The Executioner, Don Pendleton Creates Mack Bolan: 50 Year Anniversary 1969-2019

by Linda Pendleton

Don Pendleton Creates Mack Bolan 50 Years Ago, Don Pendleton envisioned a fictional character that would soon become a literary bestseller and a phenomenon through which the new action/adventure genre emerged. Mack Bolan, a professional soldier, highly trained and skilled in the use of military tactics and weapons makes a life-altering decision after the tragic death of his family—his war is at home, not in the bloody fields of Vietnam. Mack Bolan takes on a one-man war against the evils and corruption of the Mafia. This book gives Don Pendleton's insights into the creation of his fictional character, Mack Bolan, and explores why Bolan continues the popularity with readers many decades after he was created. Linda Pendleton, wife of the late Don Pendleton shares a look-back at two inspiring men, one, a talented author, the other, a skilled fictional hero. Don Pendleton's Original Executioner Series of 37 novels, along with a short story that was written in 1978, continues to be published for fans and new readers to enjoy.

138 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2019

About the author

Linda Pendleton also publishes as L.R. Pendleton.

Reviews

[Andrew Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mack Bolan books were my gateway drug to being a lifelong reader. I can distinctly remember spending my middle school years reading under the covers with a flashlight well after I was supposed to be sleeping.

This book was a great view into the creation of the Executioner and reading how the series came to be, Don Pendleton's own surprise at its success, the struggles he had to go through to maintain creative ownership over his creation and the message he was communicating to the world through his writing.

Chapters 6 and 7 on the violence and morality of Mack Bolan were especially meaningful, hearing in the authors own words his views on the ciritque that his books were too graphic.

If you are a fan of Mack Bolan I highly recommend this book...it will make you appreciate and love The Executioner all over again.

[Bruce Koehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for Mack Bolan fans

Being a fan of Mack Bolan, I truly enjoyed reading this book. Gaining insight into Don's writing process really made me feel even more in tuned with the character.

[James L Pagano · Rating 5 out of 5]

LIVE LARGE

I have been following The Executioner since the beginning and still have all of the books. I really enjoyed this book as it was an interesting look into this man's life. I am going to look for the comics and hope to read them also. Thank you for sharing this with all of your fans.

[Tony Petry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informative, an I enjoyed it as a fan of The Executioner Series. I learned a lot about the writer Don Pendleton and what he went through with the character Mack Bolan.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read For Any Fan!

First off I'd like to thank Linda Pendleton for sharing an insider's look into the creative and human side of the creation of the greatest action/adventure book series ever created and the man behind its creation. This book is a definite must read for any fan of the Executioner series of books and touches upon every aspect of this amazing series and it creation.

[Richard Erickson]

Summary

Everything that I read in this book was very interesting. The way he (Don Pendelton), wrote all that action and adventure into each book was stupendous and then how he was able to stretch it out to all those books of over 200.It has not lost it's appeal to the readers.

[Paul Berner · Rating 5 out of 5]

50 Year Anniversery

It's a good read. It gives you the history and background of the Mack Nolan series. From the begining of the series until now. You will know where Nolan came from.

[Liam Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the Mack Bolan Series I was instantly hooked on and loved all the action and I wanted to know more about the author so when I discovered this book I was satisfied and it answered a lot of my questions

[Rev Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about getting into the mind of the author Don Pendleton.

[Curtis]

First, let me say that I am 100% happy that I bought this book. The synchronistic timing of its release corresponding roughly with me revisiting the series this year makes me smile. And Linda Pendleton does a great job presenting her late husband's writings on how Mack Bolan came to be and what it took to make this series a success.

That said, I found myself feeling quite ambivalent at times while reading the book. It's a low budget self-publication that was not edited well, if at all. There are frequent typos and even some filler sections — for example, 12 pages (nearly 10% of the book's length) is devoted to quotes and a bibliography.

But all that is ultimately forgivable, in my opinion, if you're a fan of The Executioner series. The insider info is invaluable, and it's information that I haven't found anywhere else on the Internet. In fact, my search for "making of" info is what led me to discover this book in the first place.

There's a fascinating section on the morality of Mack Bolan. I don't buy Don Pendleton's arguments that Bolan is heroic but I'm happy to know that Pendleton was aspiring for something more with these books than simply entertainment. It helps explain to me maybe why this series captured my attention and stood out from others like it when I was a young teenager.

Anyway, all that to say it's fun when you discover as an adult a more nuanced appreciation for something you fell in love with as a kid. This book did that for me.