Assault Force

Not really a bad book, but just seemed like a change of pace for Schmidt. The way the kidnapping/hijacking played out was done very well. I think someone mentioned Bolan wasn't in this that much. I thought this might have the potential of a "Flight 741", but it didn't really live up to that. Some good characterizations, espcially the spoiled action hero and his stunt man. The rescue was crisp and exciting, but the finale scene barely had Bolan in it. So, just an average novel overall.

This is NOT a Mack Bolan title and I am extremely doubtful it was written by Dan Schmidt. Apart from small mentions in chapters 4 and 8 Bolan is not even included in the storyline until over half way into the title. The plot is okay and the characters introduced are interesting but I agree with all of the negatives previously recorded in reviews for this title. What amazes me is no-one has mentioned the following. As I mentioned I was doubtful on the author of this title and take Dan Schmidt's titles for what you will I would think everyone would agree that he KNOWS the Bolan character inside out. So what happens at the end of the title is Bolan has taken out yet another rogue CIA guy and the head of the terrorist group and sets his sights on the final target Dragovan Vikholic. Vikholic wakes up in a daze in his room and finds his girlfriend with a hole in her forehead which wasn't there when he last spoke to her. Then in his terror he finds on his dresser a bag containing not one but two severed heads and no prizes for guessing whose heads they were. I coughed and gagged as I had accidently swallowed my chewie and it went down the wrong way, got it back spat it at the nearest wall and said aloud BULLSHIT my Mack Bolan would never do that! Sure there are multiple authors in this series but surely the readers can expect the characteristics of the main character to remain constant?

I have been collecting the old Bolan novels like crazy, everything from Mack's days fighting the Mafia to the terrorist wars. the last really solid Bolan book that I read was number 300, a book that brought sadness to our heart as Katz was fatally wounded in battle. Ever since then, the Bolan novels have just gone straight downhill. The new writers need to spend more time getting to know Pendleton's methods and try to make the series a little more like it used to be, not this 21st century hollywood crap that ends up in the books these days. How about bringing Johnny and Mack together again, or maybe have some Vietnam flashbacks, maybe even bring back some bad guys that have gotten away. I don't know about the rest of you, but this series is getting worse.

I felt this one had real potential, it was different, and I liked the first half or so. I was hoping it would turn into a Bolanized version of Die Hard. And him and some of the hostages would team up and bust out. They spent so much time setting up the Hostage taking, but then the Law Dogs bust in and Bolan breaks free just like that . I like the long battle in the Hotel, but I really didn't like the end, it just seemed a little too plain. Eh Kay , says - not the best Bolan.

I agree with the prior poor reviews. This is my first new Executioner novel in about 12 years. I've just gotten back into the series by reading War Against the Mafia and a couple of other early books. I figured I'd see what the new stuff is like these days. Unfortunately, this was the first one I selected to read. I found the book very poorly written and confusing as to the action and who was doing/saying what.

This whole thing read like the writer pulled out an unfinished book about a hostage crisis in Spain from their desk and decided to finish it by sandwiching in a few Bolan scenes and passing it off as an Executioner novel. The writing itself was okay, nothing special, but I couldn't get into the story because Bolan wasn't really driving things. It seemed like all the other stuff was the main focus and Bolan was just there for a cameo appearance like the way Marlon Brando wound up in a lot of crappy movies at the end of his career. Hello? If you're going to call it an Executioner novel, make sure it's about the Executioner and don't have him just play second fiddle to all the bad guys and victims and government agents. And I agree with whoever complained about the cover. This dweeb they're passing off as Bolan on the covers these days looks more like some dumb hunk from the OC. Am I just crazy or wasn't Bolan supposed to be dark-haired with deep blue eyes and a world-weary look about him? It's like the publishers or editors don't even care if they get things right any more. Or am I just being too nostalgic, because when I was reading these books twnenty years ago, they rocked. Or maybe it's even further back. Maybe things really started to go wrong when they got rid of the War Wagon...

It seems everybody gets a very large piece of pie in this book. Bolan himself gets a minor mention. The action scences were an afterthought.The tension wasn;t there so you couldn't care who lived or died. In the end it was very unfulliling.

I was very confused by this book. It was not about the Executioner. It was a decent story about a large scale kidnapping with a few paragraphs that mentioned Bolan. I believe that the main character should be the main character. There were 4 and 5 chapters in a row that did not even mention Bolan. I was completely disappointed with this book from the cover art (I was under the impression that Bolan’s eyes were Ice Blue not faded green and what’s up with the olive drab shirt)to the story line it seemed awkward to read. There were so many inconsistencies that I could not keep up. Why did the terrorists use a dart gun on Bolan and no one else? Why would he turn his back on a stranger who was a “not tied up carrying a gun captive”? There were several more things that did not add up to me. Just my opinion.