Rebel Force

I am so split over this adventure. On one hand it is like a Jason Bourne movie, full of spies, double crosses, fist fights, car chases and helicopter assaults across the crowded city of Grozny. The plot involves missing laptops, stolen secrets and moles in high places wrapped in corruption and greed. On the other hand I didn't quite understand why Bolan was involved. He is sent into Grozny to recover a laptop with details of global terrorist networks and then, once that has failed, becomes involved in the antics of two corrupt CIA officials who are selling secrets and another CIA agent who has disappeared. But Bolan does involve himself and becomes Jason Bourne. Which isn't a bad thing for the movie but it isn't Bolan and he is out of character. Take the car chase through Grozny. Bolan steers his car with one hand while blasting away with an Uzi at the car he is pursing, while shoppers and commuters try to dodge the bullets. Bolan wouldn't open fire if there was a chance of civilians being injured. Here he just doesn't care who gets hurt or killed. There are several instances of this sort of thing throughout the book including saying nothing as a Russian partner shoots several police officers. The plot is too convoluted for this small book. It would work in a large thriller like a Robert Ludlum, but here it feels confusing and is padded out with too many action scenes for a spy thriller. It is a case of Ludlum meets Pendleton and the mix just didn't stick for me. Also, what has the title, Rebel Force, got to do with anything? Was there a page featuring Chechen rebels that I missed?

This is a pretty good effort for a first time author in the series. The storyline and plot worked okay for me at the finish of the title but gee whilst reading this I was confused a few times on who was who. The amount of gadgets and gizmo's Bolan carries with him on this mission amazed me. At first I thought I was reading a James Bond title but must admit they are all useful and used. I can appreciate the ongoing storyline where the device is transfered into another suitcase supplied by Stony Man BUT the author chose to go with something which would immediately annoy long time readers of this series who KNOW the big guy would not be taken unaware like this (his combat senses would have been on overload). Now this title gets a couple of extra stars from me for a quite long section near the end starting with Bolan entering the Russian spy's hideaway and ending with a car/helicopter chase in one of the most stunning breathtaking action scenes going around folks. Worth a read this one. Looking forward to reading his next effort #350 Volatile Agent.

As a first pass at a Bolan book by a new author, I think it's a very good read. Not only was the plot intricate, the way I like it, the amount of research spoke volumes about Meyer's dedication to the series. That level of detail easily immersed me in the story, and I had no trouble visualizing the Chechnya locales. From start to finish I found Rebel Force a roller coaster ride of action--a standout being a car chase that was gritty and thrilling. My only gripe came with some scene transitions that led me to believe an editor may have become somewhat overzealous, without realizing the harm they were doing to the continuity of the story. Still, I can't penalize Meyer for that, and I look forward to more from this author.

This was a Bolan the way I like them. Yes, the spy-thriller plot was a bit confusing, I was confused right along with Mack, for that is the nature of spy-thrillers. The tension built up right, and mack was the Mack I fell in love with way, way back when. Holding to Bolan's POV realy made the whole thing work, and whie their could have been one or two less car-chases that was made up for by the story, in which Mack really had to go to work to get the job done. All-in-all I'd say Nate Meyer brings a lot back to the series that was missing, and can only get better.

Found this book to be both interesting and enjoyable. From what everyone is saying, this is the first book in this series from this author. He has done well, using his characters well, with a smooth storyline; the on site locations are presented in a way that the reader can actually feel the author knows the areas of the story well. My only critique: too many chase scenes, approaches a 'filler' mechanism. All-in-all, reading this Gold Eagle is time well spent. Semper Fi.

A new author, Nathan Meyer, finally returns Bolan to his lone-wolf nature. Unlike recent entries for the series, Bolan does not pick up an ally for the entire novel. Although, the first-time author has not yet picked up the characterization of Bolan (too much scowling), but given time, he should. His pursuit-chase scenes are the highlights of the novel. They are well written. Meyer presented a good first start, with plenty of room of improvement. The last part of the novel has the mangled remains of heavy editing. The twenty-third chapter is one of the shortest I’ve seen. The story is a largely irrelevant Chechnyan mess, light enough to not get in the way of the smooth flow of the novel.

This is the first Bolan I've read in about 20 + years so I am by no means an expert here. I agree with the two previous reviewers about the muddied plot. It could be because it was poorly edited and not the fault of the author because he obviously seems pretty talented and knows what he's doing. The car chase was one of the most intense chases I've ever read in a book. When I was reading it I felt like I needed to attach a seatbelt to my recliner. The author made me feel as if I was in the car as well. I also feel that the story should have ended around page 200 instead of throughing in all the extra characters just to kill more people off. It felt like either the book should have been longer so the author could have fleshed the story out or he was trying to cram more story in to get the required pages into the book. Again this could have been editing. If it would have ended around page 200 some of the bad guys may have gotten away but that isn't always a bad thing. They were interesting enough characters that they coiuld have made for some good stories in the future. I do look forward to more installments from this author.

I agree with the prior review in many respects. The book got VERY confusing in multiple areas, specifically it delved into who was good/bad, who was working for who, who was betraying who, etc. I had no idea what was going on much of the time. The bit about the policeman getting shot bothered me as well. Also, the last couple of chapters of the book are completely out of left field with characters being introduced at about page 200, simply for the purpose of having Mack & Sable take them out. That said, there was much that I did like in the book. I felt the new author had a good grip on the character of Mack Bolan (with the exception of the aforementioned cop killing). I liked the action scene, which flowed very well and were exciting. Large parts of the book were very engaging and fun to read, but then it would just hit a brick wall of confusion. All in all, I'll give the book a 5, but I do look forward to Nathan Meyer's next contribution to the series. I think he has potential to write some interesting stuff.

This book brings a bit of a fresh approach to the typical Executioner story, in that it's theme is spy/espionage, which I like to see now and then in the series. I liked the use of high-tech gadgetry and the sleuthing aspects of this book. Almost all the book takes place in Russia, and the action is focused on Bolan's point of view from the first page all the way to the last. Grimaldi has a small role, which plays out later in the story. As far as action goes, there is plenty, and it builds more as the book moves along. There are some good action sequences, including the helicopter/car chase which was the most gripping moment of the book. With the first Bolan entry from a new writer, there are the usual inconsistancies in the Bolan characterization, as I have seen in some of the new writers I have read in the past. Nothing major, but I got the sense that at times I was reading Bolan, and at times not Bolan. As much as I was salivating over the spy thriller theme of this book, I had some problems with it that brought my rating down for it. For one, I thought that it suffered from overcomplication. The overall plot was often muddled, and there were moments I almost forgot why Bolan was even doing what he was doing. The cast of characters consist of a large number of spy/counterspy agents and a complex web of connections between them that I got lost after a while. None of them were quite fleshed out enough to get a better grasp of them, and the lack of any point of view other than Bolan's degraded the potential for character development. Basicly, the rule of thumb concerning the characters in this book is: (mild spoiler here) - everyone in the book, with the exception of Bolan and Grimaldi, is either a bad guy, or a bad guy pretending to be a good guy, or a bad guy pretending to be a good guy pretending to be a bad guy, or a bad guy pretending to be a good guy pretending to be a bad guy pretending to be a good guy or... gah!!!! The one thing that really bothered me, or at least raised my curiousity, was why Bolan seemed to have no reaction to his then partner Sable, when she gunned down some policemen. Bolan wouldn't have stood for that, and he sure wouldn't have allowed himself to be caught off guard by Sable's treachery minutes later, concerning her reckless actions. There were some what appeared to be editing done with a chainsaw at the closing chapters of the book, there were characters dropped in at the last moment and scenes jumping around too abruptly, I got the sense some stuff had to be missing in order to fit the story in the 220 page format. But all in all this book had enough entertainment value to make it a good read, and I saw a good potential in this new writer to make some new, fresh, and exciting entries added to the Executioner series.