Heavydrop

This was the first Executioner I had read in several months, and it was a really cool trip back to the old days of this series. I have to admit that I have never read any of the old Phoenix Force novels, and have only read a handful of the current Stonyman books. That being said, it was very cool to see PF featured here. This mission was definitely a "team" outing, and Bolan's inclusion of PF was logical and well-handled. Kind of made me want to dig out some of the ones I do have and read those. As for the story itself, it was nicely done. Good pacing and action, fairly good characterization, and some interesting villains and plot twists. Unlike a lot of the books of this era, this one didn't really make anyone a "Superman" with over-the-top feats of action. Overall a good read.

I decided to read this one out of nostalgia, as it came from the era where I started reading Mack Bolan books. On the whole, it was a good read. Nothing spectacular, but a good, standard fare Bolan adventure. The action was fast paced, exciting, and well-described. The dialogue was good, and the characterizations well-done. Overall, an enjoyable read. The only complaints I have are that there are sections of obvious fluff. Mike Newton was clearly struggling to make the word-count on this one, and so filled many pages with superfluous exposition (chapter 16 is 2 pages, and has absolutely nothing to do with the plot). Also, some of the action was a bit over the top, and, as other reviewers have stated, made Mack look a little too super-human (A shoulder roll that carries him 36 feet? That's some Spider-Man stuff there). But, if you just breeze through those sections, it's a good effort, and very indicative of the period in which it was written. There isn't much that really dates it, aside from political references. And the "laser wagon" was a bit of a stretch at time, but not too much.

This one was pretty enjoyable. There was some extra characterization, particularly with Lyons and Hal. The action was exciting, with a good mix of guns, knives and hand to hand. The plot was suitably big, involving some big players. There are a few small things that detracted from the book, though. Some of the exposition came across as "filler" just to get the word count up. And while the scene with Hal and the Senator was well-done, and made for some great characterization, it seemed tacked on, and didn't really do anything for the plot. Aside from that, and a couple of small editorial mistakes (at one point Able Team was referred to as Phoenix Force), this is a solid entry, and very readable.

I fully expect this book to someday make the top 20 of the list. It was that damn good! The villains were real and dastardly, and very well developed. Bolan had allies that made sense, and no one seemed to be "thrown in" just for effect. The plot was tight and moved a break neck speed. The fights were suitably over the top in true StonyMan style, but there was always a feeling of real danger in each encounter. Everyone involved took a beating in this one. It was very fun to see co-starring appearances of other StonyMan warriors, rather than just passing cameos. If I had to come up with a single gripe, I would say that sometimes Doug gets a bit heavy on the gory details of how ballistically induced apertures affect the human body. But that's more of a style thing, rather than a flaw. Either way, it never detracted from the narrative. All in all, the best Executioner I have read in a long time.

This one was a nicely paced actioner. Lots of guns blazing, fists flying and blades flashing. The only complaints I had were that the Chinese names seemed to blend together after a while, and I kind of forgot who was who every once in a while. Not a big complaint, as the identities became clear enough to follow. That may not be a complaint about the book so much as my American-ness. The other problem was a few times things were just a bit over the top. Bolan is truly a superman in this one, and so are his compatriots. But even these instances were handled well, and so they were easily forgivable. All in all, one of the best Executioners I have read in a long while.

I liked this one, but it had a couple of problems. First of all, it felt more like an Executioner that had been artificially inflated with extraneous information and descriptions to get the word count up to SuperBolan requirements. I can usually deal with this, but it did manage to slow the pace of some action scenes. My only other real problem was the somewhat heavy-handed political commentary. Usually the authors are pretty good about "not taking sides" but in this one, Doug seemed to say screw it, and put his feelings on a certain former president and his policies on paper. Granted, it really only happened two or three times, but they stuck out and soured me a little. Still, all that being said, it was a good action yarn with a contemporary setting and some good old-fashioned grunt work on the part of Mack. The characters were all pretty well fleshed out, and I always like it when I find myself rooting for one of the villains...even if it only lasts for a scene or two.

Once again, Phil does not disappoint. The story is fast-paced, but not overly complicated. I was able to set the book down for long periods and pick it right back up when I got a chance to read a little more. The action was exciting, the plot unique enough, but still what I have come to expect from Mack during this phase of the series. And the supporting cast was damn-near perfect. In fact, I can't think of a single character that had any fleshing out that wasn't done well. I was going to give this a 9, but after thinking about it, I can't really find any faults at all.

This book was pretty cool. It was nice to see Bolan working a bit further from the Farm's influence. It was also cool to have take down some nasty Mafia guys again. My only real complaint was that some of the subplots seemed superfluous and the ending was a bit rushed. This seems to be a problem with these recent books, and I think it has to do with the editing. Still, all in all, this was a fun read.

This was a pretty good one. The story flowed well, the action was nice and intense, and the plot was suitably epic for such a small book. I think if I had any complaints it would be that the villain wasn't developed enough (though that may well be due to the shorter book length), and some of the dialogue, particularly between the bad guys, seemed a bit melodramatic. Of course, that had the added benefit of making them seem more out of touch with reality. Either way, it certainly didn't detract from the story at all. A good, solid addition.

Everything has been said that needs to be said about this book. I could personally find very few faults with this one. I think the only thing I had a hard time getting through was all of the technical details about hardware. But it wasn't anything bad enough to detract from the overall experience. All things considered, it didn't read much like a "first effort" book. And if the rest of Doug's efforts only show improvement, then I can't wait to read the next one.

Just finished this one and had a great time. The good parts have been covered by others. And the only bad part was a couple of minor technical errors. Well, errors in that they didn't fall in with the real US Army, and one that may have just been how I interpreted how the passage was written. But despite these minor hiccups, the story was action-packed and flowed well.

I thought this book wrapped up the triliogy nicely, and gave the series a nice, fresh start in a new direction. The good: Lots of action, some plot twists (though not so subtle, I knew who the mole was) and solid story-telling. The bad: The writing was a bit melodramatic at times, and it felt like it was stuffed with fluff to get the page-count up. Over all, still a good entry, and even though it's dated, it holds up well.

Ok, I wasn't disappointed with this book. It had everything I hoped for. The writing style even took me back to the days when I first started reading the books. Gritty, gory and melodramatic. The only complaint I had was that April's death seemed like an afterthought. Had they changed the cover picture, and not included her dying, it would have been a good, stand-alone story. Still, it was a shocker, and makes me want to run out and get the next two in this little trilogy.

This was another good read. I blew through it fast, which, in my opinion, is a sure sign that it was a good Mack Bolan novel. I thought the characters were all well-rounded, the action tense, and the fact that a few good guys actually bought it was a nice plus. Made the story feel real and urgent. There were a couple of "conveniences" (like a pistol somehow misfiring at an opportune time), and the end did seem a little rushed and incomplete. But in the grand scheme, these were minor. I recommend this one highly.

This was another great read. I am really liking the larger format books. This one had a lot of action, some humor, some history. It even had sex that was relevant to the plot! The bad guys were scary, the tech was just within the believable, but just outside the known. All in all, one of the best I've read.

Having read Death whisper, I was stoked to hear that Baibakov was back. I'm a sucker for recurring bad guys. I liked this one a lot. Blew through it pretty quick. The characters were fun, and I actually found myself rooting for a bad-guy-turned-good. The actions was cool, with a lot of good technology references. Of course, having just red Oceans of Fire prior to this, I found some of the situations ironic (if you read both, you'll know what I mean). All in all, a good read. Chuck still stands at the top of the heap.

This was the first I had read in a while, and I remembered why I loved the series. This one was particularly enjoyable for me because it differed slightly from the more "direct action" books I had previously read. there was undercover work, investigation, and cold leads. But it ended with a bang. I have to say, I personally think the cover they ahd to create seems like it could still be intact, should it be needed. I think the only thing that bothered me was wilson. While I liked him, he seemed awfully unprofessional at times. And the author's constant reference to him as "the retired Texas Ranger" was a bit much. "The ranger" or "the texan" probably would have sufficed in many instances. But that's just a stylistic thing. All in all, a solid book, and I will probably seek out more of vanCook's entries.

I finally read this one and I enjoyed it a lot. That being said, there were a couple of technical errors that put me off. Mainly it was in Del Caprio's background. Apparently, he was a Marine who went into Special Forces (Green Berets). Technically impossible, as SF is a division of the US Army, and he would have had to leave the Corps, enlist in the Army, and serve for a minimum of 3 years before VOLUNTEERING for SF. No one is recruited anymore. That mistake took a lot of the suspension of disbelief for me, and I cringed whenever I read "Semper Fi" and "Green Beret" in the same description. Still, aside from that, it was a great read. Very fast-paced, good characterization. Lots of action. I still reccomend it.

This was by far one of the best Mack Bolan books I have ever read. I loved the female lead, the main bad guy, the appearance of the other Stony Man soldiers, and the premise. I highly reccomend this to anyone, whether they read Mack Bolan or not.

This was the first Bolan book I had read in a few years. Right away, I was pulled back into the world of action and decisive judgement that Mack Bolan represents. Overall, a very good story. Showed me how my theory that Mack Bolan is the American answer to James Bond holds up.

This was the first Executioner novel I ever read, when I was about 13 or 14. I still remember how enjoyable it was, and how it immediately hooked me on the series. I loved this book.