The Mars Arena

This is how a deathlands novel should read like. Awesome all the way baby, YEAH!

I have been a devoted Deathlands fan since 1988. I have traveled to Pennsylvania to get his books. The last few books, seemed to be forced. James Axler appears to be bored with Ryan Cawdor and his friends. With Mars Arena he found new life. This book holds your interest from first page to the last. I am glad to see "Dean" again. Keep up the good work James, can't wait to read your next book Watersleep.

Axler wastes no time developing a fast paced storyline. From the onset the main charactors are pursued by one band of enemies after another. While attempting an escape from a bloodthirsty group of mutants, Ryan, J.B. and Mildred are captured by a Baron in search of ruthless killers. In a developing side plot, Ryan's son Dean is having problems of an adolescent at the Brody School. He and a classmate are caught peeping on an unsuspecting, older female classmate who sleeps in the nude. Dean and nine other classmates are soon after captured and transported to Las Vegas to participate in the "Game" held by seven local rivaling Barons. Dean and his group as well as Ryan and his group are pitted against each other in the game battling other teams, treacherous terrain, mutant beasts, sec guards and Barons in a fight to the death. Two very interesting side developments. One involving a re-entering space station the other involving new mental powers spawn to Ryan's partner, Kristy. This is one of the best in the Deathlands saga!

In his usual vein, this book starts off with the leading characters in big trouble, in this case pursued by a gang of raiders. While they manage to excape, Ryan and JB are almost immediately captured by Sec Men for a Baron. In the mean time, we see young Dean, at school, sneaking into the girls dorm at the behest of another student who wants to see if one of the female students really sleeps in the nude. Of course this gets Dean in over his head in trouble (both boy/girl trouble and with the admisistrator of the school). This leads to his also being captured by Sec Men for another Baron. Both Ryan and Dean wind up fighting for their lives in "the Mars arena". Guess the outcome. There is one odd twist in this book; Kirsty (sp?) gets to talk to Ryan & Dean in some form of Metaphysical way. It makes you wonder if Axler might have something up his sleeve. For fans of this series, this book is a must. Not reading it will definately break the overall story line, and it will be hard to resume without knowing what has taken place here