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Mack Bolan the Executioner #61
Tiger War
A trap!
So much for undercover operations, thought Bolan. His nighttime parachute drop into Thailand had become an open secret. Enemy gunfire zeroed in on his position. It was survival time in the jungle again!
The Executioner was in Southeast Asias Golden Triangle to strike at the international illicit-drug industry. But his advance man had been captured by the enemy - the 93rd Kuomintang Division of the Nationalist Chinese Army, better known as Tiger Enterprises, the worlds largest heroin ring.
Bolans Montagnard army now refused to fight. The tribesmen, traditional enemies of the Chinese for 4,000 years, were fierce warriors but fickle allies. They knew better than to back a loser. .
So much for undercover operations, thought Bolan. His nighttime parachute drop into Thailand had become an open secret. Enemy gunfire zeroed in on his position. It was survival time in the jungle again!
The Executioner was in Southeast Asias Golden Triangle to strike at the international illicit-drug industry. But his advance man had been captured by the enemy - the 93rd Kuomintang Division of the Nationalist Chinese Army, better known as Tiger Enterprises, the worlds largest heroin ring.
Bolans Montagnard army now refused to fight. The tribesmen, traditional enemies of the Chinese for 4,000 years, were fierce warriors but fickle allies. They knew better than to back a loser. .
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1983
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,538 books196 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 16, 2024
Bolan heads to Southeast Asia to smash the world’s largest heroin ring. Highlight: the Executioner taking on a regiment of the Chinese army from the back of an elephant. Otherwise it’s a bit slow on action compared to others in the series
August 5, 2026
“In the States alone, illicit drugs is a ninety-billion-dollar-a-year industry. Ninety billion! Can you imagine? Only Exxon is bigger.”
“Yeah, well,” said Bolan, coming to his horse, “let’s see what we can do to change that.”
The Executioner Mack Bolan is in the jungles of Thailand on a mission, looking to destroy a heroin producing criminal-slash-military network, when he falls into a Red Chinese army trap and realizes his CIA man Nark has been captured. (Nark, get it?) Now he is on a mission to save his friend, with the help of some locals.
"Tiger War" (1984) is the 61st episode of the long-running series and was ghost-written by Tom Jagninski. Mack Bolan, aka The Executioner, aka "Sergeant Mercy," in early episodes was on a crusade of vengeance against the American mob. Now he is taking on other challenges across the globe with his near-photographic memory, weapons and explosives proficiency, parts of the global US military support network at his disposal, and his never-ending goal of ridding the world of criminal elements that hurt the innocent.
Verdict: A decent weekend action read; kind of stale but not bad. Not one of the better Executioner tales.
Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
“Yeah, well,” said Bolan, coming to his horse, “let’s see what we can do to change that.”
The Executioner Mack Bolan is in the jungles of Thailand on a mission, looking to destroy a heroin producing criminal-slash-military network, when he falls into a Red Chinese army trap and realizes his CIA man Nark has been captured. (Nark, get it?) Now he is on a mission to save his friend, with the help of some locals.
"Tiger War" (1984) is the 61st episode of the long-running series and was ghost-written by Tom Jagninski. Mack Bolan, aka The Executioner, aka "Sergeant Mercy," in early episodes was on a crusade of vengeance against the American mob. Now he is taking on other challenges across the globe with his near-photographic memory, weapons and explosives proficiency, parts of the global US military support network at his disposal, and his never-ending goal of ridding the world of criminal elements that hurt the innocent.
Verdict: A decent weekend action read; kind of stale but not bad. Not one of the better Executioner tales.
Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
July 3, 2023
Bolan goes solo this time around, hitting bunch of Chinese heroine manufacturers and distributors, because nothing speaks quintessential 80’s like right wing paranoia about the dangers of drug use and its influence of the out of control youth.
Tiger War is also quintessential Executioner fare in that it follows a very formulaic pattern and there’s really nothing new or exciting here although Bolan does get to ride an elephant into a gun battle, chop off a dude’s head with a samurai sword, and then very nearly bed his super hot daughter in the process.
Jaginsky is no Chet Cunningham or Stephen Mertz so while this is far from a terrible entry into the series, it fails in comparison with some of the more non-stop stuff that came before it. Still not a terrible read by any means…and again, the cover is brilliant.
Tiger War is also quintessential Executioner fare in that it follows a very formulaic pattern and there’s really nothing new or exciting here although Bolan does get to ride an elephant into a gun battle, chop off a dude’s head with a samurai sword, and then very nearly bed his super hot daughter in the process.
Jaginsky is no Chet Cunningham or Stephen Mertz so while this is far from a terrible entry into the series, it fails in comparison with some of the more non-stop stuff that came before it. Still not a terrible read by any means…and again, the cover is brilliant.
July 12, 2024
Maybe closer to a 3.5 but a solid chapter in the series. Bolan is in Thailand to hook up with a large number of Montagnards to attack Tiger Enterprises. Basically Tiger controls all of the Heroin trade and Thailand to an extent. The battle is solid and Bolan fighting on an elephant was fun.
Recommended, the writing is a little off at times and there is some bloat that could have been edited out. However overall I did enjoy it.
Recommended, the writing is a little off at times and there is some bloat that could have been edited out. However overall I did enjoy it.
December 30, 2018
The Tiger War sends Bolan back to Southeast Asia. His target is the Golden Triangle. The worlds foremost producer of opium. It seems that not to many people listened to Nancy Reagan back in the early eighties. Just say NO. Anyway, this is pretty much wall to wall action. A little predictable at best. Still good retro action fair. And yes, Bolan does fight the enemy riding an elephant.
May 28, 2021
Excellent storyline with Bolan back in Vietnam.
September 1, 2021
Bolan is feeling restless, like he wants to be alone on his missions again.
June 1, 2012
An all out action packed book. I will continue to read these books about Mack Bolan.
June 1, 2015
Based on the great writer, Don Pendleton's Executioner series, action/asdventure. One of the bestselling action/adventure series of all time.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews