Crossed Borders

Fair read which had it's moments but I was left with a feeling that it could have been a much better read. The story is OK where a bunch or highly trained mercs ex special forces types have set themselves up as a protection/enforcement group for the drug cartels. Led by Simon Liege who is utterly ruthless they will stop at nothing to see their plans come to fruition. I must admit I much prefer the Big Guy to do his thing solo and found it hard to read the section on the attack of the marijuana fields where literally an attacking force of a hundred plus was involved and the Big Guy played very little part but having said that I enjoyed the character Tomasa and his Dragon Unit. Nick Carvaggio makes a welcome return to the series a very good character from the past but I struggled with what happens to him at the end of the title and thought it was unnecessary. Aside from him being killed off the rest of the finish of the title was well done indeed although finishing a little abruptly. So an entertaining read here and worth a read I reckon.

Rich Rainey's final Executioner is much better than his previous entry of "Uforce", but as an Executioner it was pretty average. A mercenary team has sold themselves to the drugs cartels and they are foolishly making massive waves by killing off DEA and FBI guys en masse. Enter Bolan. Mack is a team player here, brought in by an over worked Brognola to help out. Carvaggio is reintroduced, and killed on the final page in a useless shoot out. Other characters are introduced and then disappear such as Sandy Rowan. Bolan himself disappears for chapters at a time, then reappears to do something only to disappear again - and I thought that his excursion to Mexico to join in on the raid of the drug baron was a waste of time. So, all in all, an average Executioner novel.

I'd give this one a 7 out of 10. Mostly due to the ending, which was kind of abrupt; Bolans' comrade Carvaggio caps off the bad guys, but gets killed himself. Once Bolan avnges him seconds later, POOF! the story ends, no epilouge or whatever. I also thought there'd be a romance angle with the hottie US Customs agent Sandy Rowan. She was set up as long legged, right on! Bolan catches himself eyeing her, but after the 3rd chapter, she's gone! The action was well done, especially the Spec Ops raid on the marijuana fields, and the final assault. Good detail. Bolan made a few wise cracks which was nice. A fairly good read all in all.

This book has its moments and there is some good camraderie between Bolan and his allies as they go up against the cartel thugs, but the pacing was a little uneven and some of the writing clunked, especially in terms of dialogue. Overall a cut above the pack but not really a must-read.

Rich Rainey did a terrific job on Crossed Borders and this is a must for anyone who read Judas Kill. Nick Carvaggio is back and though he is not in the book a whole heck of alot, he still shines through. Tomasa and his Dragon Unit are a great back-up team for Bolan. Hits aplenty and all are vivid and different. The ending is one of the best in the series. Rave On! BULLSEYE!

Super spin on TRAFFIC, with Bolan proving to be the weapon the czar guy in that movie could've used. Good pacing, great characaters, action galore: An excellent addition to my collection.