Gunslinger

Very enjoyable entry as the group rescues two women from muties, but Jak gets wounded in the exchange. Invited back to the nearest ville, what they find is a baron who deals in drugs and medicine. But, as is the norm with the companions, there is danger lurking. The baron, DeMann and another female baron, Schini figure out Ryan was responsible for the deaths of their family members at Spearpoint. Both swear vengeance, but the lady baron has eyes on DeMann's territory. From a shooting competition that goes off the rails, to a very extensive shootout and escape between warring barons and muties, Ryan and Co. find refuge with a kind man and his family. As Jak suffers from being shot full of dangerous drugs, the group plans one last infiltration of the warring ville to retrieve the medicine they need to save their albino friend. Plenty of action, a good story and a shocking ending made this one a pretty good read.

Deathlands meets The Most Dangerous Game. Ryan's loss of Dean is still fresh in his mind as the companions come to a ville where Baron Ethan plays sadistic games for sport. J.B. is poisoned so that Ryan, Krysty and Doc are forced to hunt Jak, but with a twist. Ethan has the power of mind control and the trio seems helpless to resist. Mildred, meanwhile befriends the ville's healer and they hatch a plan to sneak to the ruins of a city nearby to find the antidote for J.B.'s affliction. Mildred's group has to confront huge mutie bats, while Jak plays cat and mouse with his friends in the forest. Tense battles ensue. Fairly entertaining entry all the way through.

Enjoyable romp with the likable cast of characters that Rogers always seems to include. This time Bolan is taking down a lethal drug operation that starts in Miami where he meets up with a cop and a lady fed. When they hit Mexico, two more team members join them, Murph and Donuts, who were quite a hoot in their banter. The man crushes for Bolan are entertaining and funny. Good action with taking down armored vehicles with homemade weapons and assaulting a drug kingpin's hacienda. On to Guatemala to finish off the ringleaders with help from a local spec ops soldier named Bang, and the return of Valentina Swarzkova. Brutal action here as the team gets put through the meat grinder, as is Rogers' usual MO. Very entertaining, with movie references and plenty of comedic quips.

Even though it was an interesting idea, I guess I wasn't drawn into this one...until near the end. Then all hell breaks loose. The companions come to an island of African Americans descended from slaves. Mildred feels a kinship with them and considers staying. This group doesn't know anything but hate for the pale ones. But as events unfold, Ryan and Co. form an uneasy alliance with them as forces within their village plot and scheme. Not a whole lot of the usual action until the last 50 or 60 pages. A character thought long dead appears out of nowhere and upsets the balance...and we are left with a shocking climax. So, decent storyline, but just an average delivery.

Slightly above average entry as the companions jump into a occupied redoubt with huge, mutie worms. The battle against them was nicely done. Then they meet a group of redoubt dwellers who have sworn vengeance upon two villes and their barons. Ryan agrees to an uneasy truce to help them, otherwise they may have to fight a whole redoubt. The leader, Correll is slightly mad, and we meet some other characters as the companions help prepare for the coming battle. The final battle during a dust storm between three groups of wags was decent, but on the whole, nothing special about this one.

Never gave this one a proper review because I hadn't read it for a while, but can after re-reading it. Sort of a change of pace, as Nile and O'Toole help a CIA agent hunt for Nazi gold in a divided Berlin. Neo-Nazi's also want Hitler's gold as the SOB's duo prowl around East Berlin for an ex-SS agent. Some pretty decent action, along with the usual amounts of gore for this series. The female Stapo agent is ice-cold and nasty with her razor-bladed nails. It all culminates in the "explosive" unearthing of Hitler's bunker and the reveal of the true nature of the gold...which was disappointingly on the inside cover of the book.

A very entertaining finale to the Scorpion God duology. Ryan and friends are escaping across the desert with Baron Gaza in pursuit. They run into strange underground dwellers, millipedes and discover a pre-dark city buried under the sand. Peril comes in the form of stickies and sec droids as the companions search the city for supplies. Also, we discover more about The Trader as Gaza and his minions engage their convoy of War Wags. As the battle rages above, Ryan and Co. must fight to get out of the town and confront The Trader in a final showdown.

Enjoyable enough tale with the lure of possibly the return of Trader. Ryan and Co. awaken in a redoubt and have to fight off mutie caterpillars, which was pretty suspenseful. Just when they think they've escaped and are crossing the scorching desert, the muties follow. They get to a ville which is at war with Trader's group. The baron is hoarding water, and Ryan figures they won't be allowed to stay very long before they are killed. The battle to break out of the ville was fairly exciting and the companions head out into the desert once more on the trail of the elusive Trader. To be continued in the finale of the dualogy.

Very enjoyable entry, as Ryan and Co. are following a carnival troupe that murders entire villes. Gert Wolfram's name is attached to the troupe, but their old nemesis, Magus is the driving force behind this evil. The muties and other horrific creatures of the carnival were pretty cool, and Jak has a reunion with a lion that he supposedly has a mental link to. Magus lays a trap for the companions, but Ryan sniffs it out and leads to a daring escape from the ville, as well as a running gun battle. Then they come upon a mysterious ville in the mountains and a pool of water that has some peculiar qualities. It is here that the final confrontation will take place with the head carny, as well as the overpowering effects of the pool. The only negative of this adventure is Doc's character is incapacitated for most of the book. Which was a little disappointing, but when they reach the pool, he is the companions' only chance of escape.

A middle-of-the-road adventure from Fieldhouse this time out. Bolan is out to stop a heroin network that reaches from New York to Myanmar. Some good action in N.Y, but then the soldier goes undercover for the remainder of the mission. Bolan does meet up with some political dissidents to aide him, but then his cover is blown and he destroys the heroin farm while getting captured in the process. His escape was fast paced, but overall the plot was formulaic.

The first outing from this new author and it was well-written and tightly plotted. No meandering through a redoubt, no taking up pages traveling across country. Ryan and the group come to a ville, but he, Krysty and Mildred are captured...the two women to be used as breeders. The baron of the ville is a vile, disgusting hardcase who plans on showcasing Krysty. Meanwhile, J.B., Jak, Doc and Dean meet up with a local woman and her mutie band to come up with a rescue attempt. One of the high points was a gladiator-style match where the baron puts Krysty up as the prize. Ryan must fight against sec men and a massive giant. J.B. and the rest find a wag and rig machine guns and a cannon to raid the ville. The final battle was fairly exciting and overall a solid read.

The conclusion to the duology is on par with the first one. The gang and the Amazon Gate are separated, but are soon reunited and searching for the main base of the Illuminated Ones, who have unleashed a smallpox plague. Other help comes in the form of a ville and the three groups stage an assault on the Ones' redoubt. Led into a trap, Ryan and his group come face-to-face with one of the leaders, who explains his plan for conquering Deathlands. Moved at a good pace, leading up to an exciting battle. And some urgency as Mildred, Doc and Jak suffer from the disease. The finale was handled well and could lead to more encounters with the Illuminated Ones.

This one starts with a doozy...a stunning jump dream from Jak. Afterwards, the group comes across the Amazon women who are searching for a mystical redoubt. Being rescued from stickies, Ryan and Co. decide to join the warriors in their quest. Much more entertaining than the author's last entry. They battle their way across the landscape and into a conflict with the previously mentioned Illuminated Ones. All roads lead to their stronghold and a nice final battle. As this is Book 1 of a duology, leaves you with a minor cliffhanger.

While the storyline was reasonably decent, this new writer didn't ignite a spark with me. Ryan and Co. are lost in the desert and run into a work crew working for a baron. They are captured and forced to try to find out who is sabotaging his mining operation. The main characters were accurately written, but the action was sort of dull and repetitive. The Crow character was pretty decent, but overall, just average.

The return of the Shadow World group was quite suspenseful. This time Dredda Trask, daughter of one of the CEO's of the parallel world is genetically enhanced and brings her woman warriors, plus an army of male soldiers to pacify Deathlands. Ryan and Co are captured and forced to work in the mines of Salt Lake City. Not as much action until towards the end, but it was a thrilling entry as the companions have to figure out a way to get past the armored suits worn by the soldiers. Plus, launch a prison break.

This longer SOB's adventure was not bad, it just wasn't great. Lots of time spent with the Russian characters. Some build up to the confrontation, and then the attack on the island...which was fairly exciting. Towards the end, some ship-to-ship battles, the SOB's engaging in undersea warfare, and many groups coming together to repel the Russian Spetsnaz. The SOB's working so openly with these other soldiers didn't work for me. So, some good island fighting, but probably too long for a great SOB adventure. The shorter books are much sharper.

Fair entry in the series which had some elements of past books. The gang comes to an underground ville with the residents descended from whitecoats. The baron is kind, but his sexy wife plots and schemes with the head sec boss. Ryan and Co. help with battling another ville full of muties and a nuke, but Dean is captured by the wife after he discovers her horrible experiments. Nice battle with the mutie's, and a pretty good finale of the different factions battling for control of the underground ville. A few questions are left unanswered for a future plot line, so we'll see.

Finally doing a review of this one, as I re-read it and it's now fresh in my mind. Solid entry has the group after a Jim Jones like figure who's planning to use his massive army of followers to take over Central American countries. Along the way Barrabas utilizes the help of Communist rebels, but there is the delicate matter of a U.S. senator who is aiding Jeremiah and his minions. The action, once it got going was fast paced and bloody. And the climax with Jeremiah's followers is jaw dropping.

A fine finish to the Skydark Chronicles. The gang escapes from one island in a hot air balloon to try and locate the ville of the title. Running battles with Kinnison's men lands them on the island of Fiji (from what it sounded like). They are briefly captured at the pirate fort, but mount an escape just as the baron's forces launch an all-out attack. Lots of action from here on out, battles with mutie gorilla's, four-legged sec droids and an icky mutie spider. It all culminates in their search for a redoubt in the main city of the island. And the Cerberus mist chases our heroes as they make a desperate escape.

Reasonably enjoyable 2nd entry in this trilogy. The gang has an intense battle with mutie crabs. Then we see Baron Kinnison trying to consolidate his power, but a coup is launched against him. The rest of the book is taken up with Ryan and Co. crossing atolls to try and get to a ville with a boat. They come up against icky cannies and having running gun battles with the baron's sec men. The book's climax is a tense drive across the island in a souped up school bus with hundreds of stickies pursuing them. A comrade they rescue from the cannies turns on them and is determined to kill the friends...and thus ends this installment on a mild cliffhanger.

This was definitely an enjoyable entry. It's always cool when they jump outside the US, and this time they end up in the Marshall Islands. Call this one Pirates of the Deathlands. The group has to find materials to fix the mat-trans, so they venture out...and run into a cool spider mutie, along with mutie condors. They discover different islands fighting amongst themselves with pirates thrown into the mix...cannons, broadside ship-to-ship fighting, black powder weapons...and an armada of PT boats. Lots of action, ship battles, and Krysty becomes baron of one of the ville's. Leaves you with a cliffhanger, as this is the first of a trilogy.

I didn't find this one as steady as the first one. Bolan is back in the states to smash the Mafia/Terrorist plot to sabotage the defense computer systems. Although, even with Bolan being undercover, there was plenty of action to go around. Able made a brief appearance, but I thought they would have more to do. It seemed like they were supposed to have an action scene, but it was cut out because of the word limit on monthlys. So, satisfying conclusion to the duology. A few nitpicky things, but still a solid entry.

Bolan is trying to discover who is sabotaging a government computer system. The action is non-stop as he also tries to find a computer expert who can stop the hacking. Add the mafia to the mix and Bolan taking out hitters left and right...he finally discovers the culprit and heads to Afghanistan to crush the terrorists. Grimaldi had some action also alongside the big man, and even the epilogue was tense. It all leads to the second part where I assume Bolan will contend with the leader of the terrorists and the mob.

Turned out to be a pretty good entry...almost nearing a 7 with all that happened in the last 50-60 pages. The gang is holed up in an office building with mutie bat-like creatures flying about. Dean ends up gravely wounded, so Ryan has to figure out to recce the nearest ville for medical supplies. Not too much was made about The Machine as mentioned on the back cover. What hindered the plot in places were a few chapters here and there centering on random sec men and their patrols. But, the action with the mutie bats and wolves was gruesome, and there were plenty of gun battles to move things along at a brisk pace.

A new author with this entry and it was a worthy effort. It opens with the group in an occupied redoubt. They are taken prisoner and want Doc for some weird experiment. They find a way to escape, with Tanner left in the clutches of a military madman. Ryan and Co. meet up with a group that lives out in the wasteland and try to train them for a final assault and rescue Doc. Other Deathlands adventures are mentioned, which is always a plus. Good action during the redoubt assault and with earthquakes threatening, the group has to make it to the mat-trans just in the nick of time. So, the author did fine with the characters and the story moved along at a good pace.

This one definitely had its share of entertainment. A Donald Trump personality gets roasted. Remo and Chuin are after the Russian with the invisibility suit from a previous book. It revolves around T(Rumpps) building sucking people into the sidewalk. Remo, Chuin, Cheeta Ching and a modern witch are drawn to the site to try and figure out what is up. The bickering between all involved carried this one. Is Ching carrying Chuins child? Can the Rumppster weasel his way out of his bankruptcy? Will Rumpp Tower disappear into the ground? Add the quirky Russian thief trying to escape from his telephone prison. Rumpp and Ching were a hoot.

Started off with a bang, right in the middle of the action. The group arrives narrowly avoids disaster during a jump, then battles coldhearts in the redoubt. They find Leviathan, a huge armored vehicle, but have to fight off creepy mutant dogs. Out in the wasteland, The Ranger, a high-tech tank plays cat and mouse with them. Mutie plants and an icky creature has to be dealt with before moving on. When they come to Novaville, Amanda, the co-baron with her brother wants Leviathan for herself. Ryan and Co. being captured, plus leading a slave revolt, kept things moving along. The Ranger approaches the ville for the final confrontation. A pretty good read.

The boys meet their match? Fairly entertaining entry has them after an invisible entity that's stealing missile parts, blue jeans and steaks. Remo trying to explain baseball to Chuin was truly hilarious, as was their banter throughout the whole book. Add to that a busty Air Force investigator who bickers endlessly with the duo kept this one lively. Surprisingly, no one dies, but still a decent effort.

While I can understand the previous reviews of this one, I guess for me there was some disappointment. The plotline was sure an attention-grabber. Ryan and Co. witness visitors from a parallel Earth appear and Ryan is kidnapped. My expectations of what the other Earth was going to be like didn't intrigue me as much as I thought. But, we are treated to non-stop action as Ryan is nabbed by freedom fighters in the other world, and the chase is on. It is then we learn of that worlds plan to ease their overcrowded planet and relocate to Deathlands. Meanwhile, the rest of the group back in DL must find a way to defeat armored invaders who have high-tech weaponry and figure out how to get Ryan back. It did unfold nicely with a lot of chases, gun battles, gooey laser-beam kills and icky bacteria carnage. Again, good entry, but some disappointment as to the finished product.

I can't say this was NOT entertaining, but the 4 stars comes from the fact that Remo was not even in the book until there was around 10 pages left. Chuin is presumed dead from the last book, and Remo meets his end at the very beginning of this one. Or does he? A sendup of the Gulf War had some truly oddball characters...Chuin is put in charge of dealing with the crazy dictator Maddas Hinsein, and a kooky general doesn't like to be told how to run a war. Add to the mix, A smarmy news anchor, a sleazy evangelist, Kali, Shiva, and soldiers dressed up as pigs...yeah, it was truly out there.

We get to the last part of the Baronies trilogy. Maybe the weakest of the three. Although still entertaining in its own right, a lot of pages were focused on the sec men out to find a new dish to use for the space weapon. Ryan and Co. do finally come upon a genuine problem in their quest to rid themselves of Sheffield, the new baron and his cronies. They are out of ammo, have no food and almost no medical supplies. How they managed the issue was of some interesting note. This ark did have it's share of action like the other two, and there were plenty of gruesome mutie attacks. The last 20 pages or so was exciting as Ryan's bunch launch a sneak attack on Sheffield's forces, destroying the dish and saving Front Royal from any further incursions.

Good second book in this trilogy which finds our companions on the search for the mystery leader who is conspiring to overthrow the baronies. It happens to be the return of Silas Jamaisvous, now in control of a satellite super weapon that uses microwaves to destroy whole areas in one blast. Ryan and Co. fight their way through enemy territory, fighting sec men, cannibals and plant muties. They discover Jamaisvous's location is near Shiloh battlefield. Tense finale has them assaulting the base, plus trying to escape the satellite's deadly wrath. Adding to that is a hideous mutant battle as they desperately try to enter the redoubt from their previous trip there. Ends in a cliffhanger...Will the redoubt protect them from the super weapon?

What a blast to start this trilogy by new writer Pollotta. Ryan and Co. jump near Front Royal and continue to hear of trouble in the ville. Tagging along in a convoy, they are beset by ambushes on their way there. Once they arrive, an Overton Cawdor states he is Ryan's other long lost son, and that he is threatening Ryan's nephew Nathan with takeover. The action is fast and furious with numerous battles between Overton's sec forces, Nathan's and Ryan's group. Krysty get's briefly captured, Mildred has to deliver the baron's baby amidst getting caught by enemy forces and Ryan blasts hot lead at the enemy in an LAV. All of this leads to a mystery tattooed on Overton's wrist and what exactly the man knows about the mat-trans...which will continue in the next installment.

The action heats up from the start as Ryan and Co. are trapped between baronial sec men and coldhearts, along with a group of travelers. And Krysty's mind is invaded by another of her kind. Their only chance is to find members of the Heimdall Foundation, mentioned in Mars Arena. Fighting their way through with people in tow, they make it to the river and commandeer a boat to escape. Story settles down as Ryan clashes with the boat captain and his sons. Then they come to a fortress run by Annie, a trader woman. Deals are made for ammo and rest, as long as the group helps the lady deal with an impending attack. Doc takes a fancy to Annie and briefly considers staying on. Once again, Ryan and his companions narrowly escape during a coldheart attack and meet up with a Heimdall man, who can help Krysty. It all comes to a head as they battle pirates in a spectacular river raid and recover a piece of the space station mentioned once again in Mars Arena. I felt the healing of Krysty was not long enough, but this was a nice entertaining ride.

Back to the original author of the series with this one. As with his others, a lot of time was taken in the redoubt. One of the best scenes was them coming across Mom's Place and the hideous secret there. The mutie rat battles were fun, also. Then they meet up with Joshua Wolfe, a man from Ryan and J.B's past, who has set up a crazy religious commune. The "tests" the group faced were exciting...especially Krysty's against a female giant. Doc was extremely vulnerable in this one, but his scenes of action with the swordstick were effective. All in all, an enjoyable entry.

This was a long time coming, but the payoff was effective. Finally, we have Doc's experiences when he was trawled and his time with the white coats. Around this subplot, the group meets the mysterious Dr. Silas Jamaivous in Puerto Rico. While Doc is intent on getting back to his family with Jamaivous's help, Ryan and the others must track down and destroy a nest of Chupacabra's. As usual, there is more to Jamaivous than meets the eye, there's betrayal and icky mutie mayhem. Ends with a surprise, so we'll have to see where they take this in future installments.

Odom comes up with another solid entry. When the group makes their way to Hazard ville, they meet Kirkland, who rules the ville with the threat of plague. While replenishing their supplies, Jak and Dean get into mischief, which leads to the revelation that the friends are not meant to leave the ville alive. A raging gun battle takes place, and they narrowly escape back to the redoubt and are whisked off to the Arctic Circle. There, they briefly help local Inuits fight a Russian cadre, all the while having to repair gateway circuit boards and escape a sinking ship on a very unstable glacier. Good action all the way through and very satisfying.

Solid adventure has the teams going up against renegade Mexican lawmen, mercs, government moles and a villain with ties to Unomundo. While Phoenix goes after a kidnapped reporter stuck in a Mexican prison, Able, with Lao Ti along for the ride, try to protect the reporter's children in Yuma from repeated attacks. Doug has a nice way of interjecting past missions from both teams into the narrative. And his action is always top-notch. The prison break was cool, and Lyons returns to his trusty AA-12 auto shotgun with it's icky carnage. Phoenix ends this one in spectacular fashion by re-assaulting the prison, while Able must fend off a major attack of the Yuma federal building. Great action in this one.

A sequel to the monthly Viral Siege, has Bolan going up against Hegre once again. In a plot to finance the sale of uranium to the Iranians, Bolan teams up with a spunky FBI agent and travels to China, Philippines, Russia and Kazakhstan. Some of the highlights were getting captured and escaping mid-flight aboard an airplane and bailing out with one parachute. Then during the escape, being pursued through the jungles of the Philippines. We get a back story on Lise Delaware who's obsessed with killing Bolan. It all ends in an explosive, action-packed finale...he lives up to his name with the heads of the Hegre organization.

Just a little above average for this entry. Ryan and Co. land in a hospital redoubt and fight off a gang of stickies. Then they find themselves in a huge mall which acts as a ville. As they explore, Ryan fights a droid in a gladiator-style match for jack, Dean and Jak tussle with thugs in an arcade, and a minor character from the Lord Kaa battle finds himself in charge of a large band of stickies. The banter between Doc and Mildred was always a delight, and the friends browsing in the 20th century mall was never dull. The assault by the muties in the end was nothing special. Decent time-passer, but not great.

Reasonably enjoyable book has Bolan going after a complex network headed by a Chinese spy who wants control of a missile defense system. The action goes from Greece to Africa, then to South America with Lyons, Blancanales and Grimaldi lending a hand. There's a few instances where female acquaintances are killed and Leo Turrin is injured, turning Bolan a little colder in this entry. Sometimes the plot could get a bit convoluted, but having the Able Team duo show up, gave this one a few brownie points. And towards the end, Bolan closes the noose around the Chinese mastermind, delivering fiery justice in satisfying fashion.

A continuation of the Zero storyline where the Chinese take another crack at the orbiting platform by kidnapping its creator. Able is stateside and has to protect the ground-based Zero base from attack, and Phoenix has to endure the brutal snow overseas to try and rescue Kaplan. Just slightly above average. Action scenes were not as plentiful as other books, and a little too much time spent with the villain characters. Even the finale was just average. Still reasonably entertaining overall, just not on par with other SM novels by this author.

An engaging story is what drives this installment. The companions jump into a gateway where a type of super-mutie was created and put into cryo-sleep. What they discover is when this creation awoke, he saw himself as a reborn Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Akhnaton can also control minds and it's his intention to have Krysty as his queen to rule for all eternity. Ryan and Co. are captured and have to go along with the secret machinations of Akhnaton's scorned daughter, Nefron to free themselves. Some decent battles with the Pharaoh's legions, and the confrontation between Krysty's Gaia power and Akhnaton was truly epic.

A Chinese general vital to an upcoming peace summit with the U.S. has gone missing and it's up to Remo and Chuin to find him. Nothing outwardly special, but it did have its moments: Chuin and their Chinese contact trading insults, the Puerto Rican hit, the dojo fight and Chuin kicking ass with a sword at the end. From what I heard, this was the first entry with the satire and humor for which the series would be known for. So, enjoyable, but only just an average entry.

A lot of tongue-in-cheek humor and some of those wild and crazy characters gave this one a lift. Phoenix and Able work together most of the time to stop an organization with high-tech gadgets. The interaction with the teams and a bad guy turned good, Propenko was quite enjoyable. The other standout was all the bromancing with Demi Papas, the Wolf of Wall Street clone. The guy was a total hoot. Amidst all this, the battles drawn up were extensive, but just average overall. The failed attempt to attack Liberty City seemed to be the most enjoyable. And I'm guessing Mr. Rogers' nod to one of the possible final targets (a 49ers playoff game from a book published in 2015) was a joke? Really, Chuck? Okay, I got a kick out of it. Not the best Stony Man, but the humor, paying homage to different movies and books, and the bromancing between characters made it a good read.

This debut by another new writer was definitely a homage to Laurence James' titles. There's action in the redoubt, the characters are spot-on, and the meals are described in great detail. Ryan and Co. emerge near where Dark Carnival took place. They come up against some roving bands and a mutie leech, then make their way up the coast. Krysty and Jak are feared dead, and the companions take on a self-proclaimed lord of the sea, Poseidon. Helping out is a commune of peaceful residents, and some aqua-muties. The action moved along decently as Ryan is captured, and the group assaults the sub base where Poseidon threatens to use a nuclear sub with a missile. The final battle with Ryan trapped aboard the sub was just average, but this one gets major kudos for the excellent characterizations.

While always entertaining, this one seemed very similar to the last few by Linaker. Bolan must find a Mafia accountant on the run from his bosses who has a special list of misdeeds. Leo Turrin and Grimaldi get involved, Carl Lyons unleashes his fury, and Bolan must keep his charge alive amidst car chases, bullets flying and speeding trains. Nice read, just not as great as some of his others.

Another one of Rogers' kooky rides with Bolan teaming up with some oddball characters like a wild, Filipino gangster and a transgendered gun moll. Some Hawaiian extremists are set for a terrorist attack and Bolan has to go undercover, where we learn about some truly weird rituals and hear a lot of gangster lingo. Some of the battles were fun, and the banter was entertaining, but overall a little heavy on the "odd" factor. Brutal final battle with Hawaiian giant leaves Bolan totally beaten and battered as is the norm with Rogers' books.

While this started out on a gripping note...a terror attack by Boko Haram, it settled down soon after. Bolan is after the notorious terror group, and searching for the survivor of their latest attack. Most of the action surprisingly takes place at one main location, which was a little odd. Bolan must rely upon inexperienced fighters to help. At times the extended gun battle was decent, but Van Cook drew it out into many different facets. Also, the Boko characters were fleshed out pretty well. So, in retrospect, I would have preferred classic Bolan Blitz against the Boko Haram flesh merchants, but it was more methodical and low-key. Good effort, but just a little above average.

I'm torn over this one. It was definitely good...the usual crisp action from Linaker. Although, what has happened before is Able gets short-changed. Phoenix gets most of the important work to do. Some car chases and a fight on the water involving helicopters and boats was done well. I didn't feel the plot involving a Turkish terror group wanting to detonate bombs in Turkey and America was as exciting as other entries. I did enjoy McCarter's banter with the female agent assigned to them. Even the final battle wasn't as grand, but all in all, never a boring read.

I agree with the previous review. This was an excellent book. Ryan and the group are being pursued in the wilderness by bushwooders. Then they come across some scientists who ask them to help recover a crashed space station. At the same time, we get a glimpse of Dean's time at the school, but he and some other boys are kidnapped. Also, Ryan, JB and Mildred are taken by the same group. It all culminates in The Game, a sadistic kill-or-be-killed competition inside The Mars Arena---the ruins of Vegas. The battle to survive is intense and brutal, while Krysty, Jak and Doc come up with a plan to rescue their comrades. The high point was the mutie fish, the giant pig and psychotic, winged mutie monkeys feasting on unlucky participants. Good stuff!

This one had a good story regarding a doomsday plague from a very unlikely source. Action scenes moved along at a good clip, but like the last reviewer stated, the violence with MB had really gone PG-13 lately. As Bolan pursues a Neo-Nazi-like group, he's involved in car chases, mayhem aboard a plane and brutal fight scenes with one of the main villains, Kraft. I have to say that character and his fisticuffs with Bolan were a high point. The climax sort of fizzled out, and the very last chapter seemed totally unnecessary.

A middle-of-the-road book. Both teams' storylines were done well. Able trying to track down an Arab mole who has stolen two nukes, while Phoenix travels to the Middle East and gets bogged down in battles between rebels and government troops of a fictional country. Able's shootouts were tense, while Phoenix's standoff in a tenement was drawn-out, but suspenseful. The big surprise was the mole, Massawi. Decently drawn-up character, as he continues to have visions of Jesus, trying to dissuade him from his path. And he does struggle with his mission. So, not a great entry, but a decent adventure.

While the story was generally entertaining, I had some issues with it. Like another book by this author, I felt Grimaldi was too much of a comedian. Not a whole lot of action, either. The villain's were fairly fleshed out, and the spoiled prince was done well. The chase in the end to stop a terrorist attack was also tense, but overall didn't hit the mark for me.

This was definitely an enjoyable entry, but I felt not as strong as Ellis' Stoneface entry. The first part of the book is very exciting as Ryan and Co. face off against pirates in a bloody battle. Then we meet two group of Indian factions warring over a mystical cavern. Through all this, we get sentient wolves, myths and legends about the First People. It was all very interesting, especially Ryan's induction into the Wolf Soldiers. Ends with a desperate battle, and does sort of leave you in suspense as to what they will find inside the cavern.

An exciting debut for mackbolan.com's administrator, Glenn. Once it got going, it rarely let up. Bolan parachuting into a terrorist compound, then finding his way aboard a ship to stop a USS Cole-like attack. Then he's hitting the plains of Africa to hunt down a rogue general planning a bloody coup. He's saddled with a CIA type with not a lot of experience, but it was fast-paced action as Bolan leaps aboard a moving train, fighting it out with rogue soldiers and then getting captured. His eventual escape and hunting the hunters out in the bush was classic Executioner. The APC battles were also exciting and the last 80 pages or so was intense. Congrats on a great debut!

Another of those original plotlines with a drug that causes people to go crazy and kill everything in sight. It was an above-average outing. Both teams getting close to equal time is always a good thing. The Winters character was very cool...sexy, smart, funny and deadly. Loved her interactions with Phoenix Force. The action scenes of normal people just going berserk were rather intense. The Stony Man team hunts for clues as to who the bad guys are, Phoenix has to deal with one of their own being affected. Sort of what Rogers did with Mack in Lethal Trade (which they mention). The final confrontation was just okay, but overall the novel was quite entertaining.

Yet another new author, and still another good entry. Ryan and the gang come into a new redoubt and right off, have to fight off a gang of muties. They discover a new threat by the name of Kaa, who has gathered thousands of stickies under his banner. He plans to assault the east coast baronies and have muties rule Deathlands. Ryan tries to warn the baron of Willie-ville, but the group is taken prisoner. All hell breaks loose when Kaa and his troops invade the ville in spectacular fashion. A lot of icky, gooey, Stickie mayhem which was fun. With Kaa, there is a side to him that you can identify with...beneath the cold, menacing exterior, which made this a different aspect of a Deathlands villain.

Reasonably enjoyable outing that has Mack taking on a drug cartel who has access to military weapons. Getting captured after an ally is gunned down, he escapes and meets up with an ex-government agent who's long in the tooth. They must deal with traitors at a military base, along with mercs and of course, the drug cartel minions. A female agent helps Bolan along the way and it all culminates in a well-done assault on the drug kingpin's base, with some fine hand-to-hand battles.

I suppose I got more out of this than the previous reviewers. I thought it was classic Bolan. The action never let up and the set pieces were exciting. If you want to say it was like a first-person shooter game...okay, a lot of gunplay and stuff getting blown up. Grenade launcher mayhem was the high point as Bolan totally destroys a drug cartel from bottom to top.

While not one of Doug's absolute best, it still had a lot of kick-ass scenes. Able and Phoenix do a swap (Pol goes with Phoenix, Hawkins with Able) to get to the bottom of an arms bazaar and stolen missile tech. Gadgets, Lyons and Hawkins pose as bikers to infiltrate the weapons sale and things get a bit dicey as they try to keep their covers intact. Phoenix goes after some missing scientists and do some snooping before getting into the action. The best parts came at the end, with Phoenix, Gadgets and Pol hitting the missile factory in Sri Lanka. Some brutal hand-to-hand fights climaxed that ark. Lyons and Hawkins use some souped-up weapons to unleash gooey carnage on the arms bazaar. Reminded me of the classic Able Team books. Overall a nice outing.

What starts with a rescue of a female federal agent, turns into a mission to stop a German industrialist from resurrecting another Reich. Takes place in France, then goes across the sea to Tunisia, and ends up in Arizona, this was a pretty fast-paced adventure. Grimaldi helps out, along with the lady fed. Nothing special about the main villain, but one of the female baddies was written well. The last 40 pages helped notch this up one more star with incredible action as Bolan takes down this neo-Nazi and his gang of thugs.

Another new writer and this one was even better than the last. Ryan and the group land in New Mexico and have to fight off some renegade military types. Some whispers about a Project Calypso, then they are whisked off to England. There, they meet up with Celts, and the leader is a madman who wants to remake the world according to his own sadistic blueprint. Also involved are some local raiders, and the group being pursued by the military men from New Mexico. Well-rounded villain character, Boldt, along with some cryptic information about Doc's possible descendants. And bizarre plants that come alive---along with a nifty creature. All through this adventure, lots of good action scenes, and a very tense climax in which Ryan is trying to stop a doomsday plague from being released. It all finishes up in "Hasta la Vista, Baby" style.

The oft-talked about prison book with Mack Bolan. Definitely enjoyable, with Mack entering the "joint" and facing all comers---prison guards, brutal fights with cons, and the requisite break out. The quirky team of supporting characters are there, also. The chubby guard, Barnes, the father and son mafia guys, Marilyn, Renzo and the super-cool Kal. I knew there wasn't going to be the normal kind of action in this one, but it was a suspenseful read, and the final confrontation with Force's guys was brutal, as was Force's demise.

Like the previous reviewer said, an old-fashioned Mafia-type outing for Bolan. Helping out the OrgCrime unit in England take down a multi-national cartel, Mack hits them hard and fast. Slightly above average for most of the book, things went into overdrive with the last 40 pages. Bolan is captured and has to mount a daring escape with the help of the sister of an OrgCrime agent. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Linaker always comes through.

Another one of those adventures that has Bolan with a group of comrades. This time, he's hitting the Congo to rescue a downed plane full of military cadets. Bolan in drill-sergeant mode was fun, giving the cadets their code names. And having to whip this group into fighting shape as they are pursued by cannibalistic terrorists, plus a cadre of Iranian Quds Force made the situation that much more desperate. From ambushes, to a river battle, to taking a stripped-down chopper on a wild ride, Bolan and Co. find themselves in one last, heart-stopping confrontation to get out of enemy territory alive.

While I did enjoy this book by a different writer, it was sort of hard to get used to some of the changes brought about. Okay, I can accept that it didn't follow the usual formula of them searching the redoubt. But, I don't buy that they would just take off in a wag and go cross country. What this story did have was a solid plot and loads of action. They come to the Anthill (mentioned in Ellis' Outlanders) where they discover some sick and twisted operation...along with the people they're in cahoots with...Charles Manson acolytes. The gang is pressed into service unwillingly, but things moved along at a good clip. The character of Doc Tanner was a bit frustrating. Usually, I'm laughing like crazy at his antics or at the language he uses. Not this time. Chock that up to an author taking his first crack at the characters? Okay, I can live with that. All in all, a fairly good adventure with some nitpicky criticisms that didn't take too much away from the overall product.

Another whirlwind action-fest from Rogers, which has Bolan and Gary Manning trying to recover stolen nukes. A lot of different factions are involved. Russian and Finnish gangsters, Chinese operatives (one being a Chinese giant) and American businessmen as the main villains. The high points were the set pieces involving a submersible with tank tracks and a wild chase that puts it into oncoming street traffic. Bolan goes into classic sniper mode near the end as he goes toe-to-toe with the bad guys on the frozen tundra. Capped off by a blistering assault on an oil platform. As is Rogers' custom, Bolan gets battered and bloodied to the max.

Opens with a bang as Bolan is in Bosnia to hunt down Igor Baibakov. Some sniper action, then Bolan is in pursuit with the help of militia members. Baibakov escapes to the U.S. and Bolan has to recruit a former foe, and is teamed with a Russian Intel agent. Here the action really takes off as the Giant's minions are hunting Bolan and Co. A spectacular battle at a senator's lake-side home was very explosive. The finale involved Baibakov's attempt to use a small nuke against an American aircraft carrier. The underwater action was just okay, but when it comes down to sniper vs. sniper, it livened things up a bit. Wanted a more brutal fight against the Giant, but all in all, great work.

Started out really well with some good action as Bolan hits the terrorists at the site where the peace conference was held. But, wait, the hostages have been moved and Bolan is in pursuit. After that, it seemed like each successive engagement was a replay of the last with some minor differences. It did some good characters for Bolan to interact with, and the finale was fairly tense. Overall, slightly above average.

One of the last of Lawrence James' contributions to the series, it went out with a pure, exciting bang. As we conclude the cliffhanger from the previous episode, Ryan narrowly escapes his fall from the cliff, but the gang thinks he's dead. Ryan is rescued by a strange fellow, who nurses him back to health, while the companions make their way to the 'Sippi and a frontier pesthole. Some good shootouts with stickies and other denizens, while Ryan finally reunites with the group. Then it's up the river in a riverboat, but Gert Wolfrum and the Magus, mentioned here and there previously have their sights set on Trader's protégé's. Magus is curiously strange, a half-bionic type of man. After some adventures on the riverboat, Krysty and the gang are captured by the sadistic twosome. Ryan and J.B have to do their bidding with recovering lost Stickie slaves. But, they turn the tables and travel to Wolfrum's fortress, taking out a band of stickies on the way. Ends in a grand fashion with a spectacular raid to rescue their friends, and a final justice for a scourge of Deathlands. One of the best entry's since the beginning, which surprised me. Now on to the ones penned by Mark Ellis, Mel Odom, etc.

Another one of those plots with a killer device turns out quite nicely. Bolan is after a Serbian terror group which is using Russian technology to deploy a laser weapon. Action aplenty as Bolan teams up with a Russian ally as they evade ambushes left and right. Lyons and McCarter lend a hand, too. Best scenes were the trip down the river in the Congo, facing off against patrol boats, then a riveting final battle to destroy the laser, with Mack and Co. getting beaten, bloodied and battered.

I found this to be an average finale to the trilogy. Mack Bolan has to escape from kidnappers and find the voodoo priestess, then locate the mastermind behind the plot. Okay, not too bad there. Able gets sidetracked with drug smugglers, while Phoenix comes up with a plan to go undercover and rescue the hostages. The action scenes were very blah in this installment. The finale scenes really had no punch to them. They were over quickly. The other two books were a little better.

Looking at some of Mr. Black's other storylines on the back covers, they all seemed to lure you in, and this one was along those same lines. But, I didn't feel as strongly as the previous reviewer in regards to the overall product. It did have a good story, and the Lassiter character was well drawn up, even though he was a "super soldier". Those types of plotlines don't always win me over. The action scenes were just average, so the book wasn't as fast-paced as I wanted. Grimaldi was more of a comedian than usual. Overall, it was well-written, but just a few things that kept it from being more than "good". But, I will look forward to seeing how his other books play out.

Overall, a decent, action packed entry. The only thing that didn't sit well with me was out of the three way story, there was no final endgame for the enemy organization like there usually is. Usually the bad guys are working toward something big, but not really here. Able, Phoenix and Bolan were all used well with some good shootouts. Able in NY, Phoenix stopping an assassins bullets in Ireland, and Bolan in Japan and Jamaica. Wrapped up a bit too fast.

While this took forever in getting to the plotline described on the back cover, the journey to get there was filled with loads of danger and action. The group has to face hundreds of icky mutie centipedes. After a few run-in's with locals here and there, they head down the Tennessee River to try and get to Memphis. Baroness Katya, and her aide, Straub, a villain from a few books back are deliciously evil. Katya wants Ryan to father a child for her, while Straub schemes and plots. The climax was very exciting and we're left with another Deathlands cliffhanger.

Like the previous one, this was a decent continuation of the plot. It started to turn into a Stony Man with all the teams coming together. Bolan and Able pair up to find out what the Mexican President is up to. And Phoenix tries to take out a drug pipeline. Action in the beginning was good as the terrorists try to hit the President's villa. Phoenix's arc was tense with their drug tunnel shootout. And the finale of Bolan getting kidnapped and his narrow escape was a change of pace.

Good start to this trilogy. Multiple storylines include Bolan acting as bodyguard to the Mexican president, fighting off assassination attempts, and trying to figure out if he's crooked or not. Rafe and Calvin James pursue Mexican bandits across the border, and an American businessman and his childhood friend, a mega-action star are taken hostage for ransom. The action scenes were just average, but the story was handled well. Looking forward to the next installment.

Nothing real special about this entry. A military unit is kidnapping black men and the power behind them wants to go back to slavery. Remo threatens to quit CURE, but Ruby Gonzalez convinces him to save her brother, one of the men kidnapped. Remo and Chuin wade through some corrupt soldiers, then dispatch the ringleader. All the while, Chuin has plans to have Remo and Ruby mate so they can give him a male heir to Sinanju. Just average, with a few chuckles.

Sort of torn over this one. Like the previous reviewer said...good storytelling and wildly entertaining with the "28 Days Later" plot. Bolan was not even featured that much for nearly the first quarter or so. He's dropped into a town that has gone completely nuts with a contagion. If it was a regular story, it all unfolded decently enough. When that part of the plot is concluded, it gets back to normal with Bolan tracking the bad guys to Africa, getting captured, and injected with the virus. Action scenes were just so-so all the way through, but it did have a good confrontation with the main bad guy at the end. So, points for being different, but just an average SuperBolan.

An above-average adventure that has Phoenix and Able battling rogue Chinese terrorists and North Korean agents. Both teams got equal time, but Phoenix got most of the action as they attempt to rescue the prodigy of the title and bring him out of China. Able meanwhile has to protect a scientist from assassination while trying to hunt down a cell of Korean agents who think the U.S. is going to blame them for a drone shootdown. Phoenix's action was crisp, and Able had their hands full. The finale had the teams coming together for a quick wipeout, plus a surprise finish to nail the mastermind behind the prodigy plot.

Figured this would be better than it turned out to be. Finally, after hearing and seeing Japanese shogun in the Deathlands, the group jumps right into the heart of Japan. Ryan and co. spend a lot of time having major culture clashes with the samurai, aruguing about who's way of living is better. They do go out and try to hunt down the shogun's treacherous brother and his ronin, which was fairly decent. What it all boils down to is the shogun's desire to use the gateway to invade Deathlands and relocate his people. The final battle between Ryan's group and the ronin was exciting, but overall, the book didn't live up to expectations.

The title of this one says it all. The action starts rather suddenly, and the rest of the way is totally furious. Bolan is ambushed left and right on Jamaica, as he tries to halt a Colombian/Jamaican cartel union. Leaving the enemy battered, bloodied and dead, Bolan hits their drug warehouse hard, then obliterates a jungle base camp...right after playing cat and mouse with mercs in the jungle. Had sort of a weak finale, but Bolan using mainly his fists against a Korean giant and the head mercenary was good enough to rate this a solid 8.

Classic Bolan...he's alone with no backup in enemy territory trying to bring in a witness to a grisly murder by a client of the cartel. So, it's hit and run as the cartel gunners chase them across Mexico. Bolan mercilessly stalks his prey, taking them out one at a time, then get's trapped in a ravine, and makes a narrow escape. The final gun battle was explosive and vintage Linaker.

I'm torn over this one. A very good story was presented, but it seemed like Mack was relegated to a secondary character. It was nice to see the return of John Trent, but we weren't really treated to the badass ninja that his character is. Mack is on the trail of an arms bazaar with members of Phoenix Force, while Trent goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of pirates. His interaction with the kid was a major highlight. When the arms bazaar is attacked, Mack and co. discover it's related to the pirates, and a madman has grand plans for using ships as terrorist weapons. Action scenes were decent, but not great, but it was the story that carried this one along. Disappointed that Trent did not go ninja on the bad guys, but it was a surprisingly likable book.

The second Stony Man I've read by Kozar, and it was another enjoyable effort. A Marine unit is trapped by al Qaeda, who have plans to utilize a dirty bomb, and it's up to Phoenix to come to the rescue. Meanwhile, Able has to confront ex-marines on the trail of US-based terrorists. Phoenix probably had the stronger outing, but Able's mission to help the Marines, assist local law enforcement, and locate the fanatics was still very satisfying.

Pretty good entry has Ryan and Co. coming to Krysty's former home, Harmony...although it took them most of the book to get there, which was a little disappointing. Until that time, we see Dean getting dropped off at a heavily armed school to get an education, and the group passing through different pestholes. They deal out death to a variety of scum, but the main baddies are a group of highwaymen and stickies which are terrorizing Harmony and its outskirts. The assault on Harmony was a high point, and we're left with the mystery of Mother Sonja.

Didn't find much interesting in this one. Could have been a real good one. Once again, I'm not sure the author portrays Bolan very well. The book implied Bolan and the woman character were "involved". Bolan doesn't get involved with women. He has a semi-romantic relationship with Price, but that's only when he has the time. Also, Bolan let said woman kill a prisoner in cold blood that was tied up and helpless. Didn't seem like he would really do something like that. Otherwise, action scenes were fairly dull and not very descriptive. Hardly any weapons descriptions, and again Bolan used mostly pistols. Just my two cents.

Nice entry with ties going back to Rogers' masterpiece Lethal Tribute. Bolan is on the trail of what seems like Taliban operatives, but there's more than meets the eye. As in previous books, Bolan has a special team of allies, all of which shine brightly. From the Afghan, Ous, to the psycho female assassin, Bolan and Co. inch closer to the ultimate terrorist act. Pretty good action, and character interactions made this an enjoyable read.

Standard fare is highlighted by Guenther's explosive writing. The teams have to get to the bottom of Sudanese terrorists smuggling American weapons to Africa. Starts off nicely with Able Team trying to discover the fate of a possible military turncoat. A majority of the book features Phoenix as they cut a wide swath across Sudan, working with the locals and dealing with a traitor in their midst. The book ends on a high note with Able tracking down the remaining terrorists, a action-packed car chase, and a tense battle.

Concluding the cliffhanger from the previous book, Ryan and JB fight their way out of the Amazon and into the bayou's of Louisiana. After a misunderstanding at a general store, Ryan is blinded, then the group is introduced to The Family. They are mysterious albino-like folks who dress all in black, and don't seem to like the daylight. From there, things do slow down a bit, but it plays out like some Gothic nightmare. The Family knows about the mat trans units and drop some bombshells about their history and Doc's, which was shocking and clever. The finale was tense as Ryan and his companions fight to finish off these freaks and get out alive.

Like the other reviews, I, too seemed to think that the Bolan character was slightly off. The story had potential, but there wasn't a lot of action, and Bolan going through this one with mostly pistols didn't help. The Remy character was good, though, and it did have a decent, fast-paced conclusion.

Mack Bolan and the Dirty Dozen (or so). Started off well with Gary Manning helping Mack stop the assassination of a billionaire. Then Bolan is off with the billionaire and bunch of mercs on a treasure hunt. Probably too many characters to cover in such a short book, but the ambush/car chase was cool, then they're up in the mountains, discovering Alexander the Great's lost Citadel. Bolan and Co. trying to take down a Hind gunship was very tense, but then towards the end, things got more muddled. The finale of trying to hold off the Chinese assault, plus get away from a nuke blast ended this decent book.

More of the same enjoyable reads from Linaker. Able and Phoenix both have their equal time. Able's mission included a couple of good supporting cop characters. Phoenix has to insert into North Korea to rescue two agents and lays waste to the bad guys. Able's mission to stop the bad guys from transporting the EMP device out of Hawaii ended with a blazing shootout at an airfield. Although, I thought the final scene of Able tracking down the police mole was a bit anti-climatic. Phoenix has a ship-to-ship battle, which Linaker has done before, but it's very explosive and fast-paced. A little more POV changes in this book than usual, but overall it's satisfying.

Very enjoyable novel from this first time writer. Able started things rolling, and I liked how Kozar mentioned previous missions. His characterizations were done well. Then Phoenix comes into the mix and the Moroccan cop was a well-drawn character who helped the warriors hunt down the mastermind of the child slavery and drug ring. Able comes in towards the end to foil a terrorist attack with a decent battle, but the wrap up was way too quick and not very satisfying. Black Betty was too cool! Meanwhile, PF assaults an underground base and let's the Navy do their thing as per the front cover. All in all, Kozar hit the mark with his characterizations of the teams and good action. Great job!

While most of this entry wasn't as good as others, the 6 star rating came with the last 50 pages. Ryan and Co. jump outside Deathlands and land in the Amazon where local natives battling slavers and a rival tribe mistake Jak as their mythical god. There were some interesting nature battles. A mutie python and a huge colony of ants causing havoc. Mostly, the group did some exploring but it was sort of dull this time around. The battle with the slavers was good, and the natives pull a fast one on Ryan, leaving him and J.B. in a cliffhanger.

Linaker keeps on churning out exciting books with this page-turner that has Bolan losing his memory while fighting to prevent a virus from being sold to the North Koreans. The female army medic character was solid, and Joshua Riba shows up to give Mack a hand. Action scenes were plentiful and we're introduced to a secret criminal group that probably will return in future installments. A definite keeper!

Doug continues his mastery of the Bolan character with this old-fashioned Mafia-style destruction of a Haitian drug gang. After a jailbreak causes many deaths, Bolan declares war on the perpetrators, going after them in lightning raids. This really had the feel of the old mafia books. Along for the ride is a psychologically scarred cop responsible for his partner's gruesome death. I liked how snippets of the Bolan history and a past Able mission were mentioned during the book. Action scenes were brutal and fast-paced. Another enjoyable monthly from Doug.

Enjoyable Stony Man that has elements of the zombie genre as the teams take on a plague that drives people insane as they try to curb their hunger. Both teams were used effectively with good action all the way around. I love how Doug mentioned previous Phoenix and Able missions. Especially Phoenix Force Harvest Hell. The villain, like in Doom Prophecy, was one you could almost find a hint of sorrow for. But, a nice little romp with a different plotline.

A complicated plot involving many different factions peddling nuclear material is what drives this one. It did have its share of good action scenes, with Turrin and Grimaldi along for the ride in the end. Sometimes I was questioning whether Bolan would say some of the things he said, but Tresslar has always been solid with the character. So, a pretty good read...close to a 7.

Sort of a middle of the road entry in the series. Ryan and Co. finally make it to Washington DC, or Washington Hole. They go up against mysterious samurai, then visit the shantytowns near the Hole. Meeting up with a doomie was interesting and we're introduced to one of the more villainous Barons in Sean Sharpe. He has dual personalities and he keeps a zoo of mutie animals and people. The finale of trying to rescue the doomie, plus dispatch Sharpe in stunning fashion gave this one a satisfying end.

Fast paced entry, which is nothing new from Linaker. Bolan gets a drug cartel in his sights and tears them a new orifice. Does have a somber beginning as Bolan gains a female ally, then loses her in gut-wrenching fashion. Then, the big guy is blitzing the American connection of the cartel, plus plays cat-and-mouse with two hitmen in the desert. Then, in a blazing 40+ pages, Bolan lays waste to the kingpin in a stunning display of action. Great stuff!

Your typically solid Stony Man from Guenther. Nothing really new, but when both teams are used fairly equally, it can't be bad. Able hunts for the mastermind behind a toxin that is afflicting college students, plus engaging terrorists. Phoenix is in Germany trading shots with a smuggling group and Arab conspirators. Good action as always from this writer, with Lyons being the grump we all know and love. And having Gadgets being infected added a little bit of suspense.

Okay, I guess I didn't hate it as much as the previous reviewers, but I found some things to agree with. It certainly had plenty of action and both teams were equally used, which is always good. I also noticed how most of the other team members were hardly ever mentioned. But, I did enjoy Able Team taking out terrorists holding a church and a shopping mall hostage. And Phoenix's foray into Iran, meeting up with some interesting allies and fighting their way across the country to rescue American hostages. My pet peeve with Able's situation was to believe that all these Iranian special forces could have smuggled themselves into the country. Okay....right. The finale was covered way too quickly and was not too satisfying.

Nicely done novel that has Bolan, Encizo and James tracking a mysterious warlord and his minions all across the globe. Action was plentiful, along with a very graphic and realistic suicide bombing scene, with Bolan and co. experiencing the aftermath. Tense stuff. The battle at the compound at the end was explosive and fast-paced, but when Bolan confronts the Scimitar, it sort of fell flat. But, otherwise, a worthy effort.

Enjoyable entry, although it took a while for things to get going. Ryan and Co. come across a desolate wasteland in California where most of the state fell into the ocean. The fight with the mutie crab was too cool. Then they meet up with villagers and a scary psychic who has ulterior motives. After escaping, they go to the local ville, where the baron is suprisingly kind. A case of mistaken identity, Ryan and Trader butting heads and a stampede of mutie pigs finishes off this one and leaves us with a subtle cliffhanger.

An amusing entry as army recruits are brain-washed by a country preacher and turned into mindless zombies. As army bases are attacked, Remo and Chuin investigate with their usual funny banter. The body count in this is especially high as the boys have to wade through the troops in graphic fashion. Notable for Remo being incapacitated by poison and having to rely on his inner strength and training to purge it from his body before the bad guys have their way with him.

Wow, I guess I will be the lone dissenter with this title. Going into a Renauld book, I got exactly what I was expecting. No more, and no less. You can't fault him for his storyline. He tells a good story, it's just his writing style, I guess. Bolan has to stop a homegrown extremist group from further attacks against the government. The first few gun battles were fairly decent and it moved things along. Part of the story focused on the CIA bomber and his flight from authorities. Then we have Bolan and Grimaldi taking down a training camp, and following the clues which lead to a weak confrontation at the end with the bomber and a crooked senator. Just an average effort.

I'm probably being generous with a 6. Like one of the previous reviewers said, there wasn't much plot. Except for a few lulls, it was major action all the way through. I thought the soft probes the Stony Men conducted were suspenseful. The finale assault on the terrorist HQ was extremely long and drawn out. It was almost overkill because the story itself suffered.

Starts out with a tense battle with Phoenix overseas tracking stolen nukes. But, in a change of pace, the next long segment is totally devoid of Stony Men and focuses on the main villains as their plans come to fruition. Then, all of the Stony Men, plus Mack Bolan engage the Sawtooth Patriots at their ranch in Wyoming to locate the missing nuke, but the leaders escape. Good action here, which leads up to a decent finale in New York. The AC-130 gunship got the best of it though, as the boys are relegated to flying around looking for the head man.

Another story without a ville and a baron, which is perfectly fine. It follows the group as they have a brush with mutie spiders in a redoubt, then off to Maine and a mysterious hospital. The scientists take an interest in Krysty, while Ryan and the group go on a bear hunt from Hell. Once we find out the true nature of the institute, like the previous reviewer said, it was quite creepy. Ends with the usual action as they put an end to a sick and twisted operation.

Fair book in the series has Remo and Chuin going up against Neo-Nazi's in the Florida Keys. Interesting that the main plot-line involves slamming a plane into the World Trade Center. There's also some killer birds, which makes for some nice gory descriptions. The boys wade through the scum as they attempt to stop a madman's plan from being unleashed. And Chuin always wants to recite Sinanju poetry throughout the book.

Exciting entry in the series which has Annja captured by a radical muslim terror group by accident in the Phillipines. Threatened with beheading, she escapes into the jungle, but has to contend with the elements and a mysterious tribe. Crossing paths with a Marine sniper on a covert mission, the two team up to stay ahead of terrorist pursuers, plus have to find a way out of the clutches of the tribe. From underground sacrifices and a mysterious beast worshiped by the tribe, they must use all their wits and skill to escape and stop the terror group from a deadly terrorist attack. Plenty of action, and a great ending make this one a sure winner.

Pretty good monthly from Guenther. Bolan has to chase down hijacked computer chips from an army base. The initial gunbattle there was tense and exciting. Then it's out into the wildnerness, a wild rafting scene and another good shootout along the riverbank. Sort of ran out of steam towards the end, but enjoyable overall.

I guess I didn't find this one as memorable as the other reviews, but not to say this was a bad book. It wasn't per se. It had a good story with memorable characters (especially the Sweets brothers), but as usual with undercover books, the action is at a minimum here. We follow Bolan as he infiltrates a group threatening to send terrorists across the border. In the process, he's captured, tortured, and escapes. For me, I didn't get much description out of the action scenes and gun battles. This new author did a fine job of portraying the Bolan character, but on the whole, just an average effort.

Nothing great about this one, but it certainly was never boring. I liked the sniper team plotline, but when Bolan starts out seemingly on a date with an old friend, it felt out of character for the big man. Action scenes were only average, and the villains were slightly over-the-top with their religious nut-job fervor. Bolan had a good rapport with the Israeli agent, but the finale was weak and everything got wrapped up a little too quickly.

The search for Trader comes to an end as old comrades meet up in Seattle. They find flesh-eating creatures roaming through the ruins, plus bandits trying to kill them as they make their escape. Ryan and Co. meet with more trouble from a barony after their suspense-filled trip down the raging Colorado. Meanwhile, Doc goes on a soul-searching journey into the wilderness with Judas the ornery mule and finds love and contentment with a wayward, injured woman. Back at Jak's farm, the rest of the group gets a couple of visitors with a deadly secret. A fine entry in the saga with the multiple storylines, building up to yet another cliff-hanger.

Classic lone-wolf Bolan from the mid 1980's has him smashing a lone-sharking operation with Johnny Bolan's help. Good action, although I felt Bolan himself got one of the woman character's killed, and that didn't sit right with me. Goes off on an interesting tangent at the end to kind of bring the story of the Council of Kings full circle, and mentions an SOB's character in Karl Heiss. Took me quite a few years to finally snag this one, and it was fairly enjoyable.

Lordy, this one turned out to be one big mess. This author's Stony Man's seem to have the same motif: End-of-the-world scenario's with a superweapon of some kind, or something residing in outer space. First off, most of the chapters or scenes that did not relate to the Stony Men were ones of excess battles and over-the-top mayhem. So, not very tightly plotted. The events that brought the world to the brink of war didn't seem realistic at all to me. There were only a few good action scenes to mention: Able's battle at a farm with mercs and a combine was good, and Phoenix's assault on the Argentinian's firebase was also decent. Beware of this one.

Like one of the other reviews, I wouldn't classify this as Linaker's best, either. But, the last 50 pages was adrenaline-pumping excitement and that's what netted this one a 7. The plot was just okay---an anti-missile system is threatened with sabotage, and an international faction is trying to aquire nukes. Able's mission was decent as they try and resuce a hostaged family of one of the missile system designers. Phoenix tries to stop the testing from being sabotaged and Mack goes after the main players in the terrorist group. The action most of the way through was decent, but Linaker has done much better. Overall, an entertaining early entry where Bolan has a large part to play.

Seemingly by-the-numbers outing still packed a great punch. I always like the plots that are taken from the headlines, and this one was no different. As a weapons broker tries to force Israel to attack Iran, the U.S. is caught in the middle. The main villain Inigo was a deeper character than the norm. This outing was mostly Phoenix, which was disappointing as they go after Inigo's minions in Africa, members get captured, then have to mount an escape. Able chased down the CIA connection, but as I said above, it was not the biggest part for the boys. The finale of McCarter and an ally holding off gunboats was very tense and explosive. Usual good stuff from Linaker, but not his most well-rounded with both teams.

Nice entry by Mr. Spring has Bolan blasting away a terror cell at a monastery and discovering a hellish plot to unleash the Black Death as a weapon. Then the big man is prowling around the streets of Boston (a lot of description, as if the author is from there) to hunt down a related cell of the religious zealots. Action moved along at a nice clip, with Bolan then off to Sydney following more clues to the whereabouts of the toxin. Nice assault scenes there, and the finale to find the antidote. A little bit of excess jumping around the globe for Bolan, but a solid effort.

A fun outing that had a put-upon loser who develops a paint that can render anything invisible. After being rejected by neighbors and a company for inventions, he turns to assassination. Enter Remo and Chuin, who try to protect an exiled dictator with a price on his head. Elmo Wimpler was a hoot, and the normal banter between the boys made this fairly entertaining.

Nice little adventure that had three different storylines going as we build up to Ryan and Co. meeting up with Trader. As Ryan and J.B. are attacked and lend a hand here and there as they travel overland, Krysty and the group face death from wandering travelers. And we get more of Abe and Trader, who is almost turning villain. All of this meshed very well, which leads up to what will happen when Ryan finally finds the long, lost Trader.

This one started off really well, with Bolan turning the tables on terrorists who thought they were going to crash a military funeral. Interesting premise with a Russian media mogul who's implicating the U.S. in an overseas atrocity. Mack teams up with a gutsy FBI agent, and I liked their chemistry, but the action scenes seemed to get more monotonous as the book went on. Decent confrontation with Twain, the Irish terrorist, but the finale with Trofimov seemed to take the steam out of this one.

A real whopper of a Stony Man by Tresslar. After establishing the Cadre idea, I wasn't sure how this one was going to play out. But, with Able having most of the time, it was balls-to-the-wall action. Phoenix had a smaller role, but nonetheless their missions were explosive, too. From a hostage situation at an embassy, to hitting Somalia, great stuff. Able's finale of assaulting an oil platform to stop a doomsday plot was explosive. Very satisfying entry.

Nothing really special about this outing for Remo and Chuin. The President's beer-swilling brother-in-law is a riot even though his part is rather small. The boys try to track down the missing man with the usual suspects--Libyans, a domestic terror group, and a rogue spy. Chuin seems to have a fancy for running off to join the Olympics, which was worth a few chuckles, and the finale of the boys wading through henchmen and confronting the mastermind behind the kidnapping was satisfactory.

Tense outing has Mack slogging across Burma with the female agent in tow and having to keep the info she has safe while fighting off repeated attacks by different factions who want the top-secret data. There are a few ambushes around Buddhist temples, an attack on a train, then Mack and his allies take to the jungle and create all kinds of havoc. The finale was also well-done, playing cat-and-mouse with a Chinese sniper and their squad of men, plus take out a CIA traitor and his drug-dealer/mercenary minions. McCarter comes in at the end, and didn't have much to do, but it was a solid adventure.

A gutwrencher to start out as tragedy befalls the group. But, when they head out on the trail of the General and his band of killers, events moved along at a so-so pace. We're given a bit more of the Abe/Trader arc, and it shows Trader in a less than favorable light. Ryan and Co. form an uneasy alliance with vengeful indians to stop the General, but we're not even introduced to the character until the final 20 pages or so. The ornery mule, Judas deserves mention, then it's a good final battle to see justice served. A lead-in to the next installment has a note finding Ryan stating that Abe has located Trader, so he and J.B. will be leaving for that trek, much to the dismay of Krysty. Was hoping for more from this one, but it was decent.

Surprisingly fast-paced outing that had Bolan stealing a flash drive with sensitive info, blasting apart a train and rescuing a hostage all in the first 50 pages. When he enters Split, it's non-stop action as the big guy takes on the Russian criminals underworld forces to secure the stolen technology. A spectacular raid on Bout's fortress using heavy MG's and grenade launchers kicked this one into overdrive. Although, I do have to say, Bolan and Co.'s escape and harried pursuit by Bout's men went just a tad overboard. Finished with a final battle of chopper vs. hovercraft, which made this novel a satisfying read.

Was hoping for more than what was presented. Since this was a Schmidt book, I was expecting excesses in blood, gore, violence, you name it. All things considering, it was a bit tamer than some other titles. Once again we have traitors teaming up with Arab terrorists to strike at America. Bolan's action scenes were not even that exciting, and the two main villains, Grevey and Powers spent way too much time complaining to each other. The highlight scene was an African warlord using crocodiles to torture his victims, which was cool. The only other scene of note was the ambush of terrorist trucks on the road. I did find a few questionable decisions for Bolan, which seemed very out of character. So, I've seen worse by this author, but should have been much better.

Enjoyable continuation with the Mr. Gordons character. Hilarious scenes with the nympho doctor, along with her discovering Gordons after he's dispatched a garbageman in grisly fashion. Then Remo and Chuin are off to Russia to stop a missile launch, with Gordons in tow, determined to kill Remo. Funny scene of Russian commander seducing Remo, then a good finale of Remo, Chuin and Gordon's laying waste to Russian soldiers. Gordons' fate is left up in the air for a future installment.

While I thought this one started off on a great note--Mack is in recovery mode to fetch a fallen agent, gets into a firefight, then has to fend off the bad guys in a car chase. From then on, the action moved in fits and starts as Bolan must stop a dirty bomb from being detonated on U.S. soil. There were some complex plotting that didn't always come across well, but Bolan and a few allies race between Ireland, Germany and the U.S. to stop an Irish radical group. Finale scene was decent for this slightly above average book.

Opens with a few crazy jumps. One has Ryan and Co. in a strange land with horrific mutie animals, insects, etc. Great battle with the flying muties. Then it's off to where they originally found Jak Lauren, but the landscape has been radically altered. Then, finally we get to the main plotline, where the group comes across a group of youngsters who have a Logan's Run-type theme: No one lives past 25. Michael rebels, there's a mysterious leader of the kids no ones sees named Moses, and Ryan and Co. battle stickies. Also, a little more on Abe and Trader which I sense is coming to a head in later installments. Overall, exciting outing with the mysterious jumps, mutie battles, and their escape back to the redoubt.

This one was quite the drag. Remo and Chuin don't do a whole lot, and even their banter wasn't up to par. They're trying to locate someone who has threatened to kill the President. They do poke fun at Jimmy Carter, but there was a dragged-out story about some prior masters of Sinanju that bogged things down. In the end, there's a dwarf villian to be dispatched, and Chuin does have a humorous final scene with Smith and Remo. But, not one of the better Destroyers.

This jumbled novel was book-ended by a few good shootout scenes. The rest had a lot of extra scenes of the Neutron cannon being used, and the teams running around trying to locate the bad guys. Able's opening salvo in the apartment complex was done well, and Lyons' Atchisson carnage is always a welcome addition. Phoenix had a tense opening battle against auto-sentries. Then it just fell into way too much happening with other characters and not enough action with the teams. I figure this would sound good on GraphicAudio, but as a novel, it falls in the middle. Able had a nice finale battle, but not enough to lift this one up.

Same mediocre outing from Kasner. I thought the "Outbreak" would encompass more with the ship, but that's a minor quibble. I didn't have a problem with the team all together for the most part. But, we have the usual from this writer...small gun-battles that are over in a heartbeat throughout the book. I did feel like the multi-faceted final battle livened things up a bit, but not enough to save this one from middle-of-the-road status.

The quips and banter moved at a mile a minute as Remo and Chuin race to stop ex-Nazi's in Isreal from detonating an atomic bomb. Chuin ordering fish in a restaurant was quite the laugher, along with his demands to have his daytime drama videotapes delivered to him. A few religious jokes thrown in, and the boys dismembering some bad guys added up to an above-average tussle with evil. The best line? The head Nazi proclaiming, "I am a member of the Master Race." And Chuin answering with, "You don't look Korean!"

This one was a blast. Things get started rather briskly when Able is baby-sitting a witness and the lead starts to fly. Then in a change of pace, the boys are sent to Tehran to wreak havoc. Phoenix's arc is solid as they head to Paraguay to search for the missing hostages. Able goes undercover in enemy territory, evading hit teams and becoming one (which was a little out of the ordinary for them). But, it all climaxed in a desperate escape from Iran's shores, with Phoenix coming in to help Able take on two gunboats in explosive fashion.

The cliffhanger concludes with some really trippy jumps for the group before they're reunited. On their way out of the redoubt, they have to confront mutie cannibals. Yuck! Abe's quest to locate Trader comes to an end and adds a nice little subplot for later books. When the gang gets to the castle of Baron Mandeville, you know something is rotten at it's core. Mistress Marie is one of the most sadistic beauties in all of DL. The gladiatorial games were interesting...but it all culminates in a final hunt, with Ryan and Co. as prey. Thrilling confrontation with the Mandeville's.

A fair read of the Mafia Wars. Bolan moves in on San Fran with a blazing shootout and comes away with mystery lady Mary Ching in tow. Notable for the first use of the AutoMag, and he deals out blazing, thunderous death. The Ching character had some depth to her, not unlike some of the female characters in these novels. The best scene was a hit on the DeMarco mansion, only to leave the Mafia Don scared out of his wits. Then there's this Mr. King. He wasn't explained very well, even at the end. But, there was another decent shootout at a houseboat before we get to the weak finale of Bolan wiping out all the top mafia men.

For a while, this was turning into a disappointment. James was undercover, so there wasn't going to be much action from his end. Phoenix was waiting for his call. So, most of the action came from Able. The dual story arc was well-done, though, and we had the return of arms dealer, Jack Regan. Things finally kicked into gear when Able get's a line on weapons coming into the country, Phoenix is captured and must mount an escape, and James has to rescue a captured CIA agent and make his break. While not one of Linaker's best, it still turned out to be quite enjoyable.

This one by Renauld had the makings of a Super-Villian book: where the bad guys take up a lot of chapters, and the Stony Men get one here and there. But, when the plot got going, it settled in. And a very muddled plot it was. The ruling military plans on using nukes and sarin gas on the rebels of Myanmar. But, there's an American traitor in the mix, too...or is he? He has more than a few secrets. The battles were below average. Able had the better ones over the course of the novel, and the finale was only okay. What bugs me about some of the authors books is when he deals with Asian characters. There's so many of them with their different-sounding names and very difficult to keep track of who's who.

Wasn't sure how this one was going to work out. It seemed like a run-of-the-mill plot with arms dealers. It worked out much better than expected. Bolan in lone-wolf mode steam-rolling over scum from Miami to Newark to Chicago...and finishing up in New Mexico. When Bolan gets to N.M., it's him and a spunky lady cop on the run in the desert, getting caught, busting out and busting heads. It all finishes in grand fashion with a showdown in the sleepy town against the Russian Mafia, who are trying to move in on the arms dealer's business. Excellent final scene with Bolan and the Mafia chief...and a couple of grenades.

Unlike #300, there was no special event that set this apart. Not sure what they could do at this point, but I still enjoyed the story. It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, it was classic Linaker action. The gun battles in the wilderness were explosive, then the Big Guy unleashes his Effect on the legion of scum. The Vigo character was fairly cool, but there wasn't enough time to flesh him out completely. Bolan, of course mixes well with the Logan's and their son, and the villains are vile as usual. Good, crisp finale...and the last page also makes a quick remark about Bolan getting "old".

Picking up where the last installment left off, we're treated to the icky mutie worms feasting on one last victim before the group jumps. Description was way too cool! A bit of a different story this time around. No ville or baron, but a research facility that is studying dolphins. Ryan and Co. are treated very well, but something sinister is lurking beneath the facade. Also, Abe continues his quest to locate Trader, and ends on a surprising note. Some of the highlights consisted of the giant sea snake from the cover, Ryan and Krysty fighting off a band of aqua-muties in graphic fashion, and a tense finale of battling pirates and racing back to the redoubt as earthquakes and tsunami's threaten to wipe out the Keys. Then we're treated to another cliffhanger. So, overal it was an enjoyable yarn with some standout scenes, but they were spaced apart to the extent that kept this one from getting a 7.

Most of these stars come from what I thought was a good story and some suspense thrown in for good measure. Van Cook has had a few titles like this. Not a whole lot of action overall. Started off with Bolan and his Ranger partner, Paxton stopping a plane hijacking...which had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Then things settled in with our two soldiers meeting up with a smarmy CIA station chief, and an Arab mole who may or may not be on their side. A lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff in and around Amsterdam. Towards the end, there was a decent shootout in the country, and the final assault to rescue Paxton's brother and stop the Splinter Cell was good.

Once again, Reilly gives us another slam-bang action novel with Scarecrow pulling out all the stops to save the world...what else? Still reeling from the events of "Scarecrow", Schofield and Mother are with some civilians training in the Arctic when they get the call of a catastrophe in the making at a secret Russian base. So, off they go, and let the action begin. With guns blazing, Scarecrow, Mother, Bertie and Co. have to fight their way in to stop a mystery villain from destroying half the world with his doomsday weapon. The battles are relentless, the cliffhangers nonstop. During one lull, the reader is treated to some of the most vile villains ever and some gut-wrenching torture scenes. Then there is a whopper of a finale in the traditional Reilly style. Great job as always!

Linaker keeps rolling along with explosively good stuff. Although I found the formatting of this one to be a bit odd...(First Phoenix' mission, then Able's, which seemed to be happening at the same time...instead of inter-mingling the two plotlines). Phoenix's arc of the mission is the longest and most satisfying. The battles in the desert were expertly handled by the author, culminating in a fast-paced final shootout. Able's mission was a little disappointing...didn't really encompass much, but their end-game had Lyons and his trusty auto-shotgun leaving carnage in it's wake. Aside from Able getting short-changed, still a solid effort in my book.

Reasonably enjoyable book from Van Cook. We get two separate story lines, one with Elliot and Bakari (the agents Bolan is supposed to hook up with), and when they do meet, they plan on the destruction of 4 of Somalia's warlords. The execution of said plan using Bakari's old flame was interesting, but it started getting stale after a while. The action was good throughout, with well-drawn supporting characters in Elliot, Bakari and Aziza. Nice read overall.

Illegal immigration is the targe of this installment. After a hiatus, Remo is back, and so is Chuin as they try to stop an all-out invasion of the U.S. The jokes were plentiful, and the boys get into it with the bad guys, taking off heads, arms...you name it, in gory fashion. A villain from a previous book shows up, along with another General Santa Ana. As always, Remo and Chuin's scenes are funny as hell. Mullaney's books have been a nice addition to the series.

Entertaining installment where Ryan and Co. are forced to bring back a baron and his sec men for the death of another baron's son. More suspense here than action, but their use of an acting troupe to infiltrate the ville was done very well. And Krysty, Mildred and Dean are left in the clutches of a sick and twisted baron of their own while Ryan and the boys are on their quest. A tidbit with Abe looking for the Trader also added to the fun. As with the last few entries, this one has a cliffhanger of an ending.

This being the Christmas season, it was only fitting I read this around that time. After Remo takes out a killer Santa, a Sly Stallone clone is looking to make a Christmas film. Turns out the Japanese company he signs on with intends on taking over Yuma, Az. in revenge for losing WWII. This one had so many over-the-top moments, but actually Remo is relegated to supporting role. Chuin and Sly (Bronzini) get most of the time. It was funny as hell as Murphy pulls no punches with Japanese linguistic difficulties with the letter "L". Poking fun at who is clearly Stallone, and Chuin bantering with the main female character. But, this book also had a chilling note. A Red Dawn-type of situation where a small american town is invaded, and no resistance is tolerated. The climax with Chuin and then Remo laying waste to tanks and Japanese invaders with their bare hands is classic.

Had some enjoyable moments from this one. I actually thought the scenes in Mexico chasing the culprits of the dirty bomb were reasonably exciting. What stood out for me in this entry were the colorful characters. Memo, Ramzin...and a very well-done Calvin James. I loved the witty repartee between him and the Big Guy. The infiltration of the Heaven Now base in South America was extremely tense, and the finale scene was a different change of pace with the boys armed with outdated weapons. Oh, and Akira in space was a decent addition, too.

This one started out on a fast-paced note. Able Team hunting for terrorists in California. Pretty good action, and I had high hopes for the rest of the book. Well, then it settled into the usual experience I've had with this author. It was a well-written story, and I did enjoy the McCarter/Grimaldi capture episode. But, it seemed like it was just a technothriller that could have had any other characters involved. Able then disappears until a small part at the end. Even when the Stony Men closed in on the terror mastermind, it wasn't much of a finale.

For the most part, this one was written decently, sometimes it just didn't sound like Bolan would say the things he said or thought. But that's just me. I did enjoy the plotline of the town under the control of a drug dealer. Not a whole lot of action...it moved in fits and starts, but the angle with the missing daughter was very good. I had mixed feelings about the final battle where the townspeople get in on it, but the car chases were slick. So, overall a good adventure, but a few issues from having me rate it higher.

The boys' first encounter with Mr. Gordons is a fairly amiable romp. The opening kill by Gordons is a jaw-dropper, and the confrontations between Remo/Chuin and Gordons' minions were witty and enjoyable. Chuin dispatching a bad guy with a dinner plate is another memorable scene and the final confrontation with Gordons is satisfactory.

This is one of those mini-milestone books in the series where all the talk of "chron-jumping" in past installments comes to a head. The gang successfully trawls a person forward from the past, although with disappointing results. Doc gets the revelation of his life and nearly goes off the deep end of his sanity. Then the gang is in nuked-out Chicago where Mutie women kidnap Krysty. The battles with them were graphic, then they have to make their way back to the gateway to stop Doc from the ultimate act of insanity. Good stuff all the way around.

My first read of one of Holmstrom's books, and it was a solid effort. It had one of those plots that you figure could happen, with a Chinese-backed plot to cripple the U.S. economy. Bolan is the hunter and the hunted as he and a female vet take on Ag Con and their mercenary minions all across the badlands of North Dakota. The battles were plentiful as Bolan and his lady ally try to outrun and outsmart the mercs. Plus, Bolan is in lone-wolf kill-mode towards the end, desperately trying to stop the prions from being shipped out. What took one star away was the shootouts didn't seem as cohesive as I would have liked, but for my first time with a new writer, it was a good job overall.

I can't say this is Newton's worst book...it was a decent time-passer. But, I had some issues with it. It should have been a SuperBolan. Too many characters and situations. It all could have been expanded. And the ultimate act of slaughter (rivaling 9/11) happens, then we are introduced to the next hostage situation, and it's almost forgotten. The scenes of Bolan and Santos infiltrating the Cuban resort were written well, and it would have been interesting if the hostages breaking for freedom would have been touched on more. Just not enough time to cram all this into a 186 page book.

If this installment is any indication, I may enjoy the other Murphy-Mullaney efforts. It was a total hoot. The satire was great, parodying everyone from Katie Couric to Rosie O'Donnell to the Governator himself. Chuin and Remo's banter was top-notch. When a spoiled, egotistical news anchor always seems to be around when a disaster strikes, Remo and Chuin have to get to the bottom of things. Her tantrums had me in stitches, as did the highlight scene of monkeys having a poop fight with her.

This was actually my first book by Meyer, and I found it to be a good read. When the "Agent" of the title is introduced, the pace picked up, with her trapped in a hotel with rebel forces outside. I also like how Meyer showed how brutal the African elements could be---torrential rains, wild buffalo, scorpions and other critters added to the situation. Bolan's infiltration of the hotel and his siege to get out was very tense reading. Bolan is also put through the grinder in this entry and it all culminates in a last-ditch effort by Grimaldi to rescue his friend who is shot, beaten, bruised and battered.

A whopping action novel. For just being your "drug dealer of the month" type of story, you might expect just a routine effort. Not so. Bolan is ripping across a few different countries, destroying a Russian/Jamaican/Colombian troika of drug organizations. All of the action scenes are written very sharply, and Dragon Slayer makes an appearance, also. Linaker ends this with an explosive gun battle, thus making "Circle" an extremely enjoyable read.

Even though this was still a solid effort from Linaker, I guess I didn't find it as spectacular as others did. As is normal with his books, the story moved along with a lot of action. But, most of the action scenes seemed to be light gun battles until much later. Bolan's gunfights at the R&D facility was classic smash-mouth explosiveness from ML. The extensive cast of characters were all done well, from Riba the Apache to the duo of Zero agents. Certainly a winner, but didn't live up to all of my expectations.

After a disappointing previous entry, this one returns to the tried and true DL formula. Although, the graphic violence in this is off the charts. Ryan and Krysty are captured by a mutant stickie and the rest of the gang have to try and locate and rescue them. We have icky lepers dying horrible deaths, we have stickie torture methods, and Ryan getting raped by a female stickie. Gruesome stuff! When Ryan and Krysty make a break, then it's cat and mouse with the remaining stickie force. Once again, leaves you with a sort of a cliffhanger as to what's going to happen next.

A big letdown of a book. Started off on a high note--Bolan sniping mobsters, then making his escape with a woman in tow. A few more confrontations came about, then this one sort of fell flat. Too many characters to keep track of muddled things also. The high point for the rest of the book was Bolan infiltrating a mob joint disguised as the telephone man, then waltzing right out again. The final "wipe-out" of the title was not even that spectacular.

A good story that could be off of the front page of the papers ended up being a reasonably enjoyable novel. Bolan seeks out the contractor who's supplying the army with substandard equipment. And he has to protect the whistle blower with the information. The action really heated up once Bolan tracked his man to Mexico, and that's where it came hot and heavy with Bolan and co. evading mobile hit teams in SUV's and choppers. The finale in a hospital was just average, as was the confrontation with the main villain.

Average entry, most notable for Bolan's first trip to the Big Apple, and Evie Clifford becoming a turkey victim. Picking up from Bolan's re-entry back into the states, he's trading bullets with Mafia hitmen and wounded in the exchange. He's nursed back to health by three groovy gals (sometimes a bit annoying), then he commences his attack on the NY mob. The second half of the book started off explosively, with Bolan rattling cages. Sam the Bomber and Freddie Gambella were fairly memorable characters. The infamous attack on Stoney Lodge was well done, but it seemed to leave a lot of loose ends.

While this was a very engaging storyline from Newton, it didn't really take off until well into the second half. It did have its moments of suspense as Bolan takes refuge with a farming family while the jackals gather outside. A much better product overall was Newton's "Run to Ground", but this one does have some good points as Bolan, outnumbered and outgunned has to rely on his wits, household items for weapons and innocent civilians for allies. The final battle was indeed tense as the purveyors of death get more than they bargained for.

I didn't find this to be the novel it should have been. Maybe because it broke from the Deathlands formula and had Ryan off on his own trying to rescue his son. The character of Kate who befriended him wasn't that interesting. The one aspect of the story that was cool were the killer androids, who were like very, very early model Terminator-types. The first novel with Zimyanin, I was still enthralled by the post-nuke setting, but by the second novel with him, it wasn't the most interesting. So, by the third one, it was just an average novel. This book was sorely missing the companions.

Rogers pens another of those original, far-out types of adventures for Bolan to wade through. The story is gripping from the very start, with Bolan and his party being engaged by the demonic "Beast" and his minions. Normally I'm not crazy about the plotlines which has Bolan saddled with a team outside of Stony Man. But, this team clicked...probably because of the solid characters we got to meet. The female fed, the Chinese hit man, the rogue Mexican cop...then later on, some para-military types. All were memorable. The action rarely let up, and was fairly brutal at times, but I didn't feel as though they were as explosive as the author's earlier entries. Still, a very ultra-cool plot, loads of action and great characters made this a above average read.

Satisfactory conclusion to the story that started with 7 Deadly Wonders and continued with 6 Sacred Stones. Jack West Jr. and his group are globe-trotting once again to help stop the end of the world. It had been a while since I read the "6" novel, so even though the first chapter gave a recap, it took me a bit to re-aquaint myself with all the players. This time, they are looking for clues to the whereabouts of the title, and to raise the last pillars and vertices to stop the Dark Sun from destroying Earth. Action scenes were not as lavish as earlier Reilly novels, but we are once again treated to Indiana Jones-like cliffhangers and escapes. Reilly is not known for his deep characterizations, but his villains were ultra-heinous in this one. Overall, a good romp, but not as good as "7" and "6".

Guess I have to disagree with the other reviews. I found this to be quite a dull read. It was nice to have Johnny and Val make an appearance, but the story didn't move along at a great clip. Not to say the story was bad...it did sound interesting, but Quinn was a whiny brat to begin with. This storyline reminded me of the past Newton-penned monthly "Hour of Judgment". I think this type of plot is better condensed into 220 pages. The action scenes were not great, and all the extra bad-guy characters didn't enliven things one bit.

While I didn't feel this was one of Doug's best Super's, it still entertained rather well. The action heats up right from the start as Bolan discovers an enemy which has roots back to his monthly "Agent of Peril". The story was interesting, with some ex-Nazi's thrown in and Bolan's ally, Kamau was a welcome addition. High point was Bolan and Co. assaulting ground targets from a helicopter. Good, action-packed reading as usual.

Amazing...simply amazing and AWESOME! Those clanging sounds you hear when reading this action masterpiece is everything including the kitchen sink making an appearance. From the opening chapter of a Vietnam massacre to the villianess lying in wait for her prey, but having it go horribly wrong opens this stunning Stony Man. Then you have action scene after action scene, but the story still unfolds nicely and keeps you wanting more. Instead of just a two-pronged attack for the Stony Men against KA55ANDRA and her minions, you have triple the action as Phoenix gets split up into two groups. Able, along with Carmen Delahunt is assigned stateside to stop 3 psycho's from unleashing carnage on a horrifying scale. Frankly, Delahunt was never interesting to me as a character...until this one. She shines bright as she wants revenge for the murder of a friend. Carl Lyons's character is BRILLIANT! This is the Lyons of old...grumpy, beserker, but compassionate...and that crush on Delahunt that was mentioned once or twice in previous books makes its way subtly into this one. Pol and Gadgets are the two jokesters that I remember from the mid-1980's, constantly harrassing Lyons and making me giggle. The one arc of Phoenix's mission is terrifying...a blood-thirsty cult, where the leader revels in wearing human skin as a cloak and his soldiers are pretty much zombified in nature. McCarter, Manning and Hawkins have their hands full. James and Encizo have the finale scene, and they must tackle ninjas, so their knife-fighting skills come in handy. Also, the computer team must work overtime to stop KA55ANDRA'S repeated cyber-attacks. There are so many standout scenes, but the one that had me enthralled the most was an in-your-face fight scene between Pol and a massive giant. All the villains were absolutely detestable and dispicable, and you just can't wait until Able and Phoenix deliver them to the fiery pits of hell that they deserve. And the Mott character, the one who ignites KA55ANDRA's reign of terror is yet another memorable slime-ball, who just happens to hold a high office in the U.S. government. Man, this will go down as my longest written review, but it was such a deliciously intense experience that won't be forgotten.

Another good story that plodded along in typical Renauld-fashion. I found there to be too many characters to keep track of (it was hard to follow who was who with the Korean ones)but the narrative was decent. When the action came, it was a few shots here and there and then back to the plodding. There was a fairly cool chase on the Colorado River with Jet-ski's, but this one overall was definitely a slower read.

From the cliffhanger of Seedling comes Dark Carnival, where Ryan gets to know his son, and the gang comes to the ville of a baron controlling a theme park. Exciting getaway from New York back to the gateway, when the gang gets to Florida, things go along in average fashion. Follows the Deathlands formula of searching the redoubt, then finally venturing forth into the swamplands. Story takes a wild left turn though, as we're introduced to one of the more sadistic villains in Traven, then Ryan discovers another secret about the gateways, which leads to some very interesting events. Ryan taking out sadistic bad guys in the dark, plus the final confrontation with Traven wrapped this up in exciting fashion...and we're left with another stunning cliffhanger.

Bolan is bruised, beaten, shot and put through the ringer again...but it was a very entertaining effort from Rogers. Bolan is engaging rogue elements of the Foreign Legion in French Guiana, who have conspired with some Muslim terrorists for a premier terrorist hit on the U.S. The pace was swift, but one thing I didn't like (no fault of the author) was pretty much giving away a major surprise on the front cover of the book (A beautiful double agent draws Bolan into a trap). But, the highlights were a jungle cat-and-mouse game with Bolan run to ground and his slam-bang assault on the French space center on a motorcycle.

A fast-paced and exciting "Drug dealer of the month" story. This is classic Bolan Blitz as he creates havoc with Mexican and Chinese drug pushers, with Colombian enforcers thrown in for extra cannon fodder. The story is quite complex, which obviously leads to the conclusion of this duology. The Lisa Rajero character was solid and Guenther ends this installment with a cliffhanger. More great writing!

Reading the back of the book had this one sound like it was going to a rip-snorting adventure: Bolan goes after soldiers left in Iraq during the Gulf War. The execution was only average. It seemed strange that Kurtzman kept the details of this mission from Hal and Barb until later. As Bolan discovered clues that lead him closer to where the soldiers are being held, the action didn't blow me away. The river sequence in Iraq was well done, and Bolan confronting the American general was old-school Executioner tactics. The rescue finale was decent, but not enough to save what could have been a great one.

Another worthy effort from Guenther. While Able tries to find the terrorist launching base stateside, Phoenix tracks down the bad guys with the nuclear material in Africa. Equal time among both teams is always a big plus, with good shootouts and banter between the boys. The sea-based finale with both Able and Phoenix was a change of pace somewhat, but done well. Good stuff as usual.

While this plotline has been done to death, it's interesting to read this one, written pre-9/11. The strongest aspect is that it's done very tensely. Bolan is tracking a terror cell that has backpack nukes and he opens things up in the bayou. Classic snakepit scene and it's chilling dispatching of the bad guys. While the action is just average...the cat and mouse/chase scenes bristle with tension. The NY engagement with Bolan racing inside the Empire State Building and the car chase through the crowded streets keep you holding your breath. The final confrontation has a surprise in store. All in all, pretty good, but with annoyingly cliched Arab terrorists.

I thought the story of this book was written very well. It might have been better had they not revealed on the cover that the bad guys were American soldiers. But, even though action was sort of secondary, the few scenes were good. The high point was Bolan free-falling to rescue a state senator's daughter in mid-air. Having the supporting cast (bickering FBI/DEA agents, and a linguistic expert) also added to the pluses. A weak part of the plot I thought was the president's personal aide being indirectly involved in the proceedings. But, if you want a good story and less action, it was a good read.

What started out to be your "drug dealer of the month" story turned into a very intriguing plot. Bolan hits L.A. to shut down a drug operation, then meets up with a spunky female police captain. Then it's off to Jakarta to hit the source of the drugs...but, wait, there's more to it than just drugs. Brognola lends a hand when Bolan departs L.A. and his arc with the police captain was fairly solid. Guenther's action scenes are also very solid. The only negative was the extremely weak wrap up with the main villains. But, nonetheless, a solid story and a nice change of pace.

While it did seem to have a comic-book vein (A league of female assassins?), this one was in high gear from page 1. It didn't seem like the undercover role for Maddy Tighe was the most intriguing element of the story, but the character herself was solid, backing up Bolan to take down these lethal babes and their underworld cohorts. Kissinger, Gary Manning and briefly, Calvin James help out also. The final assault with fire bombs, gunships, sniper rifles and tons of ammunition expended was a blast.

Pretty good read has a plot ripped from the headlines. A senator wants the U.S. to go into isolationist mode and wants all foreign companies out. And he has the para-military crew to back him up. Able and Phoenix race around the globe to stop the terrorist attacks, while the cyber crew try to gather enough evidence to show the Man. The action scenes with each team was decent...a lot of close calls and bomb countdowns to keep things fairly tense.

Another fun ride with Bolan being dropped into enemy territory to bring out a valued peacekeeper...and laying waste to the Taliban in the process. Carl Lyons is brought in to keep an eye on Mahoud's son, but get's caught in the process. Then it's up to him to escape with kid in tow and evade the kidnappers through the wilderness. When Bolan and Mahoud get back to Paris, hit teams are still trying to kill both men, but it seems like there are some higher-ups in the American government...and a mole close to the Mahoud family that doesn't want to see the peace process go forward. All in all, solid writing, solid action.

While not one of the best from this writer, it was still a pretty solid effort. The MS-13 bad guys get real nasty when they try to crash a funeral for a lawyer who was trying to prosecute local leaders. Mack comes in and starts hitting back hard. Even though the title has "Salvador" in it, Bolan hits that country only in the last 20 pages or so. When he goes to L.A., he meets up with a prostitute with a heart of gold and caring for her little sister. She helps Bolan infiltrate the group, then culminates in a wild chopper chase. A secondary character is introduced who's infiltrated the group down in El Salvador, but now has been targeted for death. All in all, a "decent" strike.

I found this to be Prime Guenther, as compared to the last review. Bolan hits Puerto Rico to stop Al-Qaeda from gaining a beachhead in attacks on America...or so we think. Bolan does his thing and attracts a reporter, whose involvement is more than meets the eye. Then it's classic Bolan Blitz when he hits a terrorist stronghold in the Georgia swamps. There's even a very tense scene where Brognola and Grimaldi have to protect the reporter from hit squads...without Bolan's help. Great action in the swamp and good supporting characters made this a solid effort.

Nothing too special about this entry. Being written in the '70's during the oil crisis, that thread is played out quite nicely. Remo and Chuin have that bickering rapport that is always fun. The plot involved Chuin's nephew, who must have shown up in a previous book. The finale showdown was decent, but these early Destroyer books never seem to knock my socks off.

The extra star didn't get added until the last 40 pages. The story was decent, even though some might call this a "nuke of the month" book, etc. Bolan globe-hops to try and stop a small terrorist cell from their ultimate act of destruction. Action scenes were only average. When we get to the finale, I was surprised at the amount of the innocent carnage the writer injected. Haven't seen that since the decade of the '80's. Bolan and Grimaldi tracking the final members of the cell in a Cobra Huey was great stuff.

Considering when it was written, it seemed like it was a replay of Somalia, where warlords control a fictional African country and U.S. troops are being killed. Enter Stony Man to clean up the scum. I enjoyed the scene depicted on the front cover with Able Team stopping an assassination at the airport, but after that, with Bolan and Phoenix pretty much taking the country back with military help didn't excite me. The action scenes were not written as well as I'd hoped. It just seems like the stories (like the trilogy in Eastern Europe) where the Stony Men are fighting to take back a whole country don't come across on the page very well.

After listening to the first two titles on Graphic Audio, I was able to snag this one to read. Odom has penned a very riveting tale. In the spirit of Indiana Jones, Annja Creed is a very capable heroine. As she traces the murder of slaves, she discovers the legend of the Spider Stone, which has its roots in West Africa. Of course, some real bad dudes also want the location of the treasure the stone reveals. A bad-ass babe kicking butt with her feet as well as her magical sword makes the read very thrilling. As well as the backstory on the Indy Jones-type plot. Great read!

The usual solid read from Linaker. This one was a bit different in that it jumped back and forth between past and present, leading up to Bolan's capture. A change of pace, but it worked well. Action scenes were high quality, and I enjoyed the return of the hitman Capstone from War Drums. The only thing I thought might be different was the Maggie Connor character. I thought we might get to meet her, but alas, not to be. Did want to know the manner in which she was killed, but info was very vague.

I finally was able to snag this one through Amazon. After a good start with Pol and a girlfriend (who knows way too much about Stony Man) getting ambushed by the Russians, the rest of Able jumps into the fray. The cat and mouse with Pol and the gunners was tense, quickly leading to Ironman's entry into the famed triathalon. The fuzzy part was the Russian plot. After some mystical mumbo-jumbo involving gods and such, Able finds out the target is a CIA agent participating in the event. He was quite a whiny character and the usual good action from Arnett was not always there and sloppy. A decent final battle with the Russians, but this one fizzled out.

One of those Return-to-the-Cold War-plotlines which concerned rogue Spetsnaz units conducting terrorist hits on U.S. soil. Able Team was featured the most and best in this installment. Their opening scene of a drug hit got the ball rolling, and the Red Frost scenes were truly horrifying. A high point was the extensive hostage situation at "Large Marge's" eatery with the boys going up against inept Feds and two Spetsnaz shooters. Phoenix's scenes were sparse and the characterizations seemed flat, as compared to Able's. Again, PF's big battle scene was quite long, but the book ended up only having a mediocre finale piece.

I'm afraid I have to agree with everyone else. This was one monstrosity of a book. Like with a few of Schmidt's other stinkers, it was a book of excesses. The violence was off the chart. There were too many characters to keep track of, much less care about. I'd call this a Super Villain book, for the fact that Bolan would disappear for pages on end and the bad guys would get most of the coverage. The one cool aspect was Bolan lugging around a mini-gun and laying waste to the evil-doers. But, even that wasn't done all that well. Had higher hopes for this one.

Another one of those milestone novels...this time in which Ryan discovers he has a son, forshadowed a few novels back. Their exploration of ruined New York City was interesting. And as violent as this series is, one major massacre of a gun battle with scalies was only alluded to in the aftermath..which I found sort of stylish. A high point of the book was J.B's maggot dilemma, so to speak...after being bitten by a mutie fly. A real stomach-churner, if you ask me. The meeting of the Cawdor's wasn't anything special...we'll probably get more detail in the next installment, but a very enjoyable book.

Looked forward to this with all the stories in the news about piracy and such. All in all, it just didn't hit the mark for me. The hijacking scenes were decent, but I figured it would take up more of the book. The face-off between Bolan and the Russian cowboy was classic, but the action was nothing special and some scenes seemed to be repetitive. Just an average read.

I'm actually going to feel bad about this one more than likely dropping out of 1st place. I finally was able to snag this one and see what all the talk was about. Let me just say this. For the first 200 pages, I was ready to slap a 10 star rating on the book. I kept thinking about Predator, and hoping a character wasn't going to grunt, "I ain't got time to bleed!". But, when Makhdoom says something to the effect of "Djinn's don't bleed," I was thinking "If it bleeds, we can kill it." (Maybe I really did want someone to utter the famous Jesse Ventura line! :) ) Rogers goes ballistic with his action scenes from invisible assassins, to a fortress helicopter assault to an armored column attack which were all kick-ass. The supporting characters like Makhdoom and the nutty Pakistani general added to the fun. And why don't we add Burdick, Lyons and Calvin James just to send this book into the upper deck? The last 150 pages settled down a bit, but were still action packed and chilling. The rioting scene was edge-of-your-seat, as with all the fighting scenes between our heroes and the cultists. And the free-for-all trying to corral Bolan after he's been injected with Kali's superdrug was something to behold. But, the gunbattles did drop off in this portion of the book. And the finale scene was indeed good, but I think I wanted it to be so much more. So, a real knockout by Chuck Rogers. It just didn't end up being the total 10 star TKO.

What could have been a kick-ass mini-Stony Man-type of book turned out to be a yawner. There wasn't much action, and when Bolan and Phoenix did get into it, the writing of said scenes was nothing special. The only two positives were a little bit of backstory on Katz and the final, "explosive" ending. A big disappointment for my final Terrorist Wars book.

This might be my least favorite book by Linaker, but it was still a pretty good read. I didn't find it up to his usual explosiveness until later on. It started off fairly slow, and the cast of characters was huge. Able Team is ignored until after page 200. Hawkins in an undercover role was only average. When Phoenix breaks into China and is captured, does the action take off. A rip-roaring rescue and assult on a Chinese weapons factory was the high point, along with some helicopter action. Able finally comes in to save Hawkins from his blown cover in a decent shoot-out finale. Still rates as a decent book, but had its disappointments.

Great-sounding plot on the back cover. Decent story telling, but knowing this was a Renauld book, the action scenes were far too quick and poorly written. I enjoyed the aspect of the terrorists trying for a 9/11-type attack, and having Grimaldi and Kissinger along for the ride was good, too. But, as with the old Able Team novels, no kick-ass action scenes. And Jayne Bahn was extremely annoying in this installment. At least this didn't turn out to be a Super-Villian book, where Renauld focuses too much of the story on the bad guys. No surprise here. Standard stuff.

Call this one Wagon Train in the Deathlands. After the group escapes the malfunctioning redoubt, they cross paths with a psycho rancher and his brood, then join up with settlers heading west for the Promised Land. When they reach the nearest town, Ryan realizes that the "Skullface" everyone is terrified of is indeed his nemesis, Cort Strasser. The siege in town was brutal, along with another variation of "The Lottery". Then Ryan and Co. chase Strasser along the rails, and down a raging river as the showdown looms. In the end it's just Ryan against Strasser in a fight to the death. A surprising turn in the climax where one of the group stays behind, but a solid episode in the saga.

This book started off really well, as Bolan and Grimaldi are trading gunfire with the enemy as soon as they land in Khartoum. The plotline of some plutonium making its way into the hands of a terror group was made intriguing by a riddle Bolan had to solve. I agree with a few of the other reviews that the kid, Cassetti who gets dragged into being Bolan's sidekick was a tad annoying. The supporting characters of Blea and the local police officer (Urgomo?) were decent additions, and the action throughout was good. The female character had too small of a part, and the revelation of the riddle was nothing surprising.

Shane Schofield returns with a huge vengeance! Reilly keeps hitting the bullseye with his dizzying, Mach-7, over-the-top pace that always leaves you needing the oxygen tank next to you. Let's see? A mind-blowing car chase along the coast in France...check. Schofield obliterating a French aircraft carrier...check. Schofield and Co. commadeering one oil tanker and ramming another...check. Narrow escapes nearly every 20 pages or so...check. Schofield cheating death every 40-50 pages...check. The world needs saved from nuclear destruction in the nick of time? Call Shane Schofield. Okay, seriously, the action set pieces are just marvelous as Scarecrow has to unravel why he and other soldiers are being hunted down by ruthless bounty hunters. It all leads to a secret consortium with plans on reshaping the world to their own desires. Another classic action-fest.

Another entry with solid backstory--this time concerning Mack's feelings about Johnny. His introspection scenes were well done. The Johnny Kerr character was excellent. The first 140 pages was decent, with some exciting river rapids action. The shootouts were only average in my opinion. The last 40 pages was classic kill-mode for Bolan, decimating the thugs trying to kill him. In the end, it was entertaining but thought it might be better in the action department.

Hopefully this doesn't cause too much chatter on the forum, but here goes. As I looked at the previous reviews, I saw some key words. "Light on action, heavy on story". "Should have been #100". I agree. This was a good story, a milestone novel that probably would have worked better as the 100th. The cat and mouse between Bolan and the "the hunter" was tense, and the dream sequence with April Rose was very moving. Al Weatherbee is fleshed out as former foes come together. But, like The Trial before it, it plodded along with little or no action, and a part of me was wanting something more to happen. And when the confrontation came, it was rather short and abrupt. So, very good nostalgic piece and perfect companion to #1, with a lot of introspection and history of the Bolan war in a nutshell. And even though it was good Newton writing, I would have preferred things to be a bit more fast paced. A good book to be sure, but a solid 6 is all I can give it.

Had the feel of one of the Mafia books from the mid-1980's, as Mack starts off with blowing away a bad guy with a sniper rifle. Then he gets to the town that is infested with an eco-terrorist group and an Irish mobster. Guenther's work here is top notch. Mack is doing this one in lone-wolf mode, like the good old days. There's a spunky gal fed that helps Bolan along the way, the slimy crooked FBI guy, and many ambushes and shootouts. Even the tracker, Clint, who assists Bolan in the final assault was notable. And the closing lines of the book was vintage Executioner.

By far, this is Doug's best Super that I've read. As is the norm with his bigger books, the action never seems to flag as Bolan, plus Encizo and James take down an African warlord in Darfur. But, we get to know the main villains, Cruz and Bitturumba very well. The ebola subplot makes sense, as we're dealing with Africa. The final battle was very extensive and had Bolan in classic mode, sniping, turning the bad guys against one another, and overall just kicking serious ass. The only part that was strange for me was Encizo releasing VX gas inside the enemy compound, but his character mulled over that part of the strategy fairly well, so it wasn't an easy decision. Great job and definitely a keeper in my book.

After reading the plot, it sounded fairly interesting. I was hoping Bolan and the SEAL would go wading through the scum of the earth like a whirlwind. Well, not really. This plodded along as Bolan inserts into Borneo, then evades patrols. Not completely boring, but not terribly gripping prose, either. When he does hook up with Claridge, he's sort of a whiny brat...for a SEAL, although he settled down. Towards the end, the gun battles were good, and the two Claridge elders were decently drawn characters. So, just a run of the mill book for Mr. Newton.

The description on the back cover was very riveting. Although, when I started to read it, some aspects started to sound very comic-bookish, especially the climactic scene in D.C. But, aside from that, I just enjoyed the ride. Doug's books always move at a whirlwind pace, and the action scenes delivered. The militia camp strike was explosive, and I did find the dogfight above the skies of D.C. to be entertaining.

Another enjoyable Bolan book by Doug. It felt like the plot was similiar to another book where he had a teenager in tow and avoiding the bad guys. His undercover role was well done, and as usual, the action was fast and furious. I especially liked the cafe ambush, along with Bolan sniping at those big-game hunter/mercenary's out in the desert. Yin's character was a nice touch. The finale shootout further solidified this romp.

I was close to giving this one a 7 star rating, but it was definitely a solid 6, which for me translates to "good". Being an undercover role, action a lot of times is usually not as abundant, but the story was gripping, and Bolan's sidekick, Dirk, was one of the better ones in a while. The few big shootouts there were didn't seem to have the punch of some of the writer's other books, but what elevated this one was the cat-and-mouse game Bolan and a female ally had to engage in later on, evading helicopter assaults, shock troops and a master sniper. It turned out to be a very enjoyable book, with quite a few memorable characters.

Exciting entry, and another one of those ripped-from-the-headlines stories where Al Queda are teaming with drug smugglers to get into the United States. Able had an exciting shootout and chase on the highway, and it was nice to see Lyons using his trusty old Atchisson again. (He should use it more often). As Able tracks a cell of terrorists state-side, Phoenix is after the smugglers and the terrorist cell in Central America. The action was good all the way through, although, what cost it one star was Able Team barely being used in the gun battle at the end. Otherwise, very solid work from Guenther.

A slam-bang Super that is ripped right from the headlines concerning Iran's attempt to develop a nuclear weapons program. As soon as Bolan is in the field, he's blazing through the ranks of scum as he is captured, then takes out a weapons factory with the help of some local tribesman. Then he's on the hunt to protect an AWOL scientist that wants out. The culmination of events is Bolan, McCarter and an Iranian ally holding off a prolonged attack in the wilderness of north Iran. A decent finale scene made this an exciting read. My only pet peeve: I've never seen so many spelling and/or printing errors for a Mack Bolan book. I'm not sure if I got a bad copy or if the printing was flawed. I can't imagine Mr. Linaker or the editors missing so much. But, still a keeper.

A pretty good Stony Man from Rogers. Able didn't show up until around page 125 or so, but Phoenix was involved in a undercover mission, which I thought might last a bit longer than it did. Then Akira gets to go out into the field again...this time with Able as they rob a bank or two and rattle the bad guys' cages. Things get interesting when Able assaults a base in Germany and get pummeled pretty good and Akira is kidnapped. He has to go from hacker to soldier in a hurry. All in all, it was very fast paced, and Mack comes in at the end to help assault an oil-rig platform and stop nuclear Armageddon. I thought the final battle was hindered by the underwater scene, but Lyons got to go ballistic and it had a few nice twists as far as the villain went.

The first book I read by this new author and it was surprisingly good. I liked the plot of terrorists threatening to bypass the defense system for our carrier battle group. There was plenty of action with the terrorists and the mob. The finale was tense, although one thing that bugged me was Bolan never used a machine gun the entire book. He was stuck with his two main pistols, and when engaging a much larger force, you might expect anyone to be realistically outgunned. Aside from that pet peeve, it was still a good read.

Whoa, me writing a 10 star review?? This had me completely engrossed. From the very start, Bolan is kicking ass and taking names (like the back of the book says). El Hombre was kick-ass, and his undercover role was well played. The plotting was excellent, it never lagged...everything about this entry seemed perfect. You had non-stop action, dispicable villains, memorable supporting characters, and loved the spunky ranger gal who helped Bolan. And the El Mariachi subplot just added to this already wonderful book.

The usual solid work from Linaker with this one. It was nice to see Bolan teaming up with the Able Team ass-kicker, Ironman to take down a radical militia group bent on taking over the government. Even though this plot has been done a few times before, Linaker keeps things fast-paced with good action scenes. The banter between Lyons and a female victim was great, even though the character disappeared after that. I didn't feel the climatic battle was as grand as others, but this still rates as a really good book.

Another good SuperBolan from Doug. As usual, the action was above par. Also a big plus was the depth of the Anibella character and how she tried to ensnare Bolan in her deceitful, sexual web. It seemed obvious that a character or two was introduced in an earlier book, but that didn't detract. Overall, a very enjoyable romp.

A huge surprise of a book. This was one of the better of the Super books from Guenther. The plot has your standard Bolan-taking-out-a-drug-cartel idea mixed with a double kidnapping and solid action all the way through. As usual, Bolan rips through a drug operation, but the author also throws in something concerning the energy crisis, too. And not to mention a mercenary team whos on the same rescue mission as Bolan. The team are more like Able and Phoenix--decent guys, albeit they do what they do for money. Their close calls with Bolan were suspenseful until the time comes when the two forces collide. What will happen? Will Mack be forced to kill them? Anyway, just a solid novel.

Reasonably enjoyable book with the Stony Men concerning 4 ships carrying deadly cargo on their way to launch missiles against the West. The action scenes kept things moving along at a brisk pace, although it did seem like the ship scenes were all the same--attack one ship, find the next one, attack that one. But, each team got equal amounts of time. Lyons was at his crabbiest, ending with his dispatching of one of the head terrorists in enjoyable fashion.

A few of things the previous reviewer said rang true...the emails and the banter with the sidekick, but I didn't find much else to really get me involved with this one. The action scenes were pretty bland. The biggest plus was the terror attack carnage, and the threat of chemical weapons.

Reading the back cover of this one and listening to some current event news made this one a chilling read. Bolan teaming up with Carl Lyons and a female undercover agent hits a Salvadoran street gang in bed with Al Qaeda. The action from Rogers was good and I especially liked the Mexican ranch scene where smallpox is nearly delivered to the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if some bad dudes have their idea in mind...if possible. The finale involving a number of characters, including Grimaldi seemed to run out of steam IMO. But, it was a very enjoyable book nonetheless.

Linaker hits the bullseye yet again with this mafia book. It had an old-fashioned flair to it as Bolan destroys a Russian mob operation. The action scenes, as always were fast-paced, and the villainess was noteworthy for her callousness. The final battle at the island fortress solidified this great entry.

Sort of what I would classify as a "doomsday" plotline, and it was an above average effort. The events that took place were such that it made you believe it could happen. When they were describing a possible chain reaction of countries attacking each other, it got quite chilling. Able and Phoenix are both over-seas and each team was used fairly evenly. While there was never really a strong villain character, the book kept moving with decent gun-battles. Overall, mostly satifactory.

Not really a bad book, but just seemed like a change of pace for Schmidt. The way the kidnapping/hijacking played out was done very well. I think someone mentioned Bolan wasn't in this that much. I thought this might have the potential of a "Flight 741", but it didn't really live up to that. Some good characterizations, espcially the spoiled action hero and his stunt man. The rescue was crisp and exciting, but the finale scene barely had Bolan in it. So, just an average novel overall.

From the opening scene of Bolan getting doublecrossed, this book rarely let up. Nice action scenes of Bolan and Honey on the run, gunning it out with Yakuza, mercs and a death cult. Honey was just right...played well off of Bolan, and the Yakuza thug Bolan befriended was an interesting aspect, also. Another solid outing for Doug.

A nice, action packed book in the Under Siege mold. Able really gets to shine here as they are trapped aboard an aircraft carrier that's been hijacked by terrorists. Great action pieces as they fight to stay alive aboard the ship, while the crew languishes from ricin poisoning. Phoenix lends a hand also as they try to locate the missing ship. The only thing that bugged me about this was the true fate of the superplane. It goes off on it's programmed mission to bomb the U.S. but we never actually hear that it got shot down by the navy. Assume it did, but it seemed like the author ran out of space to finish up that thread. But, still, a kick-ass Stony Man entry.

I wouldn't call this my favorite of Rogers' books. The plot from the cover made it seem interesting. Most of the action scenes had Bolan teaming up with folks and that doesn't always make the most cohesive read, what with all the different characters involved in the shootout. I thought the undercover role was done well, with the Madhi's character fairly sympathetic...until you see what he has planned. One of the final battles with a souped up yacht was very explosive, but the part where everyone in Bolan's group is incapacitated was lame.

Call this one, "Die Hard in a top-secret underground facility". As usual with Reilly, this one starts off with a bang and never lets up. I mean, NEVER LETS UP! The confrontations are so over-the-top and fast-paced, it's a very quick read. If there was one negative, it would be the over-the-top factor. The President is stuck in a government facility with only Shane Schofield and his Marine detachment to save him from rogue military units of the Air Force, a South African death squad and a handful of ultra-heinous criminals. The catch here is during a surgery, the Pres had a device implanted on his heart. If he dies, 14 nuclear devices in the U.S's top cities will detonate. Oh, yeah, he also has to place his palm on the infamous "Football" briefcase every so often or else the same cataclysimic event will unfold. Never mind the fact that the Football has been taken and Scholfield and his unit have to get it back, while evading hordes of bad guys trying to kill him. Just another wild romp by the true master of action adventure.

This turned out to be an average Bond adventure. The aspect that intrigued me the most was the psychological aspect. Bond is at his most vulnerable. He has blackouts and still recovering from the previous book's adventure. When he wakes up, he finds that he's committed all these horrible atrocities. Like the Bond films, it moves to many different countries as Bond in his weakened condition tries to unravel the conspiracy of the Union. It seems I just don't get into the books as much as the Bond films. It kept me entertained, what with the Bond girls and one of the coldest villainesses ever, and some twists and turns. But no grand action set pieces to enthrall me. Benson is easier to read than Fleming or Gardner, though.

This was the second Super I read by Doug and like the last one, it was very enjoyable. The opening battle with Bolan was exciting and lead to his inevitable insertion into Korea. The other storyline in Utah was okay, too, with characters introduced, more crisp gun battles and the deepening of the conspiracy. From what I gathered, the main villain was from Extreme Arsenal? Never read that one, but things weren't lost on me. Good finale scene with a grueling battle with Pave and confronting Stevens. Although the only negative I had was the comic book-ishness of Stevens, and the superhero-type names like Pave. But, another satisfying read nonetheless.

Well, here it is...one of the few 1 star reviews from me. I don't know what everyone else was reading, but I sure wasn't reading a StonyMan novel. It was just a technothriller with the Stony Men in it, which a lot of the time is the norm for Kasner. First off, we have Lyons and Gadgets diddling around in space?? Okay, whatever. Then we have Pol acting like a P.I. And to top it off, Phoenix and Bolan are dropped deep into China, and assault their premier space facility, and hijack a space shuttle...all in about 10 pages?? Comon!! No kick-ass action...nothing. Personally, Kasner's novels are usually "okay". I always associate his books with being more like standard technothrillers, than being "real" Stony Man books. I think his books are EXTREMELY overrated on this site. But, that's just me. I think more highly of some of the old Cunningham and Mertz novels than some people do. But, with this one, I didn't even finish it. I gave it all I could, but there just wasn't much of interest.

An enjoyable book which utilized the flashback to an earlier mission for Bolan. The sniper squad re-emerging a few years later to tie up loose ends from the flashback mission was interesting as Brognola get wounded in the exchange. The sniper squad themselves were like twisted versions of Bolan--good at what they do, but bad to the bone. Bolan's stalking and elimination of those guys moved things along...and I also enjoyed the end with a nod to the Texas Tower Sniper from the 60's. So, a pretty good read, but not an awesome piece.

I suppose looking back on this one, it had a subtle sort of 9/11 feel, with terrorists striking in american cities with citizens on edge. Mack comes to Chicago to hunt the elusive bad guys. The action scenes were okay, although the Soldier Field battle and the final one were pretty decent. But, most of the cops were annoying, as was the newspaper reporter. Surprising that the terrorists weren't Arab in origin. Overall, nothing really special, but a decent effort.

An interesting premise with Israeli's trying to provoke a war with the Palestinians. Able didn't show up until around page 200 or so, but they never fought together. Action scenes were okay, but I started getting lost when they described all the high-tech weaponry. A good book, but the action scenes were just average.

Pretty good entry with some good ship-to-ship battles. The mini-subs were cool, and the ship battle with Bolan helping the coast guard was done well. The icky "trojan horse" scene with the caimans was pretty cool, especially one of Bolan's comrades getting innards all over her. The final battle was was well done.

Maybe I got lost on the nature of the title, but this was an average book by Van Cook. There was some humor in Bolan's undercover role as a dweebish desk jockey. The action scenes were decent, and the final battle was good. Excellent epilogue. A high point in the book was Bolan helping a woman forced into prostitution. The huge thug of the main baddie wasn't utilized like he could have been. No big fight between him and Bolan. So, nothing great, but it kept me entertained.

Nice, action-packed novel by Doug. Started out with a bang and didn't really let up. Liked the Catherine Abood character, and thought she worked well with Bolan. With the earthquake subplot, we got to see Bolan's humanity. The only negative I had was the multitude of bad guys, who I think I started losing track of--who's this guy, which group is he with, etc. But, the final battle and car chase sequence was a great capper to an enjoyable book.

An interesting setup to this book had sort of a sympathetic villain, which in this series is not something you see every day. The action scenes were pretty good, but I thought the female character was not featured enough. I did enjoy the retired CIA guy who helps Bolan, and his bit of characterization helped. But, I found the other villains to be like the zillion other former CIA/military who would be considered "sickos". Overall, enjoyable, but not a spectacular read.

Not a bad book. Had a nice plot and some good action scenes. Able's part in the plot didn't seem that important, but the mid-air sequence was done extremely well. Then they just disappeared from the book. Major disappointment. Phoenix and Bolan's arc were okay. Didn't really like Bolan having such a big part, but this being an early StonyMan, I think that was the norm.

This was pretty entertaining, but I guess I'm not rating it as high as others. I liked the plot of the VP getting kidnapped, enjoyed Bolan teaming up with Harsey, but the battle scenes were mostly disjointed to me. It seemed like the duo were taking on 30 guys at a time. All the detail to the knives was quite annoying. The run down the river did have some suspense, but the bad guys were a bunch of goofballs. The finale with the Iraqi was also weak. So, quite action-packed, but it didn't grab me and hold on for most of the book.

This being a pre-9/11 book, it was ultimately chilling when the terrorists started their terror attacks in Washington D.C. That was probably the best part of the book. Schmidt is the king of carnage, and this book was no exception. This wasn't the most action packed novel, and the finale wasn't as blazing as other Schmidt books I've read. Just an average adventure.

After having loved Guenther's work up to this point, I was looking forward to this one. It was good, but it didn't capture me like some of his monthly books have. Both teams were used effectively, and Lyons was right on target. The battles were decent, but I guess I wasn't blown away by the weapons system described in the book. Able getting another finale scene in Soldier Field was a plus, but the overall confrontation was weak.

Nothing special from this Newton-penned Super. Bolan is called in to take out a Neo-Nazi group. At least it wasn't the usual hit-list type of books, but I thought the banter between Bolan and Crouder was above par, almost what you might expect at times to be heard in a classic film-noir. I didn't get a good sense of the main bad guy, Stevens, and it wasn't one of those books that was having me wanting to know what happens next in the part 2 of the trilogy.

Liked the idea behind this plot, I just didn't care for the mob as being the instigators behind the flesh-eating virus. Some good action scenes were thrown in, along with Gary Manning joining Bolan in his Canadian campaign. Loved the pro wrestler character, but thought the ending aboard the sub was not on the grand scale that some of Chuck's other books were.

Expected more out of this because of its high rating here. I liked the story, and there was a lot of information on ancient Germanic peoples. The action scenes were good for the most part. Personally, I couldn't get into the main bad guy as being the instrument behind Hitler. I would have expected someone more calm, cool and caculating, instead of one who flies off the handle and kills most of his subordinates. Heine was interesting to say the least, but the main plotline of the hijacked missiles wasn't portrayed as the most lethal of threats. Entertaining, but not what I was expecting.

While not a classic by Van Cook, it was still a very solid effort, and pulled right from the headlines. Bolan sees training film on terrorists planning major hits in the U.S. Quickly getting a line on a few cells, he goes into action. One of the major events is a hostage taking of a university. That event seemed to have the most flair, and Bolan doing a recon before the final assault was classic. A subplot involving a Homeland Security agent leads to the finale, which was weak in my view. I thought it could have been drawn out longer, which is why this one stays at 6 stars.

Another wild romp that would make Indiana Jones run for his life. There was a sense of wonderment as Reilly takes you on a great quest to locate each of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the world. For what else? World Domination...and to save the world from a coming catastrophe. Each set piece was fantastic, with booby-trap-laden caverns, along with detailed maps and drawings that gave you a sense of where everything was. If you are a fan of Egyptian Mythology, this delves deep into some interesting aspects. I got the feeling that it was trying to make some historical points, as Da Vinci Code made with Christ. If I had one negative, sometimes the action scenes in each Wonder ran together and would get redundant. But, you had to be thrilled as our heroes sneak into the Louvre, and lead authorities on a wild chase throughout the city. Along with the finale atop the Great Pyramid of Giza. More great stuff!

This book started out on a pretty chilling note: The decapitation of a hostage by terrorists apes what's been going on in real life. I thought the plot had potential: a 9-11-like attack on the U.S., but I wasn't pulled in with the narrative. I enjoyed Latham and the Philipino terrorist who thinks he has AIDS. But the traitor in their midst was no surprise, and the action scenes were just okay. With the finale scene where Bolan and Co. track down the terrorist mastermind in NYC, it reminded me of The Peacemaker with George Clooney, but that particular scene had much more suspense to it.

While I did enjoy the aspect of Bolan being possibly dead, and the teams hitting Peru to discover the truth, there was nothing else special about this book. The action scenes seemed bland, but it was nice to see Bolan up to his usual tricks in the jungle. As is usual with Kasner's books, he did have a decent helicopter strike sequence. Other than that, just an average Stony Man.

This one never really clicked with me. Not sure if it was that the action scenes seemed a little disjointed, as compared to other books by Doug. I think I was having a hard time following what was going on for the most part. I did like the Hamas leader who decided to help Bolan, and the final assault was done pretty well. I didn't have a problem with the Bolan character as another reviewer stated. Doug has him down cold.

One of the better Chuck Rogers books from this era. From the opening sequence of Bolan getting ambushed, to the final violent battle, this one rocked. This had a Old West quality to it that I liked. The town being taken over, and no one wants to stand up to their tyranny. Except Bolan and a plucky town sheriff. Their trek across the desert, and Bolan's sniper mission further solidified things. Having Most of Phoenix and Able coming in at the end to blast apart the Russian operation, with Grimaldi as air support put an extreme exclamation point on this kick-ass book.

If it wasn't an Executioner novel, I'd call this the Magnificent Seven in the Pacific. This seemed similar to another Rogers novel that took place on a small island where corporate greed threatened to take over. I found most of the book enjoyable, with pretty good action scenes. Having Bolan leading an army (of natives) was okay, but those sorts of plotlines never seem to knock my socks off. I did like how they had to use outdated Japanese weaponry from WWII against state of the art hardware, but Burdick seemed rather flat this time around, and Calvin James was just "there". The final confrontation was weaker than in previous Rogers novels, but at least Bolan didn't get put through the grinder this time.

This started out to be a good one with the Able Team of old--you know, the boys stealing a War Wagon and hitting the strip bars of D.C. for some R&R, busting down doors, breaking 15 laws, giving Brognola fits. And part of the plot happens to drop into Able's lap. The bio-engineered virus was interesting. When Phoenix is brought into it, things settle down into a fairly good Stony Man novel and the teams race to stop a German-led organization from poisoning the third world. The gunbattles were average, but the finale seemed rather quick and abrupt.

A fairly entertaining book, much better than I expected it to be. Once again, we have Schmidt having some sort of traitors as the bad guys. In this case, former cops who have gone rogue. Mack has to adjust his long-standing vow never to fire upon a man with a badge, no matter how corrupt and slimy they are. His takedown of these racist SOB's is classic Executioner style. He has them running for their lives and running scared. Some pretty good action scenes were mixed in, too. The underground garage shootout was pure mayhem, and the Penn. turnpike chase was extremely tense. Add to the mix of a cop out for revenge joining Bolan had some nice touches.

For a Schmidt book, I found this to be rather dull. I guess I was never pulled into the Mafia/Cartel/Terrorist plot to steal a deadly poison. Schmidt seems to live off of plots that have dirty U.S. officials, and they get old sometimes. The action scenes were not up to par with what I've been used to from the author, and even the finale seemed forced and uninspiring. The part of Brognola getting shot seemed to be the most interesting part.

Yes, it's true. I do give 10 star ratings once in a lifetime. I was totally enthralled by this book. What a wild ride for nearly 400 pages. It seemed to be a mix of Indiana Jones and Dirk Pitt...only high on steroids. Actually, the Bill Race character shared at least one trait with Indy. Through all the derring-do, he never lost his trademark NY Yankees cap. And boy, did he go through a lot. From giant mythical panthers, to man-eating caimans, to a threat engulfing the entire world, the action never flagged. Also, the flashback scenes of the Incan empire really moved the plot along. The bad guys were hissable, including (Neo)Nazi's, terrorists and rogue military. The action pieces were so well done, one would have to gasp for air. The finale of Race plummeting thousands of feet to earth in an Abrams tank, while trying to disarm a doomsday device (with no parachute) is one of the most exciting sequences I've read in quite a while. I won't give away how he manages to survive. Matt Reilly is the MAN!!

An okay outing. The plot had some potential, but most of the action scenes were lacking...until the end. The final confrontation was classic Bolan with a sniper rifle. This novel probably had the most irritating female character ever in Bolandom. Nina the hooker was just plain annoying. The other two major female characters were much more interesting.

Another satisfying effort from Doug. I didn't find this as good as his other monthly's, but the action was almost non-stop. I guess it didn't seem like there was a lot of plot development behind this book. But, the idea of trying to start a war between Egypt and Israel was decent. The sabotage of the tanks was extremely tense and the final battle involving the Predator's and Bolan trying to stop them rocked. ONe thing that bugged me was the scene of Bolan letting the Geren torture a prisoner. I guess I didn't think he let something like that go.

This ended up being a very good book. But, I had some issues with it, which stopped it from getting another star. Great action scenes were the biggest plus. Doug's are top notch. I thought the pace picked up a bit in the second half of the book, and the final battle with Dark was classic. I was put off by Lyons getting manhandled. Sure, that could happen to any of the Stony Men. I figure if anyone could handle Dark or Adonis, it would have been Ironman. But, ravaging him as much as he was, I would figure his fighting days are done if both his ankles were busted. But, that won't be the case, obviously. When the villains were introduced, I felt like I was reading a comic book...all these baddies with their pet names, like the X-Men or something. I would have preferred real names instead of superhero names. So, overall I was satisfied, but expected it to be better than it was.

This one was almost a sure 7. It had some excellent action sequences, but the plot was just ordinary. And I found some of the characterizations to be lacking. I had to glance back a few times to realize that the whole Stony Man team was in on this one. But, at times, Pol or Lyons would hardly be mentioned, then all of a sudden, there they are, involved with the rest of the boys, and with hardly anything to say. That bugged me, I guess. I don't think I ever caught why the book was named Night of the Jaguar. There was no Jaguar character. So, overall, it was a good book for action, but some other things stopped this from being a great read.

Sort of a change of pace for a Deathlands. Told almost entirely in flashbacks, we find a younger Ryan Cawdor traveling with the Trader and arriving at a ville, where he meets a beautiful woman. A nice setup piece for a few books later when Ryan's son will be introduced, and finally a bit of character background on Trader. It was nice to see the mentoring figure of Trader and his impact on Ryan's makeup. Once the warwags get into the ville and meet the Baron, it turns into standard Deathlands formula. Tense final chapters with Ryan and Co. trying to escape from a booby trapped redoubt, and sort of ends abruptly, obviously leading to the next installment.

Nice follow up to Gathering Storm. I found myself agreeing with Gardener's views on why he was doing what he was doing. Phoenix Force was mostly used in this episode, but there was good action all the way through. The Jacobi aspect was interesting, and the battle in Baghdad was tense. Able, which had a small part, had a good, action-packed finale scene.

Vintage Linaker that has this plot ripped from the front page..of what could possibly happen in Iraq. Lyons and Co. have the best scenes, and a change of pace for Phoenix, failing in a part of their mission. Attack on small Texas town is extremely chilling, and I'm very interested in reading the second part of the dualogy to see what happens next.

One of the better Bond books I've read. (Not that there have been many). It had the feel of the movies. An action-packed opening sequence where Bond foils a hijacking. Then get's the assignment of going after a megalomaniac who wants to foul the Caribbean Sea with his master plan. With shades of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond falls for Flicka, an ally from a previous book, and the duo meet some interesting villains. The male(or female) bodyguards who were similiar to the duo in the film version of Diamonds are Forever. Things moved along at a good pace, with some chases and tense confrontations mixed in. A very Bond film-like finale with James and the SAS assaulting Tarn's fortress made for a surprising ending.

A very well written and exciting book by Kasner. The double-barreled action between Phoenix and Able was crisp. Able being overseas was a plus, and Phoenix's trek across Bosnia was tense. Although, I figured Bolan could have been left out of this one, he had such little to do or say. Having Katz trying to keep a leash on Lyons and Co. was entertaining. Overall, one of Kasner's better books. I also cringed at Able and Katz using their names so freely.

This reminded me of a SuperBolan by Renauld where the villains were too fleshed out. There was a lot of book time given to the bad guys, and I thought it slowed down the pace of the book. It was quite different to have half the guys get knocked either temporarily or completely out of action for the duration of the novel. James gets seriously wounded, McCarter gets temporary amnesia, Manning blows out both his hamstrings, and Encizo gets a minor shoulder wound. That leaves Lyons, Pol and Hawkins to go through the motions. The action scenes were "okay", but nothing to knock my socks off. I felt it would have been a much better novel if the bad guys hadn't been fleshed out to the extent they were, and more focus given to the Stony Men.

I thought reading a longer Rainey book might be better than the other monthly's I'd read. But, this one was nothing special. The plot of a reborn terror group was decent, but Bolan being saddled with a government task force didn't sit well with me. A few of the action scenes were decent, but Rainey's writing seemed rather bland, and the characters didn't stand out.

Okay, so this was one of those original plotlines for a Mack Bolan novel. It certainly was interesting and suspenseful, but on the whole, this just didn't seem to fit into the MB universe for me. Like everyone else, I too thought the notorious Chapter 2 was real bad. I also had issues with Mack's logic in picking McCarter to accompany him. Heck, as far as scientific knowledge went, I figured Gadgets would have been the perfect choice. And Pol would have been the best playing an undercover role to the hilt. The Harkin and Pratt characters were deliciously dispicable IMO. So, not a bad book. I'm just old-fashioned when it comes to what MB books should encompass.

The excesses in carnage took this book down a peg. Sure, there was much action, but the villain could have been someone you sympathized with. Not so in this case. He didn't care whether innocents were killed in his quest to avenge his family. I thought more might be made out of Bolan's undercover aspect, but it was over quickly. So, good on the action front, but just too much unnecessary bloodshed.

An average novel that seemed a bit different for a StonyMan. They're given some cryptic clues to follow up on, and the teams have to find out what is going on. Able's mission was very good, one of the few times where they go into detail of Pol living up to his nickname. Phoenix's mission was not the usual, with them getting caught and having to use Manning's braun to escape. Mack's mission was just okay. But, overall, the book didn't knock my socks off. The main villains were pretty weak, and the final battle was short and uninspired.

Pretty good entry has plenty of action and a rip-roaring finale assault. Had a good strong female companion for Bolan with some backstory. Although the nuke threat in the end seemed to come up all of a sudden. And I thought there were way too many American traitors. But, still a decent effort.

The plot sounded fairly interesting, with the climax being an assasination attempt on the President. The complexities of the plot bogged the book down. Yes, there were a lot of action scenes--some good, some just okay. The woman assassin was a good character, and as short as the climatic scene was, it was pretty decent. But, not a "knock my socks off" sort of book overall.

This was very similar to Savage Game. Although, I found this to be a bit better. Bolan comes up against some shadowy characters in Africa and follows the lead to South America. The Dudley character was very cool, along with his sidekick Kubrik. Although, in hindsight, they were both offshoots of Rogers' Burdick character. The action pieces in this were very well done. The APC battle was intense as was the finale, when Bolan was bruised, battered and bloody, going at it with the bad guys. Like some of Rogers' other books, a very vulnerable Bolan. Not usually the way I like to see the big guy, but this one clicked.

Sort of a return for me to Schmidt's greatness in the mid-80's with this slam-bang entry. Able Team is as much like the Able Team of the 80's with Lyons at his grumpiest and their break 20 laws, insult every Fed and who gives a fu** attitude. Their arc of the story was by far the best, especially the Bulldozer carnage. Lyons barging into the bad guys' lair and reading them the riot was classic. The Phoenix arc seemed weak, but the action was still top notch with some pulse-pounding air strikes. Overall, a nice surprise.

I feel I'm being generous with a 5. This was your standard Newton of going from place to place, hitting the bad guys and having them turn on each other. It all seemed flat. There was a lot of action, I'll grant you. Some of his books like this work for me, other's don't. There was an extremely large cast of characters and I started to lose track of all the terror groups involved with their initials.

Once again, a very impressive action-fest that never let up. Great action scenes and chases, and the two allies, Wazdi and Kowalski added a touch of humor to the story. As for the pop culture icons mentioned (Superman, Jonny Quest, etc.) you can see Doug's love for comics and such. The one thing that sort of bugged me was some of Bolan's dialogue. It just seemed too smart-aleck at times, that for me didn't quite fit the character. Sure, some of it made me chuckle, but I kept wondering "Would Bolan really say that?" And it was apparent that Doug was using John Woo for inspiration with Bolan using two guns during most of the gunfights. But, aside from that, great job once again.

Nothing really special came out of this one. The plot is a rehash of other better books. Hostages are being held on a cruise ship...along with Brognola. Mack comes in and plays cat and mouse with the terrorists. I did find it suspenseful when Bolan was aboard a sub tracking the cruise ship and boarding it, creating all sorts of havoc. But, I felt the simultaneous takeovers of some Latin American countries, along with the massive push of illegals into the U.S. seemed rather farfetched.

Liked the plot of dams being blown up and Bolan being feared dead. But, I think how it all unfolded didn't sit right with me. How the teams followed the clues to a group of mercenary's hired to do these deeds didn't seem real enough. I would have figured a more Al-Qaida-like group that's more organized. But, the action between the teams was very good, especially the motorcycle chase in Turkmenistan.

The plot of the book sounded very interesting, but overall, it didn't knock my socks off. The scenes in the catacombs were very tense, as were the scenes with Mack prowling around the nightlife of Marseilles. When he got shacked up with the two mercs, I thought it went downhill from there. Ross' partner was soooooooooo annoying, and it's a wonder he lasted this long in his chosen profession, considering his demeanor. The final battle was done well, and it had a suprising Epilogue. Not the best book out there, but it was a decent time-passer.

I'm not sure why I took a chance on this one. Probably because it was free, but it was a dull story. The plot was not one of the more interesting ones, dealing with art and herion smuggling. The action was okay, but the undercover role for Bolan was rather weak. And, even though there was some sexual tension between him and the girl, she was just there for eye candy---"hey, let's look at her bosom first!"

A nice, entertaining book from Schmidt. The Able scenes were very intense, and it was great seeing them get a finale scene, even though their villain was sort of goofy with his over-the-top personality. Phoenix's arc of the story was also very solid, and like in a few previous Schmidt books, it was cool to see the Spectre wreak havoc. Mack could have been left out of this one, as his part in the story was not that big. But, better writing from Schmidt all the way around.

What I thought was just going to be a run-of-the-mill Mafia story, turned into a damn good book. The plot was nothing out of the ordinary, but the writing was very fast-paced, and the villains were exceptionally brutal. Loved the siege of the Mafia estate where Bolan gets saddled with a vengeance-minded son of a don. Great interaction. And the cat and mouse game in the New Jersey swamps was tense. Saw some pre-9/11 type incidents which was interesting. But, overall, the book was quite the surprise.

Some good action scenes highlighted this Linaker novel. Mack in the bush of Africa dealing with rebels and slave traders is one where you expect absolutely no quarter to be given. Above-average shootouts, especially one where Bolan hits an airfield and lays waste to the bad guys. Also, you see Bolan and his interacting with children, along with losing an ally and swearing vengeance. One of Linaker's better ones lately. A winner in every facet.

While this one moved very slow in the action department, it was saved by a lot of suspense. Which usually means it was an undercover book. He and the cop, Pacheco made a good team, even though one of them was not the most proficient with firearms. In the last quarter of the book, the action heated up with some very good shootouts. And the villain was one of the more dispicable types, which is always nice to see as his empire crumbles around him.

This was a disappointment. I enjoyed the opening scene of the terrorists bombing the Nato meeting, but Bolan's scenes of tracking the terrorists in Pittsburgh didn't have the writing punch that I always got from Schmidt in his early Bolan novels. I thought there were too many names of villains to keep track of--they all sounded alike. I found Ceasavic's character to be too much over the top as far as his rage went. And the weakest part of the book was the characterizations of the traitors. I do have to say though, that the final battle with Grimaldi was exciting and on par with what Schmidt has done in the past.

This was pretty much the norm for Linaker...good action, good story and good use of JUST Able and Phoenix. I liked the dual hijacking plotline, and Able spending most of the time out of the country for once. Lyons was his usual gruff, moody Ironman self. Phoenix in Afghanistan, having two members get briefly captured, then mount an escape was top notch. And the final battle to rescue the plane hostages, with Dragon Slayer made this an enjoyable book.

Not an uninteresting book, but after a while, it got to be regular Mike Newton monotony, with the sleeper doing the same thing, and Bolan and Co. chasing them down. The finale though, was quite tense and action-packed. Sometimes I wish Bolan and the female character would get into a bit of a relationship. Maybe I'm reading the wrong ones.

Was looking forward to this one, as we get a freezie who isn't a whiner and stays on with the group. It was a decent effort, even though it followed the standard Deathlands formula. Loved the mutie bugs, especially the hornets and the ant scene. The description of the irraditated Vikings was also very descriptive. Liked the Mildred character's sarcasm and speaking her mind to Ryan on many occasions. The battles with the muties was Gallagher-like with lots of splatter. But the final shootout with the Vikings was sort of a letdown. Overall, I was satisfied.

I picked this one because it was like a very good Newton book, Blood Run. It started out fairly well with the capture of Sami, a bin Laden clone and deals with Bolan and a few allies' cross country trek to deliver him to The Hague. Along with Sami's men, there's also Israeli commandos and CIA-paid commandos who want him dead. The action is more abundant than in Blood Run, but not as crisp, I thought. The CIA guys were a bunch of goofballs. The only surprise was Sami's attempt to turn Bolan's Afghani ally against him. More than likely you'd think it would work, to make the book more interesting, but it never happened. Overall, just an average book. Decent for a "chase" book, but there are better ones out there.

A minor letdown from the first book. This was one of those generic Newton-penned missions, with only average action scenes. I would have preferred a stronger villain, instead of one who whined most of the time. The three-way whine-fest in the climatic battle between the three bad guys made me cringe, although I have to say the chase scene on the ATV's was fairly decent. Not the way I was expecting this book to pan out. Would have liked to see more introspection by Bolan and Co. on Katz, etc.

I guess I'm one of those weirdo's who likes the movie version better than the book version, even though the film version of this one wasn't one of the best. I missed Sheriff Pepper (I think that's the name) from the film! What a hoot!! Not much action through the book, but more suspense. Bond's trip through Harlem and shootout to escape was fairly decent, and his flight from Mr. Big's men on a train was also good. I found the dialogue by all the negro characters to be rather ignorant. (Comon, did they all talk like that back in the '50's?) I personally liked the film version of Leiter's mauling. And on a more positive note, the character of Mr. Big was very solid and menacing.

I didn't have the problems with this book that some did. It was interesting enough, with most of the Stony Men. The assault on the freighter was fairly tense and drawn out, and was the high point.

This was a very pleasant surprise. From the first chapter, where a "Predator"-like wraith is stalking a group of Chinese mercs up to no good. It was Bolan, but they couldn't know that. The story was very crisp and moved right along, with Bolan in hostile territory, engaging the bad guys to try and retrieve vital satellite technology. The action scenes were better than expected, with an airbase assault that included Russian Hinds, to a Bolan blitz in an Abrahms M-1 tank, this was truly Mack at one of his one-man-army best.

Like #200, and #100 before this one, I found this to be an enjoyable book. It was standard Newton, with his "hit-list" type of action. As far as the character of Katz went, I did find him a bit off, but once I thought about it, I figured he was not accepting of the fact that he was getting older and wanted to prove that he could still work in the field. He went out in an honorable fashion.

Very enjoyable Renauld book, but not great, mind you. I also liked how he stumbled onto this plot by accident, then the whole thing spiraled into what it was. It added a bit of suspense to the mix. Wasn't expecting Grimaldi to have such a small part, and the same for any of the villains, but it worked out to my liking.

Nothing really special about this yarn. Able Team had a surprisingly good showing with their arc. But, Bolan's and Phoenix's parts of the book were rather bland. Just an average effort overall.

Another good first novel by a new author. Loved the action, and including Pol and Ironman. Carl was just a bit moody, wasn't he? For a moment I thought I was reading an old Able Team book. The final battle with double barrel action was well-done, but the only thing that really bothered me was the psychotic nature of Vega. I guess I would have expected the head of a multi-million dollar business to be more level-headed, but he was still interesting. I did like the angle with the son trying to assasinate the head of the DEA. Gave the book some added suspense. And what was up with Price seeming jealous at the mention of the female DEA agent in the epilogue? I've never seen that out of her character...ever.

This book was indeed good. But, I decided the extra star came with the last 50 pages. It was some of the most intense I've ever seen Bolan taking it to the bad guys. Everything up to that point didn't blow me away with 10 star quality. Yes, the villains were very well done and the Boneyard scenes were ultimately cool. But, like Breakaway, Chuck Rogers has been really letting Bolan have it, and with this book, I thought it was a bit of overkill. How much wounding and stabbings and gunshots and broken bones and other sorts of physical damage can one man take and be all right in six months? Like I said, it was classic that Bolan was a death-dealing machine in the finale, but it was a bit too much for my taste.

Worthy effort that showcased Able a lot, which is always a good thing. Although, I felt their climatic battle was a little forced and farfetched. (A soccer team?) Bolan and Phoenix in the jungle was passable, with the patented Kasner air/missile strike the highlight. I felt the plot of having the Taliban was a bit dated now, but I guess when he wrote it, they were probably still in control.

It was a good story, but I just didn't feel like it deserved as high a mark as it's got. I did like the Vultures breakout, and the California freeway chase with the tanker truck, and the tank battle. Overall, Rennie was totally annoying, but got a bit better towards the end. I thought it was nearing a 7, but the read didn't blow me away with explosive action, like a few of McQuay's earlier works.

If I remember correctly, I was quite surprised by this entry. It was quite tense and had a good amount of action. Much better than most of the later books.

This one was like the first Super, pretty good read, with enough action, but it didn't knock my socks off. And part of that cover art was from one of the early 100 Mack Bolan's. What's up with that??

The first Super SOB's book was nothing spectacular, but it was not boring by any means. A lot more time to flesh things out and have an extended mission for the mercs.

A lot of the later SOB's didn't really grab me, and I see this one is by Robert Randisi. The book seemed like just an average adventure, but in the end, we do find out the fate of an SOB, which I didn't like. I don't remember him being in this one, he was just sort of "missing", then he's dead.

Had a decent opening with people on a pleasure cruise getting the nightmare of a lifetime, but this one never took off, and Billy Two was quite "off" through the rest of the book. Good cover, too, but not enough to save it.

I suppose this sort of plot is dated now, but I enjoyed it, with enough action-packed confrontations to rate it above average. Sadly, after this one, the series started on it's downswing IMO

One of the few times that the SOB's were in the urban jungle. This turned out pretty well, with a good amount of action.

This took too long to get going, and there just wasn't enough action scenes. Just a ho-hum entry.

A solid novel. Kind of a sequel to Firestorm USA, where we find out the fate of an SOB presumed dead. And of course, hijacking books seem to turn out pretty good, a-la Flight 741.

One of the best of the series. I liked Nile and his team landing on Sakhalin island and pretty much taking on the whole contingent of Russian bad guys. A lot of good action scenes.

This one had Karl Heiss, but it didn't stack up well to the other entries with this SOB nemesis. Not a whole lot of action. Just an average book.

The first SOB's book I read, and one of the best with Bishop and Nanos' rivalry coming to a head. Great action finale with one of the SOB's being killed, or was he???

Nile and the group having to rescue Walker Jessup was the best part of this book. Not a spectacular entry, but had it's moments.

Brutal violence is the main attraction in this entry, as pirates show no mercy. But, still, good action with the SOB's tracking down the modern day scum.

A kick-ass book that focuses on Liam O'Toole. It was such a hoot to have O'Toole trying desperately to have his crappy poetry published, and some of his run in's with some truly A-hole editors.

Not as good as the Executioner entries taking place in Afghanistan, but still a decent adventure with Nile and Co. taking on the Russians.

Once again, another brutal entry with the return of Karl Heiss, and set in one of the most unforgiving places, East Africa. A killer book with a shocking ending.

What I liked about this series was the raw, animal-like nature of some of it's bad guys, and these racist SOB's get the justice they deserve by the other SOB's.

Decent entry that, if I remember correctly focused some on Nanos and Billy's little parties. A worthwhile read, with the brother of a dead SOB showing up, but not on par with some of the others.

Another brutal entry with some icky scenes of carnage, compliments of above mentioned biochemical agent. Dead-on title, too. Overall, pretty exciting book.

An incredible action novel. One of the last ones I read. Used to hear about the events in this novel in many of the other ones (the destruction of the Majorcan hideaway). Great battle!

The one where Billy Two gets captured by the Soviets and from then on, becomes the interesting, eccentric character that we all knew. Good stuff!

Another whopper with the continued pursuit of Karl Heiss. I loved the brutal violence that this series brought, and this entry had a lot of it.

I remember I really liked this one. Going into Iran, and losing some of the original members was quite an exciting entry.

It's been a while since I read these, but I will try to give them a proper review. The first one didn't knock my socks off, but it was a worthy effort. I thought there were too many SOB's to keep track of. Overall, a nice intro to the mercs.

Whoa, Doug! I'm impressed! With the characerizations, this one brought me back to the heyday of Mack (the early to mid 1980's) Great action writing and even loved the gore descriptions--(one of the reasons I started to read Mack Bolan in the first place. Probably not the best reason, but hey..) I wish Lyons would have had a bigger part (another dead-on take of Ironman from the old days), but having Grimaldi, Dragon Slayer, all the carnage, villains from PF's past, and a killer ending made this one a kick-ass experience. Great job!

When the opening scene takes all of 100 pages, with a lot of switching back and forth between character viewpoints, and not a lot of action, I figure the book is in trouble. I thought the plot had potential, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Schmidt's other X-file like book--the Stony Man novel was executed much better. There was action throughout this one, but the characters didn't interest me.

This was better than expected, with some good action. A top-secret plane goes down in New Guinea, with Bolan and McCarter being dropped into hostile territory. Eventually, other Stony Men get involved, but having the duo go through the jungle, fighting off the bad guys made this click. A tense finale with a ship-to-ship battle topped things off.

What a "blast" of a book! Great action pieces at the South Pole, especially the chase on the ice with Hind gunships thrown into the fray. I continue to enjoy Guenther's writing. The climax was not as good as other books, but it did have some suspense thrown in, and Bolan going into a sort of Libyan Connection kill-mode capped the book off nicely.

Just an average book. I thought all the Stony Men were used fairly, but I was miffed at the "Ruby" plotline being brought in about halfway through. The final battle probably could have been stretched out to give the book more of a punch. The overall book lost a lot of it's luster because of the quick finale.

The plot of this sounded very interesting, but the execution of the story was just mediocre. Way too much talking and not enough confrontations, sort of like Nimitz Class. The most thrilling parts were the ones where Adnam was blowing planes out of the sky. And like the previously mentioned, the few action scenes were over before you knew it. Overall, another promising novel, but it disappoints greatly.

Okay, felt this one was far from a 10, but it was a good effort from Renauld. Like I said before, his stories seem better when they're longer. The story was well written, but the action scenes on the whole paled for a Stony Man. Liked the banter between Hawkins and Bahn. Kept me reading, but not the explosive gem it was made out to be.

A decent novel from Mike McQuay, whom I hadn't read anything by in a while. Plenty of action, and gore (something that used to decorate the older Bolan's). I too liked the character of Li and his struggle with his superiors orders along with his personal honor. But, there were times where I thought the characterization of Bolan got a bit skewed. Some of his dialogue and situations didn't seem like him.

I didn't feel this was as good as the first book, but it still held my interest with Lyons as a prisoner, and his eventual escape. Plus, having Phoenix coming to the rescue into Korea, some Dragon Slayer carnage, and a stunning final battle, it was a worthy effort.

Good start to this duo. The first part of the book dragged, I thought, but when the teams go into action, it's vintage Linaker. Phoenix's mission in Siberia, along with Dragon Slayer coming along for the ride was cool. Lyons' part in the story gave us the chance to see him in one of his semi-ballistic modes in the climatic battle. Leaves you wondering what's going to happen in the next book.

I guess I didn't see in this book what everyone else did. For one, having the Stony Man team as supporting characters and making the villains the main characters was a huge turn-off. Some may disagree, but that's how I saw it. The villains get a few chapters, then Mack and Co. come in for a chapter, then disappear entirely for another few chapters. The plot on the back cover sounded interesting, and was right from the headlines, but the way it was penned made this a less-than mediocre SuperVillain book. Also, Renauld did a much better job of using a movie set for ulterior motives in Able Team's Clear Shot. Disappointing, to say the least.

This was just a so-so book in the continuing adventures of Ryan Cawdor and his band. It had very little plot--they arrive in Russia, discover that the gateway is broken, and venture out to find tools to fix it, then get back. Along the way, they encounter a character from book #2, but for the most part, not much happens. The "freezie" whines and complains most of the book, but luckily he is finally put out of his misery.

Liked the plot of this one, and it had some interesting moments. The sexual tension between Bolan and Tanaka was a big bonus, considering you usually don't see it too much anymore, and it was extensive. The big revelation about the main villain caught me by surprise and added texture to his motivations. Overall, the action was decent, and it was a good book.

Not a spectacular book, but not bad either. It felt, like a few other Kasner's that this would have been better suited for a general technothriller and not a Stony Man. Things moved along at a decent clip, and Able was featured nicely. Didn't find anything special about Hawkins' first appearance, but I did enjoy the climatic showdown between Bolan, Phoenix and the Iranians, with the SR-71 spy plane's Mach 3 flyby.

I thought this was a very enjoyable book. Personally, I thought the characterizations were right on. Some of the standout scenes included the Ironman confronting a dojo full of hostile martial artists, the Stony Men leaving the bad guys in agony during shootouts using "non-lethal" rubber bullets, and a classic scene of the boys in a souped-up Chinese junk, taking on a pair of helicopters and two torpedo boats. I liked the Burdick character. He was a welcome addition. And Bolan was the most vulnerable as I've seen him. I didn't know how to take that, considering you don't see him as close to death as he was in this one. The thing that didn't give this one another star was the fact that the last 50 pages was decent, but I thought the battle could have been written better. And Bolan's actions during the final chapter left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

This one get's high marks solely for Linaker's usual fast-paced writing. The plot of this was bland, similiar to American Nightmare, with a terrorist hit team stalking a news group (instead of a senator). Whoopee, go ahead and take them out. See if I care. Seriously though, Linaker made it a good book because he has mastered the Mack Bolan action scene.

I can't really call this a total loss, but being my first Fleming novel, it didn't live up to my Hollywood-ized expectations. I realize these novels were strictly hard-boiled espionage tales, I guess I was wanting them to be more adventure oriented like the films. Let's just say this one was very similiar to the Gardner novels. Very slow-paced and not much grand action. I did like the deliciously slimy character of Drax, a big improvement over the film character. A very fizzled ending though, in my book.

A lot of undercover plots usually don't have as much action as other ones, but this one had enough of them, and was very suspenseful to make this one a winner. Guenther continues to impress. It was a bit scary to find Bolan thrust into shootouts where the people he was shooting at COULD HAVE been on his side.

Another good outing, with Bolan in Africa taking it hard to mercenaries. The action from Linaker is his usual top notch. Bolan becoming a prisoner and tortured was a great scene, and his breakout was one of the standouts of the book. The plot was something similiar to the SOB's, with Bolan trying to prevent the takeover of a small African nation.

Like everyone else, was annoyed by the errors, but overall it was a chilling book, one that seemed very realistic. The action was hot and heavy, especially Able's battle with Cole, and especially Phoenix's attack on the cruise liner. At times, it was a bit too techo-ish for me, but, aside from the errors, a good book.

This was actually a good Renauld book. Maybe he's more suited to writing longer novels. There was good action all the way through, including a suicide attack on Cannes, and an interesting attempt to kidnap the President's daughter. The villain was well-developed, too. The only drawback was a very Renauld-ish final confrontation that, like his old Able books, you'd blink and it would be over. But, overall, a decent effort.

Bolan vs. the Al-Qaida? Bring it on!! Besides that point, though, this was Guenther's best work yet. A great plot idea with the Dakar Rally, and crisp writing made this one of the better monthly's in quite a while. The action scenes came at you like a whirlwind. The high points were the chase scenes during the Rally, and a tense gunship attack on Bolan. By the way, the Big Man kicks some big-time ass. Also a timely novel, with prominent mention of bin Laden, Al-Qaida and chemical warfare. Top notch!!

This book by Newton didn't really excite, and didn't have me in suspense. It moved along okay, but it was just like a ton of other Newton books by having things we've seen before: The Bolan brothers getting places to hit from someone, and going about hitting them. I didn't like them being saddled with a CIA agent. I'm being generous with "5", but in the end, after a decent start, it was just a middle of the road Bolan.

Nothing really special came out of this second part. It was a basic Newton plot of Bolan and Co. having a list of places to hit, etc. More bits of Stony Man not giving Bolan any help.

This being my second Robinson novel, it certainly didn't live up to the first one I read, USS Seawolf. The plot idea was interesting enough, about a U.S. carrier getting blown off the map, and the ensuing investigation to find out who or what country was responsible. But, it was all talk, and when the few action scenes did come, they came all too quickly and were not drawn out enough to make it riveting, like a SEAL raid on Iran's submarine fleet (all 3 of them), and the final showdown between U.S. sub and enemy sub. Overall, just a fair outing.

I have one word for this book.....S-L-O-W!!! The first 40 pages of a flashback was fairly well done with action, but one thing I can't accept out of a main character, hero-type, was his very constant and VERY unnecessary use of the "f" word. I'm sorry, but using it every other sentence, and to use it, just to use it, doesn't cut it with me. Second, the plot of this thing moved like a snail through molasses. I'm sure Mr. McNabb is the consumate soldier, and I realize his description is probably realistic, but please, make something happen!!! When there is 50 pages devoted to a recon of a house......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! The book just didn't go anywhere. In fact, more than a few times in the narrative, I picked up what embodied the book. SLOW AND DELIBERATE/METHODICAL. To me, dialogue is one of the things that moves the plot along...you know, interaction with characters? Well, the dialogue was few and far between. I rarely give ratings this low, but I had high hopes for this one, and was gravely disappointed!

Liked the original plotline of UFO's, and secret government testing. I did almost give this one more star, but I thought it was rather slow for the first 100 pages. It was nice to see the Ironman of old show up in this one. Able's shootout in Flatbush was the high point of the book. Loved the Little Bulldozer carnage. All three Stony Man groups were used decently. Phoenix was used the least, which was fine by me.

I pretty much enjoyed this outing. The action scenes in and around Venice and it's waterways was a big plus. I didn't really think the book took off until about half-way through. And I found a papal assassin to be a tad unconvincing--even though the character himself was good.

Decent start to the Bolan Brothers trilogy. Had a standard Newton-like plot, with the Bolan's hitting and gitting while trying to unravel a conspiracy. This one could have set the stage for what we've all been wanting---a rogue Bolan. Brognola's secretive nature was totally out of the norm for him. And I have a beef with them saying Johnny was an Ex-Ranger. From Resurrection Day, he was in the Navy. I'm almost positive! And he used to be a lawyer, right. Some of those things prohibited this one from being much better.

Pretty solid outing starting with a good shootout in the beginning. Liked Bolan's interaction with the female agent. The writing was crisp in describing Bolan's manuevers to and from the enemy cargo ship. Even though all the action seemed to take place in only a few locations, it held my interest.

The plot of this one didn't seem to be anything special. Just a by-the-numbers adventure with average action scenes. The one thing I was looking forward to and wasn't disappointed, was Bolan's battle with a Korean giant.

Enjoyable romp which features mostly Able Team and Mack Bolan for a change. The action scenes were well written, especially the attack on the Sunflash complex with all the Stony Men.

I have to admit, I was a tad confused at times while reading this one. It seemed disjointed, and I never seemed to settle into the plot. The action scenes were fairly decent, but not enough to save this.

Enjoyable romp with no Mack Bolan in sight. Great action interspaced throughout, although I thought Able was under-utilized (a pet peeve of mine)......until the climax. Which was a surprise. Able Team's mission always get's second billing to Phoenix's. It was great seeing them having to save the world from disaster!! I found the villain to be a fresh change from the usual, and liked the Kurd character, Hanif.

This was typical Mike Newton, with Bolan using classic Executioner tactics to take down the bad guys. But as far as the Bolan Brother adventures go, it wasn't the best. The action scenes, until the end, weren't as grand as previous entries. Story kept me interested, but didn't live up to the last few Bolan/Johnny books.

Fine entry in the saga. I was engrossed by the adding of a new government experiment before the war---freezing people to be thawed years later. There was almost no action scenes until about halfway through, but just wanting to know more about what the newly-thawed man would tell them kept me turning pages. Had an abrupt, but shocking ending.

Started out with some damn fine blazing action. But, I thought the final 100 pages or so lagged a bit. The story kept me interested, but the fast-paced nature suddenly disappeared. A weak confrontation with Fidel Castro.

Run of the mill Executioner. It kept my interest, but too many characters were introduced. The action was standard Furst: nothing grand or explosive, but average.

This was sort of on the same lines as the first book. The action scenes were too short, and the threat that Betancourt posed didn't seem as intense as the first installment. The best scene that I liked, as with other Kasner books was a chopper assault, but it was over before it started. On the whole though, 5 nets it a "decent" book.

Average story that started out with a WTC-like bombing of the DEA offices. Liked the two killers who gave Bolan a run for his money, but I guess I don't like the idea of a "wizard" character who hides out for most of the book. And his identity is never really a surprise. But, the scenes where Bolan took on an "obstacle course" of booby traps was fairly tense, and his escape (twice) from getting captured was also tense. Kind of hard to not give it a 6, but I like Bolan dealing with real live bad guys, and not some silly guy playing games.

The first book I ever read by this author and I found it to be pretty good. The first part featured good cat-and-mouse tension between submarines and surface ships. It got better when the sub crew is captured and taken to a Chinese prison. Included what I believed to be the infamous "chinese water torture". Good action with SEAL's coming to the rescue, and a shocking finale of a court-martial. Negative points were too many characters to keep track of, and somewhat racist and bigoted undertone of the author. But, still, "Who Flueng Dung" and "Chinese pricks" could be amusing at times.

Great action from Linaker with Bolan globe-hopping to stop a nuclear conspiracy. I was even thrilled to find a Jon Land-ish, outlandish-style scene toward the end of the book, with Bolan jumping a 4x4 from a dock, onto a boat heading out to sea. Cool stuff!

I found other David North books to be more enjoyable. This one seemed to jump around quite frequently, but the action scenes were plentiful enough so that it was fairly decent overall. Had a good, tense finale.

I'm not crazy about plots that deal with "nuclear countdowns", but this one had some good action sequences, and used most of the Stony Men. Some of the characterizations were sparse, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.

I found this to be an enjoyable book, with a good, overall storyline and good action scenes. The pacing was quick for the first half, then seemed to settle a bit in the middle, but the last 100 pages culminated in a rip-roaring, action-filled finale. The only thing that I thought would affect me was more "intensity" as far as the standoff between the two countries. It just didn't "feel" like we were on the verge of war, like the plot suggested.

I'm kind of torn over this one. I was engrossed by the plot, and thought the 3-way story arc was handled well. But, it was lacking in action scenes. Having those triple doses of Bolan, Able and Phoenix action is what defines the Stony Man series.

Enjoyable adventure with most of the Stony Man team. Had some good action, and I liked how they mentioned Greb Strakhov prominently.

This had a good plot, and it was fairly interesting. More so than most of the Gardner books I had read. Bond getting tortured was a great scene! Although, I guess I was expecting explosive action-like writing, like the Brosnan films, and it fell short on that aspect. But, much improved with the new author.

A decent effort from Schmidt. The auto-grenade launcher was cool! Not all of the battle scenes were up to par IMO. The ones in the jungle were above average. Didn't really find the villains very interesting, except for the daughter, and she wasn't utilized enough.

The book kept me interested, but like a lot of the undercover plots, it can be short on action. I've enjoyed other undercover books better.

Disappointed that Able wasn't in this, but this book moved at a whirlwind pace. Had some really good action scenes, too. Sometimes Newton fails at having a solid plot, but I didn't mind this one being just one gunfight after another. The village gun battle near the end is quite extensive and very exciting.

Hate to spoil this party, but I didn't find this one as good as the first COMCON book. First of all, I don't believe a "Terminator"-like character belongs in the Executioner universe. Secondly, that whole party scene was just a bit too odd for me to believe. The entire plot was something that just didn't flow, and I couldn't find it believable or serious. Okay, on the positive side, I found the characterizations to be dead on from the old "classic" days, and the action throughout the book was decent. I guess I'm being generous with a "6".

I found this to be one of the more enjoyable of the later Stony Man books. Both teams were used fairly equally, and the Linaker action was top notch. I loved the tension between McCarter and Mei Anna. Very, very exciting overall.

Started out with a spectacular action scene in the desert, with Bolan going up against helicopters and Nazis. Settled down a bit after that. Ended up being a satisfying first book in the COMCON series.

Fairly interesting follow-up to the Jim Gordon plotline, but overall, it was just an average effort. I didn't find any standout action sequence that Kasner will usually do. I did like the character of Bullis, and found the Bill Jordan character a hoot!

While this one had it's share of action, what stood out with me was the suspense. Bolan, without sanction, having to use what weapons he could get ahold of, in a hostile country. The acting troupe was a good addition. Would they escape from the rampaging hordes? Would Bolan get to them in time? And usually a negative, but not having a bona-fide villain was okay with me. It didn't hurt the story. Good finale, also.

This was just okay. Even though it was the first one with the Warwagon, and had Gadgets and Pol, it just didn't have a lot of action.

I found this to be a lame start to the series. Just could not get into it. Found the others in the series to be much more enjoyable.

Enjoyable tale of our post-nuclear heroes. Not as much action as the others, but it was fairly suspenseful. Loved the female villainess, and the scene where they cut open a whale to get at a crewmember who was just swallowed. Yuck!!

Although I was not crazy about the plotline, this had a lot of action. I also liked the two teams working without Bolan. This is the way the StonyMan books should be.

The first Bond book I ever read and I wasn't impressed.

Decent Bond adventure. Had some good chases.

If the latest Brosnan/Bond films were like this book, I'd have given up totally on READING 007. Slow and boring.

Good action all the way through. The helicopter chases were the biggest plus, and the final chase was very suspenseful.

Reasonably enjoyable Kasner book. I loved the Able Team shootout in the beginning, and their overall inclusion in the mission. The airstrike on the desert facility was the high point.

Finally, the series hit a speed bump in my opinion. I thought this was going to be totally different than it turned out to be. But, still a decent effort.

The saga continues at high gear, this time we have a detailed portrait of Ryan Cawdor and his family. Great stuff!!

Getting to find out all about Doc's history was probably the most interesting part of this book. Great story, loved the ode to "The Lottery".

This saga continued to have me wondering intensely what happened all those years ago to the world. Had some grim flashbacks to another age, when the group sees a video tape of a holocaust survivor telling his tale. Good action, too!!

Good follow-up story, had me real interested in the trans-jump technology our heroes use to travel around. And the Doc character added a bit of wonder: Who was he, where did he come from, etc.

Enjoyable first book in series. Love the saying's, "fireblast", and the old codger,(can't remember his name all of a sudden). Presents an extremely vivid portrait of a Nuke-blasted America.

Just doing an update of my previous review, since I re-read it. I have to say that this is one of the strongest books which deals with the Bolan character and mystique. You get an insight into when Bolan was little, what different teachers and women had to say about him. And of course the story is a good one, with the grim turkey, and an excellant confrontation with Marinello and the Taliferos. Some really great philosophical writing!

Kind of just an average book. I didn't think the action scenes were that great. But,Evita Aguilar was introduced, and Bolan's friendship with Grimaldi blossomed.

While I found this better than Breach of Trust, it was just an average novel. The Jim Gordon subplot was done fairly well, but for the exception of the tank batallion battle, the action scenes were not as explosive as I would have liked. I'd give it **1/2 out of ****

I hate to be the odd man out here, but I found this book to be a disappointment. I did enjoy it in some areas. The first 50 or so pages was very tense. The last 50 or so pages was decent, but everything in between moved in fits and starts. I thought there was a lot of talking and not enough kick ass scenes. I wanted Lyons to really go ballistic like in the early Able books, but it didn't happen. Overall, it was average.

I expected this to be a lot better than it really was. Although Kasner kept things moving, he needs help with writing his action scenes. I guess I prefer the explosiveness of Fieldhouse. The book kept me interested, but not one of the better Stony Man 's overall. The bombing scene was the standout sequence.

I hadn't read a book by Odom for a long time, and found this to be fairly enjoyable, but it can't touch Stony Man III with a ten foot pole.

Even though it offered nothing new from Mike Newton, it was a fast-paced book that I enjoyed.

An enjoyable entry that was fast paced. Liked Bolan wiping out the conspirators in the finale.

A very good, action packed book that had an original story. Liked the aspect of the virus mutating to become a killer to any race or color.

Just a standard plot from Newton. Nothing great about this. A semi-enjoyable book.

Just a so-so adventure. I was sort of disappointed by VanCook.

As a techno-thriller on its own, it was decent, but as a Stony Man book, it paled in comparison to the ones before it. Able Team was severely under utilized.

A great, action-packed book, with a decent plot.

I found this to be a pretty enjoyable entry from Mike Newton. A big improvement from Stony Man VII.

This was one of the low points of the Stony Man series. It was okay overall, but not what I'm used to.

This was a change of pace for a Stony Man. I found it to be really suspenseful on board the train. Then later in the book, the action was very intense. I missed Able though.

This one was very action-packed. Enjoyed it a lot.

Just an okay effort from Mike Newton. It kept me interested, but not spectacular.

Another whopper by Fieldhouse. I especially liked the drug dealers little toys during the final shootout.

This one wasn't bad, but it paled in comparison to the last few books of the series.

Another fast-paced adventure by Fieldhouse. Probably his best Stony Man book.

This, in my opinion is one of the best Stony Man's. The attack on Stony Man Farm was exciting.

Not as good as the first one by a long shot. But, it was passable.

This is the best Bolan book around! What an experience!

I thought this was the weakest entry in the trilogy. But still, a fairly good book.

In my opionion, this ranks a close second to Stony Man Doctrine. This is a hell of a book. The Bolan history in this book is looked at and written very well. Bolan kicks some ass in this! I mean, look out!! The death of Johnny's girlfriend is the ultimate gut-wrencher. And yes, Mack is a cold one in this entry. A must read for any Bolan fan.

A really great book that showed Bolan's last days in Vietnam. The scenes with his family were well done. A near classic.

I was in complete awed during the hijacking part of the book. Some of the best moments in the history of the Executioner. After that, the book dropped off in intensity. A great read though.

An okay book. Enjoyable enough, but a big letdown from Flight 741.

This was a very original entry that was fairly enjoyable. The climax where Bolan unloads with his sniper rifle was very tense

A good entry by Newton. The inclusion of Able and Phoenix was great!

A decent entry from McDade. Probably better than his later SB's.

This was a classic. The action was fast, and the story was tense. But, wasn't the shuttle disaster a different date than the one they gave. Big time mistake!

Not a bad book. Had some action, and I especially liked Bolan trying to survive in the desert. Overall, a good read.

I was disappointed with this one. It moved really slow. A below average effort.

Nothing spectacular out of Mike Newton. Just your standard stuff. I did like the aspect of Mack Bolan possibly having a daughter.

This was a very action-packed book, and like the other one by Sadler and Stone, there is a tremendous body count. Overall, a B+ or A-

This was just an average book. The scene where he was strafing the MIG with an Uzi was the most memorable part.

Nothing great about this book. A real yawner from Peter Leslie. The climax was awfully boring.

What a body count in this one! Jeez! Other than that, I think this one went downhill about half-way through and finished as just an average effort.

A fine sequel to Dead Line. Some decent action scenes from Carl Furst(Which is a surprise). Not a great book, but very enjoyable.

A real action packed entry from Newton. In my opinion, this was one of the last real good SB's until Jungle Law.

Better than Flash Point, but still nothing great. An average read, but what a great ending

A pretty good read that had a lot of action, and used Brognola more than usual. Grade: B

I was never a fan of Carl Furst, and this book was no exception. Although it was decent, it just didn't have that extra punch that a Fieldhouse book does.

I thought this was the best of the trilogy, and I liked them bringing a historical event(invasion of Panama) into this. But my big question was: Where the hell was Able Team?

A blah entry from McDade. Not the book I thought it was going to be.

This one was different, I'll say that much. How about those seances? A good read.

This was a hell of a ride! The action was intense, and Eldridge was a hell of a villain. One of the better SuperBolans.

One of the better Furst books. I enjoyed it very much.

Just a standard outing from Mike Newton.

This was nothing great. I limped my way through it.

This was just a decent read. I really liked the character of Jake Pool, who thought he was John Wesley Hardin. He shore got hisself good and plugged!

For some reason, I found this trilogy to be my least favorite. I didn't like the story, the situation of Mack Bolan leading an army. Get real!

What a waste of a trilogy. The first two entries were so explosive and exciting, I had to catch my breath. Then we get this monstrosity! I didn't hate it, but it left me feeling cheated.

Great book that easily could have been a Stony Man novel. Phoenix and Able helped out Mack along the way. Lyons even had the Atchisson! A spectacular final battle capped off this fast-paced adventure.

Once again, you have your standard action from Newton. It was fairly enjoyable. Loved the colorful front cover.

This was an above average book that had some good action sequences, and Able Team! The climax was sort of cheesy though.

Finally, we have a wonderful Mike Newton book. And Able Team is in this one! Yeah!! This was very action-packed, even though it offered nothing new as far as plot.

Major, major loser!!!! For once, I couldn't even finish this one. I would have been very disappointed if I'd bought this one. Luckily I got it from a cheapie booksale.

Very original and action packed. I liked the idea of SHC.

Not a bad book, but I didn't find it as satisfying as the classic Schmidt books, way back in the (#)90's and early 100's.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record here. It offered nothing new, but it was very fast-paced and enjoyable.

When I first saw the plot of this one, I knew I had to get it, despite whoever wrote it. It was such a treat. It was very original, and the plot line had one of my favorite elements, going back to Able Team-Hostaged Island---a community under siege from terrorists. The action was intense, with some cold-blooded villains. One of the best SuperBolans, I think. Snare this one!

This was a bit of a disappointment. The only thing that was really interesting was the backstory on Katz. I was expecting Bolan and Katz to kick some big-time ass in this. And well? The action scenes were few and far between. I didn't find anything grand about them. In my opinion, not VanCook's shining hour.

This one was like one of the old kick-ass Bolan books. A lot of action, with Mack taking it hard to the bad guys. I liked this one a lot, even though I thought there were some faults with it. Not much storyline, the bad guys offing their subordinates like the national pastime, and a weak ending. I'd give it a low *** rating out of ****, nonetheless. As I said, it reminded me of the Bolan books from the early 80's, and I can overlook those minor problems.

I liked this entry very much. I was surprised by former Able Team writer Chuck Rogers, for having such a fast-paced adventure.

I thought this was a great start to the trilogy. The action was intense and fast paced, and the climactic gunfight was cool. The only problem I had with this was all the extra characters that helped Mack along the way were totally unnecessary. The addition of some of the Stony Men was okay.

A great book! I really liked the plot of this one. It was written better than the first book. The chase in the desert with the helicopters was a superb scene.

Kind of a weak finale to an otherwise good trilogy. The action wasn't nearly that intense, although I still enjoyed it. The best scenes were the village shootout, and the submarine sequence.

Interesting story with Able Team attacking the Farm. The scenes with Able fighting the Stony crew was cool. Not a top Fieldhouse book, though. On the whole, it was fairly enjoyable.

I didn't find this to be as good as other Chuck Rogers books, but it was fairly enjoyable because of the situations involving Bolan and comrades being trapped in a compound and having to survive repeated attacks by hordes of bad guys.

Yesssss! The return of a villain from PF: Amazon Strike. And what an action-packed entry this was. It was also a continuation of that book. I've waited ten years for Kurt Mohn to resurface and was not disappointed. A few of the action scenes might have been forced, not having any real merit except to pile up more bodies. Other than that, great book!

A decent, action-packed book with a great finale. The action scenes themselves didn't seem as crisp as previous Schmidt books I'd read, and the plot was nothing special. Otherwise, I'd give it a grade B+.

Enjoyable, action-packed novel by this first time writer. The final assualt on the castle was a great one!

This is THE book of the later Bolans. What a wild ride, with guns blazing at every turn. And the final pages are stupendous! An explosive classic!

This had a few decent shootouts, but it was a bland entry.

A great way to start a trilogy. A very good entry!

This one was good, but I liked the first one much more.

A standard actioner from Newton. Not great, but it had a good final shootout.

Just your standard, run of the mill Bolan. How lucky can one guy get. Did that hammer fall on an empty chamber with Mack in his sights?

Just a decent effort from Newton. The car chase in the finale was sort of boring.

Yeah! Fieldhouse writes a Bolan Book! Action oriented and exciting. Liked having Katz in this one.

I didn't like Bolan teaming up with a rescue team. The plot was horrible! What a yawner!

I liked this book, although This was the least favorite of the trilogies. I thought this was the best of the three.

Not as good as the first entry, but a pretty decent book anyway.

This was an excellent entry. Plenty of action to satisfy my tastes.

Nothing special about this one. It had good action and shootouts, but they hardly focused on the villain.

This was just one confrontation after another, but it was one of the better books that I had read for a long time.

This was just a rehash of the previous book, but it was more of the same explosive action that I enjoyed immensely.

A decent entry, but not great.

I found this to be an entertaining entry. Right from the beginning, it had a neat little surprise. It also had a villain that wasn't a cardboard cut out. A lot of action, but the scenes could have been written better. Overall, not great, but pretty good.

A much better book than #100 in my opinion. It was enjoyable.

The usual from Fieldhouse. Action-oriented and fast-paced.

I thought the return of Dan Schmidt was going to be a glorious day. Now, this was a fairly good book, but not what I was used to reading. Overall, I was a bit disappointed.

While not the best book from Fieldhouse, I gave it high marks anyway.

I was disappointed at the plainness of this book.

Another yawner.

I was so disgusted with the trilogy at this point, I didn't even bother finishing this one.

This seemed to be just a plain Bolan adventure.

This one had some good action sequences, but I thought the suicide run on the White House(I think), was pretty silly. Overall, not the best from Schmidt, but I enjoyed it.

A good finale to this trilogy. Action packed and exciting. But I thought they didn't utilize Able Team enough.

A surprising winner from Furst. This one had a lot of action.

A good book from Newton, although not his best. The final wipeout was very explosive.

Not a great book. Started to be a yawner, but i managed to get through it.

Started out good, but didn't live up to my expectations.

A outstanding entry from Leslie. Possibly his best writing. The oil rig action was great!

A whopper of an action novel. I loved it!

This one got better as it went along. Finished as a pretty good read. But, I didn't care for the artist's misleading of Bolan having the Automag, which he didn't.

A bland effort from Furst. The scene in Iraq was the best part. Had a crappy ending.

This was just a "good" book from Newton, but the final scene of Bolan and Val was a great moment.

A great, Die Hard-like plot, with a lot of action. I really liked it.

A good, action-packed novel.

An action packed entry, but there were too many characters to keep track of. Overall, just a good book.

An okay book, but I'm not crazy about this writer.

This was one of those almost-classics. It was fast paced and enjoyable.

Not a great one by Furst, but it passes as enjoyable.

A good entry in the series. I was glad to see another trilogy come along.

Standard, run-of-the-mill Bolan. Having Bolan being pursued while he was wounded was a plus. And the final shootout was above par.

A nice look into Bolan's life in Vietnam. Otherwise, just a decent effort.

A worthy effort from Mike Newton.

Not a bad book. But not one of my favorites.

This one just missed on being a great one! I liked the prison scenes, and his infiltration of the Shining Path. Overall, it was pretty good.

Big time yawner.

A really good Bolan entry. He used the Automag again!!! Yeah!!!

Another great book from Peter Leslie. But, I was put off by the unfinished ending.

Started out to be a great read, but settled into an average actioner.

The first book I read by Carl Furst, and I wasn't impressed. It was just a so-so adventure.

This was a fairly decent book. Not as good as Sanson's others, but it had a lot of action. The story was not one of the best. Bolan leading a coup against a country? I like Bolan in his lone-wolf mode, thank you.

Not the best by Newton. Thought it dragged in places. And what about that new front cover? Gold Eagle should shoot themselves for that blunder!

I'm shocked. I thought this one by Furst was passable, and quite enjoyable. Didn't like Salina Beaudreax getting away. But, she showed up in Knockdown, so, oh well.

A total classic! The action was fast and furious, along with the climax shootout in the end.

A fairly good book. The snow scenes were very good.

A good "chase" book from Mike Newton. The final shootout ranks up there with the best.

A fast paced book from Sanson. This writer should have stayed around longer.

One of my all-time favorites of the series. A classic!

Enjoyable.

Another good, action-packed story from Schmidt.

Sorry to say, this is not one of my favorites. Kind of bland in my opinion.

A very suspenseful story that had me cheering for Mack and Johnny as they came together to fight Animal Man.

Finally did reread this one and it was passable in a "Day of the Jackal" sort of way. It had a lot of tense cat and mouse scenes. But the big grand shootouts that I've come to expect of the Executioner were not there. I think that was the reason I reviewed it the way I did the first time.

The first half was pretty good, then it seemed to fall flat. Guess I'll have to re-read it one of these days to see if I still feel the same.

Overall, a loser in my opinion.

A really great book by Schmidt. The ending is a classic.

Not good, but not bad either. The best part is a return of an adversary from Flight 741.

Yea, Dan Schmidt! Another winner!

So-so. Not one of the best.

A pretty good undercover role for Bolan. B+!

Schmidt's last great one, I'm afraid.

Pretty decent book.

Leslie's later works are much better.

Another whopper of a novel that has it all. Great action scenes, and we even see McCarter have a crush. A must read also.

Same as the rest of the Phoenix books. Great reading with loads of action.

A great read. Loved having Grimaldi and Dragon Slayer in this. Very action oriented.

All I can say after reading this was: Wow! Stupendous! One of the best Phoenix books of all time. It had everything: action, suspense, and a really great Villain in Colonel Skull. A true classic.

Again, more of the same explosive action. Grade: A

More usual stuff, with the standard action.

Good action scenes, but nothing new from Fieldhouse.

A classic from Linaker with more Grimaldi and Dragon Slayer. Loved the scene with McCarter bickering with one of the bad guys on a radio. Great stuff!

This one had standard action and was pretty good, but nothing spectacular.

Very impressive book. The final assault on the castle is explosive. Grade: A

Started out kind of blah, but got better as I read on. Overall, a good read.

Not one of the best from Linaker, it was still enjoyable with a lot of action.

This started out very slow, but it picked up the pace and by the end I was satisfied with the effort overall.

I thought this was one of the best of the later Phoenix Forces. And finally we have Jack Grimaldi flying a violent work of art. The action sequences are breathtaking. Go Dragon Slayer!

A great sequel to #29, this had some tense moments, along with your standard action. The confrontation between Encizo and his brother is a high point in the series.

A very good read. This was the first book I read by Linaker and I was impressed.

This had a nifty plot, but this book on a whole bored me. I'm glad this writer didn't stay around long. Very slow pacing.

This was another one of the great ones. Very explosive writing, and once again, a cool front cover.

Good sequel to #12. It was slow at first, but when the Force engaged with the zombie killers, it really took off.

I didn't think this book was up to par with most others. It had it's share of action, but it didn't seem as intense.

What an explosive way to end the story arc with TRIO. Good shootouts and martial arts action.

Good action with another nifty front cover.

A real thriller that has roots back to #9. The confrontation between a blind Katz and German terrorists is a classic.

Action packed with a good story. Loved the front cover.

One of those must read books if you want to know what became of Encizo's family. A great read overall, with some suspense at the end.

A good entry with the standard action. Newman is almost as good as Fieldhouse.

A great book where the Force goes up against Trio again. A lot of action, and they left the reader hanging as to the fate of John Trent.

One of my all time favorite Phoenix books. I love the hostage plots, and this was an exceptional adventure, with Encizo and James almost buying it bigtime. It kind of got scary there for a moment.

One of the better books on a whole, plot-wise, action, etc. Great cover too.

I thought this was just an average Phoenix Force book. Not as much action as I'm used to.

Don't remember much from this one, but I remember it was action packed. Usual Fieldhouse.

I liked the aspect of Karl Hahn filling in for Encizo. Your usual stuff from Fieldhouse. Action galore.

Along with Black Alchemists, this is a must read for the fact that Encizo comes very close to buying the big one. A great book also, very action-oriented.

A really great book. Having Phoenix on the run was great. Some of the highlights I enjoyed was the comment made by Manning (I think) about ".....do you remember the show "Mission Impossible?" Also, the climatic shootout was high voltage!

This was an enjoyable TRIO book. I loved all the puns the Force used throughout the book. Especially the James Bond puns. Overall, action galore.

Good action scenes with great villains.

Another book that is very memorable--John Trent's first appearance, and the first book with TRIO, a vicious Phoenix Force nemesis. Good martial arts action.

Another one of your standard Fieldhouse book with plenty of shoot-outs. Liked it a lot.

A nice quickie that really moves, and the extra story on Keio O'Hara was good too.

A great, action packed book.

Excellent book that introduces Karl Hahn. Great shoot-outs and a whirlwind pace.

I found the plot in this one to be very interesting and very scary. Otherwise, a lot of action.

This is a must-read in the Phoenix series. The villains are nasty and Keio goes out in true warrior fashion.

The action was fast and furious. A great book.

I found this book to be a yawner. A low point in the series if you ask me.

A good one with a lot of memorable shoot-outs.

A standard outing that had some decent action.

Another whopper that moved very fast with the trademark action from Fieldhouse.

This had some good action scenes, but the overall book was just okay.

An okay book, but not as good as the Fieldhouse ones.

This was an average entry. Not as explosive as Fieldhouse.

A great book! Fieldhouse is the master at crafting action sequences. Very fast paced.

I enjoyed this one a lot. Big improvement over the previous two. A lot of action.

This one was about the same as #1. Not the explosive action that I had become used to reading from Phoenix.

A mediocre start to my favorite series. Things moved along at a very slow pace. Glad they didn't stay like this.

An average effort from Leslie.

An average read. Passable enough for my taste.

This is one the many that I've read more than once. All I can say is that I didn't think it was that great the second time around.

Another winner from Mike Newton. Bolan going undercover is very tense.

One of Leslie's greatest books. Exciting from beginning to end.

While not one of the most action-packed books, the "trial" was very interesting, right down to the blazing shootout.

The final confrontation between Bolan and Strakhov is an absolute classic. I loved it.

One of my all time favorite Bolans. I liked his interaction with kids. We got a brief look into Bolan's feelings toward children.

An outstanding entry. The action scenes are very explosive.

Schmidt was one of my favorite writers. The whole book was awesome.

Very good. It was good to see the Bolan brothers fighting side by side.

An entertaining entry.

A great, action-packed book. It left me breathless.

A pretty good book. Not great, but not bad, either.

I liked the aspect of bringing a villain with ties to Farnsworth. Other than that, a fairly good book, but not what I was expecting for the 100th entry.

Not a high point in the series, if you ask me. Kind of blah!

The ending is one we knew was coming, and ohhhhhh, so sad. Overall, a good read.

An awesome collector's item. The weapons descriptions are great, along with the list of characters from the previous Bolan books.

A hard-hitting conclusion to the trilogy. I cheered as Bolan executed the traitor in front of the President.

Not one of the best. A so-so book.

A pretty good book, but not one of my favorites from Cunningham.

Action-packed and fairly enjoyable

Another winner by Chet Cunningham. The finale is very exciting as Bolan chases Strakhov.

A decent book from Mike Newton. A lot of characters with ties to #4: Miami Massacre.

A good one.

Bolan is in top form as he deals another deadly blow to the Soviets. Very good.

Shawnee's return was good, but the book overall was a yawner.

A good book, but not one of the better ones.

Not too bad. Although not great, it was nice to see Able Team in this one.

An entertaining entry.

One of my personal favorites as far as Mike Newton goes. Explosive from beginning, to the wipeout of Mafia bosses in the end.

A great one!

Along with Shock Waves, this was one of the great efforts from Mike Newton. A good companion piece to St. Louis Showdown.

Big-time loser.

Pretty good.

A good one. Nice undercover role for Bolan

Not the greatest, but it's passable material.

A classic! Bolan's final blitz after finding Eve turned into turkey meat is totally awesome. His war journal log is one that is sure to touch our hearts.

This falls somewhere in the middle of my scale. A good one, but not spectacular.

Not too bad. Passable.

Mertz is one of the best Bolan writers! Very action-oriented. I loved it!

I found this to be fairly slow, and not the normal kick-ass Bolan adventure. The action scenes were few and far between. The biggest plus was the mentioning of past Able and Phoenix novels as reference to the threat posed by the Yakuza and Ninja killers.

Like Mertz, Chruchill is a writer who can really excite me with his action sequences. Outstanding!

Along with Double Crossfire, this one was pure excitement.

Chruchill hits the mark again! Very action packed. Sort of in the Die Hard mode, 5 years before that film even came out.

A good one to see April Rose in action. Enjoyable!

Cunningham ranks up there with the best of them. Another Die Hard-type plot that is high on action. Outstanding!

A good one with one of the ranger girls. Exciting!

This one was a yawner for the first 100 pages, but things quickly got going thereafter. Good action scenes, but there wasn't much change in the scenery. Bolan pretty much hung around the enemy camp for the whole book. The combined Bolan-Grimaldi assault saved this from being less than it's overall farily good effort. I would have put Double Crossfire as the beginning of the New War, though. It had a mafia battle to kind of usher out that phase of Bolan's career, then onto the New War with the Armenian plot.

One of my personal favorites from his New War. A lot of action.

Just a so-so read.

An action-packed book.

I enjoyed this one.

Another entertaining book.

A good book. One of the better ones in his final six days.

Pretty decent.

This was a entertaining book.

Good book. A very satisfying conclusion to Bolan's Mafia wars.

A so-so book.

Good episode in the Mafia Wars. Morello was an ultra cool, ultra sadistic baddie. Loved his execution of Sorenson. A real cold-hearted ending.

A pretty good book. The three traitors from Vietnam was the biggest attraction.

Not a great book, but I love the front cover.

Like Monday, it was just an okay read.

Good book.

Nothing great about this one. Like the front cover. Overall, an average effort.

A decent book, but not great.

A really informative piece with info about the Executioner's one man war. Love the drawings of the War Wagon. A collectors item.

Fairly entertaining.

A good book.

A so-so entry.

I thought it was sort of an average entry. The biggest plus was the appearance of all the familiar faces: The Ranger Girls, Tommy Anders, Hal Brognola, Jack Grimaldi, Carl Lyons...Whew!

One of the better Mafia War books that I have read.

Not too bad. Enjoyable.

Nothing really special. Having the future members of Able Team in this one was a plus. the high point was the hit on the mobster's mansion.

Good entry which has one of the most exciting prologues in all of the original Mafia Wars. Undercover role was done well, with nice action scenes.

Even thought there has been controversy over the writer of this book, It was one of the better ones of the Mafia wars, I thought. Very action-packed.

Can't remember too much from this book, but I think it was a decent effort. Bolan's friend being turned into turkeymeat was memorable.

Another entertaining read. Action-packed and exciting.

Pretty good. The death of Georgette Chableau was a gut-twister.

Didn't find anything special reading this one. I found the Warwagon scene between Dianna and Bolan to be totally ludicrous! You know, they're complete strangers, they look at each other, the next thing you know, they're bumping uglies!! Comon, all you ladies out there. Is that how it is with a complete stranger? The shootout in the end wasn't drawn out enough, either.

Entertaining. The assault on DiGeorge's mansion where the Death Squad gets wiped out was very sad.

Good early undercover role for Bolan. Loved the car-crash scene, and the discovery of the "turkey".

Not great as far as I'm concerned, but decent.

It was an average book.

Not as good as II but very enjoyable none the less. The Able novel was good but not great, and had a kick-ass ending. The Phoenix book was fast-paced. The usual from Fieldhouse.

This is a hot item in my opinion. All three novels were very well done. The two Phoenix novels were fast-paced, and the Able novel was one of the better ones that I've read for a while. Get a hold of this one!

The Able Team novel was pretty good, but not as well done as Heroes II. The Phoenix novel was very action packed with that great humorous banter between McCarter and the other members of the Force. I thought they could have utilized DragonSlayer more, but the carnage it wreaked was cool anyway. The Vietnam: Ground Zero novel was about on par compared to the other ones I've read. Not great, but passable.

I really thought this one was going to be a classic. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty good, but not great. If I remember correctly, Lyons really didn't use the Atchisson as depicted on the cover. What kind of sacrilege is that?

This was a very entertaining book, although it bugs me that Ken Rose cannot seem to be sure on how many rounds are expended at different times in the narrative. (Example: He fired five or six more useless rounds.....).I like the justice that was dealt to the woman torturer. Great imagery seeing these specters closing in on her.

By far my favorite Ken Rose book. Very fast paced. The ending is a total classic.

This was downright silly. A major disappointment from Lethal Trade. The action scenes were stale, and the villain was something out of the old James Bond films.

A fairly good book, much better than the Renauld books.

Not my favorite Ken Rose book. The interaction between the Team was the only thing this had going for it. The action was blah.

Ken Rose isn't the best Able writer, but this one was entertaining enough. Had some good shootout scenes.

This started out to be fairly good, but went way downhill. And the plot was ludicrous!

A good but not great entry. The freeway shootout, and the finale shooutout were very well done.

Great cover, but what an awful book. The final shootout was decent, but that was it.

Better than the last one, but still pretty much a yawner of a book. The action is almost non-existent, and Lao Ti is not utilized like she was earlier in the series.

Horrible!! Absolutely terrible! One of the worst Able Team books that I have ever had the displeasure of reading. The only high point was the torture by ants scene.

Yawn! Another bland entry from Renauld.

A fast paced entry from this new writer. The only thing that bugged me was that it seemed to jump around a lot toward the end.

A fairly entertaining entry from Renauld. The action scenes are a little better to go along with a good storyline.

Boy is this one a deciever. I read the plot on the back cover and read the book and find some major differences. This one was worse than the last book. Hardly any action and a limp finale.

Once again, we have a decent story, but the non-existent action scenes. A waste for the return of an enemy from the Team's past.

Just a so-so read. The story kept me interested, but the action scenes were so slight, you might blink and miss them.

Yes, I bashed Renauld in some other reviews but I found this to be very enjoyable. Not on par with early Ables, but it had some good shootouts, plus a close one with Lao Ti.

I had to read this one a second time years later to decide it actually was a half-decent book. The shootout in the end has some great moments, especially the FOG launcher scene and the sight of Lyons yelling "Have some lead for lunch, fellas!" as he unloads the Barrett M-82 on some baddies.

An awesome sequel to #12. We finally find out what happened to Lyons' load of buckshot that he fired at Jishin at the close of the first book. A lot of action, and Lyons battle with Jishin in the climax is great.

Pretty entertaining. I only bought it because of the death of Julie Harris. It rambled quite frequently, with some rather odd stories, but the final battle was good.

This book had some good villains, but not much else. Oh, and the subplot with Lyons' ex-wife. Overall, just so-so

And what a ride it was. Good action from Arnett, and one of the memorable times when Lyons goes ballistic.

Only slightly better than Cajun Angel. On the whole, a loser. High point was the M-82 carnage.

A total waste of 220 pages. Not Chuck Rogers' finest hour. The only point of interest was a woman from Lyons' past.

This one was fairly enjoyable. The head-in-the-box scene was classic. And the confrontation between Lyons and Kadal was well worth the wait.

Not one of Arnett's best but it was enjoyable.

A good, fast paced adventure, and a kick-ass cover.

A great read, with a lot of action, and more of that wonderful Atchisson description. Especially when Lyons kills the leader of the terrorists. Far out!!

An enjoyable conclusion to the Teams fight against the International. The final shootout was great.

One of my all time favorites. A lot of action, with some rather odd scenes, like Lyons talking to a skull. The Ironman kicking ass in the end is a real thriller.

An enjoyable book. I was actually in suspense when I got to the end, wondering what was going to happen to Ironman.

Not the best from Able. It was passable material.

A good book. But not great. Loved the description of what the villagers did to the drug dealer in the end.

A very disappointing sequel to #15. It moved real slow. Just a so-so book.

A pretty good book. My favorite scene was the dog carrying a human arm in his teeth. Jeez!!!

I enjoyed this one a little more than Scorched Earth. It continued the story of Ables battle with the International. Overall, a good read.

A decent, but not great entry in the final battles with the International. It kept me interested.

I loved this one. Great action, and a good villain. The ending was rather abrubt, and we had to wait till #32 to see the outcome.

A good book, with a lot of action. I loved the scene in the beginning where a gymnast gets blown to smithereens.

This one went too fast to be anything great. It was tolerable.

A pretty good book, but I didn't consider it a classic.

G.H, you are one sadistic puppy! This was such an explosive entry! The scene that got me was when gang members were tossing around a baby like he was a basketball. Brutal, brutal stuff. I love it!

As far as I'm concerned, this book is a close second to #2. The action is so brutal, it's sadistically funny. The description of the Atchisson carnage is my favorite.

An enjoyable read, most notable for the intro to Unomundo.

A really fast paced entry. The action never slowed for one minute. One of the better ones.

Just an average book. Notable for the first appearance of Lyons' Atchisson.

Didn't find anything special about this one. Just an average read.

My favorite of all the Able Team books. This one really moves. The plot lines of citizens trying to evade the invading hordes is a really tense sequence. And Able kicks some big-time ass in this. An exciting classic.

A great start to good series. The plot is similiar to Die Hard, and the final assault is a classic.

It was fairly decent. Not what I thought it was going to be. The final wipeout was classic