Mafia Massacre
Four deputy U.S. marshals are slaughtered along with the witness theyâre guarding, a former Mafia member set to testify in New York. When itâs revealed the kill order came from a powerful Calabria crime family, Mack Bolan decides itâs time to stop the bloodshed at its source.
After arriving in Italy, Bolan learns trouble has already begun. Killing the witness is not enough; the Mafia is intent on murdering his entire family, including women and children. With local law enforcement on the Mafiaâs payroll and spies everywhere, infiltrating the family is nearly impossible...especially as Bolan has been marked for death. Dodging bullets at every turn, heâs got to maximize every strike. The Mafia may have home advantage, but the Executioner wonât stop until he blows their house down.
âMy brother is dead. He brought shame on all of us.â
âAnd youâre being punished for it,â Bolan told the woman. He knew the ground rules of a classic vendetta. No survivors could be tolerated.
âMy mother, aunts and uncles, cousins. Everyone. Gianni will not rest while any of us are alive.â
âGianni Magolino?â
She was staring at him now, eyes narrowed. âYou know of him?â
Bolan rolled the dice. âIâm here because of himâ¦because he killed your brother.â
âI asked you if you are polizia,â she accused him.
âAnd Iâm not,â Bolan assured her.
âWhat, then?â
âSomeone who solves problems when the law breaks down.â
Crime leaves a trail like a water beetle;
Like a snail it leaves its shine; Like a horse-mango it leaves its reek.
âMalayan proverb
Iâm following a trail to those responsible for countless crimes.
The reek will be the smell of cleansing fire.
âMack Bolan
For Prosecuting Magistrate Antonio Scopelliti
Assassinated by the mafia on August 9, 1991
THE
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.
Prologue
SaturdayâShelter Island, New York
Rinaldo Natale felt lucky, and why shouldnât he? After twenty-odd years of the high life, doing whatever he wanted and thumbing his nose at the law, heâd dodged a guaranteed life sentence by rolling over on his longtime friends and partners. Granted, turning into an informant had its drawbacks, first and foremost being the automatic death penalty it carried. The American agents swore they could protect him, but Natale had his doubts. Heâd seen enough informants killed at home, together with their families and friends, to know that no one, anywhere, was absolutely safe.
The good news was that Natale loved no one, except for himself. His wife was dead, theyâd had no children and his mistress was already warming someone elseâs bed. As for blood relatives, they had disowned Natale when heâd made the choice to save himself and let the syndicate heâd served his entire adult life go to hell. Theyâd be among the first to kill him, given half a chance.
So much for family values.
The other good news was the safe house his protectors from the U.S. Marshals Service had selected for him. Shelter Islandâhow he loved the very name! One-third of the island was a virgin wilderness, the Mashomack Preserve. The year-round population was around twenty-five hundred people, many of whom golfed at the islandâs two country clubs or cruised around on their sailboats.
If anyone ventured into Smith Cove, on the islandâs south shore, they might speculate on whoâd rented the rambling shorefront home abutting Mashomack Preserve. If they asked around, all theyâd learn was that the place had been transformed into a posh executiveâs retreat.