Freedom Watch

Much better title after his last effort in this series resulting in a good read indeed. Didn't mind the references to Area 51 etc. here as no direct link is made with a UFO and some good writing to justify the storyline. As has been said Able Team get a good showing here which I think is occurring more frequently in the last ten or so titles in the series than what previously happened. Lots and lots of well written action scenes to keep you interested. I enjoyed it and if you decide to read it I hope you do too.

No, this is not Micahel Kasner's best book, but I still thought it was great. Plenty to do for Able Team, and more than enough action and suspense to satify this reader. Personally, I enjoyed the characterization of Phoenix Force in this book. What's wrong with them cracking jokes? It does happen from time to time and has since way back in Phoenix Force #1. Kasner has always kept up with the cutting edge of miltary tecnological advancements and though I am an ignorant fool and don't understand a heck of a lot about those sort of things, I do think they are pretty damn COOL. Maybe some of the gadgets are impractical and will never be used by the US Military, but, well...this is military FICTION, after all. And this is another great Michael Kasner adventure/thriller.

I'm really surprised that a lot of people didn't like this book. I enjoyed it. Kasner gave Able Team a lot of room to play and kill. This was good, as in the past, there were gripes how Able Team did baby-sitting, candy-ass missions instead of doing real work. There were lots that I enjoyed in this book.

You know what I really didn't like about Freedom Watch was the fact that it was embracing all this idiotic technology the Army is trying to make work. Light-bending camoflauge? Give me a fucking break. Its like when you watch Star Trek and everything is more advanced, yet reasonable in its advancement, you know what I mean. Yes, soldiers carry lasers, but they're still armed with fatigues, rifle, and grenades. Nothing like the ALOCS suit will ever come into use because its impractical. Yes, the OICW is probably going to be issued at some point in the future, but its a practical advancement. The techies these days don't seem to realize that they're not doing the country a favor by making this stuff. There's an actual project similar to the ALOCS called the Future Warrior 2025, otherwise known as Gen. Eric Shinseki's wet dream. Its aims to "make the warrior invincible" by providing him with light-bending camoflauge, a pod weapon with guided missiles, and self-healing capabilities. GIVE ME A BREAK! Infantryman will be as they have always be: rifle, grenades, knife, and fatigues. They, as if they were real, the Stony Man commandos would probably agree with me, DO NOT want this stuff. They want practical things like better communications and better boots.

Ya I have to agree as well the whole UFO, alien thing is getting old and starting to piss me off, i just wish the writers could think up some better stor-lines. And where was Mack?

I finished this today , and say it deserves a 7 out of 10. It's a fairly good read, in fact I LIKE the fact that this book doesn't have a shoot out every chapter! There seems to be action in the beginning and end , but not the middle! Also, no usual "the AT or PF go undercover to infiltrate the target", etc. The rocket scientist was a good ally, realistic too, since a commando would need that on site expert for the UFO. Two loose ends: 1) In the beginning of the book, PF is about to rescue some guy, then abort the mission......okay, so do they go back or not? Is this hostage languishing for the rest of his life in some hell hole? 2) There's obviously a lot we are not told about the Russian made UFO. I was really curious about how much they had from Area 51, and how they got it. Also, Brognola alludes to American UFO technology, but that's it. I wanted more info. I'm not that big on the X-Files theme to the book, don't get me wrong, I like X-Files, but not in Stony Man. Doesn't fit IMHO.

Ugh. Read this one right after 'Stinger', one of Kasner's earlier books. That one was a classic. This one? Not even close. Ho-hum plot, the writing's kinda sloppy, and there was an overall sense of indifference about the whole sorry enterprise. I don't know, maybe somebody told Kasner he could write these books in his sleep and he decided to give it a try. Gang, there are much better books in this series out there and, in all fairness, some of them are Kasner's. This, alas, is not his shining hour.

This book is just not like Kasner at all. It is full of grammatical and spelling errors, and it tries to make Phoenix Force appear to be the top jokesters of Stony Man (they're not. Pol and Gadgets are). Phoenix Force is pretty bland with their missions usually, and Freedom Watch tried to change that, but it just doesn't work.