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The Rat Bastards #13
Tough Guys Die Hard
The world is their war zone! The war's never over for the battle-toughened Rat Bastards. From one jungle hell to another, they strike raw terror and drive razor-sharp bayonets into the heart of their enemies. Always in the thick of the fight, they hit hard and die harder. And when a new band of misfits joins their ranks, you can hear the panic buttons getting pushed all the way to Tokyo. The Rat Bastards. Turning losers into hell-bent heroes.
- GenresWar
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 17, 2014
3 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Len Levinson
79 books20 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 30, 2025
The previous volume in the series was one of the most intense, with the action running pretty much non-stop from start to finish.
So this one is a sort of breather episode. Several of the main characters were killed and wounded, so the guys we've gotten to know are getting whittled down. Sgt. Butsko, though, after a book or two being out recovering from wounds, returns. He has to reform the recon squad with just two other old-timers and a bunch of thieves, rapists, sadists, cowards, etc. drafted from the stockade.
Levinson does some great characterization work in this novel and it all leads up to one of his typically intense action sequences when the recon squad leads a reconnaissance-in-force into Japanese territory. We should be used to this by now--but not many of the recon platoon survive.
It's another strong entry in the series. I think there's only three more to go and one of the strengths of the novel is that I have no idea who will still be around when the series comes to an end.
So this one is a sort of breather episode. Several of the main characters were killed and wounded, so the guys we've gotten to know are getting whittled down. Sgt. Butsko, though, after a book or two being out recovering from wounds, returns. He has to reform the recon squad with just two other old-timers and a bunch of thieves, rapists, sadists, cowards, etc. drafted from the stockade.
Levinson does some great characterization work in this novel and it all leads up to one of his typically intense action sequences when the recon squad leads a reconnaissance-in-force into Japanese territory. We should be used to this by now--but not many of the recon platoon survive.
It's another strong entry in the series. I think there's only three more to go and one of the strengths of the novel is that I have no idea who will still be around when the series comes to an end.
March 22, 2025
After taking a break from the Rat Bastards series (dove into the world of Fantasy) I decided to come back and see if I would still enjoy the Bastards. I have to say, this was one of my favorites in the series.
We get to see a different side of Butsko and we dive a little deeper into the world of insanity and philosophy of war. The book waits until the very end to dive into war, but then you are rewarded with 30+ pages of non stop, blood and guts, all out action.
The finally chapter was the only part of the book I could do without, and was the only downside of the this one. Not enough to bring it down in rating, but man this was a good one! Five stars.
We get to see a different side of Butsko and we dive a little deeper into the world of insanity and philosophy of war. The book waits until the very end to dive into war, but then you are rewarded with 30+ pages of non stop, blood and guts, all out action.
The finally chapter was the only part of the book I could do without, and was the only downside of the this one. Not enough to bring it down in rating, but man this was a good one! Five stars.
December 3, 2017
More war pulp. Horrific and ridiculous war pulp. Sgt Butsko returns and immediately proceeds to brutally beat two new Rat Bastard members to an inch of their lives. Capt Mason is the clear leader in this one killing 17 Japs with his .45 Colt, a samurai sword, and a bayonet. For the first time in three books we finally hear the whereabouts of Cpl Bannon - he's back in the 'States recovering from his wounds. Any bets on whether he returns before this series ends?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews