer's quirk when Don Pendleton sprikled them around but this use by another author feels completely articial and contrived. I don't remember ever noticing it before but it really bothered me in this book. The Executioner uses a .444 for a sniper attack in this book and it's nice to see him working smart again. The man is an expert at the long range attack but it's been rarely seen in the last 40 books. Bolan also uses some kind of 40mm grenade launcher called the X18 with a 12 round drum magazine that unfailingly provides HE, smoke, gas, flechette or buckshot in exactly the correct sequence to meet his needs. Uncanny, that. This is a pretty good mission for Bolan and I enjoyed the action scenes. The plot didn't get in the way of the story and the characters weren't appallingly bad. All in all this is a solid 8 star book.

Typical Newton stuff, this book is better than average, but not really up there with the best stories, a satisfiying read.

A decent entry. The addition of the Yakuza to the battle made it a slight bit more interesting. Then again, I always enjoy it when Bolan is battling ninjas and showing off his own martial arts skill.

Not one of newtons best but still an ok read.

A good book, but not one of the better ones.