Calvin Vatchead

Two great things about this book. First off, great writing, not only in terms of plotting and action, but also dialogue and characterization. Secondly, the subplot about T.J. Hawkins looking to settle an old score dating back to his military service ranked up with some of the best Bolans in terms of getting into a main characters head and showing him to be more than just a killing machine. I agreed with the reviewer who said real countries should have been used instead of fictional composites, but that was a small quibble for me and not enough to keep this from being a 10. I, too, liked seeing Katz back out in the field alongside Bolan. And having the bad guys get nailed by their own bomb at the end was a sweet bit of poetic justice. All in all a super Stony Man, one of the few books in the longer series that didn't feel like it was padded to fit the page count.

If this book had been an Executioner focused strictly on the aftermath of DAY OF MOURNING, it would have been a kick-ass 10. Still, even with all the extraneous stuff thrown in to fill out a SuperBolan, it was a good, solid read.

I can't add more to what's already been said about this terrific book, a keystone in the Bolan saga. I think it's a good thing that this book was written as early in the series as it was. If they'd done it today, I think it would have ended up as a SuperBolan and been padded to the point where it lost a lot of its tight luster. This is the one that solidified Mertz as one of the rightful heirs to Don Pendleton. A definite must-read!!!!

This is a good book but for me it didn't live up to expectations as the third volume in maybe the most important trilogy in the early Bolan saga. Yes, the writing was a cut above average and the plot had some interesting twists, but I just didn't find myself swept along as much as I did in the first two books. Still, you gotta read this one if you read the first two.