Cairo Countdown

Something just seemed off-kilter in regards to this Able Team entry. After researching behind the scenes noting that Cairo Countdown was written by Paul Hofrichter. His only contribution to the Bolan Universe. It made sense that pacing was different as well as personal ethics related to the characters. Not saying it's bad conceptually. I rather enjoyed this author's interpretation of characters and themes related to the Bolan Universe. As I type this, I wonder what Hofrichter was paid for this unique chapter in the Able Team narrative. It would have been nice to read additional books by this ballsy writer. Bringing the action as simply as torturing terrorists and not feeling bad about it. As Rambo states, "To survive war, you have to become war." Co-Bao: "That why they pick you?"

This book ROCKED!! Really well written. The scenes with Konzaki and Lyon's were really well written. I loved Lyon's new piece. That Modified Colt is AWESOME!!. I wonder how come Phoenix Force never Utilized Konzaki's talent. I dont think he was ever mentioned in that series. Anyway this book is Action, Action and more Action. And it was really gratifying to see the Muslim Brother hood terrorist's get taken out. Some reviewers talked about the the team using Racial remarks. I noticed in the last book that Gadgets used the term "Gook" To describe The Cambodian Mercs. I have to Remeber that these books were written over 30 years ago and America was a lot Less PC. Anyway this is an outstanding book and I give it 9 stars

For all you folks who like ACTION and some more ACTION and then maybe just a little more ACTION followed by interspersed parts of plot and character introduction/development in very short pieces so we can get back to the ACTION will love this title. It is just full on from the start to the finish and you will know when you fly through the title as it is one of those types of titles you just can't stop turning the pages. Recommended reading in this series to date. On a personal note something that came to me. I really like the way Andrzej Konzaki is introduced in these titles and I'll tell you why. I have no idea how many bullets a magazine can hold for any particular weapons I have some of an idea as to the muzzle velocity speeds mentioned but for people like me reading these titles this title excels for many reasons and this is one. It is explained in plain english to Lyons why and what has been done to the weapon which is currently in his hands. A BEAUTIFUL section follows when the master armourer takes Lyons out into the woods and the converted shotgun is run through it's paces AND there is a massive problem (read it) which is nipped in the bud and then explained to the uneducated masses why and what could have happened. (I loved this section of the book) and I learnt something .

This was a really great entry into the series. I loved all of the action sequences, and the book flowed really well. I did have one major problem with the book however and that had to do with the same thing many people saw and that was Carl Lyons' moral code. It seems to be the forst time that we see a member of the Bolan series' coming off as cruel and possibly racist. He A. shows no mercy, which is okay but generally is not how Carl is written. B. He uses the phrase raghead like its going out of style. C. He makes a few "turkeys" of his very own. mmmmmm... turkey. The other cool thing about this book is The silenced Colt .45 that Konzaki developed for carl. All in all a good solid read.

One of my Faveorite Able Team Books, Not really a great story, not bad, but run away action, simple escapism. Haven't read a Able Team Book in years, but this is one of the first I think of, It also signaled the beginning of Carl becoming IronMan, more of the Pycho warrior and less of the LAPD Cop.

Is this really the same guys from the original 38 Executioner novels and first few AT books? There was a scene that they regretted killing dogs but 0 regret in killing teenagers. Mack has always tried not killing teenagers and these guys just do it with no real problem. Katz with a limp? I know he had a limp in books 1 of PF but it disappeared by book 4 of PF it was gone. Why is he still having a limp? The action scenes were fine. No mercy in any of the scenes. Mack always condemned torture and yet Lyons, Gadgets and Pol slice off a terrorists feet and hands to get info - they got none. Is that not on the same area of doing a turkey? Never did Mack torture to get info - hit, slap around but never dismembermet. I think Carl was lucky he wasn't with Mack I can't imagine he would have tolerated his behavior. Also didn't Carl learn nothing from Mack about bigotry and how wrong it is. Carl often referred to muslims as ragheads something Mack would not have tolerated. I don't know how they could have fought the teen terrorists but I would think Mack would have found a way to do minimal casualities and would have thought many were victims themselves. AT was unlikable and can't give it a good grade. A 6.

Be ready for lots of ass kicking, especially by Lyons. The team goes from one kill zone to another, and the action never lets up except to let the reader catch his breath, something Lyons doesn't do. Man, he is more vicious than Mack. He just kills , hurts and causes great pain to the bad guys. This books is cool as it introduces Lyons' custom made Colt model machine pistol, copied from the berrata 93-r. this is a bad ass story. Oh, yeah, it's great to see Katz in a supporting role.

I wonder if Richtofer was just a pen name because I can't figure out why this guy only wrote one book in this series. The guy knew how to deliver the goods in terms of telling a taut thriller without sacarficing other elements. A good sense of place, too, and I liked the camaraderie between all the AT guys. IF there really is a Paul Richtofer he should be lured back so he can write more books!

When muslim loonies begin shooting down American aircraft in the skies over Cairo Able Team gets the call to battle. Assisted by their comrade Katz from Phoenix Force as a contact and front man, the men of Able Team bring their own special brand of hell to Egypt and give the gift of martyrdom to hundreds as they search for the terrorists' SAM-7 missiles. The action in this book is as hard, as tense, as exciting as anything in any of these series. Three big battle scenes in this one and another action bit on the roads of Cairo. Lyons, Gadgets and Pol are all really written well in this one and Lyons especially really breathes air. These warriors knock hell out of the bad guys with lots of firepower. The standard Beretta 93-R for Pol and Gadgets and a new modified .45 acp Colt Commander for Lyons with 3-round bursts, silencer capable and extended trigger guard and flip down front grip. Carl also has his beloved Atchisson 12 gauge automatic shotgun along. Uzis, lots and lots of grenades, and some Armburst rockets are the rest of their loadout. And of course they use lots of captured AKs and RPG7s to send loyal terrorists to a better world. The bad guys are easy to hate, they get splattered, blown up and fried with great regularity and in general a good time is had by all. 9 stars for this top-notch action thriller!

A really fast paced entry. The action never slowed for one minute. One of the better ones.

Ahhh, this one was a good one once I finally tracked it down. This book was a serious case of what I mean about Able Team at its finest. Phoenix Force, to me, was more along the lines of an actual spy team, who investigated, and then made their surgical strikes. With Able Team, you could have a battle erupt anywhere, and when Lyons, Pol and Gadgets went at it, you knew there'd be hell to pay.One particularly funny thing now, in retrospect, is that the US Armed Force's SOCOM pistol follows almost the same attributes as the Colt .45 that Konzak designed for Ironman. Silencer. Extended magazine. Tritium night sights. Indeed, the Konzak .45 is an improvement even over the HK Mark 23 SOCOM in that it has the 3-round burst mode. Still, it'd be nice to see Lyons going to work with an HK, after having Kissenger tune it up for 3-round bursts and locked-and-cocked only, natch.