Deep Recon

Well I absolutely loved this author's first title and was looking forward with some anticipation to this one but was left disappointed and let down in a somewhat sub par entry into this series. Why well the plot is wishy washy with an international arms dealer having to be taken down after the death of an undercover officer executed when his cover is blown and the Big Guy is on the case. His contacts are well lets say poor where the female spends most of her time trying to get him into the sack and her assistant spends most of his time in clubs drinking. He obviously was short of a quid in this mission as he can't afford to hire a car or rent a hotel room and rolls up to an arms buy with the bad guys in a vehicle known to them and surprise surprise it ends up in a shooting match huh? I am not sure how many times I have read where the Big Guy fires multiple rounds from the Desert Eagle one after the other but not here as after just one shot he has to dive to the ground as the recoil is such that he cannot get another shot off before the bad guys start shooting at him (maybe a wrist injury which was not mentioned ?). The title plods along to an unfulfilling climax where the International arms dealer has a massive shipment to move (umm ten cases actually?) and it ends up in an underwater base near Cuba which the US government has forgotten about aparantly. Everyone introduced in the title is killed except his nibs of course and a stripper/dancer who was briefly mentioned. Not one to recommend here if you haven't read his first entry give it a go as it is a very good read.

This is the second Bolan book I've read by Keith, and I have to say that this was a much stronger outing than Code of Honor. The author has a very muscular sentence structure through the first 2/3's of the novel. However, as was noted in the previous review, the final portion of the novel devolves into almost Austin Power's-like absurdity. Also, there is a lot of nudity in this book, but no sex, which makes Bolan seem a little too....pure. I have to ask myself what I would do if a stunningly beautiful woman stripped nude in front of me and begged me to go to bed with her. Actually, I don't have to ask the question because I know exactly what I would do. I guess Bolan's focus on his mission is what makes him....Mack Bolan!

Not too bad. The supporting cast was memorable. The situations seemed plausible ... until the end. The wrap up seemed rushed, and a bit wacky. The book seemed to shift from Bolan to Bond. I expected a bald guy in a wheelchair to show up with a cat in his lap and a order a bunch of guys in bright orange jumpsuits to jump out and start shooting. When you only have 180ish pages you can't throw in to many complex plot elements, but thats what seems to happen with the last few Executioners. That being said the first 80% of the book was quite fun to read. Oh, and one minor gripe - why was the main supporting character carrying a .22 in a holster as her sidearm of choice? The Neos is a big target/training pistol. Every time it was mentioned I cringed.