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(More customer reviews)This second novel in the Area 51 series is another action-packed, suspenseful read. The story begins where the first novel ended. The familiar characters thought their problems would be over once they brought down Majic-12 and succeeded in averting disaster in the form of an alien attack; in fact, their problems have just begun. The "guardian" discovered under Easter Island has sent out a message into space, and very soon scientists detect a reply message coming from--ta da, the Cydonia region of Mars. This story starts a little slow, hampered somewhat by the need for the author to refresh the memories of those having read the first book. The message from Mars says the aliens are coming to earth with peaceful intentions, but Mike Turcotte, Lisa Duncan, Professor Nabinger, and Kelly Reynolds must determine if that is true. New alien sites are being discovered, with the two most important being in an ancient Chinese mountain tomb and in Africa's Great Rift Valley. Our heroes rush all over the planet, gaining access to the two main alien sites by way of some thrilling commando-raid actions. They get some assistance from an entirely new secret group called STAAR, a group even Majic-12 knew nothing about. Racing to get more information, our heroes must determine whether or not the aliens on their way from Mars are indeed the friendly ancient astronauts who helped save the earth thousands of years earlier or if they are members of the rebel group that mutinied against the ancient mission and remain intent on destroying our planet.
With this book, the standard type of government conspiracy ideas give way to novel new suggestions and possibilities. The reader joins the characters in trying to figure out who everyone is, who they are working for, and whether or not their intentions are peaceful. The addition of a new ultra-secret group beyond Majic-12 is complicated by the fact that the members appear and act differently than normal human beings. Some readers may not like the final few chapters because the reader is being constantly thrown back and forth between different events, but I felt this did much to add to the suspense of the concluding pages. I most enjoyed the description of covert forces activities; I have no way of knowing how true to life the author's descriptions are, but they do engross the reader in their details (especially when the inevitable major problems pop up to endanger the missions). After a slow start, the author really puts his hooks into you by the halfway point, making this a book you don't want to put down. It doesn't really matter that the whole future of earth is in the hands of a special forces officer, archaeologist, and political appointee of a President who is rarely heard from in the story, or that a lowly reporter has basic carte blanche access to the heart of the ultra-secret Area 51 headquarters. The author knows how to tell a story, and he continually injects mystery and suspense into a story that could easily have become stale in the hands of a lesser writer. Two books into the series, the story continues to grow even more interesting and enjoyable.
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Area 51: The ReplyArea 51 was the most secret place in America. But it was only one piece in a puzzle that stretched from Egypt's Pyramids to the mysterious face on Mars...Part of a plan begun 5,000 years ago by those who had been here before. And are coming back.When scientist Lisa Duncan and Special Forces officer Mike Turcotte uncovered the stunning truth about Area 51--a "training area" on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada--they opened up a Pandora's box kept hidden from the American public for fifty years.What they uncovered explained decades of UFO sightings--and the most baffling mysteries of history from the Great Pyramid to Easter Island.But these findings were only the beginning. Now a signal had come in from outer space: our first contact with extraterrestrials. The message said they were coming. It didn't say they had been here before...and left something behind. But what waited deep within the Rift Valley of Ethiopia and inside an ancient Chinese tomb would determine Earth's fate. The dawning of a new age. Or the destruction of us all... Robert Doherty is a pseudonym for a bestselling writer of military suspense thrillers. He is also the author of Area 51 and The Rock, and is currently working on a third novel in the Area 51 series, entitled Area 51: The Mission.
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