Condition Hostile

OK only half way through this book and it's just OK. I agree with most of the other reviews, tired and old plot line, cookie cutter bad guys and such. So how does a drug king pin become the first entity in the world of stealthing satelites, a little far fetched, and the big one for me is when PF gets to their safe house in Bangkok who's the first one to grab a beer out of the fridge? Rosario????? Since when was he ever a part of PF, bad spelling, grammar, flat plot lines even tried and tired bad guys I can accept but not investing enough to get the homes teams straight, bad form.

Ordinary title here with absolutely nothing new or inovative and a use of flogged to death plot/story lines leads to some dull reading. The drug kingpin to be taken down is this time a chinese tong leader who is setting up a drug pipeline through the golden triangle out of Thailand. Yawn! Mack and the Team join up with a Russian team and it is time to rattle the cages of the opposition but the Russians take it on ? Yawn! Everything plods on and on and what can the author do? What about a (Mike Newton) kidnap of a female somehow connected with the big guy who has to be rescued? So the attack on the hardsite of the drug kingpin is put on hold whilst the big guy slips in and saves the hostage and everyone is safe and happy. Yawn! There is vastly better stuff in this series than this.

After having read a dozen or so Executioner novels, this was my first Stony Man novel and I thought it was highly entertaining. It was extremely well-written and I enjoyed the episodic nature of the Stony Man format. It made for a quick and enjoyable read. I agree the female spy's sexuality was handled a bit clumsily, but I don't read these novels for the romantic content; I read them for the action and this novel was pretty much non-stop action.

I always believe that every author writes at least one bad book, and in my opinion this is Michael Kasners bad one. Compared to other Kasners that I have read this one was awful. So where do I begin? To start with the characters were as wooden as they possible could be, the dialogue stiff as a board. Bolan's dialogue could easily have been given to any character in the book, and nobody would have been any wiser. The villains were cardboard cutouts, just waiting around to be shot. The head villains were just plain dumb. The Stony Men were equally dumb. Bolan allies himself with the Russians early on in the book, and doesn't raise an eyebrow when the Russians start planting carbombs in the middle of the streets of Bangkok to take out Big Gold Liu's property. Yeah, right. And the prose was just as stilted as the dialogue. Worse, a great many things were repeated, either in dialogue or in the story line. At times I wondered if I was reading M:I2, book of the film. Bangkok was a generic location. It could have been anywhere in the world, it would have made no difference. An author doesn't have to visit such a location to be able to give the reader a feel for the exoctic location. Other recent novels that have featured Bangkok did give a feel for the Orient. With Condition Hostile there was nothing. Why were all the Russians insistent that Bolan have sex with Marita? Bolan wisely declines; after all it seems that the entire Red Army had had sex with her at one time or another, from generals to conscripts. However, the thing that annoyed me most was that Bolan was really intergrated into Stony Man. No Arms-Length Alliance here. Several times he asks permission to go after Big Gold Liu (what a dumb name) and only does so once Brognola has granted permission. Ugh! Kasners other novels such as Warhead and Conflict Imperative have stood out, but this one really falls along the wayside. Sorry Michael.

Worthy effort that showcased Able a lot, which is always a good thing. Although, I felt their climatic battle was a little forced and farfetched. (A soccer team?) Bolan and Phoenix in the jungle was passable, with the patented Kasner air/missile strike the highlight. I felt the plot of having the Taliban was a bit dated now, but I guess when he wrote it, they were probably still in control.

Michael Kasner has written a well paced, enjoyable book. What I liked was Able Team in great action scenes, but also doing the wise cracking, bs your way thru anything routine like Beverly Hills Cop. Mack and PF teaming up with the Spetznaz worked out quite well, and I really like the femme fattle , Marita, who comes across like that hot European chick in American Pie. Kasner whets our appetite making us think Mack is gonna hook up with this hotties, but alas, doesn't . Villians were good, and plot was well paced. A definite thumbs up.

Even though I'am only half way through the book I have to say that I'am enjoying it alot. Sure there are some slow spots like any other book. But it is cool to see the former KGB and Mack Bolan working together even though Mack does not trust them completely. But what do you expect in the alphabet soup game that our goverments play on each other. The only problem is that Yakov Katzenelebogen has not been heard from in this book, perhaps he will show up later. We will have to see. Signing off for now Arlette arlettepixley@aol.com