Jason

I hadn't read a truly outstanding Bolan entry for a long time until "Flesh and Blood." Unlike most of the SuperBolan volumes, this one didn't seem repetitious or padded out. Rather, it had an intriguing story and some great characters. Further, it's a very satisfying read in that it gives the reader a sense that justice has been served. The author concisely illustrates the Vietnam conflict and shows us how it scarred everyone involved, then gives us the chance to see some of those wrongs get righted, even if only in the fictional realm. Although I highly enjoyed reading it, I couldn't quite get myself to give it a full 10 stars, but it's easily a 9. They don't get much better than this (at least from what I've read so far.)

Bolan takes on a group of Middle East extremists in this pretty good entry. I had feared that this book would become bogged down in details of the constant, long-running conflict between the Israelis and the Arabs, but that was not the case. Instead, this is an entertaining Bolan tale that merely happens to involve the Arab-Israeli war. The author does a good job of balancing characterization and action set pieces, where too often we get too much of one at the expense of the other. Definitely worth a look.

This is a rather weak book overall that is only made readable by some decent action scenes. I actually quit reading this book less than halfway through it because I found it so uninteresting; however later on I decided to finish it just for the sake of doing so. The problem is the author made it difficult to understand what was going on. Apparently the plot has something to do with a Chicago crime lord trying to take over the empire of an aging rival, and another crime lord is involved somehow, and there's an undercover cop in on the whole thing. Also, the characters were so thin I couldn't really tell who was who. At least the author had a good grasp of the Bolan character, and included some good action. That's about all I can say for this one.

A really so-so entry in the series. Some great action scenes, but the author doesn't do a very good job of explaining the plot. I couldn't understand what was going on a lot of the time, or even who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. After a while it was like watching a foreign-language movie without subtitles.

I was looking forward to reading this one, as the back cover made it sound like the plot of the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie "Hard Target." For the record, the premise isn't quite the same. Anyway, this entry was fairly thin on action until the final third, where it picks up tremendously. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it considering how little action there was in the beginning. Instead, the story concentrates mainly on the villains and their morbid "expeditions," with Bolan merely tracking them and trying to catch them in the act. At first you might think this would make for a boring Bolan, but the tone is suspenseful, and the characterization is just good enough to keep you interested. Anyway, the book's final third more than makes up for it, when (Possible Spoiler!) Bolan finds himself squaring off against a squad of these "hunters". At one point I was reading in a doctor's office, and I considered canceling the appointment because I was so into the book!

This was one of the best Bolans I've read in a while. After a brief prologue the story jumps into the action, and from there on out the author finds an ideal balance of action and taking a breather to continue the story. The character of Maria also serves as one of the better examples of letting the reader see Bolan through a stranger's eyes. The story is well-constructed, and the finale was one of the best in the series (at least of the books I've read.) My only complaint would be that the plot was a bit "by-the-numbers" - it seems every other book in the series around this time dealt with yet another vicious drug kingpin who is the most ruthless of all and about to make a major move to take over the market. But this doesn't bother me as much in the Bolan series as it does in others, like the James Bond series. This would be a good book for newcomers to the Bolan series to read.

This is a really mediocre-to-average entry in the series. It was really skimpy on action scenes and focused more on mystery and intrigue, which isn't why I read Bolan books. Sometimes a good climactic battle can make up for a story that's lean on action, but that isn't the case here. Truth be told, the conflict in Ireland is something I've always wanted to read about, which is why I picked this as my next entry in the series to read. However there wasn't enough depth to the story to make it very interesting in that respect. I get the feeling Clancy's "Patriot Games" probably does a better job. This wasn't a terrible Bolan. It's written just well enough that I could at least get through it without feeling I was really wasting my time. But it sure isn't very good. I often had trouble understanding what was going on the way the narrative jumped around. Several times I went back and re-read passages to see if I had missed something, because I just couldn't figure out what was supposed to be happening. For only the second time, I'm suggesting this Bolan be read by completists only.

For the first time in a long time, I considered abandoning a Bolan before I finished it. I found the opening of "Devil's Horn" to be pretty weak due to all the silly hyperbole that made me wonder if the author thought he was Mickey Spillane. I stuck it out, however, and it turned out to be worth it. The story picked up after Bolan kidnaps the NYC drug lord and really took off. Those of you wondering just how tough Bolan really is will want to read this one. Our hero winds up becoming a prisoner of the drug barons he intended to destroy, and they make sure he suffers for it. But their sadistic treatment of Bolan only makes him all the more determined to end their operation, which is the driving theme of this entry. Villains in the Bolan series are always pretty vile and deserve the fate the Executioner brings on them, but in "Devil's Horn" the bad guys are downright inhuman. The story pulls the reader in because you want so badly to see them brought down, more so than in any other entry I've read. It's still far from the best Bolan I've come across, but it was definitely worth my time.

A fairly good entry in the series, with Bolan leading a band of fellow warriors on a treacherous trek across the Middle Eastern desert towards a dictator's fortress. Fans of military fiction will find a lot to like here, as Bolan must rely as much on tactics and instinct as firepower due to the open terrain and the enormous disparity in numbers between his squad and the enemy. The book's biggest deficiency is that it seems remarkably easy for Bolan to sneak into the city surrounding the fortress. Considering how mentally unstable Nassim is and his threats to wipe out all the hostages at the first hint of a rescue attempt, Bolan and his comrades don't seem to have that much trouble in their mission. I also found the book to be a little repetitive after a while. Not bad overall, but I've read better.

"Double Action" is pretty good but comes just short of being great. It starts a bit slow but picks up once the setting moves to Alaska. There were also some good plot twists along the way. The sequence where Bolan confronts the pair of enemies at the cave was one of the best I've read in any Bolan book. What's ironic is that a lot of times SuperBolans seem padded to me; as if they're a bit too long and might have been better off being trimmed down for the Executioner series. This book, on the other hand, might have worked better if it was fleshed out a little more and made into a SuperBolan. But maybe the grass is just always greener somewhere else. In fairness the story moves at a good pace, reflecting the urgency of the situation. The book could probably used some more action scenes, or at least made the ones it had a little bigger. Apart from the sequence where Bolan battles the baddies in the vineyard, most of the action sees him only fighting a couple men at a time, which doesn't present much of a challenge to our hero.

This was a really average entry. There weren't enough action scenes for my taste, and the ones that were there weren't as compelling as in other books. (The raid on the Cuban estate was very good, though.) The story itself isn't the best - the premise of Communists trying to re-start the Cold War seems like it would fit better in a James Bond novel (and in fact is the basis for some of John Gardner's entries in that series.) The plot is underdeveloped, and some threads are left hanging at the end. I got the impression this was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy like some other Bolans are, but nothing on the cover indicates this. In fairness the story is loosely tied in with earlier events in the series timeline, so perhaps they were trying to make it part of a larger theme or story arc that I'm not familiar with since I don't read the series in order. I'm hesitant to use the word "mediocre" because this wasn't a bad novel, but it wasn't very good either.

This was a good, fast-paced read and I enjoyed it, but overall "Renegade Force" wasn't one of the best. I picked it because I liked the sound of the premise - a network of ex-cops conspiring with cops, federal agents and other law enforcement officials fed up with the system and taking the law into their own hands. However, things get muddled because the bad guys seem motivated as much by outright racism, which made it harder to identify with them. Also the story never really delivers its big payout - instead of a vast brotherhood, the organization is basically just a bunch of guys in different cities who all band together when Bolan comes after them. There's no big payoff where Bolan has to hunt down the traitorous FBI agents or Justice Department bigwigs who are in on the conspiracy. Basically "Renegade Force" seems like it was meant to be an entry in the Executioner series but got padded out to SuperBolan length. It's worth a read for action fans, but there are better ones in the series.

This is a good but not quite great SuperBolan. From the description on the cover I was expecting more of a "Die Hard" type of story, with most of the story taking place on the plane or at the airport. In fact the hijacking of the jet only sets up the novel. From there the story bounces around the globe as Bolan hunts down the Raven, only to cross paths with members of Able Team who thought they had already neutralized the terrorist mastermind (several times, as it turns out.) What I really didn't like about this novel was how the author builds things up in one scene, then jumps to a flashback scene elaborating on the Raven's background. It gets especially irritating once you catch on to it - just when it seems something big's about to happen, suddenly we shift to a narrative about the Raven's days in college. In fairness, it was interesting to gain some insight on Middle Eastern terrorism - I was only a kid in the 1980s when skyjackings were such a problem and so I never understood why there were so many. One good point of the novel was Bolan's relationship with the lady fed, though it seemed like something lifted from a James Bond novel with only minor modifications. Overall this was a good SuperBolan, but I've read better.

This was a very good, fast-moving entry in the Executioner series. The action starts soon enough but not so fast that it seems too much even for a Bolan book. In fact the premise is very believable - an exposed deep cover DEA agent stranded on a tropical island which refuses to allow the US to launch a proper extraction out of fear it will damage their tourist trade. So ol' Uncle Sam does the next best thing by sending in his resident one-man army, Mack Bolan. My only complaint is that the book seems repetitive as it goes on. Every time Bolan and his quarry go somewhere, you know it's just a matter of paragraphs before they are spotted by the seemingly endless wave of South American thugs. Granted, it's a small island, but sometimes it seems the author just couldn't think of anything more original so he just had more thugs happen to show up at the same place Bolan is at the moment. But at least the book stays exciting and tense, which other entries in the series have trouble doing. But that's my only complaint, and it's a minor one at that. There are some good characterizations. The author understood just how much was enough, giving us some insight into the characters' motivations without getting tedious. The ending is dynamite, and for a time I honestly didn't see how Bolan was going to survive. Overall, a very fun entry in the series.

A very good entry in the series. The action is top-notch and the pace rarely lets up, with Bolan running all over both North and South America battling a villain who is cunning enough to always stay one step ahead of him. "Conflagration" is also a good choice for readers new to the series (as I was when I read it) since it features appearances by characters from Stony Man, Able Team and Phoenix Force. I don't know what else to say about this book. It's outstanding. Read it.

This one is great. The action is almost nonstop, the villains and their motivations are well-developed and even believable (after Oklahoma City the events of this novel seem downright plausible) and the suspense is nearly unbearable. Trevor Garth is one of Bolan's most cunning and resourceful adversaries; The Executioner comes within inches of taking him down several times yet the monster keeps squeezing his way out. By the time you're done reading you'll be reaching for an oxygen mask. Some interesting commentary is also made about the clash of ideals between the government and the militia, which was the topic of a lot of discussion in the '90s. This is only the second SuperBolan I've read, but it's got to be one of the best. If there are ones that can top it I'm definitely looking forward to reading them.

It may sound cliche, "Save the Children" really is like a roller-coaster ride. The story takes place over a single night, with Bolan pulling a marathon running all over Chicago battling the Windy City mob. It starts out blazing, slows down for a few moments, then takes off again, etc. etc. If I had the time I could probably have read this one in just two or three sittings. Though it wasn't my favorite, this Bolan had some really fine elements. Our hero has numerous run-ins with police officers, and the contrasts between the two are intriguing. The police consider Bolan no better than most of the scum he battles, since he has no patience for standard law enforcement procedure. Bolan regards the police as being on the same side as him, but hopelessly tied down by rules and regulations. I also enjoyed the way Bolan's reputation precedes him. The scenes where the thugs realize they are facing The Executioner is priceless - like they thought he was actually some kind of urban legend, and when they find he's real it's their worst nightmare come true. (Yet for some reason, they still think they can take him down.) Bolan sees things in this novel that even he finds disturbing. And with the number of children that vanish in this country every year, more than ever it makes you wish there was a real Bolan who could just wipe out these sickos. Highly recommended.

This is a rather weak entry in the Bolan series. There is relatively little action; the emphasis seems to be more on intrigue and exploring the worlds of underground satanic rituals and the popularity of heavy metal bands in the late '80s. Bolan seems like a minor character in his own novel, a bit player while the grizzled cop and the hot-to-trot Wiccan try to figure out who is murdering teenage girls in Denver. I was drawn to this one because the idea of Bolan taking on a satanic cult sounded promising. Then I was especially excited when I saw a quote from Maury Terry's book "The Ultimate Evil" in the front. I've read said book and was fascinated by it - Terry presents very plausible evidence that the "Son of Sam" murders were in fact the work of several men, and that David Berkowitz was just a sacrificial fall guy (though he was not innocent by any means - he belongs in jail.) It seems like the author of this Bolan was inspired by Terry's investigation and thought it would be a good basis for a lurid thriller with some social commentary on the reality of TV preachers, who were at their apex in the 1980s. The author then decided to submit it as his next Bolan, and threw Mack into the story. The result is two seperate books blended together. Readable, but not what the typical Bolan fan is expecting. I thought the author was holding out, and that the book's climax would feature one heck of an explosive finale. It never comes - what passes in this book for a climax would be treated as a minor scene in a standard Bolan. If you want to read a frightening, exciting book about satanic cults, read "The Ultimate Evil". It is far more intriguing than "Night Kill". I recommend this for Bolan completists only.

My favorite Bolan book of all, well, maybe tied for first with Baltimore Trackdown. Just reading the back of this book made me want to read the story and I'm glad I read it. At first I was let down because I thought that the warheas going off above Moscow and DC were just threats made and they wouldn't happen, but boy was I wrong. A good plot and story and it got me guessing to see if Dunning was the bad guy dead at the end or what. The BEST Bolan of all.

YEAH, MACK ELIMINATED THAT....Oh, darn, I got so excited that it stopped me from saying that word. An awesome story and a great end. I'm glad to see that Mack had finally tracked the mole down and eliminated him at the end. Although it was sad to see him leave Stony Man Farm and walk out like that, it was still awesome. I loved this book.

Oh my gosh! The best trilogy I've ever read. I've been waiting and waiting until the end of the book, although I already knew the ending because I read Terminal Velocity first, but it was just so awesome. I could feel the excitement and all that when Stony Man Farm was attacked. It was sad though to read about April's death, but this is what started the end of John Phoenix (identitywise anyways) A good book and one of my all time favorites.