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Mack Bolan the Executioner #54
Mountain Rampage
A terrorist organization coiled within the crannies of the Colorado Rockies was creating venemous drugs that cause mind surrender, then death. The entire United States is in peril of becoming a terminal rest home.
Mack Bolans nightfighting mandate - penetrate the highly guarded terrorist compound, destroy the fortress, and eliminate the mountainside maniacs. Fast.
Hungry coyotes patrolled the perimeter of the hardsite; hi-tech security devices protected the compound; guards armed to the hilt were everywhere. Inside lurked the terror drug soon to be put to its test - in the water supply of an American city. . . .
Mack Bolans nightfighting mandate - penetrate the highly guarded terrorist compound, destroy the fortress, and eliminate the mountainside maniacs. Fast.
Hungry coyotes patrolled the perimeter of the hardsite; hi-tech security devices protected the compound; guards armed to the hilt were everywhere. Inside lurked the terror drug soon to be put to its test - in the water supply of an American city. . . .
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1983
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,529 books194 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
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 8, 2017
Non-stop action all but short at 165 big print pages. That and the lack of story was the only reason this did not get 5 stars. A little more back story of the villans would of been nice. What we get was very well done. There was a grandpa and his grand daughter thrown in the mix. This was a nice change.
The story picks up right off. Bolan is at the hard site and ready for action. He's raiding a compound in Colorado that has, yes terrorists and scientists planning on poisoning towns in America to take over. the action and violence flow in a steady stream. Very well done.
The story picks up right off. Bolan is at the hard site and ready for action. He's raiding a compound in Colorado that has, yes terrorists and scientists planning on poisoning towns in America to take over. the action and violence flow in a steady stream. Very well done.
April 23, 2026
I thought this was a better-than-average example of the genre.
The early Mack Bolan books are all about him taking on mafia families in various cities, getting revenge for his loved ones. Somewhere along the line, he pivoted to terrorists and the like. I haven't read enough or researched it to know when that happened, but this one (#54) is an example of the latter. The formula still works, IMO, and the book is an entertaining read.
The whole idea for the series is that there are criminals and evildoers who are so brutal, so dangerous and evil, that we can have no sympathy for them at all, so we can root for Bolan doing whatever he has to do to stop them. He's Rambo, John Wick, Doc Savage, and Ethan Hunt all wrapped into one. Here, his target is a bunch of eastern European (communist) terrorists who are preparing to poison whole cities, and they have been testing their chemicals on kidnapped people. He has to go into their Rocky Mountain compound all alone and stop them.
It's very satisfying in a kinda gladiatorial way when he kills the people we've seen commit horrendous crimes and then rescues some survivors. It's all very unlikely--one against 50--but the author actually does a reasonable job of imagining how it could be possible, provided the man is athletic, quick, and a very good shot. Resourceful, too. He cheats, though; he doesn't let them know he's coming.
These books are not for everybody, but I've liked them so far, and this one was one of the more satisfying ones of the books I've sampled. I'm a little surprised how much fun I find them, actually. It helps that they're move like novellas than novels. It's as if someone took a 100,000 page novel and removed everything but the action.
Nope. Not as if. That's exactly it. :)
The early Mack Bolan books are all about him taking on mafia families in various cities, getting revenge for his loved ones. Somewhere along the line, he pivoted to terrorists and the like. I haven't read enough or researched it to know when that happened, but this one (#54) is an example of the latter. The formula still works, IMO, and the book is an entertaining read.
The whole idea for the series is that there are criminals and evildoers who are so brutal, so dangerous and evil, that we can have no sympathy for them at all, so we can root for Bolan doing whatever he has to do to stop them. He's Rambo, John Wick, Doc Savage, and Ethan Hunt all wrapped into one. Here, his target is a bunch of eastern European (communist) terrorists who are preparing to poison whole cities, and they have been testing their chemicals on kidnapped people. He has to go into their Rocky Mountain compound all alone and stop them.
It's very satisfying in a kinda gladiatorial way when he kills the people we've seen commit horrendous crimes and then rescues some survivors. It's all very unlikely--one against 50--but the author actually does a reasonable job of imagining how it could be possible, provided the man is athletic, quick, and a very good shot. Resourceful, too. He cheats, though; he doesn't let them know he's coming.
These books are not for everybody, but I've liked them so far, and this one was one of the more satisfying ones of the books I've sampled. I'm a little surprised how much fun I find them, actually. It helps that they're move like novellas than novels. It's as if someone took a 100,000 page novel and removed everything but the action.
Nope. Not as if. That's exactly it. :)
April 10, 2023
It’s good thing this one has been the shortest executioner in a long time because, honestly, this is the first of the “new war” Golden Eagle line that I didn’t really enjoy.
Overall there’s nothing really wrong with it; it follows the same formula and doesn’t do anything too different from the past 53 books, it’s just that that’s also its curse. Honestly, there isn’t a single thing in Mountain Rampage distinguish it from any other novel that come before it.
Like I said, Bolan does the exact same thing he does in damn near every other book: He shows up. He kills bad guys. He saves the day. Wham. Bam. Thank you ma’am. With some of the most bland antagonists and an extremely repetitive plot, Mountain Rampage ends up as the most paint-by-numbers, fill-in-the-blank story of the lot.
That being said, 3 stars only because it’s fast paced, short, and a very easy read.
Overall there’s nothing really wrong with it; it follows the same formula and doesn’t do anything too different from the past 53 books, it’s just that that’s also its curse. Honestly, there isn’t a single thing in Mountain Rampage distinguish it from any other novel that come before it.
Like I said, Bolan does the exact same thing he does in damn near every other book: He shows up. He kills bad guys. He saves the day. Wham. Bam. Thank you ma’am. With some of the most bland antagonists and an extremely repetitive plot, Mountain Rampage ends up as the most paint-by-numbers, fill-in-the-blank story of the lot.
That being said, 3 stars only because it’s fast paced, short, and a very easy read.
July 14, 2023
An ok volume in the series. Its about 20 pages shorter then normal, so its a very fast read. Pretty straightforward, Bolan is sent to the Colorado Rockies to investigate a compound that seems to be more sinister then the rest home it claims to be. With roving guards with guns and high fences with flood lights around it. Also reports of missing people in the area. It adds up to a terrorist group who are using the remote compound to research dangerous mind controlling chemicals to start attacking American cities. Though Bolan is now on the job and 100 to one odds still look pretty good to him.
Can't really recommend , its a weaker adventure though not bad just kind of bland and the writing is a little weak. If you are reading through, I would not skip it but not one of the better ones.
Can't really recommend , its a weaker adventure though not bad just kind of bland and the writing is a little weak. If you are reading through, I would not skip it but not one of the better ones.
May 29, 2021
This was "ok". The story was semi-interesting but lacked a lot of explanation. I didn't care for the abrupt ending with no follow-up on why the experimentation was occurring and who was ultimately behind it. Why weren't the authorities called in? Lots of unanswered questions. Book felt like it was put together a little too quickly. Still.....I enjoy the character and series.
May 6, 2015
My Rating Scale:
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.
Times Read: 1
One of the first series I read consistently. This series and the Destroyer series are responsible for my love of reading and stories.
Characters - Looking back to my younger reading days, I loved Mack Bolan and thought he was one of the coolest characters in history. 30 years later, I realize that the characters were pretty stereotypical, but I still love him.
Story - The stories are average and fairly typical. Bad guys going to kill or hurt, Mack is going to kill them or die trying. Not much in creativity but it really worked for me as a male teenager. I wanted to own guns and protect the world just like Mack.
Overall - I started reading these when I was 16. I enjoyed them up until about age 19. My tastes changed from Military intrigue to Fantasy / SciFi. I would recommend reading these especially for younger males.
NOTE: I am going to rate these all the books in this series the same. Some of the stories are a bit better or a bit worse but I can't find one that I would rate a 2 or 4.
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.
Times Read: 1
One of the first series I read consistently. This series and the Destroyer series are responsible for my love of reading and stories.
Characters - Looking back to my younger reading days, I loved Mack Bolan and thought he was one of the coolest characters in history. 30 years later, I realize that the characters were pretty stereotypical, but I still love him.
Story - The stories are average and fairly typical. Bad guys going to kill or hurt, Mack is going to kill them or die trying. Not much in creativity but it really worked for me as a male teenager. I wanted to own guns and protect the world just like Mack.
Overall - I started reading these when I was 16. I enjoyed them up until about age 19. My tastes changed from Military intrigue to Fantasy / SciFi. I would recommend reading these especially for younger males.
NOTE: I am going to rate these all the books in this series the same. Some of the stories are a bit better or a bit worse but I can't find one that I would rate a 2 or 4.
December 17, 2007
read 05.23.90
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews