The Executioner (aka Mack Bolan) is a monthly men's action-adventure paperback series of books. It has spanned several spin-offs and imitators over its four decades in print and currently has 423 installments (as of February 2014) that have sold more than 200 million copies. [1] Created and initially written by American author Don Pendleton in 1969, who wrote 37 of the original 38 Bolan books (#16 was written by one "Jim Petersen" during a legal dispute between Pendleton and Pinnacle) [2] before he licensed the rights to Gold Eagle in 1980. Since 1981, the series has been written collectively by a series of ghostwriters.
Authors categorized into the decade in which they published their debut work.
# | Author | Titles published | Years active | Debut novel | Final novel | Notes of interest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Don Pendleton | 38 | 1969–1980 | #1: War Against The Mafia | #38: Satan's Sabbath | |
2 | Jim Peterson | 1 | 1973 | #16: Sicilian Slaughter | #16: Sicilian Slaughter | Pseudonym of William Crawford [3] |
# | Author | Titles published | Years active | Debut novel | Final novel | Notes of interest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Saul Wernick | 1 | 1981 | #39: The New War | #39: The New War | |
4 | Steven Krauzer | 4 | 1982–1983 | #40: Double Crossfire | #50: Brothers in Blood | |
5 | Mike Newton | 78 [4] | 1982–present | #41: The Violent Streets | N/A | |
6 | Stephen Mertz | 11 | 1982–1986 | #42: The Iranian Hit | #94: Save the Children | |
7 | Ray Obstfeld | 4 | 1982–1986 | #46: Bloodsport | #93: The Fire Eaters | |
8 | Patrick Neary | 1 | 1983 | #51: Vulture's Vengeance | #51: Vulture's Vengeance | |
9 | Alan Bomack | 4 | 1983–1986 | #53: Invisible Assassins | #87: Hellfire Crusade | Pseudonym of David Wade [5] |
10 | E. Richard Churchill | 2 | 1983 | #54: Mountain Rampage | #56: Island Deathtrap | |
11 | Chet Cunningham | 6 | 1983–1986 | #59: Crude Kill | #88: Baltimore Trackdown | |
12 | Tom Jagninski | 2 | 1984 | #61: Tiger War | #65: Cambodia Clash | |
13 | Peter Leslie | 8 | 1984–1990 | #70: Ice Cold Kill | #143: Helldust Cruise | |
14 | Tom Arnett | 2 | 1985–1986 | #78: Death Games | #86: Hell's Gate | |
15 | James Lord | 1 | 1985 | #84: Fastburn | #86: Fastburn | |
16 | Dan Schmidt | 23 | 1986–2006 | #95: Blood and Thunder | #331: Assault Force | |
17 | Mike McQuay | 23 | 1986–1988 | #96: Death Has A Name | #116: The Killing Urge | |
18 | Charlie McDade | 8 | 1987–1993 | #97: Meltdown | #171: Deadly Force | |
19 | Kent Delaney | 1 | 1987 | #105: Countdown to Chaos | #105: Countdown to Chaos | |
20 | Kevin Randle | 1 | 1988 | #118: Warrior's Revenge | #118: Warrior's Revenge | |
21 | Kirk Sanson | 4 | 1989–1990 | #121: Twisted Path | #138: Kill Trap | |
22 | Jack Garside | 1 | 1989 | #122: Desert Strike | #122: Desert Strike | |
23 | Mel Odom | 18 | 1989–2003 | #123: War Born | #298: Final Play | |
24 | Carl Furst | 8 | 1989–1992 | #127: Kill Zone | #168: Blood Price | |
# | Author | Titles published | Years active | Debut novel | Final novel | Notes of interest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | Jerry Van Cook | 32 [6] | 1990–present | #139: Cutting Edge | N/A | |
26 | Roland J. Green | 4 | 1991–1994 | #145: Chicago Payoff | #183: Clean Sweep | |
27 | Rich Rainey | 9 | 1991–2001 | #146: Deadly Tactics | #275: Crossed Borders | |
28 | William Fieldhouse | 6 | 1992–1999 | #166: Assassin's Creed | #245: Virtual Destruction | |
29 | Ron Renauld | 6 | 1992–2010 | #167: Double Action | #381: Killing Ground | |
30 | David L. Robbins | 9 | 1993–2005 | #169: White Heat | #322: Time Bomb | |
31 | Mike Linaker | 16 [6] | 1993–present | #179: War Hammer | N/A | |
32 | Michael Kasner | 2 | 1995–1997 | #198: Shoot Down | #217: Fight or Die | |
33 | Rick Price | 1 | 1995 | #201: Prime Target | #201: Prime Target | |
34 | David North | 4 | 1996–1998 | #207: Freedom Strike | #232: Jackal Hunt | |
35 | Chuck Rogers | 25 [6] | 1996–present | #208: Death Whisper | N/A | |
36 | Tim Somheil | 4 | 1996–2004 | #215: Fire Hammer | #306: Mercy Mission | |
37 | Will Murray | 1 | 1997 | #226: Red Horse | #226: Red Horse | |
38 | Alan Philipson | 4 | 1998–2000 | #231: Slaughter Squad | #261: Dawnkill | |
39 | Mark Ellis | 2 | 1998 | #237: Hellfire Trigger | #240: Devil's Guard | |
# | Author | Titles published | Years active | Debut novel | Final novel | Notes of interest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 | Jon Guenther | 12 | 2000–present | #255: War Bird | #466: Chicago Vendetta | |
42 | Gerald Montgomery | 4 | 2000–2001 | #262: Trigger Point | #276: Leviathan | |
43 | Douglas P. Wojtowicz | 11 [6] | 2003–present | #291: Blood Trade | #N/A | |
44 | Tim Tresslar | 4 [6] | 2003–present | #293: Death Merchants | #N/A | |
45 | Andy Boot | 6 [6] | 2003–present | #299: Dangerous Encounter | #N/A | |
46 | Nathan Meyer | 4 [6] | 2007–present | #341: Rebel Force | #N/A | |
47 | Peter Spring | 3 | 2007–2008 | #345: Orange Alert | #356: Defense Breach | |
48 | Phil Elmore | 9 [6] | 2007–present | #345: Orange Alert | N/A | |
49 | Russell Davis | 6 [6] | 2009–present | #371: Fire Zone | N/A | |
50 | Keith DeCandido | 2 | 2009–2010 | #373: Code of Honor | #379: Deep Recon | |
# | Author | Titles published | Years active | Debut novel | Final novel | Notes of interest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
51 | Darwin Holmstrom | 2 | 2010–2011 | #373: Code of Honor | #379: Deep Recon | |
52 | Travis Morgan | 2 | 2011–2012 | #393: Stand Down | #401: Jungle Hunt | |
53 | Joshua Reynolds | 1 | 2012 | #408: Border Offensive | #408: Border Offensive | |
54 | Michael A. Black | 1 [6] | 2013–present | #419: Sleeping Dragons | N/A | |
55 | Nick Pollotta | 1 | 2014 | #423: Breakout | #423: Breakout | Published posthumously. [7] |
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Mack Bolan, alias The Executioner, is a fictional character who has been serialized in 631 novels with sales of more than 200 million books. Created by Don Pendleton, Bolan made his first appearance on the printed page in The Executioner #1: War Against the Mafia (1969). Pendleton wrote 37 other novels featuring Bolan, often referred to as the "Mafia Wars". In 1980, Pendleton sold his rights to the character to Gold Eagle, which hired a number of ghostwriters to continue publishing Bolan monthly, to satisfy reader demand worldwide. Don Pendleton remained credited as the sole author and supervised these new adventures, which took the Bolan character all over the world fighting terrorism. This new series of books featured Bolan as a principled warrior fighting larger-than-life adversaries in the spirit of a tougher, American version of James Bond. The demand for the books continued, and Gold Eagle began releasing as many as 15 titles annually. In 2014, more than a dozen Mack Bolan novels were being published every year worldwide by Gold Eagle Books, a division of Harlequin Books. Additionally, Bolan was "spun off" into several new adventure book series which also carried the Mack Bolan/Don Pendleton names.
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