In his second time at bat with Mack Bolan, Mike McQuay knocks one out of the park.  CODE OF DISHONOR is a kick-ass book that plays out on many levels.  The action rocks, the plot rolls.

     Bolan is sent by Hal Brognola, his contact at the Justice Department, on a mission to Japan to uncover a drug smuggling operation called Operation Snowflake involving a team of corrupt Air Force men.

     The action kicks into gear as Bolan and his contact are attacked in a pachinko parlor by Sonnojoi, those who "repel the barbarians and revere the Emperor."  The Sonnojoi are opposed to anything American and use terrorism to try to take their country and their honor back.  The parlor blows up killing innocent people.  Bolan barely escapes with his life only to find himself at the mercy of some Air Force goons who were sent to kill him.

     Bolan is rescued by a Japanese cop named Ichiro, but this is a dubious rescue since Ichiro arrests him and, of course, Bolan has no rights under Japanese law.

     Ichiro finds out who Bolan really is.  While he respects Bolan and all he has done to stop terrorism, Bolan is still a wanted man and is destined for prison.  Under different circumstances, they could be allies, but duty and honor are different things--something the Executioner learns through the course of the novel.

     When Bolan is taken, he assumes, to the prison, the van doesn't go where he expects.  Instead, he is taken to a house and set free.  The officers tell him that his questions will be answered at 7:00.  And Bolan asks what happens if he's not there, but the officers only smile and tell him to do as he wishes.

     Bolan decides to play the game and when 7:00 comes around, he captures the individual sent to pick him up, only to discover that the individual is a woman.  She is there to take Bolan to her father, a great businessman who has arranged for Bolan's freedom and wants to offer the ronin a worthy master.

     On the ride over, however, Bolan and Junko, the woman, are attacked by the motorcycle riding, leather clad Sonnojoi.  A wild action sequence plays out on the streets of Tokyo with crashing cars and bullets that will leave you breathless as you read.

     Bolan and the woman escape.

     Ichiro, meanwhile, finds out that Bolan was freed and determines to capture him.

     Bolan meets Junko's father Hashimoto, known as Hashi-san, who relates to him the story of the 47 Ronin.  They find that they respect each other greatly and Hashi-san begins to help Mack in his mission.  Hashi-san has followed the Bushido code rigidly for years--pretty much since he walked away from Nagasaki right before the bomb was dropped and felt so guilty for not dying with his family.  He used business to rebuild Japan, but after his son died, he knew he didn't have anyone to carry on his line.  He sees in Bolan, a chance not only to give a ronin a home, but to also give his daughter a husband.  It certainly helps that Junko and Bolan fall in love.  Yes, folks, the Executioner even gets laid in this one.

     As Bolan works to find a way to stop Operation Snowflake, we meet a wide variety of memorable characters from the Air Force bad guys to a scientist dying of radiation poisoning.  There's even an Aussie who explains how you can tell a great deal about a country from its sports:

     "America has football, mean and aggressive, but with a lot of laws and rules.  In England it's cricket, civilized and boring.  Latin countries have soccer to cool their hot blood.  Australians play rugby.  It's untamed and without rules, like the outback.  In Japan, it's sumo wrestling, a sport of ceremony, no action, internal."

     Bolan finds that in Japan, everything takes place under the surface.  Face must be maintained, honor upheld.  It isn't so much what you do, but how you do it.

     Bolan realizes that he's been concentrating on what was happening on a surface level, while the answers he seeks lie on a deeper internal plane.  This scene concludes with a great bit where Mack Bolan leads a bar full of Japanese in a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to help cover his escape from the police.

     The action escalates and we have a wonderful showdown in an underground hangar full of old Japanese Zeroes and an emotional scene where Bolan faces the woman he loves in something right out of a John Woo flick with the lovers pointing guns at each other.  Powerful stuff.

     This is a fine example of why action books are so much fun to read, but it has an additional kicker in that it is also a damn good book no matter how you look at it.  Great writing, killer action, awesome story.  What more can you ask for?

     If you know someone who generally turns up their nose at a series action book, have them read this one; it could very well get them to change their mind.

Grade:  A+