Tooth and Claw

Phoenix Force #20

by Gar Wilson

Tooth And Claw by Gar Wilson released on Sep 24, 1985.

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 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

[Wayne]

The KGB and the Soviet army are fed up at being beaten at every turn by Phoenix Force. The decide to come to America to fight them on there own patch. Problem is, they just know the identity of one of the Force members, the Canadian, Gary Manning. They want to capture and torture him into providing the whereabouts of the other four. They turn the ambush into a bloody mess and Manning escapes.

From here on out it's a game of cat and mouse with the climax taking place on a remote mountain in Montana. The final battle, as well as all the other action was impressive. Once again William Fieldhouse doesn't disappoint.

[Jim Dunlop]

So it’s the summer of 1987 and the 12 year old me walks into a comic/used book store in Leamington, Ontario to buy something to read. Little did I know how things were all going to change when I decided on this novel as my first Gold Eagle - men’s action book. The cover sold me, of course, Gil Cohens awesome wrap cover featuring Calvin James front and center with an M-16/M-203.

It only got better as I read it, this book features an ass kicking CANADIAN! The fast paced action, the descriptive gun love, the unstoppable power of the 5 man commando squad as they’re pitted against a hundred crack Soviet troops- this book had it all and I was totally hooked from page one! (Actually the gun info back inside cover was the first thing I read - still hooked!)

Now, over 40 years later I can say made a great choice in selecting this edition of PF, it’s a fantastic read still today. It’s different for a PF for a few reasons too - it’s William Fieldhouse’s last contribution to the series for awhile after writing a majority of the first 20 books- and there’s no real mission in this one except to survive as the team becomes targets of a Soviet kill squad.

I was a pretty perceptive 12 year old of if I do say so myself!

[Tim Deforest]

A KGB hit squad, supplemented by highly-trained paratroopers, goes after Phoenix Force. Once the good guys learn they are targets, they work to turn the tables on the Russians and lure THEM into a trap.

The action scenes and the fast-paced story are good. I think what raises this one above average is the amount of time spent looking at the situation from the point-of-view of the Russians. There is tension among their leaders, with different levels of willingness to sacrifice their troops to get the job done. It's rare that Phoenix Force goes up against bad guys who have any admirable traits, but there's a few here who aren't as blindly ruthless as the others. One particular Bulgarian officer, who spent the book trying to minimize casualties among his men while snarking about Communisim, is downright likeable. The tension among the KGB and Russian army leaders adds spice to the story.

[Josh Hitch]

Probably closer to a 3.5, was written fairly well. Does a good job of explaining the backgrounds of the Force and some of their enemies, so you are not lost if it was your first peek into the series. This time it's their old foes the KGB, who from some luck find a name of a member from Phoenix Force. With that they decide to run an assault to kidnap him so they can get info on the other members and take out the whole squad. However the Force turns the tables on them and though outgunned they go after the Russian forces that are after them.

I can easily recommend for fans of the Men's Adventure genre. It is fast paced and has everything you need. Great battles and jist enough background and story to get you to the next battle.

[Holly Stone]

The Force is once again butting heads with their old nemesis The KGB over a hundred soviet troops have made their way to Texas by way of Georgia where they took out a quasi paramilitary group after clashing with the Force in Northern Saskatchewan Canada and not killing the one member they managed to identify Gary Manning the Canadian member of Phoenix the hunt is on and so is the war will the 5 members of Phoenix Force be able to survive an onslaught of the Russian Bear??? these a quick somewhat gory reads another solid installment in the Phoenix series

[Kenneth Roland]

The crew is being hunted on their own turf. Standard fair for these types of books. Nothing great and nothing wrong with it either

[Little Timmy]

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