Edge of Night

Terrific opener in the two part series of Fall of the West. Excellent character introduced here namely JR Rust who is a CIA spook who has spent 25 years or so in the middle east and speaks numerous languages and is recruited to the Phoenix Force for the duration. Many many good parts featuring him where what he goes through with the Team and a good insight to his thinking at the end of the title where he agrees to participate in the upcoming next title of the duology still shaking his head at what he has been involved in the last couple of day with these guys. Multiple plot lines are introduced here with a mutated virus running loose, the millenium approaching brings all of the crazies out, Muslim Imams are preaching here it comes, Pakistan and India are on the verge of a nuclear war, a massive cult is located in California which is buying huge stockpiles of advanced weapons, one of the Stony Man leaders goes down to the virus and there is The Old Man of the Mountain to contend with. These are just the main plotlines running and you will be entertained if you decide to read this and it is running let me tell you the author has brought a real feeling of tension in some of the subplots and you will finish this very much looking forward to the next/finishing title. Highly recommended reading here.

A very exciting book that makes me want to go out and try to track down the follow-ups. Kasner is a good writer in this series and comes through with a good blend of action, plot and dialogue. I rate Rust right up their with John Trent with the allies that have thrown in with the Stony Men over the years.

An Excelent and quick read for a 340+ PAGE BOOK. I like the addition of JR Rust although I know that he probably wont be in any more books once this two part series is finished.

A decent opener to 'The Fall of The West' two-parter by Kasner. I like how this book was actually a couple stories woven into one book. However, I found Bolan to be a little one-dimensional in this one. Everyone else's characterization was right on. Able Team working on their own and Pol going undercover was great. I liked how this mission in part one leads to their next mission in part two. It was good to see Pol's character given more life in this one. Phoenix Force's mission seemed a little too short and accomplished too easy though. And I was astounded by how open about Stony Man they were with J.R. Rust, a CIA guy. I did like the Rust character and hope he's recruited into Stony Man though. I look forward to part two.

Correction: The cult leader in Edge of Night is, of course, run by Immanuel Zion aka Vincent Gorman, not the Great Hikari, a similar color-by-number demagogue in StrangleHold, the five-starrer I'm presently reading. Sorry for the the mixup.

I think it was admirable for Kasner to try to mine a two-book tale out of what is basically a pun gone awry, i.e. what if the the millenium bug is actually a real bug, as in widespread plague? There are some great scenes here, but also, unfortunately, some real klunkers. The pacing felt a bit off, too, especially in places where it felt like Kasner was treading water and unnecessarily overexplaining certain things as if to extend the page count and inflate what might have been a one great kick-ass page-turner of a book into a two-parter that dragged more than it should have. The whole cult business seemed pretty routine, too, with the Great Hikara being pretty much a retread of nearly every cult leader to come down the pike in these series. I did like the layering in of a more personal storyline involving Barbara Price coming down with the virus.

Major spoiler below. Don't read this unless you want to be really, really spoiled. S P O I L E R S P A C E You know you're in for a good time when the opening paragraph has Mack and Able Team together, and the book is written by Michael Kasner. Once again, Kasner demonstrates his attention to detail and his ability to really make the characters come alive. McCarter is his sardonic self, Manning shows off his ability for the well-placed insult (and shows off his talent!), Pol inflitrates more than just a cult, and in one of the story's surprises, Barbara is more than just April's poor substitute. Edge of Night is the first book in The Fall of the West trilogy. A plague of mutated anthrax has spread from the Western embassies in the Arab world to the U.S. While Bolan searches for the plague's mastermind, Phoenix Force races to defuse a nuclear war in India, and Able Team takes on an Armageddon cult. Even with all the characterization, and the introduction of J.R. Rust as the CIA spook with a knowledge of the Mideast, the action remains explosive, and I do mean explosive. To give you a hint: when asked by Hal if PF can handle the mission, McCarter replies: "Piece of cake. We jump out of an airplane no one can see, blow up some nuclear missile warheads, walk across half of Pakistan, blow up some bomb racks, then swim home." As with any good trilogy, the first book is primarily setup for the rest of the story. Still, this book is one fun ride. The only quibble is that I can't see McCarter willingly saying, "We five are Phoenix Force, and the other action team is Able Team." That would be a major security violation, IMO, even if Rust has been cleared to be on site and help with the mission.

WOW. Thats all I can really add to Alice's excellent review. I found this book EXTREMELY exciting. Probably my favorite Kasner novel thus far. Took me awhile to get to it, but once I started it was a quick 3 night read for me. I found the Pakistan scenes to be particularly exciting and the Rust character very interesting. The preparation scene between Rust and Hawkins near the beginning was memorable - never saw Hawkins give someone such a hard time - it was great. :) I must object, however, to the multiple references to Californians being a bunch of whackos (it must have been mentioned at least 3 times throughout the book!) :) Not all of us are that bad! :) I am eagerly awaiting the finale.

Just finished this book last night, and like Terry I read it very quickly. I really thought this was one of Kasner's best books. I thought he did an excellent job switching between locations an as always his attention to detail is greatly appreciated. Like Alice, the only problem I had was with how much they were telling JR Rust about the Farm and its operations. I can't wait for the finale.

After reading the reviews and the back of the book, this sounds really good!! My friend has this book and when I'm done with my one read, I will borrow it from him.

Again, the mighty mighty Stony Teams get their combat stretch and go after their enemies in indominateable style. Able Team: Gadgets' solution to the Emmanuel Zion problem was as inspired as the twenty ton fertilizer bomb he did in Columbia, and his equipment was as needed as always. Lyons blazing in with his 12 gauge was as intimidating and gruesome as ever. And Blancanales, undercover, was given much more exposure than even in the old Able Teams (which is a good thing). Able Team actually acting without saying "Mother may I" to every damn police department in southern California. Even the Schwartz/Lyons banter was on target. Highlight of Able's mission? "Take your time, Striker. There's only three of them to every one of us." Phoenix Force and Mack: Though Phoenix' role has changed from the old days, penetrating into a hostile country and taking down two nuclear targets was inspired. More direct action nowadays than actual hunters, I still see the chance for them to go hunting next novel when they hit Beirut. Hell, the first time Mack hit Beirut, the whole country bounced. And, it was good to see a return of the "wildman" McCarter. I think working alongside Bolan allows him to slip into his older, riskier gears. As for J.R. Rust, if he's not tapped as a resource for Phoenix and Stony, Hal Brognola should have his head examined. He could be the new millenium's Karl Hahn. (Now there's a dude I miss.) A good break from smacking around the Russian Mafia.

This one was OK. There was also some parts that didn't really make that much sense. First off, J.R. Rust just kills 3 men in a place where they have nukes, and the 3 men are the only ones there. So getting McCarter out of jail was kind of rushed. The Able Team mission seemed a little pointless. I think that stopping a cult who thinks the world is coming to an end in the millenium is also pointless. But that mission seems to lead up to a good one involving Sarah Carter and Dingo Jones. Plus you will have to find out how Barbara Price gets cured from the millenium plague. I find that the part with Jack Grimaldi and David McCarter blowing up jets from the Russian chopper.

I'm easily pleased and have enjoyed most of the Bolan books that I have read, but this one didn't immerse and surround me with Bolan's world as the others have. I would say that it lacked a Bolan's soul, it felt generic. I also found the action sequences to be formulaic; my heart rate never increased in this book. I was happy to finish it when I did. (I cheated by skipping all the cult scenes to do it.)

I found that this story is one of the better ones that I have read in quite a while. Whilst not my favourite Kasner it does come a close second. The highlight was Phoenix's mission inside Pakistan. I did not enjoy Able's mission so much and felt that they should have been on the ground in Pakistan, taking out the secondary target rather than having Phoenix trek across the entire country. Otherwise a great read.

The best part of this book was Gadgets response with the 'projection'. It took me back to the old Able Team books w/his clever use of technology. Plus anytime PF jumps from aboard a PPP on a Stealth B-2---Man, I love that. A+