Stranglehold

Fair read here I reckon but nowhere close to some of the stuff that has been released in this series to date. The plot is okay but the storyline seems to split into three separate branches which is not so bad but unfortunately these branches do not feed seamlessly back into the storyline. Able and Phoenix excel in this title whilst Mack takes a back seat. Probably the thing that most annoyed me in this title is the incredibly detailed section where the big guy chases a rebel through a water course tunnel through the mountain and it goes on and on where he is almost killed three times by drowning himself. AND I am thinking WHY! It is ridiculous he almost kills himself for what (well another forty or fifty pages in the ongoing text I guess). The finish of the title is okay but I am thinking a ONE HUNDRED STRONG backup team of Blacksuits from Stony Man was a little over the top since Able only had twenty or so adversaries to face and what did they actually do apart from being deployed. Mack and Phoenix finish well with some pretty good action scenes. It's an okay read in the series.

An average novel that seemed a bit different for a StonyMan. They're given some cryptic clues to follow up on, and the teams have to find out what is going on. Able's mission was very good, one of the few times where they go into detail of Pol living up to his nickname. Phoenix's mission was not the usual, with them getting caught and having to use Manning's braun to escape. Mack's mission was just okay. But, overall, the book didn't knock my socks off. The main villains were pretty weak, and the final battle was short and uninspired.

This story wasn't too bad, in fact I quite enjoyed the African side of the groups adventures were quite enjoyable. I do have several gripes, however. The first is since when have FOUR fully grown men been able to fit into a 1 / 2 seater harrier jumpjet? Also the actual story hook was also pretty thin. Why did Stony Man become involved? Who requested their help? Like Terry I was also a bit annoyed about the "finish on a dime" ending. What happened to Capt. Jack and Capt. Berben? Did they just disappear and allow the Somalian authorities to allow Phoenix to get away scot free? Otherwise it was a good story.

A decent entry into the SM series. It was more like several stories placed together in one book. PF and AT had the better parts in this book.

I found this book to be all over the place, which sometimes is a good thing but in this case made things seem too choppy. The strongest scenes were Bolan's clash with the RUF in Sierre Leone. Would have liked to see more done with this and less with some of the clunky filler, like the weight-lifting contest (would have made a great single chapter, but really dragged as it went on and on). And the scene where Pol deprograms some guys by feeding them cheese pizza seemed like something straight out of Austin Powers. Silly! And I agree with whoever said the cover was misleading.

Man was this book awful. I didn't even finish this one. The book spent way to much time on a stupid bench pressing contest between Phoenix Force and a customs captain. The story just moved to slow to hold my interest.

I disagree with Joel on this one...I *liked* the bench pressing contest scene, as it showed some long-forgotten character focus for a change (thank you!). That alone made me keep reading. Mack's not a huge player on this one, but if you're a Phoenix Force or Able Team fan, you'll probably enjoy the attention they get in this one.

This was an excellent story. Great character development! Able Team and Phoenix Force members really got some good action and their personalities and specialties were really shown. Even all the Stony Man Farm members got some action! There were tons of cliff-hangers while the author jumped from one group to another. It took me about a month to read this one because of my busy schedule lately but I still found it very exciting and interesting. In a shorter sitting, its probably even much better. 2 Gripes: This ending-on-a-dime thing just doesn't agree with me. And, whats up with the cover? I was all psyched for a NYC subway scene that never occured. That IS a NYC subway on the cover. Oh well. It's a cool picture anyhow. I still recommend this one. Great fun.

I enjoyed this one, especially considering that Able Team got a nice piece of the mission. The only complaint I had was naming the bad guy Ohara. I kept thinking of poor old Keio. :( But, nice story... they could have stretched or packed the type tighter for a more fullfilling ending though.

WOW!! One of the best Stony Mans I've read. It had a lot of things. The plot to takeover the world by force. My favorite scene was when Mack was chasing that RUF bandit. I liked how he chased him for miles on end and then had to come to a watery cave. The water cave was the best. I really got a sense that Mack was out of breath when the author described it. The bench pressing scene was awesome too. Like Alice said it had good character development. I knew Manning was a power lifter but never imagined 520. The only compalint is they should of had more character development on Ohara. LIke in Code of Bushido. Otherwise an excellent book!

Bolan wasn't in much of this, but it was good that Able Team and Phoenix Force were in this alot. I thought the bench-pressing contest was rather interesting.

THis was the first book I read, and evr since I was hooked!! THis book makes Stony Man my favorite series of books!!

good book but come on a little too much brain washing...