Reviews (12)
Blimey did I just read the same title as the majority of the reviewers on this title?
This is ordinary folks let me tell you where in this "Super Bolan" title the Big Guy coupled with Jack and Cowboy just don't feature much at all.
Cop some of these Nhajsib Wal, Dehri Neshah, Ziarat Wal, Vargadrum Shili etc. if ever a title in these series required a pad a pen to keep count of who is who this is it.
One star added for the somewhat stimulating ending but I struggled through to the finish.
Not recommended reading reading in this series.
Maybe it was just because I'd finished reading a really mediocre Executioner (state of war), but this book was like a breath of fresh air. I was scratching my head at first by the focus of what are normally plot-convenient side characters, but they were so well-written and I got so much into their storylines that I weirdly found myself almost impatient when Bolan made his appearances, but then, of course, he quickly reclaimed front-and-center and carry me along nicely with one of his Big Mack Attacks. A lot of original scenes here and nice plot twists that kept me from just skimming through like I do with some books. Really good work.
My problem with a lot of books in this series is that supporting characters tend to come across like cardboard cutouts. Here's a major exception, as the whole canvass is filled with three-dimensional heroes and villians, from Bolan's sidekick dujour, the Indian intelligence officer, to the two villainous brothers and one truly nasty femme fatale. I really liked the backstory and sense of place, too, and there were some truly ingenious scenes, i.e. the assassination attempt and the use of the carrion-feeding vultures in the tower. I can understand some people wanting our guys featured more prominently, but, as I mentioned in my review of DIRTY WAR, sometimes it's nice to break away from the expected and tackle things differently. SWORN ENEMIES is far and away one of the better entries in the Bolan cannon and easily one of the best of the longer books. Two thumbs way up!!!
What a truly fantastic SB novel. Its not often but this was truly a SB novel and not an Executioner novel dragged out to be 350 pages.
Mack is really not in this book a whole lot. But for a change of pace this is not bad. Granted if there were more books that did this then that would be bad but for a change of pace this was not bad.
What made this book so good were the villians and supporting characters.
I really enjoyed Uncle and nephew Wal. In many ways they were the heroes of the novel. Two honorable, good men. The uncle fighting the psycho Shili brother was a great scene. I also enjoyed how he protected his students then joined in the fight.
For villians Briley the whore. She was fun - all she wanted was to be in movies. This was no prostitute with a heart of gold only coal.
The Shili brothers. I liked the oldest brother. I liked how he seemed like a good person who got swept up down a bad road with Neshah. Of course he did try to kill the Man and the Indian Prime Minister - which did make him a villian. But still he just seemed like a villian who could just as easily have gone the path of good as well as bad. The psycho Shili who held up the school was also fun.
Of course the story was rather serious but did have levity with the traitorous British Aeronotics Engineer who defected due to the lack of respect and Briley.
His breakdown was rather funny and how Mack, Wal and the CIA agent did to get him to spill the beans was a very funny scene.
The only glitch to the novel were the scenes at SM. Sorry but those are fine for a SM novel but include them in phone calls with Mack but thats it.
I also did like the heavy presense and his sidekick Kissinger with his dragon fire flamethrower. Did Mack ever use it after this novel?
A must read for the SB series. One of the best ones.
This was a cool book because you got to go inside the heads of not just Bolan but a lot of the supporting characters, including Bolan's Indian cohort and the bad guys. The setting was very descriptive, too, and I got a real sense of what was happening as far as Pakistan and India both wanting control of Kashmir. And even while covering all these bases there was plenty enough action to keep me hooked. The seige that led to the death of Nahsib Wal's uncle was the best, followed by the climax, when the bad guys are just barely prevented from killing the PResident and India's Prime MInister. I liked this book a lot!
I guess I didn't see in this book what everyone else did. For one, having the Stony Man team as supporting characters and making the villains the main characters was a huge turn-off. Some may disagree, but that's how I saw it. The villains get a few chapters, then Mack and Co. come in for a chapter, then disappear entirely for another few chapters. The plot on the back cover sounded interesting, and was right from the headlines, but the way it was penned made this a less-than mediocre SuperVillain book. Also, Renauld did a much better job of using a movie set for ulterior motives in Able Team's Clear Shot. Disappointing, to say the least.
Darn good book, with lots of educational background on India. Ron Renauld did a great job, it's just that Bolan and company seemed a little too much on the periphery, but that was okay, because Waj made a good hero, and would make an interesting part of the Stony Man crew.
Not that Bolan and his buds didn't put some good foot to ass in their four action sequences.
Still, it felt like an older Able Team novel come to think of it, with Bolan, Kissenger and Grimaldi taking over for Lyons, Pol and Gadgets.
This was a tense, well-written thriller with not only great action scenes but also superb dialogue and interesting in-depth looks at many of the main characters. Like other readers have said, the timeliness of the story is almost spooky. I enj9yed this book a lot.
Frighteningly possible scenario, wrapped in a well-written storyline! A bunch of ideological/nationalistic zealots, with an axe to grind, and the nerve to take extreme measures to get what they want. This was an excellent book.
Kind of a cheesy cover, but the book itself is first-rate. I have a cousin who is a news correspondent working out of Bombay and so I know second-hand about what's going on over in India and the descriptions in SWORN ENEMIES really evoked a strong and accurate sense of place and character. Top-notch action scenes and superb plotting made this a bonaffide pageturner. I'd recommend this book to anybody who wants to see Bolan in peak form, not just kicking ass but also interacting with a great cast of secondary characters. Not just Kissinger and Grimaldi, but also the Indian intelligence guy, Nhajsib Wal, and the two main villians. Ten stars all the way.
Ron Renauld has come a ways from his Able Team books. This was first shown in his recent Stony Man book, and it continues with this recent Super Bolan book, which was a rather enjoyable read.
What a great book! Timely, too, as if it was ripped straight out the headlines with all that's happening in Kashmir these days. There was plenty of first-rate action here but also some intriguing characters, especially the Indian Military Intelligence guy and the arch-villian Neshah. I got a real sense of being in the areas where the story took place and even if the ending was a little far-fetched, the writer made it seem credible. And through it all Bolan shines, big time. Highly recommended.
