Synopsis/blurb…….
To avenge his family,
a soldier brings home the Vietnam War
In the jungles of
Southeast Asia, no sniper was more ruthless than Mack Bolan. After twelve years
in-country, with ninety-five confirmed kills, he comes home to the United
States only to find that his father has gone berserk, slaughtering his family
before taking his own life. But Mack knows his father was no killer. He was
under pressure from a gang of Mafia thugs who were after his money and were
willing to destroy his life to get it. For the sake of his old man, Bolan
declares war on the men who drove him mad.
Five loan sharks are
getting into their car when a bullet slams one of them to the ground. Before
the others can draw their guns, four more shots ring out, leaving them as the
first casualties in the Executioner’s war. From his hometown to every city in
America, Mack Bolan will deliver justice from the barrel of a gun.
My first time with this author and while I enjoyed this book
and am happy to have read it, I’m going to exercise remarkable restraint and
not rush out and buy the following 40 or so in the Mack Bolan series.
Bolan is an elite sniper in Vietnam, when he gets called
back to the States. His father has gone mad with a shot-gun, killing his mother
and sister and injuring his brother before turning the gun on himself. After a
few enquiries and a discussion with his brother, Bolan discovers that money
problems caused the tragedy. His father borrowed money from a Mafia controlled
loan sharking operation, couldn’t pay it back, so unknown to him, Bolan’s
sister enlisted as a prostitute to get the family off the hook. When the father
found out, he cracked and BOOM…….
Bolan stays stateside and starts taking revenge, first
taking out the five men who front the loan operation. Despite being the main
suspect of the police there is only a strong suspicion that Mack is the killer
and no evidence. In short order, he infiltrates the mob by signing on as a
protector for part of the prostitution operation, then starts attacking it from
within having learned a few secrets of the movement.
The Mafia retaliate and put a bounty on his head. After
having been shot himself, Bolan barely escapes the clutches of the police, we
have Bolan temporarily recuperating from his injury in the arms of a lady – Valentine
Querente. Val was conveniently searching for her cat when Bolan barged into her
house and out of the clutches of the police. She has never experienced love
until Mack darkens her door step. Mack once recovered is only too happy to show
her his weapon.
After a bit of R+R and TLC, Mack having professed his love
for the lady, takes the war back onto the streets, careful not to antagonise or
target the police, elements of which are sympathetic to his mission. Mayhem
ensues as Bolan shows ruthless efficiency in disrupting the Mafia operation
with an ever increasing body count.
Despite the lack of any convincing emotional depth to the
characters, I really enjoyed this story…..plenty of shoot ‘em, stab ‘em, punch ‘em
action that made it quite a quick read. I was unconvinced by the love aspect of
the novel and similarly by the lack of grief or anguish Mack seemed to feel at
the news his family had more or less been wiped out. He seemed fairly
indifferent to the future of his surviving brother, other than some cursory
arrangements he made. A bit of a robot is Mr Bolan, but an entertaining one
nevertheless.
Memorable? No, I don’t think so, but it was a decent enough
read and the pages turned fairly quickly.
4 from 5
Don Pendleton served
in the US Armed Forces during the Second World War and subsequently in Korea,
before working for NASA. With his Executioner series he became regarded as “the
father of action/adventure.” He died in 1995.
His author website is here.
Open Road have
re-published some (maybe all?) of the Bolan series recently for kindle. I
accessed this one via Net Galley.
Col, I was wondering when you'd be reviewing Pendleton's first Bolan novel. I agree, it was a decent read compared to some of the others by the author himself as well as those ghostwritten by other writers. Bolan's character develops better as the series progresses. Thanks for the mention. I reviewed this novel last December. And I continue to buy the books, especially the thirty-odd books written by Pendleton that are hard tp find here.
ReplyDeletePrashant, if I hadn't been interrupted I would probably have read it in one or two sittings. I can't do that if I'm not enjoying something. I suppose I would be curious to revisit later on in this series to see if he is still a bit of a cardboard-cut-out action man or if there is anything behind the physical specimen.
DeleteMy copy included the first few chapters of the second book where he goes about assembling a team and pulls another job. I was kind of jaded by then, so didn't really feel compelled to find the book and carry on. I may have mentioned that I have a few other books vying for my attention!
Col, there's not much difference in what Mack Bolan does from one book to the other. Only the themes and settings for the action stories change. I haven't read any of the recent Bolans but I believe the stories have new elements. I'm going to try and read some of them. Some of the Bolan offshoots like Phoenix Force and Able Team are also quick reads.
DeleteI may have read the odd-Phoenix type book. I used to read a lot of Vietnam memoirs and fiction, some quite wordy and literary, others of the shoot-em up type. They entertain and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I want different things from my reading.
DeleteThis certainly sounds like an action-packed thriller, Col. Like you, I prefer my characters to have some emotional depth. But it sounds like the pacing is fast; and sometimes, an action novel can work well.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely action over emotions, but it scratched a particular itch. I would struggle to read the whole series I think.
DeleteI was interested when Prashant wrote about this series, because I had never
ReplyDeleteheard of it and there were so many of them... life is full of new things. But I probably won't venture there.
He does wear some fetching outfits.....nah, still won't make a difference
DeleteThanks, Col. I'm not sure wearing "fetching outfits" is a good idea. I wish I read in only one or two genres for that way I'd be more focused and also reading more.
DeleteI don't think our friend Moira will be seduced by Mack's fancy clothing or lack of TBH. It's proving a hard sell!
DeleteI should definitely read some Mack Bolan, Prashant has me interested in him too.
ReplyDeleteI would be curious to see how you get on with him, Tracy
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