Review: Dead Man Running

Dead Man Running by Stephen Mertz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The final entry in the significant, albeit unnamed, Executioner trilogy finds Mack Bolan, using his alias John Phoenix, back in the USA after being framed for a political murder by the KGB and still seeking vengeance from those responsible for the brutal assault on Stony Man Farm. He quickly discovers a conspiracy between the KGB and the Mafia, who are both after him, and Bolan racks up an impressive body count while uncovering clues that lead him to the very heights of the US government. The novel delivers the goods for the riveting spy/espionage action and the relentless violence. Mertz ties up the loose ends to a satisfying and surprising conclusion, and sets in motion a major transformation in the Mack Bolan mythology.

My reviews of the other two books in the trilogy:

• Day of Mourning
• Terminal Velocity

Review: Hostage for a Hood

Hostage for a Hood by Lionel White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Young newlywed Joyce has the misfortune of wrecking the get-away car of a quarter-million dollar armored car robbery and is taken hostage along with her poodle. This messes up the carefully planned heist and White expertly plots the criminal’s responses to the unexpected twists that keep popping up. There are no living witnesses to the crash and there is no obvious connection between her disappearance and the robbery, both events under investigation by the police, with a bias towards solving the big heist. The interjection of her loving and relentless husband Bart into the investigation helps to connect the dots leading to an explosive climax. This book works well as a crime caper story, hostage story, and a police procedural. White is a master of crime capers and adding the other elements raise this novel to more than a just a typical heist story. Another superior Gold Medal crime paperback.

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Review: Texas Vigilante

Texas Vigilante by Bill Crider
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The sequel to the outstanding revenge classic Outrage at Blanco is just as captivating, telling the story of Ellie Taine, the avenger in the first book, now threatened by a psychotic escaped prisoner named Angel Ware who is looking for revenge against those that Ellie loves the most. Ellie now knows what achieving revenge can do to a person, and the shift in perspective is a nice touch. The late Bill Crider was a marvelous author, a master craftsman of writing, and the short novel is perfectly paced with many memorable characters and dialogue. The last third of the book is relentless and impossible to put down. It saddens me that there will never be another Ellie Taine book. This book, and well as OUTRAGE AT BLANCO, are both highly recommended.

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Review: Bullet Bridge

Bullet Bridge by Gordon Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Sergeant in this series is named Mahoney - brutish, crude, horny, and most importantly a skilled warrior in this seventh entry in the historical WWII fiction book by Len Levinson writing as Gordon Davis. The book takes place after the allied victory in Metz, during the assault on the Nazi occupied city of Saarlautern. Although Mahoney is kind of an asshole he is charismatic and noble enough to be likable, which keeps the reader engaged in the fast military action that includes plenty of colorful and lewd dialogue. A couple of unfortunate sex scenes could have been left out as they bordered uncomfortably on assault. Levinson does a great job of not glorifying war with his portrayals of inept leadership, untimely deaths, cowardice, and loss. A fine book for those that enjoy military action books and don’t mind lots of gore and profanity.

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Review: Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity by Alan Bomack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Terminal Velocity is the middle book of an important transitional trilogy in the “Bolanverse” and is the first of the “Super Bolan” books, a whopping 380 pages, more the twice the size of a traditional Mack Bolan book. I was dubious that any author, Alan Bomack - a pseudo for Davide Wade in this work, could pull off an action/adventure book of this length but he handles it with aplomb, weaving three stories into a seamless tale of international espionage. The major plot arc tells the story of Bolan stealing a prototype Soviet helicopter in Afghanistan and the KGB effort to successfully frame the big guy for a high-profile assassination, stranding him overseas, on the run from the law, alone in his effort to clear himself, and still reeling from the devastating attack on his home base in the first book of the trilogy. A fine successor to the excellent Day of Mourning.

Here are my reviews of the other two books in the trilogy:

• Day of Mourning
• Dead Man Running

View all my reviews