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The Executioner #34
Terrible Tuesday
Book by Pendelton, D.
1 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
65 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Don Pendleton
1,524 books190 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 17, 2015
Terrible Tuesday---terrible is right. The title discloses how this is day two in Mack Bolan's final week as a vigilante before accepting work as a G-man for the Govt. This time he's in Southern California beating the crap out of rag doll mobsters and dirty cops. (He is in L.A. again, which he decimated once before in book #2 Death Squad.)
I can't tell you what happened in this book, because I don't really know. This book had long, I mean loooonngg bouts of exposition, at one point, two or three pages are directly transcribed from Cervantes's Don Quixote, which we already got the reference about fighting windmills (and other no-win battles) back in book #1. We got it again in book #3, and #6, oh, and #9, #15, and on and on. I swear, over 60% of this story was ramble.
When the story is being told, it comes off very hazy and tired. To the benefit of the doubt, this is #34 -- I bet if I wrote 34 books with the same character, I'd totally run out of ideas. Terrible Tuesday had a story in there, but it was way too rushed to be fit in a 188-page novella. However, instead of focusing on the story and the few characters who could have been interesting, Pendleton went on and on about the extra-campy two-day love affair Mack has developed with his Dept. of Justice appointed technician, April. It feels forced and doesn't fit this series, not to mention it is ridiculously juvenile in its execution.
In the end, there are lots of explosions with 0-feeling, and an epilogue that wraps everything up. However, the path from page one until the epilogue seemed hastily thrown together. There are only 4 more books to read of this original series. I already rooted them all out, they are in my to read pile. Don Pendleton's usual record with his series is three out of five are good with one of those being great, and two that kind of stink. This was a stinker---as was the last one---so #35 should be good, right? We will see.
I can't tell you what happened in this book, because I don't really know. This book had long, I mean loooonngg bouts of exposition, at one point, two or three pages are directly transcribed from Cervantes's Don Quixote, which we already got the reference about fighting windmills (and other no-win battles) back in book #1. We got it again in book #3, and #6, oh, and #9, #15, and on and on. I swear, over 60% of this story was ramble.
When the story is being told, it comes off very hazy and tired. To the benefit of the doubt, this is #34 -- I bet if I wrote 34 books with the same character, I'd totally run out of ideas. Terrible Tuesday had a story in there, but it was way too rushed to be fit in a 188-page novella. However, instead of focusing on the story and the few characters who could have been interesting, Pendleton went on and on about the extra-campy two-day love affair Mack has developed with his Dept. of Justice appointed technician, April. It feels forced and doesn't fit this series, not to mention it is ridiculously juvenile in its execution.
In the end, there are lots of explosions with 0-feeling, and an epilogue that wraps everything up. However, the path from page one until the epilogue seemed hastily thrown together. There are only 4 more books to read of this original series. I already rooted them all out, they are in my to read pile. Don Pendleton's usual record with his series is three out of five are good with one of those being great, and two that kind of stink. This was a stinker---as was the last one---so #35 should be good, right? We will see.
October 17, 2016
Sarge Bolan is back on the West coast at one of his earliest hunting grounds, wrapping up loose ends before he starts a new phase in his battle, working for the US gov't.
Back in the early 70's, a family member's girlfriend loaned me some books, the first few of The Executioner series, by Don Pendleton. I loved the idea of one lone vigilante traveling the country, and world, dispensing justice to the worst of the worst. Lately, I've gone back, re-read the early books, and am continuing the series. Times have sure changed, but I still enjoy seeing Mack, and the recurring characters that appear.
I also liked several other men's adventure series, such as The Destroyer books, with Remo Williams, The Edge westerns, by George Gilman, etc.
Back in the early 70's, a family member's girlfriend loaned me some books, the first few of The Executioner series, by Don Pendleton. I loved the idea of one lone vigilante traveling the country, and world, dispensing justice to the worst of the worst. Lately, I've gone back, re-read the early books, and am continuing the series. Times have sure changed, but I still enjoy seeing Mack, and the recurring characters that appear.
I also liked several other men's adventure series, such as The Destroyer books, with Remo Williams, The Edge westerns, by George Gilman, etc.
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
March 29, 2021
The sun was just beginning to show over the hills. Tuesday, Terrible Tuesday. Already it had claimed the lives of five people in Mack Bolan’s shadow...although he knew the identity of many of the players, he did not know precisely where all of the diverse connections came together, where each of the particular players fit, nor even if he had the leaders identified. Most discouraging, he did not understand the new logic. What was this proudly whispered California Concept? How did it differ from the standard logic of the Mafia world? Which areas of the straight society were being manipulated and shaped to fit the criminal need?
"This complaint came to you through Willy Nick?”
“No. It came via a guy in Jersey. The guy calls me and says, ‘Look, Leo, our friend McCullough has done us a lot of favors out there. Now he’s calling the tab. We owe him. Let’s get that guy off his back.’ That’s about the gist of it.”
“So who’d you send?”
“We sent nobody, yet,” Turrin replied. “They’re still kicking it around. They worry a lot, lately, you know.” Yes, Bolan knew about the shaky men of La Commissione and their recent worries.
“Also, they’re trying to figure a way to make it pay. You know?”
Yes, Bolan could understand that consideration, also. When a territory as large and important as California seemed to be breaking away from the national cartel, then the men back east would quite naturally be looking for some handle to keep the thing cozy.
“Send the word back through your man in Jersey,” Bolan requested.“Make it a very quiet word.”
“Okay.” Turrin understood perfectly. “No names mentioned.”
“No names, right,” Bolan said. “Just tell him that a friend will be looking in on the problem.” It was a good enough place to start, sure. So now it was started. It was not quite dawn when the “friend” delivered an errant daughter to the worried father.
"This complaint came to you through Willy Nick?”
“No. It came via a guy in Jersey. The guy calls me and says, ‘Look, Leo, our friend McCullough has done us a lot of favors out there. Now he’s calling the tab. We owe him. Let’s get that guy off his back.’ That’s about the gist of it.”
“So who’d you send?”
“We sent nobody, yet,” Turrin replied. “They’re still kicking it around. They worry a lot, lately, you know.” Yes, Bolan knew about the shaky men of La Commissione and their recent worries.
“Also, they’re trying to figure a way to make it pay. You know?”
Yes, Bolan could understand that consideration, also. When a territory as large and important as California seemed to be breaking away from the national cartel, then the men back east would quite naturally be looking for some handle to keep the thing cozy.
“Send the word back through your man in Jersey,” Bolan requested.“Make it a very quiet word.”
“Okay.” Turrin understood perfectly. “No names mentioned.”
“No names, right,” Bolan said. “Just tell him that a friend will be looking in on the problem.” It was a good enough place to start, sure. So now it was started. It was not quite dawn when the “friend” delivered an errant daughter to the worried father.
June 1, 2022
This is the second of the final six-book arc in the original Executioner series, before it changed focus from Mack Bolan shooting Mafia thugs to shooting terrorists. The over-all story arc has Bolan do a six-day blitz to mob up Mafia hotspots before declaring a victory in that war.
"Terrible Tuesday" brings him back to L.A., where he'd spent time way back in the second and third books in the series. There is a resurgance of mob activity, but Bolan isn't sure at first exactly what the bad guys are planning or who is involved. He pursues a thin lead involving a known hitman by killing that hitman and seeing what sort of trouble that stirs up. He eventually uncovers a massive and unusual plot involving a high-tech electronic surveillance base.
April Rose, the computer tech assigned to him by the Feds as support during the six-day blitz, gets captured again (that's twice in two days), but otherwise she is portrayed as an intelligent and skilled operative who does perform useful intelligence-gathering activities.
As is typical with this series, the pacing is fast and the action is entertaining. The uncovering of the identity of the main villain and his fate are satisfying. Bolan and April, though, are being set up to fall in love even though they had only met the day before. It's a short novel and a little too much time is spent with the mushy stuff (such as April reading an extended quote from Don Quixote that gives her insight into Bolan's character). This takes too much time away from the action. And action, of course, is what we come for.
"Terrible Tuesday" brings him back to L.A., where he'd spent time way back in the second and third books in the series. There is a resurgance of mob activity, but Bolan isn't sure at first exactly what the bad guys are planning or who is involved. He pursues a thin lead involving a known hitman by killing that hitman and seeing what sort of trouble that stirs up. He eventually uncovers a massive and unusual plot involving a high-tech electronic surveillance base.
April Rose, the computer tech assigned to him by the Feds as support during the six-day blitz, gets captured again (that's twice in two days), but otherwise she is portrayed as an intelligent and skilled operative who does perform useful intelligence-gathering activities.
As is typical with this series, the pacing is fast and the action is entertaining. The uncovering of the identity of the main villain and his fate are satisfying. Bolan and April, though, are being set up to fall in love even though they had only met the day before. It's a short novel and a little too much time is spent with the mushy stuff (such as April reading an extended quote from Don Quixote that gives her insight into Bolan's character). This takes too much time away from the action. And action, of course, is what we come for.
January 26, 2022
A solid chapter in the Executioner series. All of the Pendleton ones are at the very least very well written, since really he was a better writer then is required for trash novels (not a bad thing, I read a ton of trash and most of time it's better and more entertaining then the best sellers now). Bolan is in his last week in the war against the mafia and he chose California for the next hit. Seems there was a new style of mafia being set up in the hole left over from the last time Bolan went through. He was getting very little info and that bothered him. Seems that something very big was happening that had world wide effects and of course Bolan was the one to go against it.
I recommend any of the Pendleton written volumes. This one is not among the best but a solid read. April Rose, his love interest and fed that was assigned to help him, is an annoying character. This is my second read through of these and I had forgotten how annoying she is. Though maybe she gets better after this one, can't remember but it seems she finally was getting it.
I recommend any of the Pendleton written volumes. This one is not among the best but a solid read. April Rose, his love interest and fed that was assigned to help him, is an annoying character. This is my second read through of these and I had forgotten how annoying she is. Though maybe she gets better after this one, can't remember but it seems she finally was getting it.
November 26, 2022
If Tennessee Smash and Monday’s Mob were a step in the right direction for this series, then Terrible Tuesday puts us right back where we started.
At 3 stars this is far from the worst book featuring Mack Bolan, yet unlike those 2 books I just mentioned, Tuesday feels far more by the numbers. There’s little excitement or any major reveals. The remaining mafia members motivations felt razor thin at best and it seemed like the 3 pages of direct quotes from Don Quixote took up valuable real estate to fill up a page requirement.
I will say that Bolan finally getting his love with April Rose was kinda nice as she’s kind of sorta softening him up…but this is the Executioner so I have no doubt it’s going to end in tragedy.
At 3 stars this is far from the worst book featuring Mack Bolan, yet unlike those 2 books I just mentioned, Tuesday feels far more by the numbers. There’s little excitement or any major reveals. The remaining mafia members motivations felt razor thin at best and it seemed like the 3 pages of direct quotes from Don Quixote took up valuable real estate to fill up a page requirement.
I will say that Bolan finally getting his love with April Rose was kinda nice as she’s kind of sorta softening him up…but this is the Executioner so I have no doubt it’s going to end in tragedy.
March 28, 2022
Noteworthy for being fully into the puritanical Executioner phase of Don's writing, highlighted by Sarge boinking neither the mobster's hot wife nor the mobster's hotter daughter and hardly anyone's breasts described as pendulous, perky, protruding, or proud.
February 3, 2019
Starting to get close to the end of the first greater series.
November 18, 2023
A truly deranged plot, but pretty enjoyable.
Everytime the Mafia is supposedly plotting some sort of James Bond level plan, these books become drastically more exciting
Everytime the Mafia is supposedly plotting some sort of James Bond level plan, these books become drastically more exciting
March 7, 2016
Another book ruined by the inclusion of the appalling April character. Don Pendleton's final executioner books are going out with a turgued whimper instead of an all action final roar. Even in the height of battle she appears all doe eyed and irritating and cue tiresome soppy dirge of mind numbing proportions.
I've come this far with these books so I'll continue just hoping she takes one between the eyes in the next book before she has the chance to drag the book down ;)
I've come this far with these books so I'll continue just hoping she takes one between the eyes in the next book before she has the chance to drag the book down ;)
July 16, 2019
very good! Worth reading. Only a few more Pendleton books remain in this series before he sold it out. I think I like his writing the best of all the authors. If you like 70s action this is a great series.
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August 17, 2016read some time in 1981
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews