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The Rat Bastards #9
Do or Die
Death is in their blood. The enemy wants them dead. Their own side wants them to shape up. They're the Rat Bastards. They steal. Lie. Kill. And they never respect the rules. The stuntman. The Indian. The gangster. The bum. The most awesomely effective fighting team in the history of man-to-man mayhem. And now they're all that stands between the Japs and their plan to retake the bloody Pacific island of Bougainville. - The Rat Bastards.
158 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Len Levinson
79 books21 followersAKA John Mackie, J. Farragut Jones, Nicholas Brady and Gordon Davis; also has ghost written as Clay Dawson.
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Len Levinson served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1954-1957, and graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Social Science. He relocated to NYC that year and worked as an advertising copywriter and public relations executive before becoming a full-time novelist.
Len has had over eighty titles published and has created and wrote a number of series, including The Apache Wars Saga, The Pecos Kid, The Rat Bastards, and The Sergeant.
After many years in NYC, Len moved to a small town (pop. 3100) in rural Illinois, where he is now surrounded by corn and soybean fields ... a peaceful, ideal location for a writer.
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Len Levinson served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1954-1957, and graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Social Science. He relocated to NYC that year and worked as an advertising copywriter and public relations executive before becoming a full-time novelist.
Len has had over eighty titles published and has created and wrote a number of series, including The Apache Wars Saga, The Pecos Kid, The Rat Bastards, and The Sergeant.
After many years in NYC, Len moved to a small town (pop. 3100) in rural Illinois, where he is now surrounded by corn and soybean fields ... a peaceful, ideal location for a writer.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 21, 2022
Ignore the negative reviews. If you are reading the Rat Bastards for historical accuracy and and award winning writing, then you are way out of your element. The Tat Bastards series is one of my favorite series in an endless amount of high testosterone, 1980s action and adventure for men.
Do or Die is better than the last installment, giving us that classic, all action in the thick of it war. Plenty of pages of violence and non stop action will make this book go by in a flash.
If you are looking for a book that reads like a Stallone 80s war movie, you have come to the right place. All your favorite bastards are back and of course out of control. I really enjoyed this one, and look forward to book #10. 5 stars.
Do or Die is better than the last installment, giving us that classic, all action in the thick of it war. Plenty of pages of violence and non stop action will make this book go by in a flash.
If you are looking for a book that reads like a Stallone 80s war movie, you have come to the right place. All your favorite bastards are back and of course out of control. I really enjoyed this one, and look forward to book #10. 5 stars.
January 9, 2025
After the previous novel, in which most of the regular characters were badly wounded, I half expected this one to pick up with almost all-new characters. But it didn't. The action has moved to Bougainville, the next island to be taken from the Japanese. The various wounded men have healed up and rejoined the recon platoon. One of them, Bannon, is having severe headaches after a steel plate was put in his head to replace part of his skull. There are hints that he's on his way to becoming a morphine addict, which I think will play out in later novels.
The action in this one is typically strong and over-the-top. A member of the platoon is briefly captured, but escapes after essentially making an arch enemy out of a Japanese officer. Later, a Japanese attack nearly overruns the American lines, until Sgt Butsko and a half-dozen other recon platoon members show up in a truck and let loose with a submachine gun barrage. The final action scene is a counter-attack on the Japanese--sneaking up on enemy bunkers at night to take them out before rushing the position.
Along the way, Levinson continues to provide us with characters who are often real jerks, but in the end are great soldiers who watch out for each other.
The action in this one is typically strong and over-the-top. A member of the platoon is briefly captured, but escapes after essentially making an arch enemy out of a Japanese officer. Later, a Japanese attack nearly overruns the American lines, until Sgt Butsko and a half-dozen other recon platoon members show up in a truck and let loose with a submachine gun barrage. The final action scene is a counter-attack on the Japanese--sneaking up on enemy bunkers at night to take them out before rushing the position.
Along the way, Levinson continues to provide us with characters who are often real jerks, but in the end are great soldiers who watch out for each other.
December 2, 2017
War pulp. Ridiculously bad war pulp. You know that this is a work of fiction when you read in Chapter 1 about a Japanese pilot flying a mission on January 6, 1943 on the lookout for American P-51 Mustangs. P-51's in the Pacific on January 6, 1943? Not hardly. They didn't arrive to the USAAF until April/May 1943, and then they were thousands of miles away in North Africa. Mustangs didn't get to the Pacific until late in 1944.
And once again Levinson has Lt. Dale Breckinridge wearing a Combat Infantry Badge in January, 1943. The CIB was enacted by Executive Order November 1943. So much for the author's claim to write things historically correct.
For those of you not keeping count, Bannon's kill numbers continue to slip. Outside of the "bunches" he mows down by machine gun fire and several he kills by grenade he only has one kill in close hand-to hand fighting. As for sex, there is none in this one other than captives Frankie La Barbara's aborted "tryst" with a Jap officer.
And once again Levinson has Lt. Dale Breckinridge wearing a Combat Infantry Badge in January, 1943. The CIB was enacted by Executive Order November 1943. So much for the author's claim to write things historically correct.
For those of you not keeping count, Bannon's kill numbers continue to slip. Outside of the "bunches" he mows down by machine gun fire and several he kills by grenade he only has one kill in close hand-to hand fighting. As for sex, there is none in this one other than captives Frankie La Barbara's aborted "tryst" with a Jap officer.
October 25, 2016
This was not what I expected. This is a pretty good WWII pulp book. The first part of the book has the Rat Bastards stealing canned hams. Getting into fights among themselves. Second half has them fighting the Japanese all over the island that this book takes place on.
The highlight of this book is the repressed homosexual Japanese commander. He wants to be a samurai and kill as many Americans with his sword that he can. He finds one of the Rat Bastards quite fetching. What happens next is pretty funny.
The highlight of this book is the repressed homosexual Japanese commander. He wants to be a samurai and kill as many Americans with his sword that he can. He finds one of the Rat Bastards quite fetching. What happens next is pretty funny.
August 11, 2016
Took a while to come to a boil but when it did... !
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews