Thunder Down Under

First up - the title is awful. A similar title was used for a Phoenix Force novel, so why this was almost reused boggle the mind, especially when the phrase 'Direct Action' is used in the story and even 'Industrial Sabotage' was used on the rear cover. I came across a new word when reading this, that rarely happens in a novel and certainly not in an Executioner. Susurrus. Ever wonder how Stony Man coped during the political turmoil of 2016 - 2020? Here you will find a glimpse of the answer ( and I love Hal Brognola's comment of "Tell me something, Barbara. Have I missed something or have general IQ's dropped in the last year or two?". This was in response to the departure of a government lickspittle amusingly named Christian Payne. In fact, I kind of enjoyed the political substory where Barbara Price is offered the top job as Brognola has fallen out of favour with the current President. I could also speculate that this falling out of favour eventually lead to the closure of Stony Man Farm... As for the main story, I thoroughly enjoyed it and first time (and final time) author John Helfers handles Bolan extremely well. Bolan accepts an unusual mission - mainly because POTUS wants to help out a billionaire blowhard in Australia - in that he has to investigate the killing of two security guards at a gas extraction facility in Australia. There are a few good gunfights and some well developed side characters which is surprising in so short a novel. Eventually it turns out to be a false flag (another potential title?) operation and Bolan dispenses justice his way. So a really intriguing adventure, and it is a shame that Helfers did not get to write any more Executioner stories.