The A-Team

by Charles Heath

Amy Allen, a reporter, hires the A-Team, a group of mercenaries, to rescue a colleague who disappeared in Mexico

Genres: Media Tie In

Mass Market Paperback

First published October 20, 1983

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

After newspaper reporter Al Massey is captured in San Rio Blanco by local druglord Malavida Valdez, his colleague - Amy Allen - seeks out The A-Team to rescue him. Agreeing to help, they travel to Acapulco and go up against Valdez - and his cohort Colonel Flores - and, in the process, help free up the townspeople too. This novelisation is based on the pilot of the TV show and follows the script faithfully, whilst also adding in neat little touches of colour though not too much character depth. Hannibal comes across well - Heath perfectly captures Peppard’s humour and steel - and BA is much more human, whilst I was able to read Face and see him as Dirk Benedict, rather than Tim Dunigan, who played the role in the pilot. Murdock, on the other hand, does suffer a bit - the other characters refer to him as being insane (and the visual gag, where he walks through the plane and Face has to return him to the cockpit, falls a bit flat) and the humour Dwight Schultz brought to the role doesn’t translate, which may not be entirely Heath’s fault - Murdock was going to be dropped until audience reaction showed him to be the most liked character. Amy reads well, the action is well done, the scam is explained, some of the elements are bit darker than the TV version and, above all else, it’s good fun. Competently written, amusing and quickly paced, this is an entertaining read that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you like The A-Team (and 80s novelisations), then this is well worth a read.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent treatment of the pilot episode. I managed to buy all of the books that were published under the A-Team logo and I am reading them in order. They are not hard reads but it takes me back to the days when I would lay on the floor and watch the adventures of that band of heroes. I am looking forward to some of the unique adventures to come.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per series (etc.) and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)


First time read the author's work?: N/A

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good adaptation of the pilot episode of the show. Adds some flavor to the story and extra scenes.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The A Team #1: “The A Team” by Charles Heath (Ron Renald). This first novel spends all but about fifty pages of the book introducing the A Team members, and the people involved in the story, as well as the set up. Taking a page from “The Magnificent 7”, modern bandits are harassing villages demanding goods from them. When newspaper reporter, Al Massey hears about the problem he goes to San Rio Blanco to get the story for his paper, but the bandit chief, Malavida Valdez learns what he’s doing; he rides into town demanding the villagers turn Massey over to him. The reporter tries to escape, but is captured, and now another reporter – and friend of Massey’s - Amy Allen wants to find him. The newspaper refuses to do anything so she hires the A Team. There is a lot going on in the first part of the book, but the A Team doesn’t arrive in San Rio Blanco until the last fifty pages and the battle between the A Team and the bandits begins in earnest. This was a fun story, with plenty of action, and captured the old TV series very well. I remembered some scenes in the book from the actual episode, though it has been many years since I watched them. The writing is good, and the pace is excellent, making for a fast read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I did really enjoy the story, I thought that it did lose some of the characters' traits that I have become so accustomed to. I didn't really like the way that Murdock was portrayed, and while I do understand that he is probably one of the most difficult characters to write, I just didn't like the way he came off in the text. That being said, I think that the writer did a great job with the settings. Every place he described felt very vibrant and real. I also did enjoy the scenes where the author was allowed to delve a little deeper in the background of the characters. Also, I loved how I could envision Dirk Benedict in this role since he wasn't the actor playing Face in the first episode. Overall, I flew through this story, and I would recommend any A-Team fan to pick this up just for the additions it brings to the first episode.

Video review: https://youtu.be/vSV1A9_iHuU

[J.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child of the 80's, I grew up watching "The A-Team." It's still one of my all-time favorite television shows, as unrealistic as it is.

This book is a novelization of the pilot episode (which, for trivia fans, did NOT star Dirk Benedict as Templeton "Faceman" Peck). It's fast-paced and follows the action accurately, but also provides some character detail that is naturally missing from the screen.

As I'm still a fan of the series, I'm sticking this on my "keepers" shelf. One day whoever manages my estate will make a killing off eBay!

[Peteralan]

i have read this book before and i liked the story