Caged

This is an enjoyable enough read with a very good start where the Big Guy comes across a female who is about to receive something she doesn't want and leads into the title which is all about the white slavery trade. Funny the said female is described as a stunning exotic beauty many times throughout the book and is actually pictured on the front cover (hmm beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess)? Katz and Jack are along for the ride this time and are surely needed as the list of enemies is huge including Chinese, Russians, North Koreans, Sicilian Mafia, Union Corse to name a few. Some of the actions scenes are brilliant reading as is what happens to Katz during one part. Have to agree with some previous reviewers comments where maybe the author didn't break the character of Bolan he bent it pretty well with a few of his actions questionable. Overall pretty good read you could do worse.

This is an exceptional Super Bolan effort, well written, well paced with an interesting plot of unusual mission for Bolan and others of the Stony Man group. Michael Kasner was a talented writer and this book is a better than average example of that talent. Dying in 2008, he will be missed by many of his readers.

This was an entertaining book with an interesting story. It didn't bother me that Bolan was a bit out of character, either. But I would have rated the book much higher if the writing had been better. The book starts with a passive sentence--Los Angeles wasn't Bolan's favorite town--and remained in the passive voice throughout the book. That's just plain sloppy writing.

This reminded me of old Bolan of the Mafia wars.The idea of stopping (white) slavery and China stealing materials for its miltary was done in an exciting way. The addition of Jasmine was a nice touch and liked the interplay bewteen Katz and her. The problems I had are these. 1. When Dong has to flee to Germany and face Mack I felt was rushed. 2. The book itself could been 2Excutioner books with no loss of suspense and action. 3. Some of the scences in SMF could have been removed from the book without any loss of action.

Great Boook with lots of action sequences. One thing I didnt like too much that has an effect on my overall score is also how Mack comes off in parts of the story as a cold blooded killer. Sure he and Katz want to find all of the info they can on the slaves and free them as soon as possible but Mack has morals and lines that he cant cross. I agree that he would never kill a drunken sentry that is passed out just to kill. If he was a viable threat more likely than not Mack would disarm and restrain a person in this position. It just seems almost too easy for Mack to just kill. I loved the addition of the female companion to the Katz, Bolan combo and her addition adds some value to the story. We all love when characters are added that can be assets to any Stony Man, Bolan adventure. I also feel that the Stony Man involvement in this book was unnecescary at tinmes and forced at others. Everyone can agree that we love to see the Blue Ridge base involved whenever possible but not when it gets pushed at us at every turn. All in all, a good solid read and worth a look. 8 of 10.

This one is not all that bad but I have read better (see Breakaway). Still the start was great; and it was a neat twist on the slavery angle. The interplay with the Stony Man base people was also entertaining (like how Barbara was supposed to be kept from finding out what Mack was up to by the Bear) I liked the way that Mack kept on Dong's rear foiling him all through the book. Katz was also good to be in this book. All in all 7 stars.

This book had a great story but I did not like at all how Mack was written. Mack is a killer obviously but not a cold-blooded killer. Kasner stepped over the line into the cold-blooded killing. Two points: 1) Killing all the people to send a message up the line. They were in Alexandria and to send a message Mack wanted every pirate killed. The people unloading the cargo many were just local people probably never harmed anyone and just was doing it for the money. Also Mack doesn't kill everyone just to send a message - yes the guys at the top he has no problem killing but not footsoldiers or those unarmed. 2) They stormed a mafia slave dormatory. Mack killed a watchman who was asleep and drunk. He was the last one they killed. This again a footsoldier. I know Kasner wrote a lot of SM novels but I don't think this interpretation of Mack is right. Mack kills those who destroy lives and those that pose a threat. Pendleton has often written that Mack goes after footsoldiers only when they pose a threat or are in the way. The most appealing thing about Mack is that he does discriminate on who he takes out and taking life is not an easy thing to do. Killing all to send a message and killing a drunken sleeping man shows a man who takes life without any thought. Yes in many novels by Pendleton and Newton (since he is Pendleton's heir so to speak) he does target small places like gambling halls or loan offices but he kills no one unarmed except for the boss and those who pose a threat. I know the line in thin but Kasner just way stepped over it. I loved Jasmine. I would love to see her return. I liked how she went from a scared victim to being brave and heroic at the end. Although she learned how to shoot way to fast. I also loved her ralationship with Katz a nice father/daughter kind of relationship. I actually enjoyed the story and the around the world aspect. But did it need to be 350 pages? No. I thought it was like a marriage between SM and Execuioner. We did not need all the scenes at SM. We did not need the scene with Barbara not being happy that Bear did not tell her about the job or the scene with Hal telling Bear that it was not a good idea not filling Price in. Or worse the scene with Price telling Bear to go to bed. This story could have easily have been told in 220 pages. Adding the SM stories really did nothing to progress the storyline. Many Executioner has Mack talking to the SM staff sometimes in person but more often on the phone. To me much of it was padding in this novel. A novel should get to the point not add really worthless scenes it loses focus.

This was yet another great story in the series. I have yet to read one that I do not like. Unfortunately, it ended way too quick for my taste. There should have been some kind of epilogue instead of them just walking away at the end. Very much enjoyed seeing the team members working together. Good story, just too brief an ending. Now, on to "Sleepers".

I'm usually a huge fan of Michael Kasner. When I see his name on a bok, I immediately put it at the top of my list, second only to David Robbins and Mel Odom. (Okay, there are two names there, but rarely if ever are all three people in the same shipment, so there you go.) This bok, however, was not among my favorite Kasner novels. It started of quite promisingly, in my opinion, but fell flat once the Mafia link was discovered, which to me was when the bok really should have shined. The book ends with virtually no denouement, which is always a problem with me. It felt to me like he was rushing to meet a deadline. But I loved the slave idea, and the Mafia link itself; it's the remainder of the bok that fel shot of my expectations. For two great Kasners, in my opinion, try "Retribution" and "Breach of Trust," the latter being a Stony Man novel.

This was a solid solid book. Lots of action, lots of great world travelling, and I'm always a fan of Katz getting in on the ass-whoop. Plus, plenty of bad guys of all shapes and sizes get theirs. I just wish that they didn't feel the need to make the slave trade smashing plot into a Chicom issue involving Nashunall Seecureity. Can't the Executioner just kill some bad guys because it's the right thing to do, and a crunchy way to do it? Docked two stars for the National Security mess, otherwise, perfect.