Don Pendleton
- Don Pendleton-Author of the Executioner Action Novels
Don Pendleton (December 12, 1927 – October 23, 1995) was a pulp fiction-style writer best known for the creation of American vigilante anti-hero, Mack Bolan. The series made the Action-Adventure genre popular in the 1960s and 1970s and earned Pendleton the nickname of “the father of action adventure”. The Mack Bolan novels penned by Pendleton revolved around Bolan’s one-man war against the mafia, beginning with War Against the Mafia in 1969, and ending with Satan’s Sabbath in 1980. Once Pendleton sold the rights to the series, the first book out was The New War by Saul Wernick, which started Bolan’s fight against terrorism. Other works by Pendleton include the Joe Copp and Ashton Ford Series.
Pendleton served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving in all theaters of the war. His enlistment ended in November of 1947. He returned to active duty in 1952 during the Korean War and served until 1954. He worked as a telegrapher for the Southern Pacific Railroad until 1957, and then as an air traffic control specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration. In the 1960s, he worked for Martin-Marietta on the Titan missile program. He later served as an engineering administrator at NASA during the Apollo missions. Pendleton also worked on the C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft program.
Pendleton wrote several of his earlier, non-Executioner books under the pseudonyms Dan Britain and Stephan Gregory.
Pendelton wrote in the pulp fiction tradition, and his Execution character,Mack Bolan was larger than life, responsible for killing literally hundreds of mobsters over the course of his original thiry-eight novels. Also in the pulp tradition, he left a trademark “calling card”, a marksman’s medal, wherever he struck. Many see similarities between the Executioner and Marvel Comics’ The Punisher and Marvel freely acknowledge they took some inspiration from the novels in creating their antiheroic character. Bolan also inspired DC Comics’ The Vigilante.
Mack Bolan Novels by Don Pendleton
Mack Bolan Novels
War Against The Mafia (1969)
Death Squad (1969)
Battle Mask (1970)
Miami Massacre (1970)
Continetal Contract (1971)
Assault on Soho (1971)
Nightmare in New York (1971)
Chicago Wipe-Out (1971)
Vegas Vendetta (1971)
Caribbean Kill (1972)
California Hit (1972)
Boston Blitz (1972)
Washington I.O.U. (1972)
San Diego Siege (1972)
Panic In Philly (1973)
Jersey Guns (1974)
Texas Storm (1974)
Detroit Deathwatch (1974)
New Orleans Knockout (1974)
Firebase Seattle (1975)
Hawaiian Hellground (1975)
Canadian Crisis (1975)
St. Louis Showdown (1975)
Colorado Kill-Zone (1976)
Acapulco Rampage (1976)
Dixie Convoy (1976)
Savage Fire (1977)
Command Strike (1977)
Clevland Pipeline (1977)
Arizone Ambush (1977)
The Executioner’s War Book (1977)
Tennessee Smash (1978)
Monday’s Mob (1978)
Terrible Tuesday (1979)
Wednesday’s Wrath (1979)
Thermal Thursday (1979)
Friday’s Feast (1979)
Satan’s Sabbath (1980)
