The Executioner (a.k.a. Mack Bolan) is a monthly men's action-adventure paperback book series (published from 1969–2020) following the exploits of the character Mack Bolan and his wars against organized crime and international terrorism. The series has sold more than 200 million copies since its 1969 debut installment, War Against the Mafia.
The regular series includes 464 novels (as of December 2020 when the series ended). Every other month, the Executioner series was complemented by the release of a Super Bolan, which were twice the length of a standard Executioner novel. There were 178 "Super Bolans" (as of December 2015 when that series ended).
The Executioner was created and initially written by American author Don Pendleton, who penned 37 of the original 38 Bolan novels (he did not write #16). In 1980, Pendleton licensed the rights to Gold Eagle and was succeeded by a collective of ghostwriters. Some Pinnacle printings in the middle of Pendleton's original series carried a photo and brief article on the author, showing that Pendleton was not just a "house name".
Pinnacle Books was bought by Kensington Publishing (Zebra Books and others) and retained the rights to the original 38 novels; they were briefly reissued in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
After Don Pendleton's passing in 1995, his widow Linda ensured that the 37 books penned by her husband remained in circulation. This is still the case in 2025, as e-books. However since Linda Pendleton's death in late 2021, the publishing future of the series remains uncertain.
Since its inception in 1969, The Executioner series has spawned several spin-off series including Able Team (1982), Phoenix Force (1982), and Stony Man (the series into which Able Team and Phoenix Force were eventually merged in 1991). The Stony Man series began in 1991 with "Stony Man" #2 (since the first "Stony Man" novel was published as a one-shot back in 1983, titled "Stony Man Doctrine" which is also regarded as the first "Super Bolan" novel).
Spinoff series In the Mack Bolan universe Stony Man is an anti-terrorist organization, with two teams—Able Team and Phoenix Force. Each had its own series of books from 1982 until 1991, when the publisher combined both series into Stony Man.
In addition, the Super Bolan series began in 1985, a separate series of Mack Bolan adventures that ran concurrently with the regular monthly series. These books were double the size of a regular Executioner novel and were released every other month. Technically the first "Super Bolan" book was Stony Man Doctrine (1983), which is also considered the first book in the Stony Man series. The Super Bolans then commenced with Book #2 in 1985 and ran a total of 178 novels.
In France, a new spin-off series, Kira B., featuring Mack Bolan's "daughter" Kira, was introduced by the publisher Vauvenargues, in 2012. Written under the pen name Steven Belly, the series follows the adventures of Kira, a young woman who appeared in L'Exécuteur nº300: Le réseau Phénix, where she manipulated Mack Bolan to come out of retirement to fight against cyber-criminals. Since then, she has helped her "father" in his fight against crime in her own, eponymous series, which ran for five books.
There were 464 novels in the original Executioner series (1969–2020), plus the following spinoff series:
+ # Series Number of Novels Years Active1Able Team 51 + 2 Super Able Teams1982–19912Phoenix Force 51 + 4 Super Phoenix Forces1982–19913Stony Man 1401983, 1991–20154Super Bolan 1781983, 1985–20154Kira B. 52012–20135SOBs (Jack Hild) 33 + 5 Super SOBs1983–1990
The Executioner Mystery Magazine In 1975, Leonard J. Ackerman Productions produced Don Pendleton's The Executioner Mystery Magazine, a digest-sized, pulp magazine anthology series along the same lines as the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. The magazine had little connection to the Mack Bolan books save for the occasional story related to the Mafia. The magazine ran for only four issues, ending in August 1975, with the final issue titled simply The Executioner Mystery Magazine.
Other media Audio books Select Executioner titles were distributed on audiocassette by DH Audio through #241, although the company was dissolved in Fall 2001. These abridged versions of the books, read by Richard Rohan performing multiple voices, ran about 3 hours. Stony Man Doctrine was also published as an audio cassette tape.
The first three books in the Executioner series in audio format were published by Books in Motion as cassette tapes.
Cutting Edge Audio published the Executioner & Stony Man series on audio, starting in October 2004 and beginning with Executioner 301 Blast Radius and Stony Man 68 Outbreak. They were available throughout North America and online via Cuttingaudio.com. The company had no plans for selling them through regular retail outlets. They stopped publishing them in 2006.
Movie screenplay Joseph E. Levine contracted Richard Maibaum in 1972 to write a screenplay, based on the fifth and sixth volumes, Continental Contract and Assault on Soho. Some Pinnacle printings at the time had a strapline in a corner of the cover with "Soon to be a major motion picture from Avco-Embassy."
A later attempt to adapt The Executioner to the screen by William Friedkin was to star Sylvester Stallone and Cynthia Rothrock,Hk Mania - Le site des fans de cinéma asiatique but the production was scrapped.The Stony Man Farm
It was announced in August 2014, that Shane Salerno, Hollywood producer and screenwriter, had acquired the rights to turn the novel series into a film franchise. Four days later, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. had acquired the film rights from Salerno, hoping to sign Bradley Cooper to star as Bolan and Todd Phillips to direct. Salerno would write the script and produce.
Comics Mack Bolan: The Executioner was a comic book adaptation of War Against the Mafia adapted by Don and Linda Pendleton, published in 1993 by Innovation Publishing with art by Sandu Florea. Intended to run four issues, the final installment was not published due to Innovation closing.
The Executioner: Death Squad was adapted by Linda Pendleton with art by Sandu Florea. It was a 128-page black and white comic, published in 1996 by Vivid Comics.
The Executioner was adapted into a five-part comic book series by IDW, written by Doug Wojtowicz and illustrated by S. I. Gallant. It was reissued as the graphic novel Don Pendleton's The Executioner: The Devil's Tool in November 2008. The reissued version contained an introduction by Linda Pendleton, "Don Pendleton's Creation of Mack Bolan, The Executioner".
Podcast The Executioner books and spin-offs are featured on the August 5, 2019 episode of the Paperback Warrior podcast. The show's hosts, Eric Compton and Tom Simon, discuss the series' origins including its impact on popular culture. Additionally, the show spotlights key authors that contributed to the series and its spin-offs. During that episode, Eric Compton reviews Executioner #88 Baltimore Trackdown by Chet Cunningham.Chet Cunningham.Compton, C.E., Simon, T.J.(Hosts) (August 5, 2019). Paperback Warrior Podcast "The Executioner Mack Bolan" [Audio podcast].
Authors
Series listing
001: War Against the Mafia 002: Death Squad 003: Battle Mask 004: Miami Massacre 005: Continental Contract 006: Assault on Soho 007: Nightmare in New York 008: Chicago Wipeout 009: Vegas Vendetta 010: Caribbean Kill 011: California Hit 012: Boston Blitz 013: Washington I.O.U. 014: San Diego Siege 015: Panic in Philly 016: Sicilian Slaughter (written by "Jim Peterson," a pseudonym for William CrawfordKenney, Joe. Glorious Trash. "A Study of Action-Adventure Fiction: The Executioner and Mack Bolan by William H. Young." Nov. 7, 2011) 017: Jersey Guns 018: Texas Storm 019: Detroit Deathwatch 020: New Orleans Knockout 021: Firebase Seattle 022: Hawaiian Hellground 023: St. Louis Showdown 024: Canadian Crisis 025: Colorado Kill-Zone 026: Acapulco Rampage 027: Dixie Convoy 028: Savage Fire The Executioner's War Book (not a novel, but an overview of the series to this point, with descriptions and schematic drawings of Bolan's weapons and War Wagon, lists of characters, excerpts from the novels, and letters from fans with Pendleton's original return mail replies) 029: Command Strike 030: Cleveland Pipeline 031: Arizona Ambush 032: Tennessee Smash 033: Monday's Mob The Great American Detective Anthology (contains the Mack Bolan short story "Willing to Kill") 034: Terrible Tuesday 035: Wednesday's Wrath 036: Thermal Thursday 037: Friday's Feast 038: Satan's Sabbath (Pendleton's last) 039: The New War (series was taken over at this point by a team of ghost writers as "Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan") 040: Double Crossfire 041: The Violent Streets 042: The Iranian Hit (written by Stephen Mertz) 043: Return to Vietnam (written by Stephen Mertz) 044: Terrorist Summit 045: Paramilitary Plot 046: Bloodsport 047: Renegade Agent 048: The Libya Connection (written by Stephen Mertz) 049: Doomsday Disciples 050: Brothers in Blood 051: Vulture's Vengeance 052: Tuscany Terror (written by Stephen Mertz) 053: The Invisible Assassins 054: Mountain Rampage 055: Paradine's Gauntlet 056: Island Deathtrap 057: Flesh Wounds 058: Ambush on Blood River 059: Crude Kill 060: Sold for Slaughter 061: Tiger War 062: Day of Mourning (written by Stephen Mertz) 063: The New War Book (not a novel, but an overview of the series post-Pinnacle) 064: Dead Man Running (written by Stephen Mertz) 065: Cambodia Clash 066: Orbiting Omega 067: Beirut Payback (written by Stephen Mertz) 068: Prairie Fire 069: Skysweeper 070: Ice Cold Kill 071: Blood Dues 072: Hellbinder 073: Appointment in Kabul (written by Stephen Mertz) 074: Savannah Swingsaw 075: The Bone Yard 076: Teheran Wipeout (written by Stephen Mertz) 077: Hollywood Hell 078: Death Games 079: Council of Kings 080: Running Hot 081: Shock Waves 082: Hammerhead Reef 083: Missouri Deathwatch 084: Fastburn 085: Sunscream 086: Hell's Gate 087: Hellfire Crusade 088: Baltimore Trackdown 089: Defenders and Believers 090: Blood Heat Zero 091: The Trial 092: Moscow Massacre (written by Stephen Mertz) 093: The Fire Eaters 094: Save the Children (written by Stephen Mertz) 095: Blood and Thunder 096: Death Has a Name 097: Meltdown 098: Black Dice 099: Code of Dishonor 100: Blood Testament 101: Eternal Triangle 102: Split Image 103: Assault on Rome 104: Devil's Horn 105: Countdown to Chaos 106: Run to Ground 107: American Nightmare 108: Time to Kill 109: Hong Kong Hit List 110: Trojan Horse 111: The Fiery Cross 112: Blood of the Lion 113: Vietnam Fallout 114: Cold Judgment 115: Circle of Steel 116: The Killing Urge 117: Vendetta in Venice 118: Warrior's Revenge 119: Line of Fire 120: Border Sweep 121: Twisted Path 122: Desert Strike 123: War Born 124: Night Kill 125: Dead Man's Tale 126: Death Wind 127: Kill Zone 128: Sudan Slaughter 129: Haitian Hit 130: Dead Line 131: Ice Wolf 132: The Big Kill 133: Blood Run 134: White Line War 135: Devil Force 136: Down and Dirty 137: Battle Lines 138: Kill Trap 139: Cutting Edge 140: Wild Card 141: Direct Hit 142: Fatal Error 143: Helldust Cruise 144: Whipsaw 145: Chicago Payoff 146: Deadly Tactics 147: Payback Game 148: Deep and Swift 149: Blood Rules (The Medellin Trilogy #1) 150: Death Load 151: Message to Medellin (The Medellin Trilogy #3) 152: Combat Stretch 153: Firebase Florida 154: Night Hit 155: Hawaiian Heat 156: Phantom Force 157: Cayman Strike 158: Firing Line 159: Steel and Flame 160: Storm Warning (Storm Trilogy #1) 161: Eye of the Storm (Storm Trilogy #2) 162: Colors of Hell 163: Warrior's Edge 164: Death Trail 165: Fire Sweep 166: Assassin's Creed 167: Double Action 168: Blood Price 169: White Heat 170: Baja Blitz 171: Deadly Force 172: Fast Strike 173: Capital Hit