W.A. Chandler

Perhaps the single worst Executioner book that I've seen. Montgomery's prose is stilted, to say the least--he seems to be trying for that old-time, clean Pendleton style, but it comes off as simply clumsy. The characterization is equally disappointing--Bolan here is not a person, merely a two-dimensional caricature of a soldier. Finally--the sour icing on this rancid cake--the book is overtly political, an apparent excuse for Montgomery to espouse his own paranoia about everything from Democrats to the anti-smoking lobby. (If I'm wrong with that last sentence--if Montgomery is not, in fact, plastering the book with his own politics--then hats off to the man, because he must be a hell of a writer to seem so convincing.)

With no disrespect intended to the current writers, whose options, I would imagine, are restricted to what is mandated by Worldwide Library, I admit that I rather prefer the original, Pendleton-penned books, with their greater emphasis on character development. And _Chicago Wipe-Out_ is one of the best IMHO. I re-read this book every few years, and it never fails to entertain. The story is very atmospheric (the whole book takes place in a snowstorm in the space of two days, IIRC), the tension rises steadily throughout (as the snow gets higher, Bolan gets in deeper), and the interaction between Bolan and the female protagonist (whose name I've forgotten) is rendered very well. If you haven't read this one, you owe it to yourself to do so.

_Washington I.O.U._ was the first Bolan book I read (about 1978, I think), so my judgment may be clouded a bit by nostalgia--but I *loved* this book! It was fast-paced, grim, and shockingly violent. And the good guy won, no less! A heck of a good story.