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Mack Bolan, alias The Executioner, is a fictional character who has been serialized in over 600 novels with sales of more than 200 million. Created by Don Pendleton, Bolan made his first appearance on the printed page in 1969's ''War Against the Mafia.'' Pendleton wrote thirty-seven other novels featuring Bolan, often referred to as the "Mafia Wars." In 1980, Pendleton sold his rights to the character to Gold Eagle who 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 addition, Bolan was "spun off" into several new adventure book series which also carried the Mack Bolan/Don Pendleton names and sold remarkably well. As of 2014, there are still more than a dozen Mack Bolan novels published every year worldwide by Gold Eagle Books, a division of Harlequin Books. ==Fictional character biography== When asked his name and rank in ''Colorado Kill Zone,'' he replied, "Bolan, Mack Samuel, Master Sergeant." Bolan was born in 1939 and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, of Welsh-Polish heritage, eldest of the three children of steelworker Samuel Bolan and his wife, Elsa. Bolan enlisted in the Army at age 18 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Green Beret, even though newer novels don't make any reference to this as it makes him seem too old. Bolan became an expert sniper with over 90 kills to his record, earning him the nickname The Executioner. For all his lethal capability, Bolan was deeply compassionate, becoming known as Sgt. Mercy because of the aid he often gave to Vietnamese civilians and others who needed help. During his service in the Vietnam war, Bolan became highly adept at penetration and intelligence gathering, guerrilla warfare, marksmanship and munitions. He also became a skilled armorer. During Bolan's second tour, his father suffered a heart attack that forced him to leave his job at the steel mill. Unable to work, with bills piling up, he was forced to borrow money from Triangle Industrial Finance, a savings-and-loan outfit known around town as a loansharking operation controlled by the family of Don Sergio Frenchi, the godfather of the Mafia in western Massachusetts. The people at TIF caused the elder Bolan countless problems with their payment demands. on one occasion, their enforcers dislocated his arm as punishment for missing one loan payment, warning him that the same arm would be broken if he missed another. His daughter, Cindy Bolan, was worried about her father's safety and had secretly paid the officers at TIF a visit in order to persuade them to leave her father alone and allow her to repay the loan. In her first attempt, she turned in $35 a week, money she made from an afterschool job. When it became insufficient, they "suggested" she become a prostitute. Johnny Bolan, Mack's younger brother, learned about it from a schoolmate who taunted him about it, resulting in a fight that Johnny lost. When he found Cindy servicing a client in a motel room, he blew the whistle to his father ... an act that resulted in the elder Bolan striking him. When she was confronted by her father, she admitted to her work, expressing her fear for his health and welfare. For Sam Bolan, it was too much. He snapped and turned a Smith & Wesson .45 on his family and then himself. Johnny Bolan was the only survivor of the murder-suicide. A few days later, Bolan was notified of the tragedy by an Army chaplain and took emergency leave to visit his brother. After Johnny told him the whole story, Bolan broke into a sportsman's shop and took a high-powered Marlin .444, a deluxe scope, some targets, and several boxes of ammunition, leaving an envelope of money to cover the "purchase". He would use the rifle to kill the TIF loansharks. This would be the beginning of his war against the Mafia. As well as being in two nuclear explosions, Mack has been knifed numerous times and shot several times in various parts of his body, most recently in his left shoulder. He has been in numerous grenade explosions and several warehouse roofs have come down on his head. His philosophy is simple: "If you care enough for something, you have to be willing to kill for it." When asked how he dealt with the horrors of his war against the Mafia, he said, "I stay angry."〔Executioner #27: Dixie Convoy〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mack Bolan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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