Мак Болан: Исполнитель – История Легенды

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. 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.

When asked his name and rank in Colorado Kill Zone, he replied, "Bolan, Mack Samuel, Master Sergeant". Bolan, born in 1939 and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is of Welsh Polish heritage and is the 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 do not 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 and became known as "Sgt. Mercy", because of the aid he often gave to Vietnamese civilians and others who needed help.

After 38 bloody campaigns against the Mafia, Bolan became the leader of the Stony Man organization in the "Super Bolan" book titled Stony Man Doctrine, working with Able Team, Phoenix Force, Hal Brognola, April Rose, Aaron (The Bear) Kurtzman, and Jack Grimaldi.

After the KGB attempted to destroy Stony Man and the death of April Rose, Bolan left the organization to resume his solo war against evil this time adding the KGB to his hit list. It was during this war that he was framed by the mob for the murder of a prostitute in McLary County, Texas, resulting in Bolan's being tried for his extra legal activities.

Bolan currently works on his own at arm's length from the clandestine agency Stony Man. He occasionally takes missions from Stony Man's director and personal friend, Hal Brognola, and the President of the United States. Frequently, Bolan returns to Stony Man to lead the agency on missions.

Bolan has been in love only twice. His first lover was Valentina "Val" Querente, whom he met when he first went up against the mob. He broke off their relationship after she and Johnny Bolan had been kidnapped. His second love was federal agent April Rose, whom he met during the first of his final campaigns against the Mafia. He holds current lover, Barbara Price, at arm's length out of fear she, like Val and April, will be threatened, harmed, or killed. In each book, Bolan usually has sex with a different woman. He prefers the gutsy type who are not apt to run away when shot at, which explains his deep affection for Querente, federal agent Toby Ranger, and April Rose. In one novel, a woman with whom he was working claimed that he liked his women "barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen". Bolan replied, "No, I like them alive". In his spare time, he likes extreme sports, such as canoeing several rivers in flood stage. He typically likes to spend his spare time with Barbara Price. He is very literate. This is shown at the beginning of each novel, where Bolan gives his interpretation/response to a quote from a book, author, or famous person. He frequently reads Miguel de Cervantes' masterwork Don Quixote.

In addition to his native language, English, Bolan speaks Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and passable German, and can understand many other languages. For a sidearm, he used a silenced Beretta Brigadier, which he nicknamed "Belle" and carried in a vertical shoulder rig. His trademark weapon was "Big Thunder", a stainless steel .44 AutoMag that he usually wore on his hip. The Brigadier and AutoMag have since been supplanted by the current favorites, the Beretta 93R and .44 Magnum Desert Eagle, though Bolan has demonstrated facility with any pistol or rifle he comes across, and often carries a knife.