Tim Phillips

How unengaging is this book? I've carried it in my shoulder bag for almost a year trying to read it...and haven't gotten past page 40 until today...when my office computer crashed and I had to find a way to kill 3 hours while it was fixed. The other reviewers have already pretty much listed this book's shortcomings. The only reason this is a Bolan novel is the author typed that name instead of another name. A quick search/replace and you wouldn't really know this was a Bolan book...aside the presence of a Beretta 93R, Big Thunder and a Weatherby. The characters are not those from the BolanVerse...they are B-movie stereotypes and act accordingly. I'll add to the critiques by asking just how poorly armed was Bolan going into such a critical mission? He never seems to have an assault rifle or SMG on him...he's always picking up the guns of fallen foes to stiffen his firepower. Rented cars and intel for where his foes are falls like rain...but Mack never can get access to a serious weapons-locker to outfit himself with?? Not a book I expect to reread. Hopefully, the next Bolan I carry is more engaging...it would be hard to be less.

I would rate this book lower, but 1 is as low as it goes. If you've ever read any of the WingMan series by Mack Maloney, you will get a sense of deja vu from this one. The characterizations are so broad and overwrought if you took the manuscript and did a search and replace on character names and weapons you could make Lyons into Gadgets and MacCarter into Manning and probably never know it had been changed. The technical detail screwups are so frequent I will only list a few a)that the B-52 is based upon the design of the 707 b) that a B-52 look so much like a 707 that if you paint windows on the side of the fuselage, it is "disguised" when viewed from a distance. c) that a BM-21 MRLS is a anti-aircraft system (including a radar dish) d) that the Stinger missile system is radar-guided. e) that the F-22 is operated from aircraft carriers g) that a Vulcan anti-aircraft gun is 40MM h) that a supercomputer is so massive no aircraft can possibly carry one and they frequently kill operators with releases of the liquid nitrogen used as a coolant. i) that a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier protecting the Panama Canal would be kept a "good mile" off shore while operating aircraft j) the badguys carrying HK-47 assault rifles (I'm guessing that was supposed to be AK-47s...could be the HK-417...but who knows). k) a B-52 that is "down to the bottom of munitions" still has "several hundred iron bombs" plus "a stash of missiles kept in reserve to defend the bomber" aboard. This is just a small sampling. The book is simply riddled with basic technical goofs that completely negate the suspension of reality necessary to enjoy such story as is here (and brother...it is as slap-dashed as the technical details in most parts). My town library has a paper-back book swap area. I would be tempted to rid myself of this one there except I'd be afraid of someone new picking this book up and thinking that all the Bolan-Verse books are this badly researched and written and never trying the series again. I will reread UForce before I read this one again.