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While I did enjoy this entry, it was not as good as others I have read. I'm still pretty new to the whole Executioner thing, but this one didn't measure up. I've got a couple of small complaints and a major complaint or two. The plot was too straight forward. There were absolutely no twists. Then later in the story Bolan is nearly taken out by a bunch of rednecks. Must have been an off month for him. Really off, because throughout this story he keeps wondering if the bad guy might could be possibly planning a trap. Come on! From the little I've read, Bolan is always thinking strategy. There was something else that annoyed the heck out of me. Bolan kept trying to stop somewhere to make a phone call. Why didn't he have a cell phone? The reason is the author contrived to keep Bolan isolated. It was unrealistic. Bolan should have had air support tracking the bad guy. The bad guys had the most devastating weapon ever created and the lead investigator had virtually no back up. Not good. The technology was interesting and the basic plot was fine. But the execution (you'll pardon the pun) of the story fell short.

Still pretty new to the whole Bolan thing, but I liked this one. If it's a departure, then it's a good one. This is another one that had a James Bond feel, but without all of the Bondian pretense. The story is a quasi-mystery, race against the clock that builds some tension along the way. Part of that tension is the "will they or won't they" question about Bolan and Ogatu getting together. But it's nice to have a villain who is not trying to take over the world. All he wants is money. The author also does not shy away from doing something that he had to do. It's not much of a SPOILER but I still don't want to give it away. Suffice to say the bad guys have to prove they are bad guys and that they are serious, and the author doesn't shy away from it. The interesting thing for me is, when I read it I kept seeing Remo Williams and Master Chiun in this story. Let's face it, the Polynesian Freedom Force (a group of malcontent islanders wanting to return Hawaii to the natives and secede from the US) is too goofy. The author plays it straight, and that helps, but come on! Whether based in reality or not, they are laughable. So I thought it would be a terrific exercise to have the current chronicler of the Destroyer series use this same exact plot (and many of the excellent story events) and put Remo and Chiun in the center of it. You think Ogatu was attracted to Bolan? She'd be absolutely apoplectic over Remo!

It was difficult to decide what number rating to give this book as it is the second Executioner I have read. The first was the issue before this one, Trigger Point, and I was not at all impressed by that one. Skysniper, though, was leaps and bounds better than Trigger Point. I understand that the author, Chuck Rogers, usually writes a gritty Bolan. I rather like that style. The story, in fact, reminded me of early Bond adventures, but without all of the pretense. The beginning had that "cold opening" feel that Bond films use. Bolan gets beat up pretty good, and considering what he goes through each month you'd expect at least bruises. In this adventure he is put to the physical test. The dialog was fairly realistic, even wry in a few places. Not Steinbeck-level sophistication, but a step up from a lot of the currently running action series. The action was quick and well thought out. It seemed to follow logically. And it wasn't slowed by unnecessary ordinance descriptions. Despite the luke warm feeling I got from that first book, Skysniper has encouraged me to read more Executioners and even some Super Bolans. These editors, though, have to take better care with their work. There were nearly a dozen typos that were very distracting. Several times "to" was used instead of "too" and once a she was referred to as a he.