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Mack Bolan the Executioner #40
The Executioner - Mack Bolan - Double Crossfire #40
NOTICEABLY READ/USED.CLEAN & INTACT PAGES.AVERAGE WEAR TO COVER(MAY HAVE SPINE CREASES, COVER CREASES, AND EDGE WEAR),PAGES AND /OR SPINE,BUT NO MISSING PAGES OR ANYTHING THAT WOULD COMPROMISE THE LEGIBILITY OR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TEXT
Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
3 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,540 books182 followersDon Pendleton was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, December 12, 1927 and died October 23, 1995 in Arizona.
He wrote mystery, action/adventure, science-fiction, crime fiction, suspense, short stories, nonfiction, and was a comic scriptwriter, poet, screenwriter, essayist, and metaphysical scholar. He published more than 125 books in his long career, and his books have been published in more than 25 foreign languages with close to two hundred million copies in print throughout the world.
After producing a number of science-fiction and mystery novels, Don launched in 1969 the phenomenal Mack Bolan: The Executioner, which quickly emerged as the original, definitive Action/Adventure series. His successful paperback books inspired a new particularly American literary genre during the early 1970's, and Don became known as "the father of action/adventure."
"Although The Executioner Series is far and away my most significant contribution to world literature, I still do not perceive myself as 'belonging' to any particular literary niche. I am simply a storyteller, an entertainer who hopes to enthrall with visions of the reader's own incipient greatness."
Don Pendleton's original Executioner Series are now in ebooks, published by Open Road Media. 37 of the original novels.
Wikipedia: Don Pendleton
He wrote mystery, action/adventure, science-fiction, crime fiction, suspense, short stories, nonfiction, and was a comic scriptwriter, poet, screenwriter, essayist, and metaphysical scholar. He published more than 125 books in his long career, and his books have been published in more than 25 foreign languages with close to two hundred million copies in print throughout the world.
After producing a number of science-fiction and mystery novels, Don launched in 1969 the phenomenal Mack Bolan: The Executioner, which quickly emerged as the original, definitive Action/Adventure series. His successful paperback books inspired a new particularly American literary genre during the early 1970's, and Don became known as "the father of action/adventure."
"Although The Executioner Series is far and away my most significant contribution to world literature, I still do not perceive myself as 'belonging' to any particular literary niche. I am simply a storyteller, an entertainer who hopes to enthrall with visions of the reader's own incipient greatness."
Don Pendleton's original Executioner Series are now in ebooks, published by Open Road Media. 37 of the original novels.
Wikipedia: Don Pendleton
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 13, 2025
Another solid r try in the Executioner series that takes Mack from the mansion filled neighborhoods of Beverly Hills to the desolate mountain regions of Turkey. Terrorists, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and the KGG all come together to present bloody globetrotting adventure.
April 17, 2021
So far, I like these continuation stories of Bolan/Phoenix. Even though different authors wrote them, they have so far kept the essence of Mack Bolan alive.
An entry from Mack's journal while awaiting this assignment at Stony Man Farm:
The enemy in this new war is the same as it has always been, the same as it was in Southeast Asia, the same as the Cosa Nostra was on the homefront... it remains to preserve the human estate, the heritage of civilization...in short all the noblest aspirations of the human spirit...It is easy for all of us to become complacent...It is much easier when the fight is muddying up someone else's backyard instead of your own...It is much easier to perceive the struggle as remote, even unreal, when the war is carried on television between reruns of some situation comedy. But there is nothing unreal about the struggle at all. It is there, and it goes on. We cannot leave it to someone else to fight it. We are the "someone else," those of us who understand what has gone wrong and what is to be done about it. What is unreal is the perception of Peace, the notion that man's oppression of his fellow man is a sometimes thing that really doesn't touch us. It is illusory, like a brightly painted backdrop on a stage that hides the rotting bare boards behind it.
An entry from Mack's journal while awaiting this assignment at Stony Man Farm:
The enemy in this new war is the same as it has always been, the same as it was in Southeast Asia, the same as the Cosa Nostra was on the homefront... it remains to preserve the human estate, the heritage of civilization...in short all the noblest aspirations of the human spirit...It is easy for all of us to become complacent...It is much easier when the fight is muddying up someone else's backyard instead of your own...It is much easier to perceive the struggle as remote, even unreal, when the war is carried on television between reruns of some situation comedy. But there is nothing unreal about the struggle at all. It is there, and it goes on. We cannot leave it to someone else to fight it. We are the "someone else," those of us who understand what has gone wrong and what is to be done about it. What is unreal is the perception of Peace, the notion that man's oppression of his fellow man is a sometimes thing that really doesn't touch us. It is illusory, like a brightly painted backdrop on a stage that hides the rotting bare boards behind it.
January 5, 2023
3.5 stars
2 books into this 2nd outing of Mack Bolan, kick ass executioner.
I gotta say that overall, this new take on the series is much better than the first iteration by Don Pendleton. So far the Golden Eagle publications have been far more action packed, focusing more on the thriller components than some kind of political statement about the Mafia, which, after 38 books, is a very nice change of pace.
Double Crossfire isn’t as good as The New War as it does get bogged down with repetitive commentary about good vs. evil and multiple reminders of Bolan’s past (as well as his own inner monologues about war and being one of the good guys), however it’s still another perfect example of 80’s dadlit done correctly, complete with requisite explosions, typically terrible bad guys with cliched motivations, obligatory big breasted babes, and America coming out on top.
Honestly, this isn’t gonna win any awards (and it didn’t), yet it’s still a lot of fun. And who doesn’t want to have fun reading?
2 books into this 2nd outing of Mack Bolan, kick ass executioner.
I gotta say that overall, this new take on the series is much better than the first iteration by Don Pendleton. So far the Golden Eagle publications have been far more action packed, focusing more on the thriller components than some kind of political statement about the Mafia, which, after 38 books, is a very nice change of pace.
Double Crossfire isn’t as good as The New War as it does get bogged down with repetitive commentary about good vs. evil and multiple reminders of Bolan’s past (as well as his own inner monologues about war and being one of the good guys), however it’s still another perfect example of 80’s dadlit done correctly, complete with requisite explosions, typically terrible bad guys with cliched motivations, obligatory big breasted babes, and America coming out on top.
Honestly, this isn’t gonna win any awards (and it didn’t), yet it’s still a lot of fun. And who doesn’t want to have fun reading?
June 8, 2022
They are still explaining the background of the Executioner, considering it is just the second book for a new publisher. Think it hurts the flow and Krauzer attempts to ape the philosophical asides, that Pendleton did so well, too often and not as well. Overall the plot was straightforward with Bolan being sent to Turkey to take out a large quantity of drugs before they are put into the system and sold in America. However the side plot of KGB using a mercenary terrorist to head a small army of Turkish rebels to process the raw poppy and to get it out in the market to be refined was all over the place. Overall it didn't bog down a lot, and it maintained the typical Bolan formula enough to work.
I don't know if I'd recommend, but I wouldn't skip it if reading through the series, it's good enough.
I don't know if I'd recommend, but I wouldn't skip it if reading through the series, it's good enough.
September 25, 2024
Rating 2.5
An okay entry in this second volume of Bolan/Executioner stories (volume 1 being the original 38 mafia war novels by DP himself)
Bearing in mind the low page count there was quite a lot of references to bolan’s history in Vietnam and the mafia wars, also an attempt by the author to include the characters’ inner monologues/thoughts which didn’t work for me. DP included those but as Bolan was his creation he knew how to write them. The new revolving authors don’t have a handle on how to do them - action scenes fine the rest not so much imo.
This story was an okay one I thought. Non stop action, more graphic violence than I remember in the previous titles ?
Overall an okay read which was pretty much what I expected from an action oriented pulpy read.
An okay entry in this second volume of Bolan/Executioner stories (volume 1 being the original 38 mafia war novels by DP himself)
Bearing in mind the low page count there was quite a lot of references to bolan’s history in Vietnam and the mafia wars, also an attempt by the author to include the characters’ inner monologues/thoughts which didn’t work for me. DP included those but as Bolan was his creation he knew how to write them. The new revolving authors don’t have a handle on how to do them - action scenes fine the rest not so much imo.
This story was an okay one I thought. Non stop action, more graphic violence than I remember in the previous titles ?
Overall an okay read which was pretty much what I expected from an action oriented pulpy read.
April 13, 2019
Really two and a half stars...only for the action sequences.
I’m not sure if I can read anymore of these books.
The action sequences are great but there’s far to much exposition bullshit..the books written by Pendleton were worse. But this one had its fair share too....blah blah blah..shut up and get on with the action. And the doe eyed females who are constantly worrying about the man ..oh please 🙄
Great action, shame about the utter tripe in between kinda sums it up for me.
I’m not sure if I can read anymore of these books.
The action sequences are great but there’s far to much exposition bullshit..the books written by Pendleton were worse. But this one had its fair share too....blah blah blah..shut up and get on with the action. And the doe eyed females who are constantly worrying about the man ..oh please 🙄
Great action, shame about the utter tripe in between kinda sums it up for me.
September 6, 2018
Back when the series was actually connected from book to book.
June 5, 2019
So far so good on the new series
October 21, 2019
This one was a very slow start. Not the best read in this series in my opinion. Other may like it but the story wasn't compelling to me.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews