Capital Offensive

Lordy, this one turned out to be one big mess. This author's Stony Man's seem to have the same motif: End-of-the-world scenario's with a superweapon of some kind, or something residing in outer space. First off, most of the chapters or scenes that did not relate to the Stony Men were ones of excess battles and over-the-top mayhem. So, not very tightly plotted. The events that brought the world to the brink of war didn't seem realistic at all to me. There were only a few good action scenes to mention: Able's battle at a farm with mercs and a combine was good, and Phoenix's assault on the Argentinian's firebase was also decent. Beware of this one.

Wow after reading the Super Bolan series in order and not reading one of these titles from the Stony Man series for a little over two years this one to return to where I left off was probably a good title to return to. Very action orientated and the stakes are monstrous with the annihilation of the planet possible. An Argentinean General has decided that there are simply too many people on this planet and before we wipe ourselves out he will cull oh maybe 4 billion or so from the planet's population and the rest of them will live happily ever lasting. I absolutely loved some of the author's descriptions of what is happening with the Super Tanker crashing in the Panama Canal and the Chinese and Russians getting it on with helicopters, tanks etc. being the highlights and excellent reading. BUT lots of holes on how this stuff could be actually done and basically the author doesn't really pull it off for me anyway as the reader I was left with lots of questions and thinking. Some good action scenes and both Teams feature prominently with equal status through the title. I enjoyed the read haven't read one of these for a while but would suggest you could do worse up to you.

Phoenix Force and Able Team wage war against an unknown threat who has hijacked the worldwide GPS system. A wide-sweeping mission, brought down by its own preposterous plot and strange gimmicks. I believe that the author did not do his homework on this one. The technical details are not fully explained, appearing to be a shortcut method, than a lack of time or resources. The world-wide calamities that are ignited in this one, mention after mention about regional warfare, are brushed aside in a vague comment. Is the world still at war? For the amount of effort, and essentially the entire purpose, to keep the peace, did the effort fail? In Chapter Sixteen, an attack on a legendary American base is about to commence, but not a single word about the outcome. Then there are the gimmicks. Strange, high-tech, highly implausible, toys that Able Team deploys only draw attention to themselves. Taking a swipe of Hollywood for being unbelievable, then with the same breath, the author purports that a terrorist with a backpack laser has the properties of a mobile sun, capable of blinding in all directions at all times. Phoenix Force’s mission comes off better here. They are enemy agents in a nation without diplomatic immunity. Their resourcefulness and more logical, plausible and technical details serve them well. Their passages are the best part of this marginally recommended entry.