THE EXECUTIONER #11 CALIFORNIA HIT BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1972.

Mack Bolan has come to San Francisco to continue his war on the Mafia. His first hit he manages to save a young Chinese woman. This girl has some type of affiliation with the local Tong. Bolan finds out that the mob is working with the Red Chinese. A nationalist Chinese who heads the Tong is working with a renegade mobster. Bolan manages to turn the mob once again against each other. All this while avoiding the local police and helping out some porn actresses that got into trouble. At the end he hears that his young brother and the woman he loves might be in trouble.

Another action-packed book with Bolan starting off in a violent attack. Once again, he finds some hot chicks to help him out. The guy is a chick magnet. He connects with another veteran from Vietnam who is on the police force to help him out. The big item in this book is the introduction of the .44 automag. This pistol would become very iconic for the character. Ends with him finding out his young brother and the woman he loves is in possible danger. Pendleton really knows how to write and interesting and action-packed story.

THE EXECUTIONER #10 CARIBBEAN KILL BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1972.

Mack Bolan heads off to Puerto Rico to continue his war on the Mafia. He lands at their base and gets ambushed. Fortunately, Bolan proves too good and fights his way out. Along the way he rescues a young woman who is an undercover cop. She joins forces and with some of her local friends manage to wipe out Quick Tony. Bolan hears the real brains behind the Caribbean operation is Sir Edward based in Haiti. Bolan hijacks a mob helicopter and assassinates him.

Another entry in the series is another fun read. Once again it starts off with action and ends up with Bolan wiping out the mob operations. This time it takes him to Puerto Rico and Haiti. He gets the help once again from a beautiful woman. Another entry of pure escapist fun.

THE EXECUTIONER #9 VEGAS VENDETTA BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1971.

Mack Bolan’s next stop on his war against the Mafia brings him to Las Vegas. He decides for a quick stopover and ambushes a convoy carrying their skimmed profits from casinos. He manages to rescue an old friend. Carl Lyons of the LAPD was working undercover and a prisoner of the mob. Bolan decides to stay awhile and take out their Vegas operation. This brings in the Talifero Brothers who are the enforces to the mob. The feds are also coming because there is political pressure to stop Bolan. Bolan brazenly assumes a mobster identity and takes over a casino. He pits the mob against each other and takes off for Puerto Rico. He discovered a new operation being funded called the Caribbean Carousal with Vegas money.

Another action-packed book in the Bolan saga. This time another iconic city identified with the mob. It brings back the fearsome Talifero Brothers. It also brings another associate that Bolan had dealings with a Carl Lyons the LAPD cop. This book starts out with an action scene and never lets up. This time the feds are very much committed to taking Bolan down. They have shoot to kill orders. He also infiltrates the mob and assumes an identity to turn them against each other. Another troupe Pendleton likes to use. A fun and enjoyable entry in the series.

THE EXECUTIONER #8 CHICAGO WIPE-OUT BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1971.

Mack Bolan continues his war with the Mafia. After destroying them in New York his next stop is Chicago. Chicago is the model city for the mob that they envision for the whole country. Bolan has a simple plan, wipe-out the Mafia in Chicago. With the help of a crusading attorney, he gets all the information needed to launch his war. He manages to turn them against each other.

Another book that has Bolan wage his one-man war against the Mafia. This time it brings him to Chicago. I think everybody has the image of Chicago as a Mafia town. Bolan does notice that this city seemed to have created the mob. Yet he doesn’t bother with the corrupt unions and businesses or the crooked political machine. That is something the people have to deal with. He does manage to wipeout a good portion of the mob. The book starts like they all do with him in the thick of the action. He has an audacious plan and sees him wipe out hordes of gangsters. Another fun book in the series.

THE EXECUTIONER #7 NIGHTMARE IN NEW YORK BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1971.

Mack Bolan comes back to America. On landing at New York, he is immediately ambushed by the mob. He escapes with the help of some young ladies that give him shelter in their apartment. Bolan has come to New York because he wants to take on the leadership of the mob. He starts by going after the main capo‘s operations. Along the way he discovers an insidious plan to take over the whole country. A big conference out on Long Island is his target.

Bolan is back in America and continuing his one-man war. He buys himself a VW hippie van and disguises himself as a hippy. There were some great action scenes. A sad tragedy as one of the young girls that helps him gets tortured gruesomely by the mob. This is another instance where Pendleton show how truly evil the mob can be. There is also a moment of mercy where he spares the life of a mobster because his wife reminds him of a former love. This mobster decides to leave the life and go into witness protection. We also get a hint of some big plan to take over all aspects of the government. Install their puppets in high positions including possibly the presidency. A strong entry in the series.

THE EXECUTIONER #6 ASSAULT ON SOHO BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1971.

Mack Bolan has come to Britain. He is right away ambushed coming off the ferry at Dover. Fortunately, he gets help from a mysterious woman. This woman takes him to a sex club in Soho called Museum de Sade. Bolan finds out he is getting help from some powerful figures because the mafia is blackmailing politicians to get a foothold in Britain. Naturally Bolan continues what he does best killing mobsters. Meanwhile the mafia has decided if they can’t kill Bolan they might as well hire him. His old friend Brognan a fed that is undercover with the mafia is sent to set up the deal. Naturally Bolan has no interest and instead continues his one-man war to rid Britain of the mafia.

This book continues Bolan’s adventures in Europe. Now he is in the swinging seventies decadent London. Like the previous books this was a tightly and action-packed adventure. It starts off in the first chapter with an exciting ambush. Bolan gets some help clandestinely from elements in the British government. It also reinforces Bolan’s ties to sympathetic elements in the US Justice Department. These books never disappoint.

THE EXECUTIONER #5 CONTINENTAL CONTRACT BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1971.

Mack Bolan is at Dulles International Airport to take out a mob operation. Only this is a trap set by the mob. To escape he has to jump on a flight to Paris. Luckily Brognola gave him a phony passport. The local capo finds out one of the men working for him used to serve with Bolan in Vietnam. They deduce he jumped on the flight to Paris and send this hit squad with the war veteran to entrap Bolan. Meanwhile when Bolan arrives a movie star gets kidnapped because the mob thinks that he is Bolan. Bolan manages to rescue him and kill a whole bunch of the local mafia. He gets involved with a French actress that helps him go to southern France. There he continues his war to save some prostitutes that ran afoul of the local boss. A big showdown ends with him successfully escaping the hit squad thanks to his old war buddy switching sides.

The first thing about this book is how easy it is to board a flight. Bolan pays in cash at the last minute, and they hold the plane before it takes off. There are no metal detectors or long lines with the TSA. No taking off your belt and shoes. The guy even just carries his pistol on the plane. He passes through customs with this pistol. There is just no way you could write this story nowadays. It was definitely a much more innocent time back in 1971.

Anyway, the story is another fun romp for Bolan. Thanks to his benefactor in the Justice Department, he manages to escape to France. While there he decides to kill a whole bunch of mobsters. Gets involved with a brothel and has to save the girls from being sold into slavery in Africa. Gets involved with a beautiful French actress. The black guy who he served with in Vietnam decides he would rather help his friend than the racist mob. Pendleton wrote a really fun series that so far, I never been disappointed.

THE EXECUTIONER #4 MIAMI MASSACRE BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1970.

Mack Bolan has destroyed the southern California mob. Now he has the mob from Arizona after him. Fortunately, they are as good as the mob in California, and he wipes out the group in Phoenix. While doing this he hears that the capos are gathering in Miami for their yearly meeting. So, he hops a plane and heads to Florida. Once there he continues his one-man war and starts killing the mobsters. He gets some help from a local anti-Castro resistance group. He also gets some help from Brognola the Justice Department guy who wants to use Bolan against the mob. Ends up while not wiping them out completely kills a whole bunch of the mob.

The fourth book in the series is the best so far. This series just keeps getting better and better. Bolan uses some genius methods to elude the mob enforcers while taunting them. He continues to show a ruthlessness in going after these guys. Also starts his relationship unofficially with the Feds. He gets a passport and intelligence on European operations of the mob. Something that will play a prominent part in the next book.

THE EXECUTIONER BATTLE MASK BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1970.

Mack Bolan continues his war against the Mafia in southern California. After eluding both the mob and police he decides to visit a war buddy that became a plastic surgeon. In the small town of Palm Village, he gets a new face. With the new identity he once again infiltrates the mob. He manages to hook up with the capo’s daughter and infiltrate the mob in Palm Springs. From here he feeds information to the police to weaken the drug trade. An enforcer finds out his secret and he ruthlessly kill him and his entourage. Then he manages to sow discontent among the mob, and they destroy themselves.

This was an excellent book. Bolan gets a new face and infiltrates the mob. It shows how ruthless he can be. His friend doctor is tortured and killed along with the friendly police chief and his wife. Bolan rams a car into the escaping mobster and casually shoots all the survivors in the head. This also is the start of his unofficial relationship with the Feds. Brognola from the Justice Department offers to give Bolan a portfolio for his crusade against the mob. For now, Bolan decides to continue on his own but it will start to play a more prominent role in later books. I can see why this series became so popular.

THE EXECUTIONER #2 DEATH SQUAD BY DON PENDLETON

Copyright 1969.

Mack Bolan is on the run from the Mafia. He comes into L.A. and stops by an old war buddy. The Mafia had staked out guys to watch his buddy and a big fight ends up with some Mafia enforcers dead. The war buddy decides he wants to join Bolan’s war. He also suggests they get some other veterans who would love to get into the fight. Bolan recruits nine more old Vietnam veterans that are disillusioned with their peacetime lives. This Death Squad then proceeds to wage war against the DeGeorge family. The police form a squad codenamed Hardcase to stop Bolan and his Death Squad. Eventually it ends with seven of the squad dead, two captured by the police and Bolan once again alone in his war against the Mafia.

For the second book, Pendleton decided to give Bolan a group of men to help him. Seven disillusioned vets that represent all the major ethnic and racial types. He does a good job of giving all these characters their own personality and backstory. I can see that such a large cast of characters is hard to develop some character development. It makes sense he decided to whittle them down and make Bolan the lone wolf type. Two of the survivors would eventually go on to be part of Able Team along with the sergeant of Hardcase. A fun and fast paced action story that continues this awesome adventure of the most famous men’s adventure hero of all time.