Flesh Wounds

Mack Bolan the Executioner #57

by Don Pendleton (Series Creator), Ray Obstfeld (Contributor)

Violence was inevitable when Americas most vicious leftist group, the Weatherman, switched sides and resurfaced on the far Right.

The beautiful April Rose had made contact with one of the terrorists, a former campus activist with whom she was once involved. But the plan misfired. April disappeared.

Now the Executioner had to save her and head off one of the bloodiest displays of fanatical madness ever devised - the murder of hundreds of thousands of fans at a country-and-western festival.

He had about one chance in hell.

Genres: Action, Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

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

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The underground group the Weathermen join forces with the Russians to spread terror at a country music festival. Mack Bolan, backed up by April Rose, must figure out their diabolical plan before hell is unleashed upon 500,000 innocent spectators.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun entry in the series by Ray Obstfeld. This time April plays a large role, maybe too big. Bolan is trying to find a man who is ahead of a domestic terrorist organization, it heats up when he finds that April is missing while following up on a lead herself. After getting with her they discover a plot to kill hundreds of thousands of people at a country concert and they have to follow the few clues they have to find the leaders behind the plot and to stop it. Back to maybe too much April, she is all of the sudden a no nonsense warrior. Which is fine only that it seems a big shift from her normal character, but it works.

Recommended, it's an interesting plot and was a fast paced read.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old Executioner is out to foil a plot against a giant music festival. The Weathermen, the same Weathermen from the 60's and 70's, are regrouping and teaming up with the Russians to send a big message to the middle class of America. What the Weathermen don't know is that the Russian they are working with is out to double cross them. They want thousands dead, not the hundreds the Weathermen want.

Mack Bolan teams with his beloved April Rose on this mission. She was engaged to the leader of the new Weathermen. This book is very thin on story. Like pretty much all of these books. It is big on action and unintentional comedy. Like the country western singer Royce Banjo. The party Mack goes to to find a link in the plot. Rhinestone cowboys puking in potted plants are a hoot. Not bad for this type of book.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The executioner’s 56th foray is actually pretty decent, especially considering how “meh” Island Deathtrap, the previous entry, ended up being.

This one is lean, mean, and puts Bolan back on a much more brutal warpath, now facing off against a renegade KGB agent, doomsday survivalists, and a an offshoot political group of the Weather Underground, all against a race against the clock to save half a million innocent lives. It seems a bit confusing, but it works.

Unlike other books in this series, Ray Obstfeld does a great job of throwing a couple different plot threads into the mix and tying them all together in a succinct and enjoyable way that feels a bit more planned/thought out. We also finally get to see April show up, kick ass, and demonstrate why her and Bolan are perfect together.

[Alvaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good storyline with April Rose and Mack.