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The Executioner #31
Arizona Ambush
When the mob opens up a drug pipeline, the Executioner comes to shut it off Far from the lights of the city, in the desert near the Mexican border, the mob has erected a sprawling compound where planes can land undetected. This will be the heart of the Arizona corridor—a drug-smuggling route that will dwarf even the infamous French connection. And Mack Bolan will kill to keep the operation off the ground. Wearing a black jumpsuit, his belt full of ammunition, the Executioner plans to make Arizona the new front in his war against organized crime. He has spent days cataloging the Mafia heavies who come and go from the compound in the desert, and now he is ready to strike. Two mob factions are working together in Arizona—and Mack Bolan will ensure that they destroy each other. Arizona Ambush is the 31st book in the Executioner series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,533 books195 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 27, 2026
A slightly above average Executioner book with the twist of Jewish rather than Italian mobsters (the Kosher nostra)
January 4, 2015
I am saddened that this series is almost finished. Sure, sure, there is the continuation series that begins with #39, but that isn't Don Pendleton writing The Executioner. I'll still give them a fair shake, but this original series is awesomeness at its highest caliber.
Arizona Ambush brings Mack Bolan back to Arizona for the first time since #4 Miami Massacre, where he dropped in briefly to find out about a mafia holiday taking place in Miami. Of course Mack crashed the party. This time, expecting to find the drug trade live and well in absence of dead California Boss Julian DiGeorge, Mack instead uncovers what appears to be a plot to kill Arizona Senator, Abraham Weiss. It is not, it is a little trickier than that.
This was a typical Bolan book with the standard stand-there-and-die Mafia goons, but the writing and characterization seemed cleaner and more refined than usual. This one brought in a few old enemies of Bolan from his tour in Vietnam, another stand-there-and-die-type of antagonist. Still, I enjoyed this chapter in the story enough to put it in the top half of the series so far. The sharp writing was rewarding. I also liked the fact that the EXACT same problems in 1977 are the same as today--one chapter discusses how Arizona could implement solar-energy but for the usual political machination impeding progress. Nothing has changed in almost 40 years because the same people still deny real change.
When I get to #38, I'll rank my top five and low five. I can already say this one is in the upper middle, but not top five. Next up -- #32 Tennessee Smash.
Arizona Ambush brings Mack Bolan back to Arizona for the first time since #4 Miami Massacre, where he dropped in briefly to find out about a mafia holiday taking place in Miami. Of course Mack crashed the party. This time, expecting to find the drug trade live and well in absence of dead California Boss Julian DiGeorge, Mack instead uncovers what appears to be a plot to kill Arizona Senator, Abraham Weiss. It is not, it is a little trickier than that.
This was a typical Bolan book with the standard stand-there-and-die Mafia goons, but the writing and characterization seemed cleaner and more refined than usual. This one brought in a few old enemies of Bolan from his tour in Vietnam, another stand-there-and-die-type of antagonist. Still, I enjoyed this chapter in the story enough to put it in the top half of the series so far. The sharp writing was rewarding. I also liked the fact that the EXACT same problems in 1977 are the same as today--one chapter discusses how Arizona could implement solar-energy but for the usual political machination impeding progress. Nothing has changed in almost 40 years because the same people still deny real change.
When I get to #38, I'll rank my top five and low five. I can already say this one is in the upper middle, but not top five. Next up -- #32 Tennessee Smash.
June 2, 2026
The Executioner Mack Bolan is in the Arizona desert to eliminate a mafia crew there, and while lurking about he takes a map off a dead mobster showing him where his targets are. Moe Kaufman is a name on that list of criminal leaders Bolan wants to deal with, but when he saves Kaufman's daughter Sharon from kidnappers, he instead agrees to leave her father alive as long as the operation is shut down.
With that opening scenario, Bolan now finds himself in the middle of an internal mob dispute. Heroin, paramilitary militia training, Italian mafia, political tentacles that reach beyond Phoenix, and now intragroup kidnapping, call to Bolan's attention the overwhelming reach of this criminal enterprise and he finds there is also a connection to his own past.
My first attempt at a Mack Bolan action read, "Arizona Ambush" (1977) is the 31st episode of the long-running series and was written by series creator Don Pendleton. Bolan is a mob-killing vigilante, a war vet with a near-photographic memory, wiretapping skills, firearms and explosives proficiency, and the owner of a tricked-out RV dubbed the Warwagon, a “rolling dreadnaught with advanced electronics systems that had added new dimensions to his war effort.”
Verdict: A fun, short action adventure with 1970's pro-America anti-mob feels and a tech-savvy Rambo protagonist, "Arizona Ambush" is pretty good.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
With that opening scenario, Bolan now finds himself in the middle of an internal mob dispute. Heroin, paramilitary militia training, Italian mafia, political tentacles that reach beyond Phoenix, and now intragroup kidnapping, call to Bolan's attention the overwhelming reach of this criminal enterprise and he finds there is also a connection to his own past.
My first attempt at a Mack Bolan action read, "Arizona Ambush" (1977) is the 31st episode of the long-running series and was written by series creator Don Pendleton. Bolan is a mob-killing vigilante, a war vet with a near-photographic memory, wiretapping skills, firearms and explosives proficiency, and the owner of a tricked-out RV dubbed the Warwagon, a “rolling dreadnaught with advanced electronics systems that had added new dimensions to his war effort.”
Verdict: A fun, short action adventure with 1970's pro-America anti-mob feels and a tech-savvy Rambo protagonist, "Arizona Ambush" is pretty good.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
April 3, 2022
Another very strong entry in the original Executioner series. Bolan is rapidly commuting between Phoenix and Tucson, dealing with two rival Mafia organizations who are at war, with a dirty U.S. Senator being groomed as a presidential candidate as the main prize. One of the factions has hired some former Green Berets to train a paramilitary unit of hitmen to give that side an edge.
Bolan doesn't care who wins the Mafia war as long as no one ends up with a potential U.S. president in their pockets. His strategy involves arranging things so that the two factions end up whittling each other down while putting the senator in a position where he must decide to retire or... well, this is the Executioner. Choice #2 is never a pleasant one.
The fast-moving plot is sped along as much by Bolan's clever pyschological manuevering as by the well-written action sequences.
Bolan doesn't care who wins the Mafia war as long as no one ends up with a potential U.S. president in their pockets. His strategy involves arranging things so that the two factions end up whittling each other down while putting the senator in a position where he must decide to retire or... well, this is the Executioner. Choice #2 is never a pleasant one.
The fast-moving plot is sped along as much by Bolan's clever pyschological manuevering as by the well-written action sequences.
January 12, 2020
Some classic Executioner action. Warring mafia factions, a senator bought by the mob, and a cadre of combat veterans are in the mix as Bolan rolls into Arizona. His only mission - the total destruction of the Mafia. Pendleton writes a fast paced page turner that will have you guessing how everything will finally play out. You can be sure that the desert wasteland will be painted red with many bloody dunes.
May 26, 2020
Our Mafia busting veteran, Bolan, is back in the sunshine sniffing out the rats in a drug running enterprise. Enter a dirty U.S. senator and a young daughter of a Capo, and you have a recipe for action and adventure, a la 70s men's novels.
Some of the Sarge's old acquaintances from Vietnam, the 'Desert Rats, make an appearance as employees of the bad guys.
Some of the Sarge's old acquaintances from Vietnam, the 'Desert Rats, make an appearance as employees of the bad guys.
December 20, 2023
Bolan handles some political corruption in his typical, explosive style. Didn't feel like this one was bringing anything particularly new to the table, although that might be a silly thing to ask of the 31st in a series. It delivers on the premise, but wasn't overly memorable.
March 13, 2021
The Executioner was hunting cannibals. He had followed their spoor from the killing grounds in Cleveland to the arid expanses of Arizona, where he found them in abundance. The mafia savages were there, daily strengthening their parasitic grip upon society in the Grand Canyon state...Tucson Mafia's "joint in the desert" was a military-style compound covering some 30 acres and ringed with tall chain-link and barbed-wire fences...the big project of the Arizona mafia was currently narcotics, the wholesale importation of marijuana and "brown" heroin by jeep, truck and plane across the 360-mile border shared by Arizona and Mexico.
September 29, 2022
It’s not this this one is any worse than any other previous entry into the series. Instead, it’s just more of the same thing…again…for the 31st time.
Yes this is in Tucson and not Philly, but that’s about it. Bolan shows up, blows up countless mafiosos and survives at every inconceivable turn. At this point, I’m just bored of the whole thing, especially when I know that the outcome will be yet another repeat of a story that came before it.
Yes this is in Tucson and not Philly, but that’s about it. Bolan shows up, blows up countless mafiosos and survives at every inconceivable turn. At this point, I’m just bored of the whole thing, especially when I know that the outcome will be yet another repeat of a story that came before it.
May 12, 2015
An excellent men's adventure series from the 60s, 70's and 80's. The first 38 books are outstanding but then the series is taken over by a bunch of new writers writing under the name of the original creator and they take the series into a new direction I did not care for. The first 38 books are very recommended
November 1, 2018
The saga continues
June 24, 2024
Fast paced action
Hard to put down! Excellent read. Now own to the next installment!
Just forty more books to go!
Can't wait!
Hard to put down! Excellent read. Now own to the next installment!
Just forty more books to go!
Can't wait!
June 30, 2018
I enjoyed this book. There were strong characters created and one of them related to his past in Vietnam. I won't give away the ending but it was a strong finish. Worth the time!
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May 5, 2026Plot:
Traveling straight from Cleveland to Arizona, Bolan stumbles upon an abandoned training ground for a paramilitary force under mob sponsorship. As I suspected from the previous book, the connection between this book and the last is Bad Tony Morello. Arizona has been a satellite for Cleveland. Nick Benelli was an underboss and junior partner of Bad Tony. Based in Tucson, Benelli supplied drugs from Mexico to Cleveland, California, Detroit, and New York. His son, Paul is his strong right arm, underboss, and heir apparent.
Phoenix, on the other hand, is run by the Jewish mob, the “Kosher Nostra” in Bolan’s words. Heading up the Jewish mob is Moe Kaufman, referred to as the Yiddish Augie Marinello (the late “boss of all bosses” of La Cosa Nostra). In the course of Bolan’s investigation, he interrupts the abduction of Kaufman’s daughter, Sharon. He informs her who her father really is, and she pleads with Bolan to spare him (there was a similar plot point in the previous book).
Bolan also stumbles onto the existence of a paramilitary force headed by Jim Hinshaw, a crooked G.I. from Bolan’s past who did time in the brig thanks to Bolan himself. Hinshaw has been hired by Benelli to take over Kaufman’s Phoenix operation, in particular a certain mob-backed Senator — the same Senator Weiss who has been causing all of the headaches for FBI chief Hal Brognola in Washington.
Bolan plays the two (three?) sides against each other. He’s done this before, most recently in Savage Fire, but it’s always fun to watch. His tactics are evolving too. He seems to take every excuse not to kill people. He’s previously mused about the reality that he can’t solve the Mafia problem by killing; new mobsters just spring up in place of the old ones. Here he is fighting to maintain the status quo between Tucson and Phoenix, trying to prevent either one from getting too much more powerful than the other.
For the first time in a while, I think, he uses his sniper rifle — twice. Given that’s how we were introduced to him in the first book (as an expert sniper), I like when Pendleton includes some sniping scenes.
This book felt different. Weird even. There are no recurring characters, though several names get dropped: California bosses Julian DeGeorge and Ben Lucasi, Augie Marinello from New York, Ciro Lavengetta and Johnny (the Musician) Portocci from Arizona (but killed by Bolan way back in book 4), and even good ole Billy Gino from the recent Savage Fire and Command Strike. Bolan has no contact with Leo Turrin or Hal Brognola.
Weirdest of all was how Pendleton treats Sharon Kaufman. More than once, he makes sure we know just how big her boobs are and how attractive that makes her. Bolan even gets uncharacteristically horny in the epilogue and makes a booty call despite it being the same day her father was murdered.
Timeline:
Bolan has been in Arizona six days at the start of the book. The events transpire over the course of a day or two. There’s also a reference to it being “early spring.”
Other Comments:
The Gil Cohen painting on the cover does in fact depict a scene from the end of the book. No one is shooting at Bolan from the plane, but that's just a nitpick. As covers go in this series, this one is pretty darn accurate.
There's an acknowledgement to Mike Newton at the front of the book. He co-wrote The Executioner's War Book and ghost-wrote many of the Gold Eagle Mack Bolan books. According to Newton's own website, he had a hand in several of the later Pinnacle books too, including this one: https://michaelnewton.homestead.com/F...
Traveling straight from Cleveland to Arizona, Bolan stumbles upon an abandoned training ground for a paramilitary force under mob sponsorship. As I suspected from the previous book, the connection between this book and the last is Bad Tony Morello. Arizona has been a satellite for Cleveland. Nick Benelli was an underboss and junior partner of Bad Tony. Based in Tucson, Benelli supplied drugs from Mexico to Cleveland, California, Detroit, and New York. His son, Paul is his strong right arm, underboss, and heir apparent.
Phoenix, on the other hand, is run by the Jewish mob, the “Kosher Nostra” in Bolan’s words. Heading up the Jewish mob is Moe Kaufman, referred to as the Yiddish Augie Marinello (the late “boss of all bosses” of La Cosa Nostra). In the course of Bolan’s investigation, he interrupts the abduction of Kaufman’s daughter, Sharon. He informs her who her father really is, and she pleads with Bolan to spare him (there was a similar plot point in the previous book).
Bolan also stumbles onto the existence of a paramilitary force headed by Jim Hinshaw, a crooked G.I. from Bolan’s past who did time in the brig thanks to Bolan himself. Hinshaw has been hired by Benelli to take over Kaufman’s Phoenix operation, in particular a certain mob-backed Senator — the same Senator Weiss who has been causing all of the headaches for FBI chief Hal Brognola in Washington.
Bolan plays the two (three?) sides against each other. He’s done this before, most recently in Savage Fire, but it’s always fun to watch. His tactics are evolving too. He seems to take every excuse not to kill people. He’s previously mused about the reality that he can’t solve the Mafia problem by killing; new mobsters just spring up in place of the old ones. Here he is fighting to maintain the status quo between Tucson and Phoenix, trying to prevent either one from getting too much more powerful than the other.
For the first time in a while, I think, he uses his sniper rifle — twice. Given that’s how we were introduced to him in the first book (as an expert sniper), I like when Pendleton includes some sniping scenes.
This book felt different. Weird even. There are no recurring characters, though several names get dropped: California bosses Julian DeGeorge and Ben Lucasi, Augie Marinello from New York, Ciro Lavengetta and Johnny (the Musician) Portocci from Arizona (but killed by Bolan way back in book 4), and even good ole Billy Gino from the recent Savage Fire and Command Strike. Bolan has no contact with Leo Turrin or Hal Brognola.
Weirdest of all was how Pendleton treats Sharon Kaufman. More than once, he makes sure we know just how big her boobs are and how attractive that makes her. Bolan even gets uncharacteristically horny in the epilogue and makes a booty call despite it being the same day her father was murdered.
Timeline:
Bolan has been in Arizona six days at the start of the book. The events transpire over the course of a day or two. There’s also a reference to it being “early spring.”
Other Comments:
The Gil Cohen painting on the cover does in fact depict a scene from the end of the book. No one is shooting at Bolan from the plane, but that's just a nitpick. As covers go in this series, this one is pretty darn accurate.
There's an acknowledgement to Mike Newton at the front of the book. He co-wrote The Executioner's War Book and ghost-wrote many of the Gold Eagle Mack Bolan books. According to Newton's own website, he had a hand in several of the later Pinnacle books too, including this one: https://michaelnewton.homestead.com/F...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2021
Another solid chapter in the Bolan saga written by the great Don Pendleton. This time he is in Arizonia going after the mafia's heroin trade when he figures out that something else is brewing. Seems that a part of the mafia was gunning after another brother criminal organization for the right to control a sitting Senator. Bolan has to figure out how to handle all the extra guns with not just guns himself but with a lot of guile and tactics. Lots of action and a solid story, still think these should be read in order to fully get the whole story but again this one would be fine as a standalone.
Highly recommend any Pendleton written Executioner novel, he is the master of the genre.
Highly recommend any Pendleton written Executioner novel, he is the master of the genre.
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August 15, 2016read some time in 1981
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews