LIFE SENTENCE
Desperate to escape conviction, the head of a powerful crime family orders the kidnapping of a federal prosecutorâs young daughter. If the mobster isnât freed by the end of the weekâif anyone contacts the authoritiesâthe girl will be killed. Backed into a corner, her father must rely on the one man who can help: Mack Bolan.
Finding the girl wonât be easy; the mob has tight security and their network is vast. Plus, with an innocent life at stake, going in guns blazing is a risk Bolan canât afford to take. His only choice is to create a distraction by pitting the crime syndicate against their rivals. The mob is about to get a visit from the Executioner. And this time heâs handing out death penalties.
âWhat are you doing?â
âLeaving a going-away gift for your boss.â Bolan held up the thermite grenades so the mobster could see. âItâs about to get hot in there.â
âYou canât destroy everything! You know how much that merchandise is worth?â
âMore than pocket change, but youâre going out of business, so it wonât make much difference.â
Bolan went back inside the warehouse. He planted the thermite grenades in among the stacked cartons, pulled the pins and made a quick exit. As the Executioner stepped outside, he heard the hiss of the grenades activating. Stark light filled the warehouse as the thermite compound began to burn. By the time the process was completed there wouldnât be much left.
Bolan opened the car door and tossed a cell phone onto the mobsterâs lap.
âNow you can call home. Tell Tsvetanov we win round one.â
Maximum Chaos
Don Pendleton
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemyâs.
âNapoleon Bonaparte
The forces of chaos cannot be controlled, not by any man. But chaos can be fought, and I will continue to fight as long as innocent lives are on the line.
âMack Bolan
The MACK BOLAN Legend
Nothing less than a war could have fashioned the destiny of the man called Mack Bolan. Bolan earned the Executioner title in the jungle hell of Vietnam.
But this soldier also wore another nameâSergeant Mercy. He was so tagged because of the compassion he showed to wounded comrades-in-arms and Vietnamese civilians.
Mack Bolanâs second tour of duty ended prematurely when he was given emergency leave to return home and bury his family, victims of the Mob. Then he declared a one-man war against the Mafia.
He confronted the Families head-on from coast to coast, and soon a hope of victory began to appear. But Bolan had broken societyâs every rule. That same society started gunning for this elusive warriorâto no avail.
So Bolan was offered amnesty to work within the system against terrorism. This time, as an employee of Uncle Sam, Bolan became Colonel John Phoenix. With a command center at Stony Man Farm in Virginia, he and his new alliesâAble Team and Phoenix Forceâwaged relentless war on a new adversary: the KGB.
But when his one true love, April Rose, died at the hands of the Soviet terror machine, Bolan severed all ties with Establishment authority.
Now, after a lengthy lone-wolf struggle and much soul-searching, the Executioner has agreed to enter an âarmâs-lengthâ alliance with his government once more, reserving the right to pursue personal missions in his Everlasting War.
Chapter 1
The manâs voice had been electronically altered, giving it a harsh metallic sound.
âListen without interruption, Mr. Mason. By now you will realize your daughter has been taken. At this moment in time, she is unharmed. Whether she stays that way is entirely up to you. To ensure the safe return of young Abigail, you must negotiate the release of Leopold Marchinski. You have one week to carry out this request. If Marchinski is not a free man at midnight on the final day, your daughter will die. You may speak now. Do you have questions?â
Masonâs throat had all but seized up. He fought back the utter panic that threatened to render him dumb and forced himself to take control of his emotions and deal with the caller by asserting a degree of calm.
âYou took my child, damn you. Wasnât that enough? Why kill Nancy?â
âYes, the fair Miss Cleland. She put up such a struggle defending your daughter. As to her death...it demonstrates that we are in earnest. If you fail to have Marchinski released on the due date, your daughter dies. Imagine little Abby being killed in a similar manner to Nancy Cleland. Our people, though crude, are effective. Bear that in mind.â
âTell me my daughter is...â
âI hope you were not about to say safe. Abigail is not in a safe environment. That is the whole reason for this call.â