Appointment In Kabul

Mack Bolan the Executioner #73

by Don Pendleton (Series Creator), Stephen Mertz (Contributor)

The Russians want Afghanistan But not its people. And a soviet cannibal has found a weapon to annihilate the populace - a chemical called Devils Rain. With intel supplied by a CIA spook, Mack Bolan leads a unit of the feared mujahedeen, the holy warriors of Islam, in a campaign to stop an atrocity that will kill millions!

Genres: Fiction, Action

185 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1984

About the author

Don 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

Reviews

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mack Bolan returns to mid-80’s Afghanistan to make sure the mujahideen resist the Russian occupation, while at the same time doing his damndest to find the producers of a deadly toxin that could wipe out thousands in the blink of an eye.

Yes, this is a very similar plot device used in the previous “Hellbinder” story and feels kind of like a second rate Rambo III but, you know what? Who cares?

Appointment in Kabul is quintessential dadlit as well as an excellent example of these books done 100% correct. With almost an entire 80 pages dedicated to an attempted breakout from a KGB prison, and the other 100 or so left to Bolan’s rampage, It has nonstop action and violence, a blistering pace, and a distinct lack of the lame Mafia storyline that I was afraid was coming back.

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve had an Executioner novel that has been this good, once again proving that Mertz was easily the best Executioner novelist next to Pendleton himself.

[Jim B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light summer reading. Graphic descriptions of shootings. Mid-1980's perspective of Afghanstan when America was backing mujahedeen ("Afghan freedom fighters"). Very anti-communist, adventurous. An interesting explanation of Don Pendleton's approach to writing is appended to the end of this paperback.