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The Executioner #26
Acapulco Rampage
Take the most chic resort city in the Western Hemisphere, add some of the better-known names in American show biz, throw in a collection of top international politicians and industrialists, season the pot with a congress of the planet's most beautiful women, stir well with liberal dashes of terror, intrigue, and unrestrained power . . . and what do you have? Mack Bolan calls it a recipe for rape, with the entire civilized world as the intended victim. The setting is Acapulco, the time is now, and the action involved the Executioner's finest hour . . . and perhaps his final one.
184 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,530 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
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 19, 2019
This is a classic Bolan tale. The older they are the better they are I find. Classic 70's action, dialogue and a simple yet action packed tale. My copy still had the full color cigarette ad connected in the middle of the book. Gave it even more 70's coolness that way. They need to start making TV movies from these books. I'd watch them daily.
August 12, 2022
3.5 stars
Honestly, this is probably the best in the series since Hawaiian Hellground in that, like that one, the plot shift saway from the mafia in America and instead transplants Bolan to an exotic locale (this time being Mexico).
There’s also far less (and exhaustively repetitive) drama within the mafia itself this time around, which leads to a far more fun and action-centric entry into Mack Bolan’s “war everlasting”.
Still waiting for another 5 star read from this never ending series, but Acapulco was better than the 4 or 5 books that proceeded it.
Honestly, this is probably the best in the series since Hawaiian Hellground in that, like that one, the plot shift saway from the mafia in America and instead transplants Bolan to an exotic locale (this time being Mexico).
There’s also far less (and exhaustively repetitive) drama within the mafia itself this time around, which leads to a far more fun and action-centric entry into Mack Bolan’s “war everlasting”.
Still waiting for another 5 star read from this never ending series, but Acapulco was better than the 4 or 5 books that proceeded it.
June 25, 2013
I'd read a lot more if everyone wrote as well as Don Pendleton. I'm actually sad I finished this book because I know there are only 11 books left that he wrote in this series. What am I going to read then?
Don Pendleton writes fantastic beginnings. I need to learn how to start books like he does. This one began with us sharing a sniper scope and following three dead guys that didn't know it yet. We felt the rifle kick, and watched the bullets as they hit. It was messy.
Generally, his endings suck, but this one was surprisingly good. He even made a funny James Bond-like joke after dropping one of the main bad guys. This one had lots of satisfying twists too.
Sure, there was a scene or two that was a little campy, but all in all this was a satisfying read. Compared to this 26th book, #3, #10, and #15 are the only ones I've enjoyed above this one. I look forward to reading #27, The Dixie Convoy, but first---I must read something else from the pile'o books that I probably won't enjoy as much as this series.
Don Pendleton writes fantastic beginnings. I need to learn how to start books like he does. This one began with us sharing a sniper scope and following three dead guys that didn't know it yet. We felt the rifle kick, and watched the bullets as they hit. It was messy.
Generally, his endings suck, but this one was surprisingly good. He even made a funny James Bond-like joke after dropping one of the main bad guys. This one had lots of satisfying twists too.
Sure, there was a scene or two that was a little campy, but all in all this was a satisfying read. Compared to this 26th book, #3, #10, and #15 are the only ones I've enjoyed above this one. I look forward to reading #27, The Dixie Convoy, but first---I must read something else from the pile'o books that I probably won't enjoy as much as this series.
August 24, 2025
I've read this entry, and this series, multiple times, reliving the action/adventure themes of this and other writers, enjoying the nuances of those times. In this entry, Bolan has moved to Mexico, on the trail of a summit meeting between the current king of the crime scene and some potential invading Mafioso from the States.
Great action scenes with the scenery of the tropics as the canvas. Some of the players: Bobby Cass, a paper tiger; John Royal, former movie star; Martha Canada, a beautiful girl Friday; Max Spielke, local bad guy; Too Bad Paul, head bodyguard.
Great action scenes with the scenery of the tropics as the canvas. Some of the players: Bobby Cass, a paper tiger; John Royal, former movie star; Martha Canada, a beautiful girl Friday; Max Spielke, local bad guy; Too Bad Paul, head bodyguard.
March 2, 2021
Yeah, this guy had it made. So big, and so well made, that he’d earned a codename—“Butch Cassidy”—from the feds who’d been trying to nail him all these years. Real name: Bobby Cassiopea. Real occupation: laundryman for dirty money. Real affiliation: Mafia.Once written up in a national magazine as “the playboy financier of the Western world,” the guy was a representative sample of the rapidly emerging new look in international hoods—suave, educated, untainted by overt association with known criminals but covertly as savagely rapacious as any street soldier and probably more so. More dangerous, certainly. This type dealt in big misery. And yeah, Bolan knew Bobby Cassiopea...Cassiopea was, in mob language, “a natural.” He was also a nobody, a nonperson in the invisible second government of the world. The mob owned him, body and soul. The guy was a walking and talking fabrication, a “dummy” for the wiseguys who sat behind the curtain and pulled his strings...But, sure, Cass Baby had it made. There was something essentially sad in that. A ghetto kid killing time on a street corner owned more than this guy did. A made man could never claim his own soul. Not while he lived.
The Acapulco Acapulco is one of those rare constellations of the North American scene, a truly international resort city. It is Las Vegas set to water, minus the casinos—Miami Beach shrunk to country club size to combine free spirit with clannish intimacy. Cannes without a film festival...It was here that the New Mafia, La Nuova Cosa Nostra, was being forged. Conference was not so much an event as a continually revolving door, through which big time hoods or their emissaries from throughout the world scurried to make bids and seal deals which would guarantee their places in the new empire. Max Spielke—known variously as the Sultan, the Man, and Capo Mexicano—was hosting the affair. That latter “title” was an honorary one. Spielke was Jewish, not Italian. He was nevertheless the boss of underground Mexico, and all knew it, the Italians as well as the others.
The Acapulco Acapulco is one of those rare constellations of the North American scene, a truly international resort city. It is Las Vegas set to water, minus the casinos—Miami Beach shrunk to country club size to combine free spirit with clannish intimacy. Cannes without a film festival...It was here that the New Mafia, La Nuova Cosa Nostra, was being forged. Conference was not so much an event as a continually revolving door, through which big time hoods or their emissaries from throughout the world scurried to make bids and seal deals which would guarantee their places in the new empire. Max Spielke—known variously as the Sultan, the Man, and Capo Mexicano—was hosting the affair. That latter “title” was an honorary one. Spielke was Jewish, not Italian. He was nevertheless the boss of underground Mexico, and all knew it, the Italians as well as the others.
August 3, 2021
This volume, like all of the Pendleton authored ones, was very good. Though it was a little different then normal, he doesnt really have a plan other then the opening gambit and then seeing what happens. Which is not too far from the norm but he seems to be not so all seeing by being faced with something he hadnt really expected. Also there are alot of elements being put into place and he has to play it just right. The mafia doesnt run stuff here in paradise yet but they want too and they have big plans that of course Bolan's presence will disrupt.
Highly recommended, Pendleton is the father of the mens adventure novel and the genre doesn't get much better.
Highly recommended, Pendleton is the father of the mens adventure novel and the genre doesn't get much better.
November 11, 2008
Bought in a spree of mid-seventies vengeance pulp, it's not a strong or well rounded as, say—The Penetrator, and Mack Bolan is far less cautious about the sins of those he kills. But his enemy is the Mafia, there's plenty of action and a couple nice twists in this particular episode.
Read
August 21, 2021Plot and Story Structure:
Another enjoyable read, despite a plot that never seems to get a sense of itself. Pendleton does some pretty good misdirection, keeping Bolan (and the reader) guessing, to hide the fact that he (Pendleton) can't decide what this is all about. It's about drug smuggling or it's about prostitution or it's about the Mob moving in to take over the turf from the Mexican gangster who runs it. In the end, it's about all of that. But so what, it's all McGuffins to get Bolan blitzing, right? Strangely though, there's no rampage in this Acapulco Rampage. Most of the action is surgical: Bolan sniping targets in the opening chapter, infiltrating the bad guys hideout, a fun, defensive shootout with a helicopter (the scene on the cover), Bolan messing with the head Mexican gangster by crashing his prized yacht and sinking his Lear jet (within view of his house!), etc.
What is novel compared to the previous books is the structure. The story wraps up rather uneventfully (yes, he sunk a plane and all, but by comparison to previous books he doesn't nuke the bad guy's stronghold and mow down 40 gangsters): Bolan cuts a deal with the Mexican gangster to keep the Mafia out of Acapulco. This is similar to his strategy in St. Louis Showdown. Rather than take down the "low level" criminals in a location and leave the territory open for the Mob to waltz in as soon as he leaves town, Bolan leaves the current criminal power structure in place. It's a neat idea in this series. Bolan is supposed to be a savvy strategist, a talented tactician. His "war" is against the invisible criminal empire that the legitimate police and politicians can't (or won't) fight. His goal isn't to eliminate all crime but to rid the rot that is the untouchable Mafia.
So anyway, back to the structure. The story essentially wraps up on page 118 (out of 184). But then there's a twist! There's another player up to no good totally f'ing up Bolan's peace plan! He must figure out who and why, which drives the remainder of the story.
Guest Appearances:
Bobby Cassiopea, a mobster and moneylaunderer from Detroit Deathwatch. He doesn't live long but factors a little into the plot and the mystery after the story turns.
Leo Turrin is back by phone to conveniently give Bolan any info he needs on the Mob or the Feds.
Timeline:
As far as I can tell, there are very few clues to the time of year. People are in swimsuits but Acapulco's average temperature is pretty much the same all year long, so that doesn't help. The only clue I noticed was when Bolan calls Turrin: "[Leo asks] 'Is it warm where you are?' There had been no contacts since Colorado." Given the way Leo phrases the question, we can assume that it's cold where Leo is (Massachusetts), so therefore it's not long after Colorado, which was late fall or early winter.
Another enjoyable read, despite a plot that never seems to get a sense of itself. Pendleton does some pretty good misdirection, keeping Bolan (and the reader) guessing, to hide the fact that he (Pendleton) can't decide what this is all about. It's about drug smuggling or it's about prostitution or it's about the Mob moving in to take over the turf from the Mexican gangster who runs it. In the end, it's about all of that. But so what, it's all McGuffins to get Bolan blitzing, right? Strangely though, there's no rampage in this Acapulco Rampage. Most of the action is surgical: Bolan sniping targets in the opening chapter, infiltrating the bad guys hideout, a fun, defensive shootout with a helicopter (the scene on the cover), Bolan messing with the head Mexican gangster by crashing his prized yacht and sinking his Lear jet (within view of his house!), etc.
What is novel compared to the previous books is the structure. The story wraps up rather uneventfully (yes, he sunk a plane and all, but by comparison to previous books he doesn't nuke the bad guy's stronghold and mow down 40 gangsters): Bolan cuts a deal with the Mexican gangster to keep the Mafia out of Acapulco. This is similar to his strategy in St. Louis Showdown. Rather than take down the "low level" criminals in a location and leave the territory open for the Mob to waltz in as soon as he leaves town, Bolan leaves the current criminal power structure in place. It's a neat idea in this series. Bolan is supposed to be a savvy strategist, a talented tactician. His "war" is against the invisible criminal empire that the legitimate police and politicians can't (or won't) fight. His goal isn't to eliminate all crime but to rid the rot that is the untouchable Mafia.
So anyway, back to the structure. The story essentially wraps up on page 118 (out of 184). But then there's a twist! There's another player up to no good totally f'ing up Bolan's peace plan! He must figure out who and why, which drives the remainder of the story.
Guest Appearances:
Bobby Cassiopea, a mobster and moneylaunderer from Detroit Deathwatch. He doesn't live long but factors a little into the plot and the mystery after the story turns.
Leo Turrin is back by phone to conveniently give Bolan any info he needs on the Mob or the Feds.
Timeline:
As far as I can tell, there are very few clues to the time of year. People are in swimsuits but Acapulco's average temperature is pretty much the same all year long, so that doesn't help. The only clue I noticed was when Bolan calls Turrin: "[Leo asks] 'Is it warm where you are?' There had been no contacts since Colorado." Given the way Leo phrases the question, we can assume that it's cold where Leo is (Massachusetts), so therefore it's not long after Colorado, which was late fall or early winter.
May 25, 2026
This quick and dirty Bolan sees the man blitzing Acapulco as he has information that the mob is using the resort town to run drugs and girls.
It starts off with a bang, literally, as Striker snipes a few mafioso and then messes with the big boss down south by crashing the man’s yacht into shore (Boats N’ Hoes anyone), blowing up his chopper and crashing his plane into the ocean. A great opening half of the novel with Bolan raising all kinds of hell and stirring up the hornets nest down south.
The book goes into quasi-mystery territory after that, with the big guy tracking a femme fatale across town, and learning some hard truths, circa 1970s: women are becoming more equal to men in all things: even crime!
A quick read for me as the action moves smoothly and the story provided a bit more interest than others with the mysterious woman, the Jewish Mexican mob boss who wants out, and the Mob, who has machinations of its own down in paradise.
It starts off with a bang, literally, as Striker snipes a few mafioso and then messes with the big boss down south by crashing the man’s yacht into shore (Boats N’ Hoes anyone), blowing up his chopper and crashing his plane into the ocean. A great opening half of the novel with Bolan raising all kinds of hell and stirring up the hornets nest down south.
The book goes into quasi-mystery territory after that, with the big guy tracking a femme fatale across town, and learning some hard truths, circa 1970s: women are becoming more equal to men in all things: even crime!
A quick read for me as the action moves smoothly and the story provided a bit more interest than others with the mysterious woman, the Jewish Mexican mob boss who wants out, and the Mob, who has machinations of its own down in paradise.
June 22, 2024
Another Pendleton masterpiece.
Finally reading my way through the original Pendleton books and never disappointed. The stories, the action, the intrigue flows so smoothly, and with each book we are left with a complete picture of the man against the mob. Even nearly 50 years after it was originally written, the books hold up well, and this mix of James Bond and Dirty Hairy never fails in the end.
Finally reading my way through the original Pendleton books and never disappointed. The stories, the action, the intrigue flows so smoothly, and with each book we are left with a complete picture of the man against the mob. Even nearly 50 years after it was originally written, the books hold up well, and this mix of James Bond and Dirty Hairy never fails in the end.
September 4, 2018
Another one in the series
May 12, 2019
They just keep coming...
They're everywhere. Each new city has a mob story to tell. Bolin has a lifetime's work ahead of him. But he'll get there.
They're everywhere. Each new city has a mob story to tell. Bolin has a lifetime's work ahead of him. But he'll get there.
December 24, 2021
Exclamation !
Once again these books stories reverb with excitement and fury. Nolan I've noticed always gets involved with a pretty strong lady .
Once again these books stories reverb with excitement and fury. Nolan I've noticed always gets involved with a pretty strong lady .
August 24, 2022
The best of the Executioner series I've read so far. Maybe it's just the interesting setting, but the balance between intrigue, action, and glamour is just right here. A low-art treat.
October 23, 2023
This is mostly Mack Bolan being misogynistic or destroying large vehicles in an attempt to provoke a ridiculous crime boss.
July 8, 2015
"Sex, drugs, show biz. politics—whatever turns the world on is business as usual for the ironhanded men who rule the world's invisible kingdom . . . until Mack Bolan explodes ont the scene—and then it's death as usual for all who fall into his gunsights as the receipe for rape produces a boiling pot of rage for the indomitable man in black." (from back cover)
Mack Bolan goes to Mexico—Alcapulco, to be exact. Deeply entrenched is a Mafioso boss. Is he the Big One or just front man? Bolan digs in with his usual aplomb and leaves behind death and destruction. Oh, yeah, that's what he usually does, doesn't he? And of course, there's the beautiful girl. How does she fit in? You'll have to read to find out.
Mack Bolan goes to Mexico—Alcapulco, to be exact. Deeply entrenched is a Mafioso boss. Is he the Big One or just front man? Bolan digs in with his usual aplomb and leaves behind death and destruction. Oh, yeah, that's what he usually does, doesn't he? And of course, there's the beautiful girl. How does she fit in? You'll have to read to find out.
July 25, 2021
This entry in the series has an unusual plot with a great twist to it. Mack Bolan is in Mexico to deal with Mafia activity there. It appears that he has this taken care of fairly early in the novel, but an unexpected ally brings him the task of rescuing several women from being taken into sex slavery, which leads to a betrayal that plunges Bolan into a situation he at first can't quite figure out. But he improvises a plan that eventually tells him what's going on (a sort-of Mafia civil war). Once he figures out whom needs to shoot and what he needs to blow up, the story is brought to a literally explosive conclusion.
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
February 16, 2012
By-the-numbers entry in this series. Usual quota of action, heroism, mild sexism.
November 15, 2018
read some time in 1980
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews