Stony Man · #85

Hell Dawn

by Tim Tresslar · October 2006

8.7 / 10 average from 3 rated reviews

Forged in the hellfires of combat, the paramilitary operatives of the covert organization known as Stony Man are the President's first response team when crisis strikes. Unencumbered by red tape or protocol, they've got no margin for error. If Stony Man can't stop it, most likely nobody else can- especially now, as they race to halt the release of a computer virus before hell on earth becomes a reality... Cyberterror. Project: Cold Earth is a malignant computer worm capable of destabilizing nuclear reactors to the point of meltdown. It's the brainchild of a CIA freelancer who's become a high-value target for the good guys and the bad. Now the virus is in the wrong hands, along with its creator, and everybody -the hunters, the buyers and the sellers- are crowding the front lines. It's a desperate countdown for Stony Man, a nightmare made in the U.S. but poised to take down the rest of the globe

Reviews (3)

quicksilver7 10/10 November 29, 2009

I've been away from Gold Eagle for awhile and have been reading the regular Grind from Barnes and Noble. I have to say this is Top Shelf. It's real limitation is that Gold Eagle's limited it to only 348 pages. This baby runs and feels like some of the action novels I have read. I was pleaseantly surprised. Good from start to finish.

ice_cracked 8/10 February 28, 2009

Totally agree with the previous review this is a really nice title to read in the series. Interesting plot and an excellent character introduced namely Fox with relationship ties to Aaron going back many years. Some very well written actions scenes within this title as the story unfolds towards the climax. Gadgets goes down at the start of the title with multiple gunshot wounds and doesn't return until the last couple of pages and features in one of the all time classic ending comments of a title. Highly recommended reading here.

Carboni 8/10 October 30, 2006

Meet Gabriel Fox. He’s an unorthodox punk who created a computer worm named Cold Earth. He is also an old friend of Aaron Kurtzman. He is also the target of a world-wide scavanger hunt, of shady organizations who seek him and his wonderful toy. The most interesting twist about this hunt: the creator is much more interesting than the worm. He is an unlikely anti-hero type, not a fighter or an idealist, he is living, breathing personality. The main cast of the Stony Man series also seem to have an infusion of personality. They act, behave and trash talk like life-long colleagues and professionals. Not only do we get to see Able Team International, but we see Kurtzman International as well. He is given a lot more to do. I liked the structure of the novel. The first hundred or so pages is an exclusively an Able Team mission. When they realize the pandora’s box possibilities (realistically, copies are made along the way), Phoenix Force is deployed. The second act of the novel is set aside exclusively for their mission in Africa. The final act is a series of payoffs. Both teams try to eradicate all traces of Cold Earth. The action ranges from detailed to sketchy. The influences of John Woo are evident. Almost every character, established or new, are armed with pistol combos. McCarter sports dual Browning Hi-Powers. Even Blancanales carries two Beretta 93-Rs. There also editing flaws. Lots of misspelled names, continuity references. Curiously, a rare time frame reference is made. Kurtzman apparantly met Fox when he was fourteen years old, right before the Stony Man project. A chapter or two later, we learn that Fox is twenty-three. This implies Stony Man is less than nine years old at the time of this novel (instead of what, twenty-five?) My guess is that the editors forgot to excise them. I blame them. “Hell Dawn” has a lot of things going for it. I appreciate its intelligence, making what could have been "by the numbers, into something special to offer.