RabbleRouser

A great book, not only in terms of story-telling and characterization, but also for a whiff of originality. I didn't get the timeline being off from when the Challenger actually went down, but I figure there was probably some kind of editorial decision to change things. This was one of those books I was able to read in one sitting without ever looking at the clock to wonder why time was crawling. Definately at ten.

Liked: the camaraderie between Bond and his Ghurka ally. Liked: the description and action sequence once the story moved to the mountains. Could take or leave: the overall, convoluted plot. Really disliked: the writing, particularly the wooden dialogue. Bottom Line: There are much better entries in this series, which still pales compared to some of the better SuperBolans and Stony Man novels.

I don't care much for trilogies in this series and here's a good example why. You have what might have been a decent, taut outing with Bolan kicking some drug scum ass over the course of one SuperBolan, only it's puffed up with filler and ho-hum pacing to the point where I found it hard to look forward to enduring another two rounds. I think these books tend to be treats for writers, i.e. they don't have to bother working out three solid books if they can get away with stretching one story into a lonnnnnnnnggg trilogy.

A spiffy thriller here about Quadaffi being the wolf in sheep's clothing as he tries to play statesman during a conference of African States while secretly funding a revolutionary gang of thugs to do the dirty work if things don't go his way. There was a lot going on here but it all fit together neatly. Some great scenes in the jungle as well as at Quadaffi's home base in Libya, and everybody in both Able Team and Phoenix Force gets a piece of the action along with Bolan. A cool twist at the end gives the bad guys a taste of there own medicine. Oh, and a lot of wisecracks galore, especially with the Jayne Bahn character, who's the sassiest woman crimefighter this side of Emma Peele.

A good read. Great use by Able Team and well-conceived action sequences make this a fast-paced thriller on par with anything else out there in the marketplace. The author has a good sense of character and dialogue and gives a reader a real feeling of being in the thick of things as the plot unwinds. Highly recommended.

What a great book! Timely, too, as if it was ripped straight out the headlines with all that's happening in Kashmir these days. There was plenty of first-rate action here but also some intriguing characters, especially the Indian Military Intelligence guy and the arch-villian Neshah. I got a real sense of being in the areas where the story took place and even if the ending was a little far-fetched, the writer made it seem credible. And through it all Bolan shines, big time. Highly recommended.

I sort of chanced on this book and remember a friend boasting about the Mack Bolan series so I thought I'd give it a try and I was very impressed. I was expecting just a lot of shooting and gore but there was a lot of great characterization and good dialogue that really made the characters come alive, especially Yakov and Bolan. It made me want to read more in this series and get better acquainted with the back story. Good writing, too, which was another surprise.