Tropic Blast

hmmmm 6 or 7 stars ? I'll go a seven here. This is an okay read with lot's of negatives which have already been mentioned but a few pluses as well I reckon. The plot/storyline is okay with Mack out to take a drug baron out of business. The choice of his sidekick in the retired Texas Ranger was puzzling but after being included in the story he slotted in nicely. Some good action scenes and a couple of characters introduced who were not only interesting but played important parts in the overall plot. The Coumbian hitman Cantu is a classic example and he finally puts his hands to good use ;-D (in joke if you have read this title) I quite enjoyed this but would say it's a fair read only certainly not one of the better titles in the series it's up to you if you wish to read it.

This was the first I had read in a while, and I remembered why I loved the series. This one was particularly enjoyable for me because it differed slightly from the more "direct action" books I had previously read. there was undercover work, investigation, and cold leads. But it ended with a bang. I have to say, I personally think the cover they ahd to create seems like it could still be intact, should it be needed. I think the only thing that bothered me was wilson. While I liked him, he seemed awfully unprofessional at times. And the author's constant reference to him as "the retired Texas Ranger" was a bit much. "The ranger" or "the texan" probably would have sufficed in many instances. But that's just a stylistic thing. All in all, a solid book, and I will probably seek out more of vanCook's entries.

I felt this was a worthy installment to the series. It didn’t have the high body count and number of gun battles that most of the books do but it did have an engaging plot in my opinion. The Good: 1. I read the biography blurb about Jerry Van Cook and see that he has first hand experience in undercover police work. That came through in this story. The tension and suspense that was built around Bolan and Ranger Wilson was great and felt believable to me. The way they got to work for one of the bad guys was slick and enjoyable to read. 2. During the first action sequence Bolan didn’t make the shot he was insanely trying to but…..(see bad). 3. The bad guy was evil and well developed enough to be an interesting adversary and I looked forward to his demise. The Bad: 1. In the first action sequence I could not understand why Bolan was trying all these contortionist moves in the driver’s seat when Wilson could have done the shooting from the passenger side instead. ( I know I’m being vague but I don’t want to post a spoiler) 2. Bolan does the old gun in each hand shooting at the same time like a John Woo movie. I know he’s probably fired a trillion rounds and is a great shot but the two handed thing seems too unrealistic. This is just a pet peeve of mine and this is not the only book that Bolan does this in. 3. There was a perfect set up for Bolan and Wilson to maintain their cover that could be used in future stories but it didn’t end up that way. Like I mentioned above, this was a worthy installment, it had good pacing and was well written. The locations were great and the supporting characters were cool. I give a good recommendation to this one.

An average Bolan entry. Story moved along pretty well, there was some decent action. Plot was a little generic, the former blacksuit texas ranger dude was a good sidekick. But there was nothing outstanding in this one. I blew through it in a day and a half, so it did keep me interested. Check it out.

Jerry vanCook’s “Tropic Blast” is make it up as we go along adventure. Bolan is partnered with a blacksuit trained former Texas Ranger. They go undercover into Columbia, without much sanction, and try to locate and kill a sleazy narcoterrorist named Pepe 88 and his government informer. There are a lot of dead-ends in the pursuit. The main underlying question is.. Could this really be Bolan? He sure acts like a rookie in this one. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. The novel is sometimes nothing more than a sloppy love letter about Texas Rangers. In this novel, Bolan’s Ranger are infallible, Mary Sue (or Marty Sue here) types. If Stony Man were to lose one of their teams, a couple of Rangers would fit right in nicely. In fact, Bolan opts to go with the lone Texas Ranger instead of a perfectly good Stony Man team on standby only miles away... The bottom line is that this is a slow, plodding adventure with some very weak moments. Above average for this author.