Battle Force

The Freedom Trilogy, begun in Executioner #174 and #175, concludes here. This time the prose falls to Mel Odom’s capable hands. This is only one of two trilogies team written by Odom and Jerry VanCook. The two authors share similar writing styles and have the same grasp of and capability in characterization and story structure so the transition is flawless in that regard. Where this book fails, and it is minor, is also in this transition of authors. Odom spends the first portion of this book bringing the teams together in Haakovia so the progress of several plot lines stalls for a brief time until everyone is in place for things to continue. Phoenix’s involvement finally begins to have some impact on the story as events begin to flay into chaos and we move into the third act. Odom’s prose is quick, clear and tight, as the plot gets desperate and the characters struggle against overwhelming odds. We feel their desperation as the battles get intense and overwhelming to them. Odom’s characterization is spot on and we truly feel the plight of them all. The villains are just as in depth and the tyranny is palatable. The Freedom Trilogy draws to a thrilling and explosive conclusion here. All three volumes flow, fairly well, together to create a single epic story that is a height in the Bolaverse.

The transition between writers is seamless for this conclusion of the Freedom trilogy and I was pleased that two authors could produce a quality and consistant product. Able Team gets more great scenes in this book, and I liked J.D. Ethan, he was an interesting ally. Phoenix Force gets equal time, with excellent and thrilling adventures in Haakovia and Finland. Mack Bolan's role is once more a leader for the allied army as they plan and execute penetration into North Haakovia. More good scenes with Brognola and the President. Kurtzman's talents were again a major impact in this novel. I liked how Odom continued the portrayal of the evil Stensvick that began in the second novel, and this villain turns out to be one of the more memorable bad guys in the series. Because of the size of the trilogy and of Battle Force in particular however, I thought some of the tension of Stensvick's threats, his missiles and the bacterial agents, was not as gripping as it could have been, as there was so much that goes on in the rest of the story, it kind of gets lost to some degree. But this final installment was very well written, and I thoght the writer put a lot of effort into making a solid product, making this whole trilogy a very good one, I enjoyed it a lot, even though Bolan isn't much of a focus in it.

The final book of the trilogy. Jerry VanCook earned my first ten vote for the second book of the trilogy which was superb BUT why do the publishers use different authors for a trilogy ????? Mel Odom does a fair to good finish to the trilogy but even though he finishes it off to a satisfactory conclusion it paled in comparison to the first two titles. I just can't understand why the publishers would publish a trilogy with more than one author? Well you are not going to read this before you have read the first two titles of the trilogy and quite frankly why would you ? But if you HAVE the two previous titles and read it like me following the series I would think you will be very disappointed in the final book. my two bobs worth........

The war between North and South Haakovia breaks out in full. Bolan is on site to lead and direct the underdog forces of South Haakovia, and Phoenix Force and Able Team lend their talents as well. This ends up being a pretty good book. However, it just doesn't feel like a Mack Bolan novel. Bolan as the commander-in-chief of a country's armed forces? Isn't he still wanted by some government types? This is pretty high profile for him. The writing is good and battle plans well thought out, but still seems impossible to accomplish over the time frame of the book. Bringing down a mountain with just hours to place the charges, even with the help of a fault line, just stretches reality a bit too far. Overall, excellent read, but it doesn't seem like the "real" Bolan leading the way, and it requires a higher than usual suspension of disbelief.

I agree with Gunslinger -- this is the worst trilogy out of the series so far. Bolan leading an army was bad enough, but to include Phoenix Force and Able Team and yet treat them like you added them in just because the editor said so made it ten times worse.

For some reason, I found this trilogy to be my least favorite. I didn't like the story, the situation of Mack Bolan leading an army. Get real!