Greg Davis

Contagion Option is an excellent read from Douglas P Wojtowicz. If you’ve ever read any of DPWs works before, this shouldn’t be that shocking. I first read his SuperBolan “Devil’s Playground” a couple years ago when I first got back into Bolanverse books; ever since then I’ve been hooked and I make sure I read ALL of his books. Recently I acquired a large stock of older DPW books and I have been going back and reading them. Although I still love his work, I’m not as enamored with his books as I once was. The action is always great or exceptional, but at times I feel like his work can get a little repetitive. That’s one of the reasons I love Contagion Option so much. This book is fresh and original (at least to me). Bolan starts off attacking a ship that is transporting strange cargo to North Korea. This opening scene is really well done, with lots of interesting bad guys and great action from Mack. And best of all it gives Mack the chance to blitz North Korea. I’ve read a lot of Bolanverse books, and this is the first one to feature significant action in North Korea. Perhaps there was a time when many of the books took place in North Korea, and I just haven’t read them yet, but I must say I loved seeing the Executioner ply his trade north of the 38th parallel. It turns out that the North Koreans are only unwitting pawns in the villain’s game, which results in Bolan getting some America time too. Apparently from the other reviews from this book, the villain is the lone survivor of the actions in “Extreme Arsenal”, although I have to admit I had literally JUST finished reading that book before choosing this one, and I don’t remember him. It’s probably just my poor recall skills though. Another major component to this book is the second team of do-gooders, Reader & Graham. These are two great characters with interesting back stories and intriguing adventures of their own, so there sections of the book are very interesting. Although I preferred the Bolan sections, the Reader & Graham parts were excellent as well. Aside from the fresh location & great characters, I found the MacGuffin of the story to be very intriguing; again, much different from the run of the mill nuke, terrorist, or even bio-threat. Although it is biological in nature, the weapon’s method of action and manufacture are chilling to say the least. If you have the opportunity to read this book, I strongly recommend it. A great read from cover to cover.

When I got Trial by Fire, I was pretty excited because Chuck Rodgers always writes a quality book. Tons of action, interesting characters and they’re usually a little different in subject matter. This book was no different. When I started reading, I was impressed from the get-go. As you have no doubt surmised from previous reviews, Mack is sent into the Congo to rescue a group of military academy cadets. This gives Rodgers a large cast of original characters to flesh out, which he does with amazing skill considering the length of the book. When I first started reading the book, I was a little surprised with the way Mack handled the stranded cadets. I figured he would have taken a different approach, and thought it a little out of character, but by the end of the book, I realized I should have trusted Mack (and Chuck) all along. Between the cadets of Niner Squad, the diverse blend of villains & the seemingly insurmountable challenges Mack faces, this truly is a must read. If I had to nitpick this book it would be that it’s too short. Can’t really help that one too much, it’s an Executioner, and frankly nothing seems missing from the book, I just wanted more. The only other minor problem I have is just a strange quirk that Chuck Rodgers seems to have in hamming it up a bit with romantic elements. I’ve seen it in other books he’s written, and in this one it seems really oddly thrown in at the end. I mean, it’s seriously odd. Mack’s in pretty rough shape and he just says some weird stuff that made me feel awkward even reading. That being said, it’s still one of the best books I’ve read in a while, and much better than most things on TV or in theaters. All in all this is not a book to miss. Go get it and write a review yourself!