No Rules, No Referee

Phoenix Force #16

by Gar Wilson

A terrorist hit squad is bashing its way through the Bahamas like a hurricane, littering the vacation paradise with bodies. When Phoenix Force is called in as a cleanup crew, they head-on into a new and fearsome enemy known as MERGE, an international crime syndicate made up of Mafia, Colombian and Mexican crime networks.

While the tourists work on their tans, the Force gets down and dirty in the fun and sun.

Genres: Fiction, Action

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1985

About the author

Phoenix Force is a series of action-adventure novels first published in 1982 by American Gold Eagle publishers. It is a spin-off of the Executioner series created by Don Pendleton.

Phoenix Force is one of two neutralization teams working for Stony Man, a top-secret anti-terrorist organization. As with The Executioner, the Phoenix Force novels have been written by a succession of authors under the pseudonym Gar Wilson. In 1991, Gold Eagle combined Phoenix Force with another Executioner spin-off series, Able Team, and launched the Stony Man book series, which is still being published as of 2005.

Reviews

[Jim Dunlop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Phoenix Force hits the Bahamas after a senator is murdered there, which leads them to discover a gun and coke smuggling ring being run by the new criminal organization MERGE.

That’s all the effort I’m putting into this review and it’s about 10 times as much effort as the author seemed to put into this addition of Phoenix force.

I know William Fieldhouse wrote like 80% of these novels, but I feel like this one he didn’t even try to make an interesting story. Even Hal Brognola seems to downplay the missions importance himself at the beginning of the novel which sort of sets a tone for the whole book. Phoenix goes rampaging through the Bahamas, like a force of nature, disregarding any plans put forth by authorities there to go rampaging across paradise and their only tactic is to open fire and blast everyone apart with machine guns grenades, and of course McCarters crossbow bolts. Which is the good part, of course.

But in fact, there are some glaring mistakes in this book that took me completely out of it. One is a part with McCarter entering a casino undercover. Within one page the author calls McCarter Manning two different times. He actually replaces the characters name with a different character - it was sort of shocking. Another time he mentions how Katzenelenbogen puts on a ‘M-17’ gas mask - then a paragraph later calls it an ‘M-16’.

So apparently the copywriters and editors were off work the month when this Phoenix force came out.

It has your typical action, lots of shootouts and high octane action moments which actually feel a bit listless and overall it’s a pretty forgettable phoenix force novel.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to a 3.5, it's a solid read typical of the series and subgenre. Most of these have plots just to string together action scenes and this one has more battle scenes then most. However thin the plot is, it's actually not bad. It's easy to follow and does make some kind of sense. This time the team is in the Bahamas investigating a murdered congressman. Of course it ends up that it isnt just a local matter of terrorism but a new group called MERGE which had elements of the Mafia, the Corsicians, Columbians, and Mexican Mafia. They are together to use the islands as a mid way point to shipped drugs to the US.

Recommended for fans of the genre, this one is nothing new but readers of these know what to expect and this one delivers.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Force can't even go to a island paradise like the Bahama's without problems. The evil that rears it's head this time is MERGE. A crime syndicate with American mafia, Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. They set up a fake terrorist organization and kill a couple of US politicians which draws the attention of Phoenix Force. The action heats up as hot as the summer beaches in June.

Once again the book was penned by William Fieldhouse. I've said it before. I'll say it again. The man knows his action. This episode rolls along with very little hitches. Always makes you wish for a little more.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A terrorist hit squad is bashing it's way through the Bahamas like a hurricane, littering the vacation paradise with bodies. When Phoenix Force is called in as a cleanup crew, they run head on into a new and fearsome enemy known as MERGE, an International crime syndicate, made up of Mafia, Columbian and Mexican crime networks. While the tourists work on their tans, the Force gets down and dirty in the fu in the sun....

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spin off series from his Executioner books. This series follows several secondary characters that band together. Recommended