Able Team: Tower of terror by L.R. Payne

Although listed as being from Don Pendleton (creator of Executioner series) and Dick Stiver, a ‘house name’ of Gold League, the author L.R. Payne has been credited with writing ‘Able Team: Tower of Terror’, the first in a spin-off series from the Executioner series.

Originally released back in 1982, ‘Tower of terror’ sees a terrorist Puerto Rican liberation group called FALN seize a Wall Street skyscraper that belongs to a global banking group. The authorities bring in the 'Able Team', a group of three tough men, to do what they can't - stop the terrorists, rescue the hostages, and safeguard the banking data held by the organisation. The last objective being the most important for some of the suits, as misuse or destruction of this data could pose a threat to the entire world, not to mention the end of the company. Oh, and they have to do all this on a strict timescale!

The book itself delivers on its promise thanks to an action-packed plot throwing in multiple explosions, terrorists, Vietnamese spies, and shady business dealings, but despite this for probably eighty percent of the book, it does it in a rather pedestrian way. While it may be entertaining, it is also shallow and lacks any real reader engagement. The action just happens and so gives you a rather passive experience on the whole. Similar to a throwaway movie that goes through the motions, capturing your interest briefly before moving on, yet you never really miss anything significant.

Part of the problem is that during this time, the ‘Able Team’ are just rushing around fighting and finding out who is behind it all. Like a police procedural, but lacking any real variation, character development, or social commentary. It really is just going around fighting and collecting small bits of information. To an extent it works, but the problem is that the book overworks it.

Now, things improve for the finale as the tension is ramped up and we reach the crux of the mystery - who is behind it and why. This part really works and when Payne lets the scenes breathe, then we get a glimpse of what this book could have been. Perhaps the authors’ own brief and time restrictions didn’t allow more of this.

In summary, while the action is well written, the story is poorly paced, and with little underneath to add any gravitas. Because of that significant flaw, I found my attention waning in certain parts and with little real investment in the situation, the team find themselves in resulting in a read I had to push myself through.

Overall, ‘Able Team: Tower of Terror’ was a damp squib for me, but there is enough to encourage a further read of the series.