OldFan

Great personal mission for Mack. I liked his thoughts on the state of the Mafia since the end of his war with them. Smalley has to be one of the most evil of the corrupt officials in the Stony Man archives.

This is the kind of writing you expect from the Nick Carter series. Bond is called in when the body of a young woman is found with his card on it. The first 3rd of the book is mostly exposition. We have to wait until M finally gets p.o.'d (and M spends most of the book being p.o.'d) enough to send Bond after Scorpius. Vladimir Scorpius , arms merchant, has transformed himself into Father Valentine, the leader of a bizarre combination of Moonies and Manson family known as The Meek Ones. This book is filled with "WTF" moments where you're reading along and suddenly find yourself saying "what the fuck?" Among these moments is the revelation that part of Scorpius'dastardly plot is the desire to build a credit card company (WTF?!!!) or when Bond and the Bond girl are finally in Scorpius lair and he reveals his plan for them. Now Dr. No had a great plan for his captives, torture and death, Mr. Big's plan-torture and death Goldfinger-torture and death. Scorpius' plan-Bond must marry the Bond girl (WTF!!!?) Although considering this time the Bond girl is an IRS agent, maybe torture and death was the easy way out. It seems that the US govt has figured the only way to take Father Valentine down is a Capone-style tax case. So when the going gets tough, the Brits send in Bond with a kill order, the US sends the revenuers to build a tax case (WTF!!!?). Big giveaway moment-when the villain in an adventure novel crows that his private island is surrounded by water moccasins, alligators, rattlers, scorpions, etc; you just know somebody is going to get bit by something. There is one genuine great moment where the film on Bond's flight is the Untouchables which Bond watches because it features one of his favorite actors as a Chicago cop. All in all, Gardner's done better Bond.

Quite simply-THE BEST NON-FLEMING BOND-PERIOD. Gardner and Benson's efforts are pale shadows of Bond compared to this. Markham/Amis' sole contribution to the Bond legend is even better than Fleming's Spy Who Loved Me and a couple of his short stories. 007 must work with a KGB agent to rescue M and save a summit conference. The man behind the plot is Col.Sun, a Chinese agent who uses Bond for a psuedo-scientific study of torture. An exciting Bond adventure from word one.

Not counting Westerns, Penetrator was the last major series from Pinnacle. After this, most of their series attempts would last 5 or 6 books and disappear. After Mack and Remo, Penetrator was my favorite series. With Blood on the Strip, the writing team established a)Mark Hardin's adventures would not be limited to the Mafia and b)sympathetic characters were not safe from death in this series. Mark Hardin goes up against the Fraulein and her 'talent agency' in this one. The Vegas operation is turning showgirls into sex slaves and the Penetrator takes to the warpath. In the ensuing non-stop action, an innocent bystander is caught up in the turmoil when the Fraulein mistakenly assumes she's Hardin's girlfriend. If you haven't sampled the Penetrator and have access to a used bookstore, give it a try.

I've always enjoyed the Penetrator series. After Mack and Remo, Mark Hardin was my favorite Pinnacle star. In this entry, Hardin heads for Japan because his first missions in the US have created a little too much heat. What ostensibly begins as a vacation turns into another penetration exercise. Hardin finds himself betrayed by one of his arms suppliers and is hunted by the Japanese crime organization Sendai Purple. His battle with the gang leads to their connection with missing scientists in the Far East. The book has great action scenes with the obligatory shootout in the communal baths. Why do all action books/movies set in Japan have the bathhouse scene? There is a neat twist when Hardin finds himself allied with an anti-nuclear group with a weird idea of how to ban nukes.

Excellent story. Bolan always works well in an extreme environment. For those with access to a used bookstore, find the original version in Leslie's Radoactive Camel Affair, one of the Man from UNCLE series of the mid 60s.

James Bond meets a black superspy. This was impressive stuff for the early 50s. Although saddled with some period stereotypes for minor villains, the actual Mr Big character is a well drawn bigger than life Bond villain. The story is a simple one involving Bond's search for the source of gold coins used to pay Soviet spies. Features the classic Bond moment where Felix Leiter is fed to a shark (offstage) which is much more dramatic than the movie version in License to Kill.

I was trying to read the Stony man series in order but skipped ahead to this one based on the cover and synopsis. I'm glad I did. This book contains 2 gripping plot threads that could each carry their own book. As usual, Kassner gives plenty of action and I found myself wrapped in one thread ( the Stony mission in Russia) and but still anxious to get to the other (an enemy agent at the Farm) and vice versa. I found myself hoping that the Russian Wolverine Force would survive to pop up again as a sort of anti-Stony Man force. There's no skimping on the action or plot. I'm looking forward to Mr Kassner's continuation of some of the Betrayal plot.

Overall, this was a good adventure with Katz and the Phoenixes (Phoenii?) thrown in for good measure. The interplay with Qaddafi was unusual and welcome. We don't get to see Mack confront world leaders often, let alone meeting leaders of 'terrorist sponsor nations" and having to work in a shaky alliance with them. The SHC was an interesting plot device, but it threw the generally grounded Bolan plot into James Bond/Nick Carter/ Man from UNCLE territory. The Bolan series has always relied on people to carry the plot not "infernal devices". A good adventure with surprises and twists that keep it interesting.

This book is absolutely the worst Bond I have ever read. Not only does Benson copy Spectre with his Union, but he also reuses the "let's get revenge by discrediting Bond" plot used in "From Russia With Love". Toss in the tired old evil double plot AND the old wheezer where a murder is committed while the hero has an amnesiac blackout (did he do it? yeah, right)and you have the most rehashed mess ever written. The Bond girl(s) are terrible. This time it's a pair of twins and Bond ends up in a 3 way sex scene. Sorry, Mr. Benson, James Bond has a little bit more class. What's next for him-watching a lesbian encounter? This is teenage fantasy stuff. Well, I'm off of the Bond buying list until they get a new author or Benson stops taking plot points from Hugh Hefner.

This is Fleming's fastest paced Bond novel. Not having read it in several years, I was surprised that it contains several excellent moments not in either movie adaptation, but was also struck by the fact that the movies followed it so closely. This Bond adventure is a good start for those movie fans wishing to sample Fleming's work.

Nothing's cooler than reading a book wher mack comes to your town-and on the day I reread this, the Chicago Sun-Times has a front page story on bars and lounges maintaining Mob ties. Come back, Mack, your job is apparently unfinished. Anyhow, this is a little slow after the New York hit, but still entertaining. Mack meets a Joliet Jake a decade before the Blues Bros. make their appearance;a beautiful woman is conveniently nearby to give him a hand and he has to battle natural elements to boot.

Why did the Mafia never learn? If you turn one of his friends into turley meat, Bolan will kick ass at 10 times his normal rate. After the slight letdown of the European wars, Bolan is Stateside again in one hell of a battle. The description of his 1-2-3 hits against the Gambella family. It's a book of contrasts-the wives of Chianti and Gambella are polar opposites; Paula, Evie and Rachel are all diverse personalities. We get the 1st mention of The Big Thing and in the final assault on Stoney Lodge, its implied that Bolan has just killed a senator (US or State is not established). Why wasn't more made of that? Pendleton at his best.

Okay, it gets a little weird in this one, folks. Bolan gets involved with the British mob's attempts to take over a sex club. Leo's here and Hal wants Bolan to join the Mafia and battle it from within. In probably the most farout ending in the series, Bolan finds himself trapped in a sexual torture apparatus and the bad guy dies with his pants around his ankles. I can't recall seeing any other action hero in a similar predicament. Oh well, back to the States for our man Bolan with his dignity intact.

This one is a bit of a letdown after the thrill-a-minute pace of the first 4. It doesn't really get going until Mack starts offing Mafia biggies in order to free the hostages. But hey, it's still better than 95% of the action series garbage out there.

Excellent prediction of post-Castro Cuba as ex-Castroites and Mafia strongarms try to bring back what they see as the good old days to a democratic Cuba. I nominate the warrior woman Bao as a candidate for Stony Man. I'd love to see Kassner bring her or a character modelled after her to the series.

While the first 3 books are often seen as a unit, I tend to add this one to the mix as the fourth part of a tetrology. All of the series major characters are now in play, Mack has an idea of Bolan's plans for him, and the duel with the Talaferros/Black Aces has begun. Excellent subplots with Margarita and Lavangetta. This one completes the initial story arc and readies us for the European Wars.

This book shows Pendleton hitting his stride. I always imagine that this was the book he was working on when the word came down that he had a hit on his hands. Everything comes together as Bolan sees how violent the Mob's revenge can be. Brognola makes his entrance with the first inklings of the Fed's desire to work with Mack. All in all a great effort.

This book is awesome. The battle featuring Bolan, James and Trent vs the Japanese terrorist contingent was one of the best battle scenes in the series so far.

This is a rough one to review. The first half is an excellent James Bond adventure with a great villain and terrific plot and action. The last half is like a LeCarre thriller, a good realistic spy story, but not for someone looking for action and adventure. LeChiffre's predicament sets the tone for an excellent gambling sequence and he proves to be a thoroughly sadistic bastard before his demise. Damn, if only they had done a Connery version of this one.

Finished this over the weekend. Armageddon Now is one hell of a good read. The villain of the piece has developed a network to sell guns to various minorities and then pit them against each other in a war to wipe each other out making America safe for the white race. He's also into various other methods of extermination and has several plans to eliminate his targets. With aan impregnable fortress, this is a villain who would make Ian Fleming proud. The Black Ops strike team is filled with people who are given character and back stories so they become familiar to us as people not "the demolition guy" or "the Asian team member". Best lines (and without the book in front of me I'm paraphrasing.)"Okay, he's dead" Reply "Not dead enough" Surprising casting-The team leader writes action adventure novels on the side (Trying to tell us something, Mr Kasner?) All in all, another winner from Gold Eagle and a favorite Bolan author. Great job!

This is the way a Stony Man should be. A big book with a big plot, featuring everybody but showcasing 1 or 2 of the warriors besides Bolan. This one gave extra time to Leo and Calvin James. It's always fun to see Leo back with his former cohorts. We also get a villain with a MASTER PLAN. I like these meglomaniacs better than a terrorist group whose plan is "let's go kill some Americans." Like any good book in the series it has plenty of little moments-Calvin watching the DEA agent snort coke, Hal and the President confronted by the bad guy, Price at Langley. Little moments that all come together in a great story. Good job, Mel!

One of the classics. This intros Pol, Gadgets, and Lyons and features some hellfire action. My favorite moments were the chapter where Braddock tries to explain the Bolan mystique and the meetings with Lyons. Pendleton finding his groove.

Good action filled adventure. I like Mack Bolan out on terrorist hunts with Phoenix Force and hope that he gets to accompany Able Team in some of the latter books. My only quibble with the story is that this is the 3rd "terrorist army" plot in 4 books. They kind of run together if you're in the process of reading the whole series in order. That ain't the author's fault, it's my timing.

C'mon! ya gotta give it a 10. It's the foundation of the whole movement. Anyhow, it deserves a 10 on it's own merits. Before the end of the Prologue, Bolan is blowing Mafia soldiers away. We are let in at the very beginning of his personal war. The scene where Johnny fills Mack in on what happened is amazing and you can almost feel the anger rise in Mack as he listens. Often overlooked but an integral part of this first story is the fencing with Lt. Wetherbee of the Pittsfield Police. They prefigure Mack's relationship with Hal. The scenes with Leo's wife are great as she rises to the occasion to save her man. One wonders if Don Pendleton knew what he had started. When it first appeared, it was different than anything that had been published before and started a revolution in paperback original series. Every cheap paperback house came out with their own Man against the Mafia series (Sharpshooter,Marksman, Soldato, etc. )and only Mack survives today. The Executioner spawned (for better or worse) even more action adventure series:The Destroyer, The Penetrator, The Butcher, The Death Merchant, The Expeditor and a whole slew of other series characters. Only Mack and Remo remain. The cream always rises to the top. Thank you, Mr. Pendleton!

An exciting Stony Man that can be favorably compared to a good Bond movie. In fact, strands of Mel Odom's plot can be seen in the later Bond movies Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. I love those Bond movies where 007 has to call in an assault force to help him breach the impregnable fortress so the final battle at Quillian's island was terrific. My only problem with the book was the sci-fi artificial intelligence subplot. It was way too far-fetched and only detracted from the main story.

Excellent hostage crisis story with plenty of twists and turns. Nice twist to have Mack fight side by side with the Russian special forces while Mossad was trying to stop the Stony team.