Atlantic Scramble

This was not a page turner, but not a chore to read either. The two big scenes are around a raid on a military base and aqua assault on a submarine. I like the dialogue and action scenes, and the prologue was really good too. I did like that as the 3rd book in the series, PF said it was their 3rd mission together. Not a bad book at all, but if you don't read this entry, it's no big deal. Seven out of ten, maybe even a 6.5. I notice this author didn't write any more PF novels.

Wow. Exciting adventure. The first 2 books were kind of bland. This entry puts the series on a good track. Good chase scenes on the atlantic ocean. And I liked the Navy's involvement. I thought the mind control of of U.S military personnel was frightening. This book is definitely an 8 star effort. The characters were better written than in the first 2 books I especially liked the first chapter. It was nice to get to know the team a lot little better. I'll say it again good adventure.

After the disappointing predecessor to this work, I didn't know what to expect from Phoenix Force #3. The reviews on here were very good, so I was hoping for a very strong read. Unfortunately, I felt a lot of the book was in a similar vein to the rather poorly written Guerilla Games. This book suffered the first nine or so chapters. Like Guerilla Games it is slow and plodding and not much happens at all. Thankfully by around Chapter 10 things really start to pick up and get going. The final half of the book is solid, enjoyable action which is why I'm willing to give it 6 starts. I just wish the whole book had been this solid! The supporting characters are once again virtually non existent. The villains are cardboard. Just some names thrown on the page. Luckily, due to the well written action scenes in the final half of the book, this is as not as big a problem as it was in book #2, but it is kind of annoying. I'm really hoping to get some interesting characters in the Phoenix Force line sooner or later.

The third straight decent book right out of the gate in the PF series. After being a little disappointed with #2, I really enjoyed this one. I'd list it as the best of the first 3. Ramirez does a great job of creating some very detestable adversaries. The scenes in which they wreck havoc amongst the US servicemen creates a disdain that sets the stage for pulling for PF to intervene. Intervene they do! Bolan's team is brought in to recover a state-of-the-art gun before it gets into the hands - permanently - of Libyan terrorists. To do so, they quite impressively track the terrorists to a sub headed for Cairo. One of my favorites scenes is when Raf & Manning submerge to bring the submarine up to the surface. It is written very well, seems believable, and is the only way the PF could accomplish the mission of stopping the terrorists and recovering the weapons unharmed. As with the 1st book, the author did a great job of providing history for the animosity between Yak and the lead villain, Gahzawi. Nothing like the ending scene concluding with emptying 32 rounds into a corpse.

Terrific read which as previously said gets going when the ship is identified and located. The it is hang on for the ride. The action scenes on the ship were fine reading and then comes the sub. How it is stopped and forced to surface and what happens when it is boarded by the team oh yeah some excellent stuff. Recommended reading in this series.

This one is much better than the first 2 in the series, and is the best of the Ramirez books.

I liked this book more than the two previous Phoenix Force stories. Maybe the attack on the World Trade Center and the loss of innocent lives makes me like this book more than I would have 2 weeks ago. I don't know but I found myself very satisfied with the tale of Phoenix Force destroying evil extremist Muslim terrorists. The book starts with some story building, moves into some marginally interesting action for chapters 3, 4 and 5 and then settles into a prolonged search and chase phase. When the action begins again with a night boarding and assault on a terrorist held ship at sea the book starts to really get good. This action sequence moves better and seems more intense than the action earlier in the book. But it isn't until the last action with the attack on the terrorists sub that this book becomes an 8 star effort. From the underwater demolition sequence filled with tension, through the entry into the sub and all the way to the death of the last evil terrorist I thought this was as good an action sequence as I've read in the last 20 or so books. The characters are again well defined and different enough to be easily recognizable and remembered without it seeming staged or conscious. Once again they are a fun group to watch and in this book, for the first time, they really do control the outcome of the story and are the primary protagonists. The villains of this book are evil cowardly Islamic extremist terrorists. These are villains I loved to see destroyed and I make no apology for it. If the rest of this book was as good as chapters 14, 15 and 16 this would be a 9 or maybe a 10 star rating. As it is, I'm giving the 8 stars for those chapters. Without that great action, this would be a 5.

I enjoyed this one a lot. Big improvement over the previous two. A lot of action.

This was a fantastic book with lots of action involving all members of the force equally.

This one was a real disappointment. The villians were cliche versions of Arabs, the plot was completely laughable and the prose was so purple that it almost glowed. Not a keeper.