War Load

The United States of America has developed a super guided missile which runs on plasma fuel and travels at such high speed it is absolutely unstoppable and can hit any target, anytime, anywhere in the world. In fact, this new weapon can actually travel completely around the world. But, the first time this super-secret technology, is tested, a highly-trained team steals the entire cache of super missiles right off the aircraft carrier, destroying the ship and killing all the crew into the bargain. Naturally, Mack Bolan is called into this desperate situation. How desperate? Pretty desperate, to put it mildly. Once armed with nuclear warheads, this cache of stolen super missiles has the capacity to reduce the United States to a flat, charred and radiated wasteland from shore to shining shore. So, Mack Bolan is called to put on his black suit and arm himself with his beloved Beretta 93-R and his massive Desert Eagle one more time. First, what I liked: The villain, General Soong Tsanghsien, a Chinese Nietzschean superman, over 6 feet tall and greened eyed, is a well-drawn character. I find often the best parts of a Bolan book are the bad guys, and War Load is no exception. General Tsanghsien can trace his warrior lineage back 2,000 years before the birth Christ, and he considers no man his equal. Particularly not the current crop of politicians that run modern China, who seem only interested in forming a fruiteful, peaceful allaince with the hulking but dim-witted American giant. Not so for the General. Tsanghsien hates the USA with a bitter, white-hot fury that seems to burn rather than simmer. His Narcissistic rants and maniacal ego make him an interesting character. Consider, he has not captured the world-destroying technology to negotiate with America (or the world), perhaps thereby reducing the United States to a lesser power. No. The Gneral simply wants them to destroy the USA, to send every man, woman, child, animal, building and plant into the blazing pit nuclear destruction. There is a purity about the General's insanity that makes him - well, admirable is not the right word. Perhaps simply interesting and very entertaining. Now. What I didn't like. Let me preface my comments here by stating up front that, while I am aware that best-seller writing 101 demands a "love interest" for the protagonist, I am nearly always disappointed when I encounter this in an action novel, particularly when it feels as tacked-on as it does in War Load. In War Load, the birds-n-bees theme is presented in the person of female Chinese agent Kerri Tanaka, who is teamed with Bolan simply because she speaks Chinise and will help Mack navigate his way through the interior of China to the General's mountain stronghold. To put it bluntly, Tanaka is a poorly-realized, shallow, catastrophically annoying token romantic character that is simply off-the-chain unrealistic. The (of course) fabulously beautiful agent spends the entirety of the novel whimpering and whining, angry with Mack for not admitting his true feelings for her, throwing herself at him at moments of incredible crises, stamping her feet and generally acting like a 15-year-old in the throes of her first crush and disappointed she didn't get asked the freshman barn-dance. I did mention that America, that is the entire continental United States and every living creature on it, is at stake here, right? Still, Ms. Tanaka is in full flirt and dramatic hissy-fit throughout. And the worse part? Mack doesn't ever simply shut her down. This is not the Mack that we faithful readers know and love. This is not the eternal warrior laser focused on crushing evil upon this fallen world. No, this is a conflicted Mack that makes a brittle resistance that, really, is no resistance at all, not with what all is at stake. And it is a sad and sorry spectacle to see. Still, all in all, Author David Robbins is able to develop just enough anticipation for the final confrontation between Mack and General T wo have kept me reading to the end.

Well again this author pumps out a very good title in this series. As usual good characters, good plot, good storyline, polished writing, the Big Guy is written perfectly and without doubt one of the best kick arse adrenaline pumping finishing sections of a title written to date in these series. Terrific read do yourself a favour highly recommended.

Some of this book was awesome. Some of it was downright dumb. I did enjoy the relationship angle between Bolan & the woman, but after a while it got old. I loved the villian though. I can't wait to read about him again. I also like how this book explored the mind of Bolan. How he wishes, at times, he could have had a family, house, etc... This was a good read; a definite keeper.

favorite scene when Remo I mean Bolan tied up Tanaka. I thought what Chiun would have said "about time leaving the noisy one behind you pale piece of pigs ear". Sheesh was she noisy and so immature. Hal really must do maturity tests. Mack when it comes to relationships came across as so immature. His "she likes me but do I like her" moments were annoying. Especially when he was heading into the Fortress and realized that oh she really likes him. Not the time to think about that. He knew how immature she was so why have sex with her. It just encouraged her. The action was good I do think he badly bungled it with the two elderly citizens. Also since he was in charge why did he allow Tanaka to overrule him with the cop? If he acted like the leader the cop would still be alive. The scene in the fortress with it blowing apart which Bond film did this come from? Dr No? Kind of reminded me of that. Bond deals with women better. I did like the fact that a lot of the novel dealt with Hal. I liked how he figured out who the traitor was. I would have liked more scenes with Abigail. Maybe a scene talking to her son on the phone. Like "Hello mommy", "How's my little soldier boy", "Great America is about to be destroyer", "I am so proud of you son. All grown up." Do this in the voices of Johnny Bravo and his mother. Also since Jack flew 800 miles to pick Mack/Tanaka up why didn't he fly them the 800 miles to the fortress? Robbins would make a rather decent Destroyer novelist. His characters tend to be quirky and interesting. Evil Alliance and Invisible Invader comes to mind. He also writes funny dialogue. The cop, Tanaka and Bolan provided a rather funny scee. Read Evil Alliance its a better Robbins novel.

Liked the plot of this one, and it had some interesting moments. The sexual tension between Bolan and Tanaka was a big bonus, considering you usually don't see it too much anymore, and it was extensive. The big revelation about the main villain caught me by surprise and added texture to his motivations. Overall, the action was decent, and it was a good book.

If this had been my first Mack Bolan book I would of thought it was great. But I wasn't there were too many things wrong with this story. First Bolan's actions were the cause of a old Chinese woman getting killed and her husband being cripled. So much for the INNOCENT BYSTANDERS NOT GETTING HURT. Second if Bolan was so worred about the Japanese Cop getting killed why didn't he just knock him out and tie him up like he did to that whinnie Tanaka. I won't even bother with her there were too many thing wrong there. There's more wrong but I don't want to waist your time cring about a book that wasn't well written.

Technical errors, alterations in Bolan's code of never harming (or allowing to be harmed) innocent bystanders, a whining, clinging female lead character (first time for everything, I guess...), blanket stamp of "FEDS", etc, make this a sub-par offering. Scary premise, frightening possibilities not withstanding, do some better research and editing, folks...!

An exciting entry in the series. The author used the latest developments in plasma technology to create a credible threat. (The U.S. is working on exactly the type of missile described.) Realistic from start to finish, with a slam-bang ending that will knock your socks off. And the island sequence where Bolan is up against a horde of baddies is one of the most sensational scenes ever. If they ever make a Bolan movie, they should base it on this one. This writer always does a better than average job. He has a knack for presenting Bolan as a real person. You have a sense that Bolan is in real danger. And the other characters are just as vividily drawn. No cardboard cutouts, no moronic stereotypes. Some writers do better jobs than others; this guy is one of the best.

There were not few enough stars in this rating system to properly display my disapproval of this steaming rich pile of contradictory fecal matter collectively known as War Load. In all my years of reading the adventures of Don Pendleton's Executioner, only the foul illiteracy of "Jim Thompson's" "Sicilian Slaughter" ever matched the wrongness of characterization for this character. I have read short stories where Nero Wolf has skateboarded and has been more in character than this particular novel. How many ways can I express my disdain on this particular novel? Let me count them. 1) Constant use of the phrase "the Feds." Which "Feds?" FBI? NSA? DEA? Marshals Service? Secret Service? National Reconnaissance Office? Clearly the author had no capacity to actually bother himself to research which branch of the United States Government's law enforcement and intelligence arms were responsible for which section of the world. Plus, how many Federal agencies would truly support an assassination attempt across the boarder to Canada? 2) The utter pointlessness of Bolan's mission to assassinate the alleged Canadian smuggler at the beginning of the novel, when at the end, it coincidentally happened that he was involved in smuggling a missile to America and harboring the main villain's chief accomplice. This smacks of a lazy writer, letting all of the thinking work be done by these nebulous "Feds" referred to every other page, while the Executioner himself just wanders from point to point like a child's toy robot, bouncing whenever something is placed in its path. 3) The turning of Mack Bolan from a hero of morals and standards to someone who only goes that extra few inches to save your life if you happen to be white. In one instance, Bolan recklessly engages in a firefight on a crowded Japanese road and his gunshot is directly responsible for the death of an elderly woman and at the very least the maiming of her husband. In another instance, Bolan subdues and leaves unconscious a driver, and after a quick look around, murders the unconscious and unarmed man with a bullet to the head. 4) The utter removal of Mack Bolan's natural leadership ability. Bolan in the past has been a man capable of commanding forces of men of great will and determination. And yet, when the Executioner finds himself having to keep a Japanese police officer described as a "mama's boy" (I have never heard the Executioner ever use that phrase before), out of harms way by the simple use of command phrases like "The people we are going against have deadly weapons and destructive helicopter gunships - stay hidden in the woods." Due to Bolan's incapacity to tap his previous potential as a natural leader, the Japanese police officer was gunned down by superior firepower, and Tanaka found herself in harms way on several occasions. 5) Utterly undemonstrable or unusable technology as the "plasma drive" rockets on the PPSH-1 missile, and the use of 25 nuclear warheads to totally black out the United States of America - not taking into account the US Military's designing of equipment since the 1970's to survive EMP pulses. Also, the ability to travel 1,000 miles in 15 seconds would be impossible in an atmosphere as the missiles would need to be strong enough to survive a nuclear explosion to be able to withstand the heat and friction of moving at 240,000 miles per hour. We also should take into account that this weapon would leave sonic booms and seismic evidence of its passage across the globe as it travelled at such a velocity. 6) The character of Abigail Harkness. A thinly disguised, much-loved supporting character from the Fantastic Four comic, here recycled to be a haughty, arrogant, and contemptuous snob. Also, if you remember her son Nicholas Scratch, you've already figured within moments her relationship with the main villain of the novel. 7) I have trouble deciding who was stupider - Mack Bolan for trying to shoot the lock out of a door he just bounced off of, instead of just pulling his detonator and blowing up the warehouses he mined, or the 200 Chinese soldiers who watched Bolan bounce off a door, TURN HIS BACK TO THEM, WASTE AMMUNITION, and then scuffle through the door without attempting to physically apprehend him through superior 200-to-1 numbers. Either way, neither the Executioner nor the Chinese Military were demonstrated as having the sharpest-honed edges in the tool shed. 8) The author being inconsistent about his appraisal of his very own characters. One moment he describes Kerri Tanaka as a talented and skilled operative at one point, someone inexperienced in combat (despite having gone through no less than four firefights alongside the Executioner, and killing two armed terrorists with her bare hands which attracted Brognola to her in the first place), and a complete whiner who needed a time-out, when an entire castle was exploding around her, to discuss how her feelings felt betrayed. All while surrounded by a battalion of panicking, angry, heavily armed Chinese soldiers. 9) I am not certain, but I think Sun Tzu might have written somewhere "Do not gloat over your enemy, because this usually means you're the bad guy of the novel/movie/cartoon, and you will end up having your stupid ass kicked for it." This was a trained tactician and a master of dirty tricks - I for one was disappointed that he didn't just pump a 9mm slug into Bolan's gut and start kicking his head off. 10) And could someone please explain to me why a trained soldier would confiscate a firearm from an intruder, and not drop the magazine and empty the chamber of said firearm, in case the intruder somehow managed to wrest control of the weapon back again - making it that much easier for your fellow soldiers to gun him down with his empty phalluses in his hands. I'd go on citing more flaws in this piece of tripe, but then I'd have to write a tome as prodigious as the 500 page manuscript for this particular stink-job.

The action was good, but I found Tanaka soooo annoying...I mean Bolan should have been blown to bits at the dock because she 'froze' in reality, he likely would have had a fireball land on him unless he left her standing there like an idiot. Kerri was supposed to be a martial artist, and into action, and yet she almost costs the Man his life. If it were me, I'd have left her standing there like a deer in the headlights. Although the plot was good, I found Bolan's constant covering of Tanaka to be a pain. Yes, he should be out doing that, but not for the same person over, and over, and over again. I would have rated this about a 7 if he didn't have to. April Rose is rolling in her grave!

This book was very very good. Lots of action. I liked the attack on the island. How Mack Bolan Tricked them and then blew the base to kindgom come. I hope the next book Sworn Enemies is good.