I first heard of Mack Bolan, the Executioner, about 15 years ago. For some reason, despite the fact that the series sounded interesting, I finally got around to reading my first Executioner story when I saw that the stories were being re-released as e-books. Boy am I sorry I waited so long to read this series!
Maybe this wasn't the first action novel ever written, but it's a damn good one. Mack Bolan didn't want to be a vigilante warring with the Mafia, but he seemingly had no choice after he discovered the Mafia is responsible for the deaths of most of his family. And despite being only one man, he fights quite the war against the Mafia.
Mack Bolan enters this first story already known as the Executioner from his decorated military career in Vietnam, where he was a expert sniper during two tours of duty. He returns to the U.S. to bury his parents and sister after his father, driven to madness by the Mafia, kills the two women and then himself. Bolan is given leave from the military to care for his now-orphaned younger brother. Instead of simply taking a job as an Army recruiter and raising his brother, the Executioner decided to raise hell with the Mafia. That's where the action starts.
Bolan starts by showing off his sniper skills by killing several Mafia members from long range. Then he infiltrates the Mafia by getting a job with the same mobsters that he is trying to eliminate. From the inside, Bolan continues his one-man war. I didn't keep track, but he must've killed about 50 mob men throughout this story.
This is a great beginning to a series that now has some 600+ entries. Of course, the war against the Mafia isn't over by the end of the book, but it's clear that the Executioner is going to continue fighting until he wins the war. And I'm going to be sure to follow his wartime exploits in future volumes. You should too!
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