Mike_D

I'm surprised by all the praise for this book. For me this was a run of the mill title. The thing that makes that a shame is that the author certainly has some wonderful ideas. Ideas should have resulted in a classic Bolan title. It's all there. We have a great plot idea with the dangerous, cutting edge fighter jet. We have a great female ally. The gang of villains are interesting. And yet, it falls flat somehow. While the great ideas are plentiful, they are rarely executed to the extent they should be. The BND agent is quite interesting and one of Bolan's more intriguing companions. In a series with so many titles, she definitely stood out to me, but something seems off. She doesn't feel complete. While she appears often, she still seems underused and doesn't get her due. The villains are touted as very dangerous, the fighter jet key to the success of their operation. And yet, after all the effort to build the jet, when threatened with its destruction we get a "Oh well, we really don't need the jet to carry out our plan!" Then why even bother building the jet? The second half of the book was definitely an improvement over the first. It sure did pick up the momentum. I particular enjoy the traitor in the CIA office. The conclusion of the novel where Bolan pays him a visit is a good note to end on. Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable title. It has a lot of great ideas, had they been executed better I think this would have been a much stronger title.

Not the strongest title in the series, but I don't think it is as bad as some of the reviews. It's decently written and has a decent enough story. More entertaining than some of the other run of the mill entries. My only gripe is the ending. It's not a bad idea, but it needed to be fully fleshed out and given some more detail. It's written as though the author was called up last minute and said "you need 20 more pages" and he cranked it out in 5 minutes and that was that. Not a bad idea, but poorly executed ending to the title.

Good, strong outing from Odom. These are the kind of books I wish we would see nowadays. StonyMan information being hacked, etc. The AI was a little too human. I think it would have been more suspenseful had it been less human since you wouldn't quite know what was going on. The space scene was also a little bit much. But overall, a strong StonyMan title.

Disappointing novel. I don't mind Bolan's that feature less action and focus more on a mystery plot. That's fine if it is done correctly. This was just a snooze fest. And, as mentioned in earlier reviews, is just a plot composed of pieces from earlier Bond films and novels. Would not recommend.

Strong entry here in Asian Storm. Some great characters and great scenes. Writing both AT and PF into one story is a challenge as there are so many characters who need to get into the storyline. Throw Mack Bolan into the mix and it gets even more difficult. For the most part, Asian Storm succeeds into giving them all ample time to develop, have an important role in the story, and do something significant. My only major gripe is how long some of the storylines take to play out. Able Team's scene scoping out the protest that is due to turn into a riot spans almost 100 pages of text from the beginning where they track the enemy to the actually payoff. Some stuff just seemed to take forever to get to the payoff. Despite this, it was still a well-written, entertaining out for the Stony Man crew.

I did not care for this book at all. Bolan didn't seem very Bolan like in this title. The book opens with Bolan dragging an innocent woman into a gunfight because he needs to chase someone down in her car. She gets wounded. Bolan tells her "War is the feast of vultures and you're no meal for death. Take care." He then runs off as a crowd gathers yelling he is going to call for an ambulance but "he would make no such call." This is followed by a scene with Grimaldi flipping out and being reduced to tears because Bolan wants him to follow up a lead and not fly him somewhere. The second half of the novel is a little better. There's some good scenes. The climax is pretty disappointing. Bolan leaves behind a group of veterans who are fighting against their captors to get a girl to safety. He does, eventually, return to help them, but it seems pretty un-Bolan like to leave them in the lurch as they try to fight their captors. Overall: weak plot, weak action scenes. Second half is interesting, but hardly fantastic. The dialogue is pretty horrific ("Mack the Fact.") Would not recommend. Seems like a shoddy imitation of the Bolan we know.

Enjoyable entry. Not much happens except for the final battle. Luckily I found the mystery aspect of how they would get in and out of the embassy unnoticed interesting enough to forget about the lack of action. Not a horrible entry, but not very remarkable. The KO short story to fill out the book didn't really do much for me. I have to say I've been a little let down by the PF series so far. Sure, there have been some fun books, but nothing that has particularly blown me away. After hearing how highly Fieldhouse was regarded in the community, I was excited to start the series, but his writing isn't particularly brilliant and I find the quality not quite as high as the Executioners series. Sure that series can be hit or miss, but the strength of writing seems much more consistent. However, I'm not trying to be picky, I suspect a lot of this might come down to a heavy workload with Fieldhouse writing most of the books at this point in time.

Some good locations and nice action scenes. But plot wise there isn't much to go on. MERGE is an interesting concept, but the villains don't really present any actually menace in the story. Phoenix Force dropping their weapons makes them seem particularly inept. The action scenes make this a decent enough read, but definitely not a highlight of the PF series.

I know I'm going against most reviewers here, but I didn't find this one worthy of a 9 or 10 start review. It sure is good and has its moments, but I think overall it just felt like it was lacking something. The writing seemed a bit off at times and I didn't find it to be the strongest work of Fieldhouse. Definitely some good moments and characters, but I felt like it could have been much stronger.

Solid book. The loss of KO is wonderfully done. When the series first started I always felt KO was an odd character. It seemed like the writers didn't know what to do with him, so he always came across as a bit odd and, at times, useless. It wasn't until Fieldhouse came along that KO really came to life and became a great member of the team in my opinion. In this book they give him a wonderful send off. The introduction of James is also nice to see and definitely a nice transition. Overall a pretty solid book in the series.

Ugh. Boring. What a slow, plodding book. Just very dull. There are some okay action scenes in North Korea, but it just seems off. I will agree with other reviewers that despite being a pretty dreadful book, there were some highlights. As another reviewer said: "Young Sam is one of the most readable/humourous/likeable/obnoxious/deadly characters you will come across." I definitely agree with this, I definitely enjoyed his character. The scene of his gruesome death and the PF rage towards the incident is wonderfully written and really captures their admiration towards him well. Some small enjoyable gems can be found in this work. Not really sure if it is worth plodding through 188 pages to find them though.

Started off with a nice strong mysterious opening. A lot of great actions scenes, like the German locations. Even though the new Nazi coming thing is seen pretty often in the Bolanverse, it is handled pretty effectively here. The ending was a bit odd and rushed in my opinion. They have the chance to launch the missles before PF can get to them, but just kill themselves before they do it. Seems a bit odd. I wonder if a lot of the ending was edited down and cut out some important bits/scenes such as PF closing in and the villains realizing they wouldn't have time to succeed.

Enjoyable entry into the PF series. I think this one had a lot of untapped potential.A lot of good locations and ideas that could have been expanded upon or been much stronger. With that said, a lot of strong action scenes make this a worthwhile read. Ending was pretty solid even though the technology aspect of the book was a bit out there.

Really enjoyed this book. Awesome cover, too. Definitely a solid PF novel with some great action scenes. The gang were top notch. The only major gripe I had were the villains who I found a bit flat. The woman terrorist was ridiculous and silly, I wasn't really feeling her character at all. But besides that this was a pretty strong entry into the canon.

I enjoyed both titles by this pair of authors. I actually felt the middle of this books was the strongest. Some very good scenes. My only major gripe is the ending is very rushed. After all of that build up the ending concludes in about a page and a half. I thought the villain was pretty cardboard with very little development. Overall, another solid effort by this pair.

I didn't find this book as bad as other reviewers, it was certainly readable. With that said, Phoenix Force comes across as pretty inept. Most of the book is them bumbling around until the nuke plot kicks in. The author wrote this book by the numbers. Everything was exactly in place for a nice and easy story. Very little thought went into creating any tension/excitement. Nukes in major cities? How on earth will they find them in time? Oh wait, Brognola has a guy...they found them already! It was just way too easy for the guys to stop what should be a pretty difficult, intense, threatening situation. Very little tension. Church rescue scene was good. That's about it. Huge let down after the rather enjoyable #4.

Damn! Now this is a book! Having read PF 2 and 3 I was pretty disappointed with both titles. They were dull and poorly written. The PF team seemed like cardboard characters. Supporting characters were pretty much non existent. They were very lifeless titles. At least the final half of Atlantic Scramble had a lot of good actions scenes which made it an enjoyable read. It gave me hope that future PF books would build on that and become strong works from beginning to end. Tigers of Justice finally breaks through the problems that plagued the early PF titles. It has a strong plot and strong supporting characters, including an interesting villain. The action scenes are often and well executed. The Phoenix Force team seems to come alive and escape their rather cardboard descriptions from books 2 and 3. Here they become true living,breathing characters. Especially KO who definitely becomes a more interesting character and given a large role than he has been in previous titles.

Not much to add to the other reviews already posted here. This was a very strong SuperBolan title and very well written. The authors really did a good job with the character of Bolan, I thought. It does seem like they try to tackle a ton of plot strands in this novel and as a result it does seem at times to get a little messy or convoluted. With that said, I'd rather see authors try to put too much into a SuperBolan as opposed to reading a book that feels like an Executioner stretched out to 350 pages. Looking forward to reading the second book they wrote for the series.

After the disappointing predecessor to this work, I didn't know what to expect from Phoenix Force #3. The reviews on here were very good, so I was hoping for a very strong read. Unfortunately, I felt a lot of the book was in a similar vein to the rather poorly written Guerilla Games. This book suffered the first nine or so chapters. Like Guerilla Games it is slow and plodding and not much happens at all. Thankfully by around Chapter 10 things really start to pick up and get going. The final half of the book is solid, enjoyable action which is why I'm willing to give it 6 starts. I just wish the whole book had been this solid! The supporting characters are once again virtually non existent. The villains are cardboard. Just some names thrown on the page. Luckily, due to the well written action scenes in the final half of the book, this is as not as big a problem as it was in book #2, but it is kind of annoying. I'm really hoping to get some interesting characters in the Phoenix Force line sooner or later.

This one was pretty dreadful. The concept is interesting: hostages are released, only to be taken hostage once again. But the author does nothing to make it interesting. In the 180 + page story, there is pretty much no action whatsoever. Which I can live without if the author has a really good story or character development he wants to focus on. But the story is flimsy, almost non-existent. The supporting characters and Phoenix Force boring and bland. The majority of the novel consist of PF talking and moving into position. And talking. And moving. And talking. And moving. They don't really do anything for the entire novel. Only really memorable scene from this one was the bad guy pulling out the teeth of the one hostage. Besides that this is an entirely forgettable title.

Run of the mill work for Newton. Still a highly enjoyable read. This is certainly elevated by the Bolan having a daughter storyline which I particularly enjoyed. I kind of had a feeling for how the plot line would end and I was right. I thought Mack kind of took her at her word value way to easily. I understand the girl knew everything about the mother and so on, but still... somewhat odd he doesn't even hesitate or think twice... he just rolls with the idea that this girl is his daughter, no questions asked. Solid entry. Fun read.

This one was a pretty big disappointment. The sad thing is that there is a TON of potential here. You have some decent story ideas and somewhat interesting characters. But they never really get fleshed out. It almost seems like an outline, everything kind of gets brushed over really quickly, leaving it feeling rather hollow. The book started off pretty well with a bit of a mystery but after that it just gets pretty awful. It was dull and plodding. Sure, some books have those moments but you still read on because you know it will pass after the chapter is over and get better again. Not here. The whole book is just one gigantic sloppy text. Really messy book. Would not recommended. Even if you are trying to tackle the SuperBolans in order, I would still tell you to skip this one. By page 100 you're just wishing it was over.

An excellent outing from Peter Leslie! Some SuperBolans tend to be plodding affairs: they are essentially Executioner length novels stretched into a 350 page novel. You get filler, you get padding, it drags. You don't have to worry about that with Anvil of Hell. It is non stop from beginning to end. There is no filler or nonsense. It's a wonderfully told story with a great cast of character. Leslie's usual minor characters Tufik and Mettner but in their appearances. I love Tufik. I know he appears in Vendetta in Venice, not sure if he does in any other works by Leslie. If the character wasn't killed off, I'd love to see him be used again by a Bolan writer. The bad guys get away in the end. Usually that kind of ending seems like a cop out or a disappointment, but I think Leslie handled it well. There was so much going on in the finale that it didn't really need that bad guy payoff. And it is nice to see that happen once in a while. Sometimes the bad guys get away. Excellent novel by Leslie. On of his finest in the series. Highly recommended.

This was an okay read. I didn't quite enjoy it as much as other reviewers here. I liked the plot and especially Hal getting a much bigger role. Kind of odd he didn't use any Stony Man teams or resources with such a dangerous plot. I didn't care much for the leading lady. Why Bolan continued trusting her when several times she tried to ruin things or go behind his back. I know it all worked out in the end, but the whole "Should I/shouldn't I trust her?" thing got a bit old after a while. Enjoyed the scenes where Bolan worked undercover at the office. Interesting seeing him in kind of a daily routine kind of position. Very enjoyable read.

I didn't care much for this one. Way too disjointed. It reads as if Leslie pieced together 2 or 3 Executioner novels into one book. I have no problem with books that try and do things on a grand scale, but typically those authors weave the plot so that they are closely connected. In this case the mission ends and someone says something that gets Bolan curious and next thing you know he's on the trail of an African dictator. And so on and so forth. Just too much going on. Normally, not a bad thing, but the book is way too disjointed. There is no flow. It's like reading a series of short stories loosely connected with one another.

Strong novel by Mike Newton. I particularly enjoyed the opening highjacking scenes. It makes Bolan so human to have him be helpless. Sure, he could easily make a move or try to do something, but it could result in innocent people getting hurt, so he is forced to sit and watch. Love that concept of Bolan being unable to act. The rest of the novel featured him tracking down the multiple Ravens. I don't think the second half lived up to first half, but all in all it was a strong adventure.

The thing I enjoy about the early SuperBolans is that they went in experimental directions. They used that extra page count not only to build a bigger story, but to dig a little bit deeper into the lives of character in the Bolan universe. All while maintaining a nice level of action. We had Able Team, Phoenix Force, and Bolan together in Book 1. Johnny Bolan in Book 3 and in this book, a prequel fleshing out Bolan's origins. This is a non stop book. Lots of great action scenes, however, I still thing the highlight of the book are the scenes with Bolan and his family. At the airport while leaving for his tour of duty, looking back at the time him, Johnny, and his father went out and had a few beers. It's a side of Bolan we rarely, if ever, see. So I certainly liked that. My only real gripe was the interlude in the middle of the book. I understand it's a story within a story and the author wanted to remind us that this is the past and there is still a story going on in the present. But it felt a little jarring. It seemed a bit sudden and just as the book was really starting to tear along. That brief interlude kind of took me out of it a little bit. But besides that a very strong novel.

Well, I really did enjoy this book. Nice to see Johnny in the mix and have the novel focus on him for the most part. The introduction in Lebanon was pretty great. The only thing that really brought this book down was Angela and her band of friends. What on earth was that about? I can't believe it made it to print. Chet must have been low on the word count and needed some filler to bring it up to the necessary amount for print. I think this book would be a 9 or 10 if the 50 or so pages of Angela stuff had been chopped down to the basics. Should have completely removed the Hard Corps stuff. Would have worked better in the 300-320 page range without that subplot.

Having read all the excellent reviews of this book, I had high expectations going into Stony Man Doctrine. I'm happy to say it both lived up to and exceeded those expectations. Right from the opening line you know you are in for a hell of a ride: "Nine of the best men in the world may die in this hour. And I will have sent them to their deaths." Holy crap, buckle your seat belt. What follows is one hell of a ride, full of solid action. The thing I liked the most was that you truly felt the threat was serious. The whole nuke/chemical attack thing has been done to death. Something as large scale as that should certainly create tension and fear that Bolan would fail, but I find most books don't succeed in creating that tension. They just fall flat. In Stony Man Doctrine, you know the stakes are high. You feel like he may fail. You're on the edge of your seat. You want to know how Bolan is going to save the day. Sometimes you sit there thinking "How in the hell is he going to stop this?" My only gripe is I felt the characterization of Bolan falls flat in a few places. Some moments that were trying to dark, Bolan just seems a bit too cardboard instead of showing some emotion. Overall though, the plot is strong. Despite being a cliche chemical attack plot, the author succeeds in creating tension and suspense, making it feel as if you had never read a book with that type of plot before. Definitely enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to any person interested in getting into Bolan.

Terrorist Summit is a pretty solid Bolan novel. Krauzer seems to hit all the right marks and keeps the pacing just right from beginning to end. The actions scenes are very well done. My only real flaw is that some of the characters seem a bit flat... Harker in particular. He is not a very memorable Bolan villain. All in all though Terrorist Summit is a very enjoyable read filled with great action. I know most of Krauzer's books aren't very well received on here, but I've enjoyed them all.

This is an odd book, I really did enjoy it a lot despite one or two things that kind of irked me. The whole killing witness protection program people as a means of deflecting security from the American president and Gorbachev seems a bit off. The middle section of the book where he confronts the Mafia man over the witness protection killings seems somewhat out of place in the book. It started to seem like there was too much going on: assassination attempt on world leaders, Nazis, Ris hunting Helene, etc... and then trying to distract from the assassination plot by telling the Mob they knew where the witness was hiding and they would off him if they paid them, but they were only really doing this as a means to distract from their actually plot. The whole World War II/Nazi aspect is kind of odd also. However, I give Odom credit for the rather interesting prologue with Rommel and the flashbacks to the villain's childhood. I like to see a little experimentation/doing something odd everyone in a while. With that all said, I still liked the book a lot. Odom's writing hits the mark in all the right places. It's tightly written and really sucks you in. Definitely an enjoyable Bolan novel that I would say is an above average outing.

This book started off so well. Within the first 50 pages I was pretty engaged. It had a good premise. But eventually it just turns into a mess. I found it quite bland and honestly poorly written. Well, it's possible it was the result of editing and not Mr. Schmidt's writing, but it just came across as disjointed and sloppy. The middle section was absolutely mind numbingly dull. The whole "We're working together, but we're withing holding tons of information from each other" schtick got old pretty fast. It did have some highlight: the opening of the novel and the major battle on the glacier. But all in all this is a below average novel in the Bolan series.

I always groan at the nuke of the week kind of books. We get quite a bit of them. So I was quite surprised when I read this and it was very enjoyable. It's not your average nuke of the week story. It pretty much follows the construction of the bomb from beginning to end as Bolan tries to put a stop to it. I found it a lot more realistic than other stories where they hijack a submarine or carry out a massive strike and end up running away with a full blown nuke. I did feel Dupre was a bit weak for a villain. But besides that it was a very good read.

Average entry in the Bolan series. An enjoyable read, but hardly compelling. Very little suspense or tension in the work. The characters and the villains scheme seem particularly dull and flat. There were some enjoyable parts, but if you are not hell bent on reading all the books, you can probably just skip over this one.

Blood Stone is one of Mike Newton's stronger entries in the Bolan series. The diamond plot is a breath of fresh air and moves us away from the average holding the world hostage with a nuke storylines. In addition, it is a very tightly plotted and extremely well written book. This book seems like it had a lot of work put into it and it certainly shows. It was highly enjoyable. The cast of characters were good, especially Bolan's allies. The villians were a bit flimsy, but that's alright the rest of the book more than makes up for it. Some very good action scenes, it is definitely worth giving it a read.

I really enjoyed Brothers in Blood. The premise is pretty interesting, being a story of Bolan on vacation. Definitely something different from the norm. I also think this is Krauzer's strongest novel he wrote. It is very well written. I found it a very enjoyable novel with some small flaws. The first half was very solid. Bolan going on vacation, meeting some common folks, spending a few days as if he was an everyday common person. Then the trouble starts. Once the trouble kicks in I felt the plot kind of lost its way a bit. Not bad though, still a very enjoyable read. I would actually really like to see one of the current authors try and tackle another Bolan vacation novel and see how they would pull it off.

I really enjoyed this book. It has something that a lot of recent titles lack. Mack really goes through hell in this one. Sure, Bolan goes up against hundreds of gunmen and nuke plots every few titles, but in this one he really takes a beating. We all know Mack is going to save the day, but it's very rare for a title to have you on the edge of your seat thinking "How in the HELL is Bolan going to pull it off?!" This title definitely gave me that vibe. The parachute scene was great, showing sometimes events out of Bolan's hands can screw things up. The scorpion scene and buffalo scene were all very tense. Some very good writing in those scenes. My only major gripes are pretty similar to those of other reviews. There are times when Bolan doesn't seem like Bolan. Plus, Bolan checking his cell phone several times during a battle seems pretty odd. I understand he is trying to get the information into pertinent hands just to make sure it gets through on the chance something happens to him. But almost getting killed because of it seems out of character. And even though I know these are action books, this title was pretty much 190 some pages of non stop action with really no story at all. The only plot points are pretty much introduced and concluded in one sentence. Not that that is a major problem with these kind of books, but when Bolan goes through absolute hell, it's kind of odd that the stakes aren't higher. The text message went through, that'll teach them to do bad things. After all that, I just wished there was a bigger payoff. Overall, a very enjoyable outing that was very tense and well-written.

A good book, but I would not place it amongst Ray Obstfeld's best. A mediocre outing. Certainly had lots of potential, but it just didn't seem to live up to it. It certainly has some highlights in the action scenes and I enjoyed Bolan pretending to be the rogue general. The warehouse scenes and moments afterwards when he is in this role are pretty fun and well-written. The kidnapped athletes plot line could have been pretty interesting, but it just doesn't seem to work in the novel. A fun read, but not the most engaging title in the series.

While the plot is pretty weak, Newton makes this a pretty enjoyable read. I think the one flaw is that the ending doesn't really live up to the hype of the rest of the novel, it kind of falls flat in the end. A bit rushed. I suspect that is due to the page constraints on the early books. An enjoyable read, but a pretty average Bolan title.

I've always enjoyed Tim Somheil's works and this book was no different. A very strong outing from him. A very interesting storyline with a lot of good fight scenes taking place on board tankers. The action scenes are particularly great in this book. I also enjoyed the teams having to fight and try and cut through the red tape to get stuff done. Unfortunately, the big politicians slow things down and as a result innocent people die. Not something you see in the books often, but it's nice to see them struggling to convince the President to get the necessary people and law enforcement in place to prevent tragedies. Also like Hal being stuck in the middle between the Stony Man team and the President. He wants to help and get it done, but he really has no control over it despite his wishes.

Despite being a Bolan fan for well over 10 years, I never took much interest in the Stony Man line. I had read 2 or 3 of the Able Team and Phoenix Force novels and maybe 1 Stony Man, but I never pursued it. I decided to finally delve into it and I'm glad I did. Day of Decision is a pretty strong novel. Very interesting cast of characters, a pretty good dual hijacking plot line. A very enjoyable read. Particularly liked the stuff in New York at the beginning of the novel with Able Team.

Seeing that Andy Boot had returned to the Executioner series after almost a decade away writing Deathlands novels, I was looking forward to seeing how he developed as writer. Since I do not read Deathlands, my only experience with Boot were his first two novels released back in 2003/2004 (Dangerous Encounter and Point Position). I don't recall enjoying them very much. I thought they were a bit bland. So I didn't really know what to expect with Nigeria Meltdown. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a pretty solid, enjoyable read. An average Bolan, but definitely an improvement on those first two novels all across the board: stronger story, better descriptions, more interesting characters, etc. Nigeria Meltdown was a pretty solid outing and I think I might just have to go and get caught up on the Executioners he wrote in 2013.

Jungle Firestorm is a bit of a frustrating read. The first half is slow and plodding. The second half is quite decent. My major issue with this book is that for the first 120-130 pages or so there is absolutely nothing happening. It is just filler. A terrorist attack at a religious site sends Bolan to India. Okay, so far so good. Some tiny thread of story there. But then after that nothing really happens. He just carries out hit after hit after hit on the perpetrators. One character after another is introduced. But there is no plot. There is nothing to move the story forward. You can take any of the characters names and switch them around and it would make no difference. After the first seventh or eighth hits, you start wondering: where is the story? You keep turning the pages..50..75..100...120... wondering when the first plot strand will come in. Luckily, by about 130 or so pages in, the storyline finally begins to develop. The characters begin to come to life and you become invested in their dilemmas. It's just a damn shame you have to wait halfway through the novel to get to that. The final half is pretty solid Bolan. Suspenseful, full of action. It turned into a pretty fun page turner by that point. Luckily the payoff was so good, I'm willing to give it a 6 as the finale made me feel like my decision to forge ahead after the slow open was worth while. I wonder if this novel started out as an Executioner and eventually was turned into a SuperBolan. From pages 130 to 315 the book is pretty solid and eventful. That's about 185 pages...roughly the size of an Executioner. Might just be a coincidence....but I wonder if the novel had been written as a basic Executioner and had to be expanded into a SuperBolan. If you are in that situation and you don't have much time... take the first chapter you already have to introduce the story, then add on 100 pages of filler (hit after hit after hit)....write some new introductions for the characters that are brief, letting their characters be known but give them no story.... that way you are introducing them into the text, but not forcing you to re-write what you already have. Hit that mark necessary to pad out the book and you can move on from the hits and back to the story. Nice and easy way to fill up a 100 pages without screwing up the rest of the work. Might not be the case, but the way it is written makes get the vibe this was a quick, last minute expansion into a 300+ page SuperBolan.

Sudan Slaughter was a huge letdown for me. Weak story. Cardboard characters. There is really nothing much to work with here. One of the biggest problems I had with the novel was the pacing. Several sections in the opening and middle move very, very slowly. They slow down the book and the story almost to a standstill. There is no flow or rhythm to it. And by the time we reach the conclusion of the story, we have the opposite problem. Having wasted so much of the word count getting bogged down in the opening and the middle, the ending seems very rushed and not very satisfying. If you are going to read a book by Kirk Sanson I would recommend starting with Twisted Path, an excellent, well paced Bolan novel: great characters, interesting locations, strong storyline, and excellent flow. It's a top notch Bolan. Sudan Slaughter? Run of the mill. Enjoyable? Sure. Forgettable? Absolutely.

Having read Sanson's Sudan Slaughter, I did not have high expectations when I sat down to read his debut in the series. "Slaughter" was slow and plodding. It was your typical run of the mill Bolan: enjoyable, but forgettable. Nothing to write home about. So imagine my surprise when I opened up Twisted Path and was immediately drawn into this very interesting Bolan adventure. It was definitely of a much higher quality than Sudan Slaughter which was pretty poorly paced with several sections that brought the book to a complete standstill. The characters in that work are also pretty cardboard. Twisted Path, however, was well written, had a strong story, and an interesting array of colorful characters. Plus, the pacing/flow of the story was good. About 100 pages into the novel, the book flips the story and Bolan finds himself framed for a murder and in prison. It's always nice when there is a twist in the story that you didn't see coming. Some writers make it so obvious you know it is going to happen several chapters well in advance what will happen. In this case, Sanson blindsided me and that grabbed my interest even more. The conclusion/finale battle of the novel was also well done. Overall, Twisted Path was a very enjoyable book by Sanson. I would highly recommend it and will definitely re-read it one day. I'll have to check out the other two books Sanson wrote for the series, hopefully they live up to the quality of Twisted Path.

Average novel. A lot of it seems like filler though. It has a decent premise: the mob/KGB/organized gangs meeting up in one room. But it never really goes anywhere. Bolan goes to the meeting, tries to stir up some trouble between the gangsters and then that's really it. There's no major plot for him to stop or anything and in this case there is nothing in the story to create drama or suspense except one or two attempts on Bolan's life. I did I like the intro with Bolan's hit and taking on his victim's identity, but the rest of it was pretty flat. Character's seemed pretty cardboard. With that said, Newton's writing is still pretty decent and engaging enough to make this book about nothing readable. I suspect the writing of this book faced a very short deadline. That or another book slated for release was dropped/never finished and Newton was asked to come in and write one up as fast as possible. Definitely not in the upper tier of his works.

Judging by some reviews on this site I know that Peter Leslie doesn't seem to be a well-liked author for some Bolan fans. However, I've always enjoyed the human element he brought to the character. He does not treat Bolan like a superman, but a human with flaws. He makes mistakes...sometimes events that are out of his hands will screw up his plans or efforts to save the day. He has used this effectively in the past (Hong Kong Hit List). But in some cases he goes a little too far. In Vendetta in Venice, several times Bolan just comes across as inept. He is amushed a few times. In the final scene where Brognola's life is on the line, Bolan reads a map wrong and takes him to the wrong location, forcing him to scale a cliff in the pouring rain. You'd think that would have been something he would have double checked? The book itself as an average entry into the Bolan series. Enjoyable? Yes. But I probably wouldn't re-read it. The opening and ending of the book are strong, but it really gets bogged down in the middle section. My interested definitely waned as I worked my way through the middle 100 pages or so. The plot is simply too thin to be stretched out for 250 pages. This title would have worked much better if it had been in the 180-220 page range. The Good: Solid effort by Leslie. Tufik is a pretty interesting character and certainly made for some interesting reading. The Bad: An interesting plot idea, but just not enough to fill the required length. Too many coincidences (Bolan happens to be in the middle of nowhere and stumbles on to the bad guy's base of operations. The Ugly: Bolan coming across as inept in several scenes (ambushed at hotel, reading a map wrong, etc.) I know Bolan should be portrayed as a human who makes mistakes, especially when he's deprived of sleep, but sometimes it's just a bit much to believe this guy is an effective machine of justice when he constantly stumbles around making elementary mistakes.