Tooth and Claw

Wow!!! Awesome book. This is Phoenix at there best. 200 Soviet KGB & GRU Agents along with Paratroops. Damn the Russians must be desperate! Good stuff here people. Manning almost getting captured and Killed is a really well written scene in the book. Also liked the Mission Impossible Reference.I really cant say enough about this book. Its been 30 years since I first read this book. And its still freakin awesome. Love the cover 10 stars!!

The KGB are pissed off as numerous of their best laid plans/plots have been terminated by an unknown force and despite extensive searching they are unable to identify this force where it comes from or any of it's members. Then a breakthrough as Gary is identified with certainty and Katz as a possible although they still know nothing of the rest of the team or Stony Man. The team are actually enjoying some r and r with Encizo and James off diving and the rest at Gary's cabin in the woods.The KGB is serious about this let me tell you as they dispatch 205 KGB assassins and paratrooper elite soldiers with orders to take out Phoenix Force with extreme predudice. Okay a good plot is set up as Gary is located and just happens to be visiting the nearest supermarket to buy some supplies and a case of Coke. At this time he is unarmed as far as firearms go with only some detonator sticks and a strip of C4 hidden in his belt. Actually I was thinking to myself why not the other way around having a pistol and leave the rest at home. What the hell would I know and some of the best reading in this series ensues you WILL be impressed by this section if you decide to read this title. Simply Gary manages to evade and survive two hit teams, three snipers etc. VERY WELL WRITTEN !!! The team realise they have been targeted and some very good sections occur as they systematically reduce the numbers of the opposition. When a very cunning trap is set and subsequently taken where a location is selected in the mountains away from innocent civilians by the team the taunt is issued "come and get us". And they do and what follows is some of the most imaginative reading in this series. It is roughly 100 to five here folks and you will marvel at some of the traps/devices/ropes/wires/sticks/bushes etc. which are employed at the ending of the title bearing in mind on the mountain that they are being attacked on all four fronts and add in three armed helicopters. Excellent, Top stuff, Top read recommended. 2 stars were deducted for RIDICULOUS OVERUSE of weapons being held by the team being dislodged from their hands by whatever means. (Yep I know I'm a parrot!).

The Soviets are so upset that Phoenix Force had destroyed their laser shooting statue in India, their Krio Island facility in Greece and their drug running operation in Turkey, they launch their special forces squad into the United States to destroy them in “Tooth in Claw.” Instead of luring them into a trap, in say, Eastern Europe, they actually go to the U.S. where hardly anyone speaks the language. That’s the only knock against the novel I have. The novel is superior than other entries. Permanent developments occur as the KGB identify members of Phoenix Force, hitting them at their weakest points. They identify Gary Manning and they attack him in Canada. Instead of someone destroying the world, all the Soviets want to do this time around is kill off Phoenix Force. Or make them disband. Very ingenious plot indeed. Excellent installment.

Tooth and Claw. <groan> What the hell do I say about this book? Several words come to mind but I've sworn I won't use them. And so this may be a very short review. The action here is again marred by the author's enduring habit of having Phoenix Force lose their firearms and have to resort to various -fu's and -jitsu's. There is even some sambo here in case you're feeling the need for some. To be fair, there is one pretty good bit of action early on when Gary Manning, unarmed on his trip to the local grocery store, is attacked by a hit squad. That was good writing with Manning's lack of a firearm not feeling forced. But all that goodwill was squandered a few chapters later when Encizo gave up his guns to engage in a knife fight with an enemy because of some taunting. "Why not just shoot the silly bastard?" you might ask. Good question. Much of this action seems to have been written by Austin Powers and I really expect that eventually there will be much use of the "Judo Chop!" The secondary characters here are almost all ridiculous caricatures and clowns. One of the Russians is well done and memorable. It really stands out here because even the members of Phoenix Force seem to suffer from one-liner syndrome. Rafael and Calvin are particularly bad here and seem like Shaggy and Scooby more often than not. Perhaps this book was reworked from something originally submitted to Mad Magazine. The whole tone of this one is so off key that I couldn't bear to read more than a few chapters at a time. 2 stars for this one only because of the good action with Manning attacked in chapters 5 and 6. The rest of this stinker rates a big fat goose egg.

Gotta go with the other 10s. This was a masterpiece. 1) The humor. I really liked how the NSA and CIA so despised each other and the CIA agent calling McQueen "Queenie". Also when the NSA agents were relieved when a 5th agent came in so it would be 5-5. 2) Its so rare to show Russians having internal battles. I liked how the GRU Popotov didn't like the KGB and even hated innocent American's getting killed. So often the Russians in this time frame are shown as really one mind. Its nice reading a distinction. I also hoped the GRU agent had lived. 3) The action was top notch. The finale on top of a Montana mountain was brilliant. Sure PF was surrounded by 100 Russians but they survived and killed most Russians. 4) Manning keeping secrets. It was nice showing how Manning was smart enough to hide one of his holdings from SM yet in time of crunch to help his mates he revealed it. It also showed how wealthy he is. Too often its forgotten. One tiny nit. Ok Rafe had a gun pointed at the Russian who just had a bayonet. Why didn't Rafe just shoot him instead of a) wasting time fighting with knifes and b) take a chance of getting killed/injured which would affect the entire group. Just shooting would have taken care of the problem .instead of playing needless games. Read this book.

I just finished rereading his book and I liked alot. Not only for the action and humor but also for the fact that the ending took place in my homestate of Montana. And the bad guy at the end mentions the city of Great Falls were I was born. Phoenix Force is a team that useally does the hunting but now they are the hunted. I read this bok in a matter of hours and I will read it again and again.

This was the first Stony book I ever read (I still have it in my room, all ripped up) To pit it simply, this novel effin' rocked. It was jam-packed with hi-octane action, and to sift in a different spice, PF was prey instead of predator this turn away. If possible, I'd give this book an 11/10

I like the Mack Bolan, Stony Man, and Phoenix Force books where the good guys are the prey, not the predetor, and this is no exeption!My favorite scene was in the mountains, at Gary Manning's cabin in Montana, and Phoenix has all these suprises for the Soviet attack force.

This is my favorite out of all the books in the series. Of all the books that they are the hunters, they are the hunted in this book. This is an excellent read.

This was the first Phoenix Force book I ever read... and it's still my favorite. The Force, up against a wall, has to deal with a force of 200 highly trained killers. Against those kinds of odds, I was simply drooling. While I liked Able Team, I only really identified with Gadgets on that team, Gadgets being a super-nerd super commando. Meanwhile, with Phoenix Force, I had so much more to identify with. Katz is left-handed, Calvin James is from Chicago, McCarter's a bit of a nut. Plus, some of the action sequences are among the best I'veseen in any action novel, from the battle at Manning's cabin, to the midnight warehouse battle, to the final conflict in the Montana Mountains... and never mind another of Phoenix Force's cooler titles (No Rules, No Referee and Welcome to the Feast being my other faves), and that beautifull wraparound cover painting... man, I miss Phoenix Force.

This is another standout effort. After reading this one, I thought Manning could have gone solo, with his status as a millionaire and ordinance specialist, he could have formed his own team.

A really great book. Having Phoenix on the run was great. Some of the highlights I enjoyed was the comment made by Manning (I think) about ".....do you remember the show "Mission Impossible?" Also, the climatic shootout was high voltage!