Eye of the Ruby

Terrific read here one of the do yourself a favour types to read. Good overall plot with a storyline I thought a bit strange as it is in two halves which made the title read like two mini titles within the same cover. So many things to love about this, the number of good characters introduced, all of the Teams get equal sharing here, exciting ongoing storyline, suspense builds and builds, excellent descriptions of technical matters on whatever is going on in the story. Working with their enemies namely Triad gangs leads to some excellent scenes with the standout when Mack comes face to face with the Godfather of one Triad who managed to survive an Executioner blitz years before knows him as the Executioner but also his real name and then offers something which the big guy just can't refuse. ACTION SCENES this is what we read these books for folks and this title excels some of the writing during these sections blew me away. Normally when reading a title by this author you get a seamless uninterrupted ride which just glides through taking you on the journey and so is this. Absolutely loved it Highly recommended.

A valiant Stony Man effort, “The Eye of the Ruby” was a great quick read. It had well thought out action sequences and delivered quite a few exhilarating moments. I am a huge fan of Stony Man novels that also involve Mack, but focus primarily on Able Team and Phoenix Force, that is the first of my two minor complaints. This adventure seemed more like a Super Bolan, that featured Able Team and Phoenix Force. If I had to break down the novel, I would say that Mack was featured in about 40-50% of the whole, Able Team and Phoenix Force were about equal, with about 15% each, Stony Man Farm, and the “villains” were predominantly featured in about 10% of the novel respectively. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Mack teaming up with AT and PF, but most of the time Mack was styled as the “lone wolf”. My second problem was that the “Eye of the Ruby” story arc didn’t begin until the last half to quarter of the book. Now on to the positive aspects of the novel, I found this to be a very action packed novel, even by Stony Man standards. The fighting sequences were well thought out and paced throughout the entire book. And once the Ruby storyline was brought in to play, the consequences for failure were immense, either PF and MB had to take out the Nuclear Reactor powering the laser weapon, or WWIII would begin with a mushroom cloud if the United States had to use its trump card. Second, Able Team, and Phoenix Force when used were used correctly, meaning that both teams strengths and each respective character’s traits, skills and mannerisms were used. For example, Lyons was the typical hard case, Pol kept him in line, and Gadgets used his infiltration and computer skills. Able Team kicked in doors state side, while Mack used his triad connections to break multiple leads down in Taiwan and China, and Phoenix Force used their cover story for all it was worth, and followed Mack and McCarter through to the end. Both Mack and the teams were nailed down pat by the author. Third I loved the Triad connections that were used on both ends by AT and MB w/ PF and the supporting cast of characters that helped AT and PF throughout were well written and used to the best of their abilities. Finally, the enemy was well written, from every foot soldier to the leaders. The enemy tactics and the laser weapon were used liberally and creatively. And the blatant disregard for innocent lives and private property that the laser destroyed, helped make the reader loathe the enemy. Overall I will have to say that this one gets a passing grade and my seal of approval.

Just an average book. I thought all the Stony Men were used fairly, but I was miffed at the "Ruby" plotline being brought in about halfway through. The final battle probably could have been stretched out to give the book more of a punch. The overall book lost a lot of it's luster because of the quick finale.

This one is cool -- lots of action, suspense, good character usage and development.Write more like these, please!!!

Eye of the Ruby is a memorable one. Well first off Mack has to get some help from an old mob enemey of his who's lucky enough to live through is old war. Also there's a lot of high-tech weapons in this one. Like a laser that could take out a stealth plane. Also the setting towards the end is pretty good.

The only thing that could have made this particular adventure better would have been the Stony Crew to hire on John Trent as a local translator for the Chinese incursion. Still, Mack working with the old mobster, and fullfilling an ancient prophecy is just too darn cool. They don't make 'em this good anymore.