Renegade Agent

Renegade Agent, published in 1982, was the 47^th installment of the legendary Executioner men's adventure series, featuring the ultimate commando-vigilante tough guy, Mack Bolan. It's the 9^th installment of Bolan's "New War" against international terrorism and espionage that began in issue #39. Before that, Bolan had been fighting a one-man vigilante holy war against the mafia, who were responsible for killing his family. Now, with the covert backing of the U.S. government and the Stony Man black agency, he is bringing his brutal skills to bear on even more dangerous and depraved enemies around the world.

As the story opens, Bolan, clad in his trademark "blacksuit", is breaking into the offices of a technology company with his tech wizard assistant, "Gadgets" Schwarz. They have come to gather intel from the personal computers of the company's boss, a dude named Charon who is suspected of selling classified info to the Kremlin. With the data they collect, they learn that Charon is also selling state-of-the-art technology to a renegade CIA agent named Edwards, who is running an organization Bolan sums up this way:

An international underground intelligence network ... a "black" CIA, run by men trained by the top legit agencies in the world, serving the needs of the terrorist network. With state-of-the-art technology provided by traitors like Charon.

What a fascinating concept!

After raiding Edwards's Swiss chalet and taking out the whole place in classic Bolan fashion, Mack learns that Edwards has fled to his headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, where his black agency has the backing of Muammar Gaddafi--the leading sponsor of international terrorism in those days. He also learns that an old flame and assistant from his mafia-fighting days is working undercover to infiltrate Edwards' organization, and her cover may be blown. This means Mack has to use disguise and deception rather than brute force to take down Edwards, and his task is made more difficult by a gunshot wound he suffers in the shoulder that limits his use of one arm. There follows more set-piece commando raids on the black CIA's "hardsites" that meet the quota of gory killings and explosions for an Executioner novel.

This was a pretty typical Executioner novel, which means it had some great commando action, black ops intrigue, enemy infiltrations, forgettable characters and internal monologues to justify his vigilante war on evil-doers. Mack is more James Bond than John Rambo in this one, which was a nice change of pace.

I really liked author Steven Krauzer's concept of a "black" CIA or mercenary spy agency, which was no doubt inspired by the real case of Edwin Wilson. Wilson was a rogue CIA agent who sold arms to Libya used by terrorist groups (including 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosive!), recruited retired Green Berets to train Libyan special forces, and was in it strictly for the money. This realistic detail, along with some interesting rants from Bolan, made this a worthwhile read and more than just a mindless men's adventure novel.

Get a copy of Renegade Agent here.