Prison Code

Mack Bolan the Executioner #414

by Chuck Rogers, Don Pendleton (Series Creator)

Nuclear Lockdown

When a plot to unleash weapons of mass destruction on U.S. soil is discovered in a coded message, all clues lead to the country's most notorious prison in upstate New York. With time running out, Mack Bolan goes in undercover as an inmate to find out who's behind the attack and stop it from happening.

Surrounded by corrupt guards and convicted killers who want him dead, Bolan can't trust anybody—and one wrong move could be lethal. Weaponless and cut off from the outside world, he's aware that the only tools he has to track down the nuclear devices hidden in the prison walls are psychological warfare and hand-to-hand combat. This high-security facility may have been designed to keep the deadliest criminals in check, but nothing can keep the Executioner down.

Genres: Thriller

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Tim Deforest · Rating 5 out of 5]

After raiding a white supremist hide-out, Mack Bolan uncovers information that something is being planned within the walls of a notoriously corrupt prison. So Mack goes undercover as a prisoner.

I was worried about enjoying this one when I encountered a couple of sloppy editing mistakes in the first chapter--two cases of when the book loses track of dialogue. In one case, an armed Bolan calmly threatening a terrified prisoner turns into a terrified armed Bolan being threatened by a calm prisoner.

But it was easy enough to figure out who was SUPPOSED to be speaking and when Mack enters the prison, the story morphs into a very unique Executioner tale. Mack slowly uncovers the bad guys' plans while he also befriends or earns the respect of several prisoners. Along the way, he's obligated to participate in the "Hunger Games"--fights between prisoners staged by the corrupt warden and broadcast over the internet on a pay-per-view basis.

There are some great characters here: a Mafia computer hacker and his too-eager-for-his-own-good son who are serving time together; a transvestite Marilyn Monroe double; a black martial artist framed years ago for murders he didn't commit; an overweight guard who is one of the few honest men on the prison staff; and so on. All have unique personalities and the dialogue is sharp and often very funny.

The book's extended climactic fight involves Mack teaming up with friendly convicts and a few guards to take on the white supremist convicts and the corrupt guards. The battle rages from one of the cell blocks, out of the prison through tunnels and finally into a warehouse hideout in a nearby town. During a pause in the action, there's an hilarious scene in which Bolan and two convicts--caked in dirt and muck & still wearing prison garb--have to convince a female deputy to team-up with them to chase the bad guys rather than arrest them.

This one was written by Chuck Douglas. Looking him up, I've learned that he wrote a number of other Executioner novels and a couple of Super-Bolans. I need to keep an eye out for them.

[Lionel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been reading the Executioner series for a few years and while most of them are entertaining books, they do not really stand out. That is not the case with this story. In this one, Bolan gets a lead on a plot by white supremacists to decapitate the national government and he goes undercover in an extremely dysfunctional prison to get to the bottom of it and he discovers a plot that runs much deeper than he originally suspected. Because he is in prison for most of the book there are not as many of the action-filled shootouts that are often in the story but this is a good thing because the author uses the necessarily slower pace of the book for some character development something that is not given much priority in most of the books in the series. The result is a very entertaining story with some notable supporting characters and even a little humor. One can only hope that the author who ghostwrote this story got a few more contracts in the series.

[Steven Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kick-ass tale from Chuck Rogers. I was curious how he'd approach putting Bolan undercover in prison, and he delivered by showing us equal parts of The Executioner and Sergeant Mercy. You can tell that Rogers has done a fair bit of research regarding prison culture. Definitely a fun read!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been reading these for years. A ho-hum entry in the series.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The young man's face grew serious. "Not to you, Cooper. You helped my father , and saved me from a life of butt-piracy at the hands of a man whose nickname is Rolling Thunder. I may be young, and I got caught, but my father raised me right. I understand a debt of honor."

"But if a happy ending is tomorrow night I win and you ladies get a chicken dinner--" Bolan let out another sigh "--then winner, winner chicken dinner and that happy ending is definitely on."