Hells Gate

A well-written and enjoyable title that feels pretty unique. Bolan is laid up on account of two bullets to the shoulder, whose origin remain a mystery. The supporting cast is great, and help the story become more three dimensional. There's some mucking about with a few pages dedicated to the brothers reserving suits which leads no where, and we never do learn who gave Bolan his wound. But, this still remains a unique and very readable story. It makes me wish that the author had written more entries into the series.

The Big Guy responds to little brothers request for his assistance in shutting down a kiddie porn/snuff movie ring being run by the Mafia butt arrives almost dead from two gunshot wounds sustained on the way there. Lots to like here I reckon where the Big Guy undergoes the long process of recovering from his wounds and getting his body back together and right. Quite a few good characters introduced here especially a couple of the girls and the boy porn star. They get on your nerves and you will dislike one of the girls for sure who is a self centered obnoxious bitch who gets her lumps in the end. Not heaps of action here but lots of good reading which will keep you interested until the end. Recommended reading in the series.

Shot twice in the shoulder (for yucks, feel your own shoulder....where the heck would you get hit by a 9mm and not break some bones???) Mack is laid up in a porn actor flophouse while role-camouflaged as a HeadShed problem-solver in the middle of a kiddie-porn Mafia empire. With Mack incapacitated for most of the book, the writer has to rely upon Johnny Bolan to provide much of the action. Johnny is better written in places in this book....other places - like when he cons his way into the Don's house to steal guns because Mack and he don't have any - were better left in an old Dukes Of Hazard episode (especially when he repeatedly states he will have to go back to steal more guns because the guns he got were stolen from him). The Melody Megrims character was better written then many of the secondary female characters in Bolan novels...but she was more than balanced by the embarrassment that is Edger Twichen. The stolen armament of the Bolan brothers is a weird combination. WWII-era MP-44 SMGs and a Japanese handgun are the "head" weapons. Mack lifts an Automag from a dead Mafia gunner, relishes having one in his hand again...but then the weapon disappears from the rest of the book. The writer made some technical mistakes...the 32-round clip of a MP-44 is not going to fit in a sports jacket's pocket...and 9MM is definitely not described as a "tumbler" in general. The writing was uneven. A chapter of detailed explanation following a character's every move doing fairly boring stuff is wrapped up in the end by a few sentences that contain the only drama and character moments that the whole sequence really had to offer. The storyline was somewhat interesting as an extension of 077 Hollywood Hell...but the anger that Bolan had in that book is not really present in this one....despite the victims being kids and right there next to Bolan all the time. I'm not sure I would be bothered to reread this one.

This is the second best Mack Bolan book I read, its alot diffrent than other Bolan books. But the idea of Bolan getting hit twice and going to his brother for help, gets well enough to go into action with the porn ring in Vancouver and the mafia. When Patricia Dane ratted Bolan and his brother to the Don.........to me she had to get it. I wish Melody Megrims come back in other books. A great book. Action all the way, and Mack Bolan is the best action hero in books ever made!

This is simply one of the best Bolan books. I think it ranks with The Trial. The characters were oh so well written. Edgar especially. He started out as such a spoiled arrogant young porn actor but slowly decided that there is more to life then making porn. Yes he stupidly became a hero to save Patricia but at least he decided to save himself and to do something. At the beginning I thought he would turn Mack and Johnny in. I agree with Monsta Mack yes Mack was in bed but still still so deadly and still at the advantage of the mob. Patricia Dane. I admit I was glad she got it at the end. Yes she was an innocent but she was so stupid and a princess. I felt no pity for her. Her parents yes not her. She did not want to be saved and did not even make an attempt. So different from Melody. I would like to know what happened to Melody. Opposite of PAtricia wanted to be saved and helped her friend to save herself. The action was good. The scene with Johnny infiltrating the Don's site was kind of funny. So unlike Mack's approach. I also thought it was funny how mad Mack was with him. Showed his strength was getting back. A really spectacular novel. What did if for me was believable character and character growth especially with Edgar. A good companion piece to Save the Children. This book gets an absolute 10 from me.

I really enjoyed this one.It takes a break from the usual and shows a more human vulnerable side of Bolan instead of a kill everybody and not get scratched type that most stories have.You just knew that even wounded in bed he was still the most dangerous man around for any bad guys. Arnett really tells a great story here.

"Mack Bolan knew that he was dying." This is the opening line in the book and probably the best. Otherwise I found the story to be deeply flawed. It was certainly entertaining since Bolan was critically wounded and had to rely a lot more on brother Johnny than normal and the added threat of a small time Mafia operation in Vancouver was interesting, but that was it. Then come the flaws. Why was Mack wounded? We get a single sentence to say that he was shot in the shoulder by a DGI (Cuban) Intelligence officer. Twice. Twice in the same shoulder. Getting careless, Mack? What was the mission against the Cubans? There is no further information. I feel it would have been better for the Mob to have shot him and pursued him across the border. Why did Mack go for so long without getting any medical help? Just because his brother called him? I couldn't quite buy that which seems the greatest problem in the book. Once Bolan and Johnny do meet up, why doesn't one of them phone Leo Turrin or Hal Brognola for some sort of assistance? Certainly these are the Lone Wolf Wars, but this was far too lone wolf. Too many questions and not enough answers for my taste. This book is one of Tom Arnett's better books, but it is not as good as it should have been.

A DECENT ENTRY INTO THE SERIES. NICE TO SEE JOHNNY BOLAN TAKING THE LEAD IN THIS ONE. THEY NEED TO HAVE MORE JOHNNY BOLAN STORIES.

ENJOYABLE! BOLAN AT HIS STRONGEST EVEN WHEN HE IS WOUNDED AND WEAK. NICE TO SEE JOHNNY FIGHTING ALONGSIDE MACK IN THIS ONE TOO.

A pretty good book...not great, but not entirely bad, either.

This one is not one of the better "brothers Bolan" books, but in terms of how Johnny Bolan's character has developed, this one is important because it shows Johnny demonstrating some of Mack's role playing talents. This is more of a Johnny Bolan book than it is a Mack Bolan book.

An average read. Passable enough for my taste.