Another excellent title by this author here which will entertain you and keep you turning the pages.
The plot surrounds the hijacking of an aircraft carrier which has a prototype experimental aircraft aboard by a Japanese terrorist leader who teams up with unbelievably an Iranian terrorist group with dual intentions one to use the aircraft to bomb Israel and the Japanese wants to dismantle the aircraft carrier and flog it off bit by bit.
Trying to give nothing away Able Team happen to be aboard the aircraft carrier when it is hijacked and are facing terrorist numbers in excess of 100. The 4,500 plus crew of the carrier are almost completely incapacitated by poisoning so almost no back up there.
Trapped on the other end of the ship and only armed with pistols and limited ammunition the Team have to find a way to the other end of the ship where their quarters are located to retrieve the heavy firepower with swarms of terrorists searching for them.
Some kick arse excellent action scenes ensue with the boys doing their stuff.
Able Team by far have the starring roles here with Phoenix Force very much taking a backseat but are still involved in a couple of sections which are also very good reading.
Tension builds throughout with some fine writing culminating in a terrific ending where a few glimpses of the comradery between the two teams is shown.
I loved it Highly Recommended reading here folks.
A nice, action packed book in the Under Siege mold. Able really gets to shine here as they are trapped aboard an aircraft carrier that's been hijacked by terrorists. Great action pieces as they fight to stay alive aboard the ship, while the crew languishes from ricin poisoning. Phoenix lends a hand also as they try to locate the missing ship.
The only thing that bugged me about this was the true fate of the superplane. It goes off on it's programmed mission to bomb the U.S. but we never actually hear that it got shot down by the navy. Assume it did, but it seemed like the author ran out of space to finish up that thread.
But, still, a kick-ass Stony Man entry.
Have you ever heard of this Star Trek plot? A renegade Vulcan and a Klingon seizes control of the Enterprise along with a secret weapon. By installing a cloaking device, they elude Starfleet, while three men desperately try to regain control of the ship. Although it does sound like a mish-mash of several Star Trek movies, this Star Trek plot never existed. The closest would be “Vanishing Point” a wildly creative but poorly executed entry of the Stony Man series. Instead of the Enterprise, it’s an aircraft carrier. And instead of Kirk, Spock and Bones, you have Lyons, Blancanales and Schwarz. The terrorist leader is stereotyped to have more in common with a Klingon warrior than his real-life incarnation. This is one of the most far-fetched entries of the series, but it is a forgivable sin. This one entertains.
In an unusual twist for the series, Able Team is the focal point. Phoenix Force desperately tries to recapture the spotlight by finding Able Team. Unexpectedly, they have their own internal issues flare up. I enjoyed the surprises and reactions.
The structure of the novel is innovative. The first seventy-five pages are a straightforward Able Team adventure, capped with a modest cliffhanger. The terrorists get only one expositional chapter in the first act of the novel, the rest belong to Able Team, exclusively from their perspective. Then there is another seventy-five pages of Phoenix Force, same rules apply. Their section is entirely their point of view, without revisiting Able Team’s situation. Since the point of views are not cutting in, interrupting each other, momentum is actually created and sustained. This structure works. It should be used more often. The format logic is simple. Two teams, separate parts, trying to work their way to each other.
The weaknesses of the novel are several: the dialogue, the prose, villain characterization, and a number of continuity mistakes. The examples are too numerous to mention here. The capturing of the aircraft carrier was more of a back story, not fully rendered as it should have been. And it would have been a bigger national emergency than 9/11. The sum of the flaws do not compromise the integrity of the idea, or the genius plot and structure. If you are a fan of the author, you should not miss this one. Get it now.
This was a great one! Action from page one. Seems to me like a little more thought than usual was put in, and it shows. Running and gunning against high odds the way stony man should be! This one was a great read hard to put down.
Just my opinion.
