Chi-Town Meatpacker

I usually like to see Bolan in his lone wolf mode, but here's a case where Mack rocks as a team player capably assisted by trusty sidekicks Grimaldi and Kissinger. As others have pointed out, there is a somber tone to this book and the ending isn't a classic shoot-out, but somehow it worked for me, and I think it had to do with the writing. With many of these books I find myself skimming over the stuff between the action sequences because it's usually ho-hum, but the writer here does such a good job with things like dialogue, subplots and making it so that you can relate to characters that I found myself unable to rush through to the next bloodbath. Which isn't to say there isn't enough action. You've got major fireworks at the Ops camp, a mega-shootout at a gunshow event, a full-fledged battle in the mountains near Stony Man Farm and some other bloody confrontations, not to mention some great sniper/assassination scenes. My only real complaint is that I would have liked to see this book fleshed out into a Mega-Bolan or trilogy, but that's no reason not to give it a 10.

I wanted to give this book a 10 for its historical and collecitve value alone, but there were too many things that bothered me to rank it a perfecto. I didn't care much for the characterization of Lyons, for starters. This guy isn't into introspection and reflection, in my opinion; he's impulsive and hot-headed and those are the things that make him rock. I also think that in the process of trying to orchestrate the whole Stony Man crew into one book, the writer dropped the ball way too many times in terms of pacing and continuity, and a lot of other times the characters and dialogue came off as kinda one-dimensional. That said, I still think this book is worth picking up for historical value as it features a lot of key players who have since fallen in the field of battle.

I agree with most of the pros and cons other reviewers have cited for this book. I could've done without the terrorist angle and some of the more far-fetched elements, but the writing here was gripping and the dynamic of having Lyons chipping in to watch Bolan's back was worth the price of admission alone, as Iron Man is my favorite character in this series. I hate to be politically incorrect, but I think it would be great if there were a slew of guys like Bolan and Lyons out there to take down these rat bastard gangstas who pose a greater threat to the American way of life than oversea terrorists.