Arctic Blast

The writing is easy to follow and goes at a good pace. A lot of other team members participate in this story and add to it. The misdirections I actually fell for and the ending is not what I would have expected. Bolan is hard boiled in this one. Definitely would go in the reread pile.

I loved the read with this one where I thought the author excelled in not only the story line/plot but the bringing together of the characters especially Gadgets and Brognola at the Base well very well done. Numerous good characters introduced where the Soviet ex KGB General was excellent and stood out but also the Russian female was terrific. Contrary to other reviewers I thought the finish was well written and exciting after the missile was launched and it certainly kept me tense and flicking to the next page to see what was going to happen. Good read and recommended reading here folks.

The book starts out as a huge mystery with some shady characters along the way but I would have preferred to have the mystic of the plot a bit later in the book in order to keep the suspence on going as Bolan is tearing through the web of traitors and lies. The book is fresh, with a compeling and exicting roller coaster of mystery og very descriptive surroundings making me feel like I was part of the cold and dark enviroment there. The KGB angle ties in nicely with his previous war against the Soviet terror machine and his former arch enemy there, Greb Strakov, though I would have preferred the main villain here to have been a more close to Strakov with full knowledge of who Bolan really was. Now..that would made the book even more interesting. I wonder if Bolan ever made good on his promise at the end of the book regarding going back to the USSR?? The book is compelling, exciting and very chilly as the reader can actually feel the cold, the ice and the numbness of the surroundings. One problem and major flaw is the ending is a bit rushed and after the missle is launched the book started to miss its mark like the missle did in the end. General Mishenka´s plot was also thin and badly written since the result of his attack and how it would restore the USSR was never explained. The end result is a very good book...if you don´t think too much of the plot and just live the book as it is....a cold one!!!!! (Iceland – 2011)

I hate to repeat what has already been said but it bugged me at first, this book should have been called ‘Antarctic Blast’. But that niggling detail was lost once the book got underway. Jon Guenther weaves a compelling and exciting book. The plot and story are entertaining and engaging. Bolan’s characterization is spot on even if he isn’t acting the part of the balls-to-the-wall action hero in this book. The supporting cast is three dimensional and believable. The prose is clear and tight and the story is well structured and compelling. The book begins to falter for me in the third act. Had this been any other book I would have been riveted by the events that unfold. However, once the missile is launched I found the tension drained from the story. Being a franchise story I knew the bomb would be thwarted and all would be well by the end. Guenther did a superb job otherwise but through metathinking I could not find tension in the drama that was unfolding as I felt I already knew the outcome. It turns out I was right too. Jon Guenther is a talented and accomplished author. Arctic Blast proves that in several ways and even the part that didn’t work for me was still a tightly written and well done piece of prose, creating a book that works on several levels.

This was probably my least favorite Executioner novel so far. Like Fear Rally, the writing really wasn't very good; in this case, neither was the action. In fact, it was downright slow in parts. I had the hardest time finishing this book of any Mack Bolan book yet.

Mental note to self: Buy more John Guenthers. He really is quite good. Although this book should have been entitled Antartic Blast instead of Atic, I really did enjoy it. Bolan and the rest of the characters seemed to have itelligent dialogue for a change - with the notable exception of Cupek who seemed to be especially clunky. There are several references to Bolan's past war against the KGB, although nobody realises who Bolan is, not even an inkling, even though the Executioner is relentless and several characters worked under Greb Strakov. General Mishenka's plot seemed thin. Okay, he was foaming at the mouth, but I still couldn't quite grasp how he would restore the USSR by destroying a good portion of America in a neutron explosion. There were two hickups in an otherwise good novel, one minor and one major. The minor one was that even though the cold of Antartica was mentioned a couple of times, there was never a real sense that it was cold. Often it seemed that the characters could move around outside as easily as they would in LA. And then there was a real sore thumb plot point. Way back at the beginning of the KGB wars it was established that Bolan learnt to fly a helicopter (see Terminal Velocity). Not as good as Grimaldi or McCarter but he could still get from A to B. However Guenther states that Bolan has never flown a helicopter in his life and has the Executioner rely on the knowledge of Russian agent Anika Faithe who is rapidly loosing consciousness. A major character flaw, and I am suprised that no editors or other reviewers picked that up. But the novel remained enjoyable. A solid 8.

Very entertaining to read. Only thing bothering me personally a bit is that how many times ex-soviet scums can be used as credible villains. Huge Soviet missile underneath icesheet of Antarctica is excellent threath on book. It was also nice have reason for fast paced action since Mack is fighting against time as well as bad guys. slaying the main villain execution style was nice touch for couple of reason: Mack Bolan is the Executioner and secondly executions in Soviet Union were commited by similar way. Those renegade Soviets just sucks.

Wow a Jon Gunther novels that is a 90s quality book. I loved the fact that Jon included the Lone Wolf saga into this novel and was a semi-sequal to his war against Greb Strakov and his comrades. The former Russian general was almost of the same mold as Greb. Greb though was far more complex but then he was a good part of the Lone Wolf saga. The action scenes were very good. The Russian girl seemed torn between duty and whats right. She did do the right thing and liked. I expected her to have bought it when pushed from the plane but then they weren't high up. The action was very good especially that chase scene in the artic base. I loved the mystery with Gadgets and Hal on the US military base. Jon did a very good job showing how perceptions can be so different from 2 people. Mack was positive who the traitor was yet Hal and Gadgets liked the one Mack thought was a traitor and thought Mack was incorrect. Good to show that Mack can be mislead at times. Gunther is not a fav of mine - Fear RaLly to me was horrible and does have an annoying habit making tough women fall for Mack and he picks a different country for each woman to be from - Isreal, France, England, Germany and now Russia - the women though seem interchangabe. This typically would have cost Jon 2 points but the fact he brings back the old Lone Wolf/KGB background was just terrific since this was one of my favorite storylines. A score a 10.

What a "blast" of a book! Great action pieces at the South Pole, especially the chase on the ice with Hind gunships thrown into the fray. I continue to enjoy Guenther's writing. The climax was not as good as other books, but it did have some suspense thrown in, and Bolan going into a sort of Libyan Connection kill-mode capped the book off nicely.

A very cool, cool book. Nice tableaus of action, even if they went a little quick. I like how Bolan is human and is allowed errors, even going so far as to accidentally shot some friendlies - and actually spent a couple sentences agonizing over it. Plus, extended Gadgets sequences, working solo, even if Brognola got to shoot more and shoot better than he did.