Code of Honor

A first time effort for writer Keith Decandido, who is primarily known for his media tie in work. Here he manages to craft an excellent story that exists outside of the usual Bolan formula, something I appreciated. He does tend to have some off-putting sentence structure here and there, which I found a bit annoying. I enjoyed the story quite a bit. A shame he only wrote 2 adventures, as this entry proves he could have provided us with multiple top notch adventures.

Another first time author in this series and what a wonderful read he has produced for our reading pleasure. The Black Cross a group of elite assassins which has existed for decades, none of who have ever been caught in fact they have never even left any evidence of any sort for authorities after their well planned executions find themselves in need of new recruits as a result of a number of them being taken down on their last job. Enter the Big Guy who goes undercover to infiltrate the group and bring them down. The initial trial to gain acceptance to the group starts the fine reading in this title and continues after he gains admittance and tags along on their next assignment. Some of the other elite assassins are excellent characters introduced indeed and it is clear the Big Guy has his work cut out for him to take them down certainly no walk in the park for him. The finishing sections where the title comes to a climax is wonderful reading where the Big Guy calls on the depth of his reserves to complete the mission and take down the organization. I could rave on for ages on how good this title is but simply put you should give this one a go you won't be disappointed. Very much looking forward to his next title in the series.

Since I started reading this book on the same day I went to a gun show, I was happy to have some commonality with Mack who begins his adventure at a gun show. Mack battles an interesting array of Reservoir Dog-like villains with his trusty "Thunder and Lightning" and even engages in a judo fight with an older woman. I have to admit there were some problems with this novel. Some of the action sequences were difficult to follow. I had to re-read a few sections to figure out exactly what was going on. Also, the ending seemed a little anti-climactic with a few loose ends left dangling. All that being said, this was the first Mack Bolan book I ever read. (Yes, I'm new to Mack's universe.) Even though my inclination is to give the book a 5 rating, since this was the book that got me hooked, I'm bumping it up to a 7.

This is a story that could have used more space to wrap things up better. There are some serious loose ends dangling in the breeze at the end. Given the summary of the next book - System Corruption" - I figured that it would provide a continuation of the plot line, but that was not to be. I really enjoyed the depth given to each character. This is something that is often lacking in Bolan books. I felt more informed and connected to the plot as a result. The book definitely lost points for poor fact checking - no battles were ever fought at Valley Forge, the Delaware river is nowhere near the park, and the Valley Forge Gun Show does not have booth babes ... at least none that I have ever come across. I guess that's the problem with reading a story based in the town that I call home. Those kinds of botched details caused me to drop out of the flow of the story and it was hard to jump back in. Other than that it was a fun read.

I liked this book, one main reason being the villains were a different than usual bunch compared to other Bolan titles. The bad guys in this book were named after colors, like the movie Reservoir Dogs. Yep, there is even a Mr. Pink! I also liked the fact that there is a smaller cast of villains. Too many Executioner books have generic bad-guy generating machines that pop out targets for slaughter. This book has a limited number of villains, and as Bolan takes them down, the group recognizes the pieces of their organization falling apart. I liked Bolan's undercover role in infiltrating the Black Cross, and his southern accent was rather amusing. Action scenes are nothing special, but wow was Bolan ever beat up in this book. His determination to see the mission through despite his various injuries was a great show of his character. I would liked to have rated this book higher, but I think the smaller format of these books was a restraint to this title, I thought it was over just when things were kicking into high gear. Also I wanted to see an additional chapter with Bolan dealing with General Spencer. What happened with him? The mission ended with that part being unresolved. A good effort by a new writer, I recommend it.