MindSpike

I liked this one quite a lot. Mack sallies forth to rescue a victim who doesn't want to be rescued on behalf of people who resent his involvement while escorting a partner who is actively sabotaging his efforts. But he's Mack Bolan so by the end of the story he'll have converted every doubter and shot every terrorist. It's what I read for. Author Andy Boot runs hot and cold for my taste, but this one is hot. Pick it up!

This is probably my favorite Phil Elmore Executioner to date. I thought it had just the right proportions of character and action. The plot was a little thin, consisting of essentially a series of strung together action sequences, but they all flowed logically from one another, and I couldn't wait to see how the action would escalate from scene to scene. The characters acted from believable and sympathetic (or despicable) motivations, but with actions that were completely in keeping with their portrayal. The military action was top notch, and Mack was in fine form. I read through this one in a white heat, and put it at the front of my bookshelf to read again before too long.

Elmore's characterization of his supporting cast really shines in this stand out Bolan Blitz. The story opens up with so many different directions to go, part of the ride is figuring out just what kind of Executioner story this is going to be, and watching the layers and possibilities fall away as events progress. My only disappointment is that in a story revolving around knife duelists, we never get to see a proper duel. But by the time I realized I was missing it, the book had crashed to a most satisfying conclusion. Solid characters, natural plot progression, uncertain variables. Great read!

This book was an exhausting adrenaline ride from start to finish. The premise seems a little sci-fi, but the action is incredible, with Able Team dealing with the local terrorists while Pheonix Force roots out the problem at the source. Able really takes it on the chin in this one, and Carl "Ironman" Lyons becomes something of an unstoppable juggernaut by the end of the book. The climactic fights really paid off for me. Elmore likes to spotlight the role of citizens as defenders of their own country, and there is a memorable scene in the book where a pair of armed civilians step up and assist Able Team in a firefight. Civilians who act and respond like level-headed adults who, while not trained soldiers or law enforcement, take the defense of their homeland seriously. This is Elmore's best Stony Man book yet.

This book plunges the reader in the middle of the action right from the very beginning and never really lets up. True to form, Mack finds unlikely allies and proves himself an excellent small unit commander. I really liked watching the different team members play off of Mack and grow in relation to him and each other. Each character comes into his own by the end of the book, and we're even rewarded with a smidgen of a romantic subplot. Oh yeah, someone gets the girl in the end. The action rocks, and Mack moves smoothly from fight to fight. I particularly enjoyed an assault on a construction yard and Mack alone vs the enemy army. If I had a complaint, it would be that the ending seems to wrap up the bad guy rather too neatly and abruptly when he could have been saved for another book.

Right from the start, Rogers plunges the reader in a whirlwind of non-stop action that never lets up. The relentless pacing and futile escape attempts that make up the bulk of the book really communicate the desperation and pressure that Mack and his team are under. The cast of villains is kept mysterious and secret until nearly the end of the book. Mack draws soldiers and civilians into his web of charisma and makes them into something more than they were before. Excellent characterization, brutal action, and relentless pacing make this one of the best novels I've read in a while. If there is a flaw, it may be that the stakes of the mission are a bit underwhelming once revealed, and that little attention is paid to the denouement. Even so, the climax is more than satisfying. This is a keeper.

"Sacred Ground" was written by Jon Merz. Merz excels at setting, concept, and ambiance; his environments are surreal, evocative, and haunting. The action in the book displays a working knowledge of close-quarters armed combat, probably reflecting Merz' own martial arts training. As a strictly action and atmospheric piece, this book succeeds on every level. Unfortunately, Merz falls very short on characterization and basic plotting. Characters within the book are wildly inconsistent in attitude, action, and voice. They are difficult to distinguish between at best, and sheer caricature at the worst. Sudden reversals in attitude and characterization serve to frustrate the reader rather than add depth to the story. When not focused on the physical action, the plot takes bizarre and unprecedented turns, artificially forcing drama upon the characters' reactions. The villains devolve into raving caricature once revealed, and the ending sequence seems tacked on just to fill word count. Merz makes equally earnest attempts to dismiss and embrace the supernatural, often by the same characters and within the same chapter. As a study in how to write descriptive fiction, this book is worth reading, but in every other aspect it falls short of satisfactory and into the realm of the simply frustrating.

Elmore is on top of his game with gripping action scenes, dynamic and memorable villains, and a foil for Bolan that really highlights the effect Mack has on those around him. Solid assault tactics and a hefty supply of foot soldiers form the core of the action. The plot has just enough turns to keep Bolan challenged, and the villains are compelling enough that I don't mind entire chapters spent on developing a character I *know* won't make it past the final chapter. This is solid, technically well executed storytelling, just like I like it. The stakes keep rising, the hero faces increasing challenges, and he has a measurable impact on those he meets. Setting the action in Germany gives the story a hint of espionage flair, but it is never developed beyond that. It's a good thing the villain characterizations are so compelling, because the plot is fairly standard fare, and suffers a bit for not using the exotic location and worldwide arms conspiracy to their fullest. Still, at 180 pages, it's a great, quick read. I want more!

This is a solid entry in the line, a fairly average work with no real surprises and no disappointments. The military action is consistent and exciting; Elmore ties chapters together adequately, and of course the villains get it in the end. This book contains my single favorite Hal Brognola scene to date, an encounter on Capitol Hill that really rams home how Hal feels about his job, and his responsibilities. Awesome. If I had criticisms, they are all technical, as Elmore's customary technical skill seems mysteriously absent in this work. Most of the action is written in passive voice. Characters (esp. Gadgets and Lyons) are one-sided caricatures. The villains are forgettable in motivation and operation. Nothing here is awful or offensive ... it's just average. Still, I'd buy the book just the Hal Brognola scene alone.

Elmore does not disappoint, delivering old-school Bolan action as Mack takes on enemy after enemy in classic "Bolan Blitz" style. "Sabotage" is executed with an eye towards the details of small unit tactics, attention to the particulars of weaponry and other technology in use, and with a professional polish to the writing. Technically, the book satisfies on all counts, resulting in a fast-paced tear from action piece to action piece whose plot is just complex enough to provide logical motivation for the action. Those characters with whom Elmore spends any degree of time - Mack, and the primary villains - are individualized in motives, goals, and actions. This was a satisfying read, and one I intend both to loan to friends and revisit in the future. A few points kept this from earning a perfect rating: Mack's primary supporting character (Jennifer Delaney) received little to no characterization of her own, serving mostly to provide Bolan with a conversational partner. The plot, while sufficient for the frame of an action novel, never realized the stakes of the situation it presented, so that escalation of tension - while promised in the early portions of the investigation - never materialized, plot progression consisted solely of discovering the extent of the villains plans without confronting those plans in action. Viewed another way, the bad guys never won any small victories in order to convince the reader of their threat. The climactic showdowns of the novel consisted of extended dialog between Bolan and the primary villains. While this tactic really served to highlight the differences between characters, these scenes were preceded and followed by heavy action pieces, so that the dialog felt less like a breather and more like an oddly placed debate. A few tropes of the genre were trotted out, especially regarding the novel's handling of the denoument (whose mere presence was *greatly* appreciated) and the final appearances of the principle supporting cast. As these were handled with Elmore's customary technical skill, they felt more organic than contrived, lessening the uncomfortable familiarity of their presence. Get this one before it leaves the shelves!

Excellent action, concise plot movement, and just enough attention paid to each of the characters to feel like they're involved in the story. Though Able and Phoenix don't meaningfully coordinate for much of the book, each team is busy uncovering clues and tracking down bad guys just in time to set the other team on the track of the next chain in the puzzle. When the climactic showdown finally comes, the big punches seem to keep rolling one after the other. This is a solid action book, which I quite enjoyed. The villains fell somewhat flat, both in motivation and in final characterization. It felt somewhat like the guys were confronting the same villain over and over, two of them even meeting their end in a manner and with remarkable similar self-delivered eulogies that was supposed to unite two otherwise disparate characters by revealing the man and motivation beneath their hypocrisy, but instead simply felt repetitive. Even so, this did nothing to spoil the excellent characterization, impeccable action scenes, and gratifyingly logical plot progression that turned a casual read into an imminently satisfying one.

This is the first Rogue Angel book I've read, and if it were not a Gold Eagle imprint, and I had not already bought two others, it would be the last. Like the Mack Bolan, Stony Man, and Executioner series, the Rogue Angel series is ghost written under the pen name of Alex Archer. The author of this book is Jon Merz. The descriptive passages that form the bulk of this work are fluid, evocative, detailed and compelling. This is fortunate, and the only reason I actually finished the book. The rest of the novel is a tangle of misdirecting plot points, inconsistent characterization, starkly unrealistic action sequences, and an obsession with emotional responses that belongs in another Harlequin title altogether. Several plot points are left blatantly unresolved, including the main mystery of bigfoot. Characters who are weak and indecisive throughout the book suddenly act out or develop strong opinions. Characters who are the competent backbone of the action inexplicably can't do anything right towards the end, and then suddenly erupt into unstoppable whirlwinds in a final chapter that dashes off into a direction completely contrary to the rest of the novel. While Annja's sword is mentioned, it is used infrequently, and although she moans about the responsibility and danger it brings, we never see what she's talking about. Friends become enemies, enemies become friends, with no rhyme or reason given; characters alternately embrace and deny the supernatural, sometimes within the same paragraph of dialog. Although the novel could easily be used as a study in descriptive writing, literally every other aspect of the work falls short. The end result is frustrating and confusing.

The opening portions of this book are tense, active, and filled with rising stakes and gritty action sequences. Bolan pursues the bad guys with characteristic determination. At some point, however the action moves outside of US borders. After this, Bolan becomes more of an observer to the action, suffering manipulation at the hands of allies, remarkably poor marksmanship, vanishing bullet wounds, an odd dependence on technological toys, fear of losing touch with Stony Man HQ, and basically just watches the bad guys self-destruct. Sure, he fires a few shots, kills a key man in the terrorist organization ... by accident. For a novel this size, the action should have remained localized to the US, focused on the parties responsible for the fire traps, and followed through with the scenarios that made the first portion of the book so enjoyable. By expanding the scope of the story to South Africa and the warring PMCs, the story overreaches the length of the novel, leading to an absence of rising tension, abrupt scene transitions the reader doesn't logically follow, and an unsatisfactory conclusion. This author needs a larger page count to complete their intended story.

The cover and blurb really attracted me to this book, reminding me of Metal Gear Solid 2. Mack Bolan and Solid Snake seem cut from the same cloth, and they both engage terrorists on a ship. Here, the direct parallells end, though the rest of the book plays out much like a video game; Bolan's pursuit of the terrorists periodically builds to increasingly climactic fights with colorful "boss" characters. As a pure action romp, this novel does not disappoint. What impressed me the most about this book was the author's command of language and pacing. Dialog was punchy, and there was a notable absence of vulgarity - something I greatly appreciate, especially in military fiction. Action moved logically from location to location, and tension was kept at a rising level that did not strain suspension of disbelief. I have two small complaints that affected the rating: 1) the setting changes very quickly from ship to Sri Lanka, a change of scenario I found jarring; 2) the resolution involving the final "boss" and his weapon of mass destruction, while complete, mostly happened "off stage", and I wanted to see the action directly. This was the first book by Phil Elmore that I have read, and I eagerly anticipate more work from this author.