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Mack Bolan the Executioner #42
The Iranian Hit
Stop the Assassination!
The directive came from the White House, and the target was less than twenty miles away in an affluent Maryland suburb.
For Mack Bolan it was a very strange assignment: tooprotect a high-level Iranian exile, General Eshan Nazarour, from imminent assassination. It became stranger still when the generals beautiful American wife was kidnapped. Immediately the intrigue, violence - and murder - began to form a familiar pattern. Organized crime was getting involved with foreign subversion. The maze of treachery and terrorism could lead to only one conclusion - the deadly presence of the Executioner: Mack Bolan!
The directive came from the White House, and the target was less than twenty miles away in an affluent Maryland suburb.
For Mack Bolan it was a very strange assignment: tooprotect a high-level Iranian exile, General Eshan Nazarour, from imminent assassination. It became stranger still when the generals beautiful American wife was kidnapped. Immediately the intrigue, violence - and murder - began to form a familiar pattern. Organized crime was getting involved with foreign subversion. The maze of treachery and terrorism could lead to only one conclusion - the deadly presence of the Executioner: Mack Bolan!
187 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1982
2 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,517 books188 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
May 2, 2021
"He was a man who simply coul not coexist peaceably with flagrant human savagery."
This latest task...a crack paramilitary assassination team..who intended to hit Nazarour...They had traveled the globe, systematically terminating "with extreme prejudice" those who had been marked for death by Iran's kangeroo-styled "holy courts." And now they were reportedly here in Washington, in Bolan's backyard...Yet it could be the toughest mission of Bolan's new career if this hit team was even half as good as their record indicated, and Brognola had to acknowledge inwardly, glumly that they were that good. Bolan was out there tonight - a bone-weary man still drained from his previous mission, which had concluded only hours ago - and he was going up against a disciplined unit, each man of which would be Bolan's equal in combat training and skills.
This latest task...a crack paramilitary assassination team..who intended to hit Nazarour...They had traveled the globe, systematically terminating "with extreme prejudice" those who had been marked for death by Iran's kangeroo-styled "holy courts." And now they were reportedly here in Washington, in Bolan's backyard...Yet it could be the toughest mission of Bolan's new career if this hit team was even half as good as their record indicated, and Brognola had to acknowledge inwardly, glumly that they were that good. Bolan was out there tonight - a bone-weary man still drained from his previous mission, which had concluded only hours ago - and he was going up against a disciplined unit, each man of which would be Bolan's equal in combat training and skills.
July 28, 2024
Moving in from the Mafia Wars, Mack Bolan finds himself working as a US agents to take on terrorism. This time he has to prevent a group of Iranian hitmen from killing a former general.
This book takes place over the course of a single day and the action never stops. It’s clear that a lot of modern thrillers took notes from some of the action sequences in this as well. Despite Bolan not being written by Don Pendleton anymore, the ghost writer did a great job keeping him brutal yet likable.
This is my first read in Bolans “new war” and I’m all in for whatever comes next.
This book takes place over the course of a single day and the action never stops. It’s clear that a lot of modern thrillers took notes from some of the action sequences in this as well. Despite Bolan not being written by Don Pendleton anymore, the ghost writer did a great job keeping him brutal yet likable.
This is my first read in Bolans “new war” and I’m all in for whatever comes next.
September 27, 2014
This was a very good book with a lot of action. This is the first Mack Bolan book I ever read in English and as far I am concerned these books are worth reading in any language if you look for action. I think this is the first Mack Bolan I read that was not written by Pendelton, and even if this book was good, it wazs not a Pendelton book, but I give it 4 stars.
August 7, 2024
Original author Don Pendelton stopped writing after #38, and the series continued under his supervision; it is only four books later and his writing skill is already sorely missed. I was shocked by the quality when I read one of his original books a couple of months ago, but this book contains the arduous writing I thought I recalled with my adult mind from when I read dozens of these books in my teens. The plot is generic; the twists are dumb. The details of vehicles and armaments are extensive. The sappy dialogue is through the roof, and the action is frequent. All of that is par for the course in a serial that was being churned out monthly. What is truly painful after reading Pendelton's actual work is the attempts to copy the mindset, world view and, yes, philosophy of the character Mack Bolan. Agree or disagree with what he said, Pendelton had a clear and intelligent voice. The half baked ideas presented here are painful. There was a bit of quality in the beginning, but they peered out into sad, sad melodrama. Finishing this book, which I did out of curiosity and because it is such a quick and easy read, was, by the end, painful.
July 24, 2022
I say closer to a 3.5 but its a solid read. Bolan is tasked to protect a general who is an Iranian exile because of diplomatic status. Seems its an Iranian hit squad and the President doesn't want it killing on American soil. The ex general has a strange security force, the type seems familiar to the ex mafia fighter Bolan. So Bolan is in the middle again.
Mertz is always a fun read and can recommend this one. Has all the normal Bolan aspects.
Mertz is always a fun read and can recommend this one. Has all the normal Bolan aspects.
December 2, 2024
Super fun, I can't wait to get more from this series. Classic 80s mens adventure about foiling an Iranian terrorist plot in Maryland. Surprisingly not full of American exceptionalist exposition, despite the focus being on a US operative.
November 29, 2025
Rating 2.5
Standard fare for the series after the original mafia wars novels.
Standard fare for the series after the original mafia wars novels.
February 20, 2023
I’ve previously said that when the Executioner books are placed in one or two settings, have an easy to follow plot, and value action over actual story, they tend to be amongst the better of the series. The Iranian Plot is, thankfully, one of those kind of stories.
Overall, it’s one of the more simple of the series, with Bolan playing watchdog over an antagonist that needs protecting, even though he doesn’t deserve it. This being a book involving Mack Bolan, things go tits up from the very beginning and that makes for one of the more action packed and straightforward stories thus far.
This being typical 80’s dadlit, and pretty much the same story that’s been told over and over again in this series, The Iranian Hit isn’t gonna blow anyone away with greatness or originality, but it’s still a total blast and worth a read.
And that cover is so quintessentially early 80’s. You gotta love it!
Overall, it’s one of the more simple of the series, with Bolan playing watchdog over an antagonist that needs protecting, even though he doesn’t deserve it. This being a book involving Mack Bolan, things go tits up from the very beginning and that makes for one of the more action packed and straightforward stories thus far.
This being typical 80’s dadlit, and pretty much the same story that’s been told over and over again in this series, The Iranian Hit isn’t gonna blow anyone away with greatness or originality, but it’s still a total blast and worth a read.
And that cover is so quintessentially early 80’s. You gotta love it!
December 17, 2007
read 05.21.90
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews