Katana Blade

This was my first PF book, and I was generally pleased. The action, pacing, storytelling and parallel plot lines were very well done. Since I’m new to the series, I thought I’d be a little lost w/the characters, but the author introduces them, and pulls you into their minds and motivations in no time. Even after one book, I already feel like a PF veteran! I do have a couple of issues, though. The two most glaring were how the RPB goons captured McCarter in his hotel room, and how he eventually escaped from his prison cell. Basically, McCarter and the bad guys suddenly turned into bumbling idiots for plot purposes. Finally, the terrorists wanted to launch nuclear strikes on NATO targets to weaken the alliance. I didn’t see how something like that would cause it to weaken. I believe the opposite would happen. But that’s just my opinion. In any event, these issues made me drop this book down to eight stars, albeit it’s still a very good story to read.

I'm afraid this one wasn't so great. It started out all right, with the potential for twisting plots and intersting story lines, but none of it ever really comes together. Basically, terrorists steal a bunch of nukes, and attempt to use them to set off earthquakes. Since I'm not a geologist, I'm not going to comment on how plausible that plot device is. Now, stealing nukes is by far no easy task. It would be an extremely complex operation, with involvement by many parties, both on the inside and out, and, in fact, the book pulls this off nicely. But that's about it. By the middle of the book, everthing rushes together in an ambiguous way. There's a battle on Mamoth mountain, which was so confusing and choppy, I had to read it a second time to know what happened. Also, the tatctics used in the battle were sloppy and reminiscent of a GI Joe cartoon, not worthy of Able Team. The scenes after the battle were hard to put together too. This pattern continues for the rest of the book. Underneath it all, I think there was a potential for an interesting story, but all those distractions brought it down. Oh well, everyone writes a mediocre book every now and again. An artist can't pump out a masterpiece all the time. I still like the author, though. Cheers.

This is the second book, which I read from this author, and it was great. At first, I didn't know where the book was headed. There were a lot of scenes and elements, which I originally thought were unnecessary or even cumbersome. However, I ended up eating my words. By the middle of the story, all the plot elements and hooks converged nicely, and this pattern of excellent convergence continued throughout the rest of the story. We also get to learn much about Grimaldi, and his former realtionship, with a pop singer, made much of the story happen. Furthermore, the villan from Final Run, Karanov, returns and basically manipulates everyone he encounters for his own purposes, hence the title--Red Menace. Thankfully, in the end, he gets what's coming to him. Like the previous book, there are no all-out action scenes. But the plot twists, momentum and strong characterization make up for it. Finally, the ending was extremely moving. Grimaldi has to choose between being with woman he loves, and who he is. He chooses the latter. To a sad song...

Even though this one wasn't packed with action, it was still a very good read in the series. It explored how wacky religious cults warp their follwers' minds, and how corrupt those cults can be. We also got to see a more caring side to Lyons, and Able team in general. Though they can be blood thirsty avengers, they still do care passionately for the downtrodden. There are two action sequences: one in the middle of the story, and one in the end. Both scenes are well done and hard hitting. Only having two action scenes in an Able team book may seem a bit out of the box, but the story is so well written that it really didn't need anymore. The old enemy from the team's past was a nice suprise too. Great job by this author. I will definitely read more from him.