Alice in Stonyland

This is a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, holy-cow-I-can't-believe-who's-injured mission, and one that features Able Team and Phoenix Force collaborating on a mission. No Mack in this one, and I'm not sure it would have made much difference in the end. Tim Somheil's work just keeps getting better and better. I read this on the bus to work, and I almost missed my stop because I didn't want to stop reading.

There are ties to a previous book (sorry, can't remember which one), which is always cool IMO. Carl Lyons assists Mack on this one, and it's mentioned that Mack's knowledge of martial arts is limited to what others have shown/taught him, which is accurate. It's also mentioned that Mack's Korean and Japanese is as limited - and nevermind his previous experiences in Okinawa and Japan, the man would still have limited language skills. (If you have a gun, there is not much call for an interpreter.) If I have a fault with the story, it's that someone other than Ironman could have been brought in - John Trent would've been ideal: ninja, speaks Japanese fluently, and can hold his own in a fight and then some. It's not the best Bolan mission, not the worst, but an enjoyable ride.

No matter how many times I read this, this gives me chills. One of my favorites in the series, it illustrates both sides of Mack's character, and not just the Executioner side.

One of my favorites in the series. Steve Mertz was mentored by Don Pendleton, and it shows in his writing. This one is no different in capturing the style of the original books.

This is the model for everything that followed after -- and what a model. Don Pendleton wanted to explore the metaphysics of violence through the eyes of one uniquely talented man, and in the process, wrote a book that shows how violence can change a man's life forever. If you haven't read it yet, do whatever you can to get a copy and read it. I nearly wore out my copy reading it over and over.

One of my favorites from the Mafia War, this features Pol and Gadgets along with Pol's sister Toni (that's the blond on the cover) *and* a surprise visit from someone Bolan doesn't expect.... I think this is one of the first books I read in the series, and one that really hooked me into reading more. Explosions, dead Mafia guys, Mafia intrigue with Bolan helping to stir the pot, and Bolan-the-warrior gets a chance to be Bolan-the-guy-who-came-home-to-another-war.

Excellent opening salvo from a new Bolan writer. More, please? :-) I did wonder about the motivations of the bad guy, but I was too busy loving the pacing and the characterizations to care overly much the first time around.

This is...a different Bolan book than usual. My suggestion: if you're going to read this, read the entire trilogy, as there's a lot of setup in this first book that makes it less as a stand-alone adventure and more of a part of a set. I didn't care for the storyline or the writing style, but then again, I didn't like Ultimate Game, either, which was written by the same author. I also didn't care for the fact that Bolan's hands were so tied by the parameters he was given. That said, the premise is not the usual drug lord story, and the plot twists are well plotted.

Finally, a Stony Man book without Mack leading the charge -- and with Manning and Encizo as crucial characters, rather than cardboard sidekicks. Actually, all the Stony Men get a chance to show who they are in this one, and the dialogue is full of the wisecracks I love to see the guys make. The villian isn't your typical gangster, either, and the writer's understanding of Chinese culture shows. Well-plotted and full of excitement. My only quibble: it took too long to find out what Phoenix was up to, but that might maybe just me being impatient to find out what kind of trouble the guys were up to.... The cover art doesn't do the story justice at all.

This book rocks. This is the way Bolan should be -- no holds barred, all-out war on the savages, with plenty of strong, dead-on characterization and clear imagery that puts you right in the action. A great entry from a new writer and fan of the series. I look forward to the next book in the COMCON Wars!

Further proof that Able Team and Phoenix Force can kick ass perfectly fine without Mack's leadership -- and that the guys have personalities. This is going on my keeper list. Tension, humor, and action...love, love, love it!!!

Forget about the cover art. If you're an Encizo or Manning fan, this is the book you've been waiting for...definitely a good read.

I like this one a lot. Stony Man has to do some investigative work *before* the mission kicks into high gear, plus there's a hurricane to contend with, plus a bit of humor in the right places...lots of explosions too. :-)

This book ROCKS. Everyone's here, as with most Kasner novels, but it's the suspense and depth that you'll remember.

Wow! Everybody's in on this one, and everyone gets a piece of the action...this is definitely a keeper. If you've been despairing of a good Stony Man, pick this one up. Nice balance between the action and the characterization...

Excellent, in-depth look at Katz, as well as the friendship he shares with Mack. Finally, a novel with lots of characterization!!! Highly recommended.

A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, though I definitely got the impression that something drastic was going to happen to T.J.....

I really wanted to like this book. As some of you already know, I'm a big fan of Mafia plotlines, and Rolling Death held the promise of being something by David North I could cheer about. Add to that fact that it's set in my home state of Florida, and the book already gained two notches of approval. However, that's not the case. The book starts out promising: Bolan targeting on a Mafia don, intending to scare the living daylights on him in classic Executioner style. However, the implication that I gathered was that Bolan's only source of information on the Mafia was through Hal and the DEA, and that was his sole reason for targeting the Mafia. Excuse me? There are typographical errors scattered throughout (on p. 150, Bolan isn't capitalized; earlier, War Room is needlessly capitalized for the context it's used in). Now, I'm not immune to a few typos occasionally, but it's a far different thing for me to have that than in a published novel. On top of that, Grimaldi is (for 80% of the novel) is a grunt and not a pilot. I'm not saying that Grimaldi can't fight, it's just the way he's portrayed in here that bothers me. It's not until page 147 that he gets a helicopter, and the chopper sounds suspiciously like the old Dragon Slayer, just updated and renamed Predator. Then, just a few short pages later, we get a new War Wagon. Sorry, but a new War Wagon was the last thing I wanted to see brought back. It makes no sense, IMO, to have a War Wagon for today's Bolan, not when he has the full support of Stony Man. I get the definite impression that David North thinks that Stony Man has a full-time staff of engineers at its beck and call. What does he think this place is, a CIA operation? If so, I have something to tell him: No way, Jose. I haven't even begun to describe how throughly confused I am by the addition of the bikers into the plot. I feel like I'm plowing through this thing, and more to the point, I feel like someone threw in references to old stuff just to be throwing in the stuff. Live large, Alice List Moderator - Mack Bolan Discussion List http://www.eGroups.com/list/mack-bolan-list

Buy, steal, beg, or permanently borrow this book. Besides weapons descriptions, it has character profiles, and a few short essays/stories not found anywhere else.

I really liked the Able Team novel in this one, primarily because of the multi-layered approach David North uses in this one. I also liked it because Cowboy and Sandy Meisner appeared in this one.

This one stands out in my mind as being one of the best in the Able Team series. I'm almost positive this is the first AT novel I ever read, and despite not knowing Ironman, I still was gripped by emotion reading this book.Get it, read it, and oh yeah, read the whole Unomundo saga while you're at it...