Eric Formic

Firebase Seattle is typical of the Pendleton Twenties-- confusing, stupid, boring. It's garbage. The ONLY good thing about it is the awesome fog assassination action that happens near the beginning of the book, and also the presence of the war wagon. The war wagon is nothing short of fascinating as an idea- a tricked out, armed to the gills RV that serves as a portable hardbase for the warrior in black. The war wagon is a flashback to the earlier Pendleton genius works like Battle Mask-- it clearly symbolizes how American Bolan is, and yet how at the same how he must work against the accepted rules of American society. For what is the RV but the vehicle of the American retired? Classic old folks travel back and forth across the continent, just as the big guy travels back and forth around the world. But where retired old people are just harmlessly following the sun, Bolan can never retire, and must harmfully follow the nefarious darkness of the internationally organized italian "mafioso" community. But other than that this book is a fat pimple on the majestic back of Don Pendleton's "Executioner" series. I would recommend it for anyone truly interested inDon's symbolic themes and recurring images and for no one else. Read Kill Zone instead. --Eric

Dear Readers, Hello, my name is the book "Death has a Name," and I am crap. Why, do you ask? Because I am a betrayal of all that can be good in the extreme action smorgasbord of the Executioner series. My biggest mistake is having ridiculously underdeveloped characters, like Johnny's dumb dead girlfriend and that Orange-juice selling member of the Mossad. Another thing that sucks harder than the nightfighter's iron determination about me is that I barely have any action at all, and when I do my author barely even bothered to describe it. For example, at the end of me, having saved the poor trapped harried hassidic hostages, Bolan just magically drives his way out of a compound while thousands of terrorists fire automatic weapons at him and the escapees who run behind. Total number of them that die? Zero. I know that Bolan books aren't usually realistic, but the the great Bolan scribes (like the Don and C. Cunningham) at least don't make them silly. The fact is, I have only one redeeming quality: the daring accuracy of my information about Isreali geography and the nefarious link between the anti-semetic American mafia and the terrorist Palestinians. But I know that even such details don't make up for all the boring love scenes and such. I am such a stupid book. Mike has something to apologize for for writing me. Sincerely, Death Has a Name

Crude Kill is, in my opinion, one of the very best Mack Bolan masterworks ever released--there's action on a submarine, there's action on a Super-Ultra-Large-Crude-Container, and there's action on an island. There's helicopter action, there's fork-lift action, and there's tricky bomb-room action. Every action sequence is written with a precision and attention to detail that would rival historical british naval records, only british sea captains had reality to guide their pens, but the author of Crude Kill had only the bounds of his imagination. The best sequence? When Mack Bolan (truly a hero for these troubled times) chases mad terrorist mastermind "Lufti" through the darkened depths of the giant oilship. In the pitch blackness, Bolan must use only his powers of hearing, touch, and memory to pinpoint the hidden location of the laughing power-mad criminal psychopath monster. Also, this book has a satisfying concluding chapter, where nightfighter Bolan finds a missing villian from an earlier part of the story. Of course, Bolan takes care of the English bombmaker with his traditional lighting-fast unswerving jungle justice, and kills him and blows up his house. READ IT! Far better than Hatian Hit, the one I just finished.