G.I. Joe: Above & Beyond

By Max Allan Collins

IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE, THERE ARE MANY HEROES. Part of an elite covert military team, Lieutenant Duke Hauser and his buddy Ripcord Weems are dispatched to the small oil-rich South American country of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345516087
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Yo Joe!

This book is VASTLY superior to the movie. It fleshes out the story of Rex Lewis quite a bit that was left out of the movie, makes Duke a far better character. Ripcord ... well, he is the character that Wayans portrayed which isn't a good thing. Gung-ho and Stalker are in this story (Stalker is mentioned briefly but in doing so it follows the Snake-Eyes origin from the Marvel comics). Overall, this is a very "GI JOE" story, with lots of action, lots of background on Duke and Ripcord and the Joe team. MARS is only peripherally in this story, as the research they are doing is the main plot line. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot.

This promises to be better than the movie

I have been a Joe fan for 27 years. When I heard a movie was on the way, well...excited doesn't begin to cover it. Then I heard of all of the "modifications" done to both characters and premise by the Hollywood gods and that excitement deflated. Fortunately, there is this new novel by Max Allan Collins and Co. That made me feel a bit better. If you are a die-hard Joe fan, you may very well dislike the changes that were made. Keep in mind that this is not the fault of the author. Instead, enjoy the book's smooth prose style and its thrilling pace. Plus, Collins writes this far more in spirit with that of an actual military team. The references are accurate and the reader gets the distinct sense that people die doing this kind of work. I'm not so sure we'll get that from the film. Think of it this way: "Above and Beyond" promises to be to the movie what Larry Hama's comics were to the cartoon series.