Customer Reviews

Area 51: The Truth

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been following this series along for some time now, this being the seventh volume. It is unashamedly an alien invasion, 'the truth is out there,' kind of story that makes no excuses for itself. As a result, the series has always managed to be a pleasant read even when the plot occasionally degenerates into a bit of paranoid silliness. After all, that is what makes this genre click. If a paranoid alien plot story is not what you want, consider yourself warned.

For most of the volumes, this one included, the primary secret enemy is an alien race called the Airlia. They have been on the earth for some 10,000 years, happily manipulating human events to suit their own needs. In fact, it turns out that there are two groups of Airlia in conflict with each other. Moreover, as 'The Truth' reveals there are even more fish in the stew than the Airlia and their minions. It seems that every time this series uncovers an artifact - the Ark, the Grail, Excalibur, there is another alien race hiding underneath of it.

In this final volume, the series 'hero,' Mike Turcotte, and his band of cohorts must rush about, cleaning up loose ends, solving mysteries, and saving the Earth. Rushing about is a bit of an understatement, as Mike starts out on the top of Mount Everest, jumping to safety, and ends on Mars with a final struggle to stop the Airlia (and others) from phoning home and asking for help. In between are the obligatory stops to Area 51, Stonehenge, and the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, 'The Truth' does, grudgingly, part with the truth - the last piece of the puzzle. But this is an anti-climax after all the thundering action that goes before.

In something this action oriented, it would be foolish to expect a lot of character development. In fact, Doherty spends the time to create good two-dimensional characters, and that is much more than many other authors in this genre feel obliged to provide. The only thing that has ever really irritated me about this series is that Doherty's narrative has a habit of jumping around in space and time. I have a reasonable tolerance for the chaos of a flashback driven narrative, but after seven volumes, this particular plot device wears a bit thin. Be warned that this series needs to be read in order it is going to make a lot of sense. Fortunately, it is well written enough to be enjoyable throughout.

Strap yourself in before you start reading this book! The action develops quickly and keeps at a furied pace all the way through. All the blanks are filled in as you learn "The Truth".
The author ties it all together pretty well. I liked the book, it is a good read and it was a nice ending to the series.

I have been reading the series from the start and the final chapter does a very nice jobe of tying it all up. It is a book that seems to move at a incredible paces. You never get bogged down in an overly long chapter with so many events happening at once in the story. I very much enjoyed the explainations of all the mysteries laid throughout the series. And the somewhat open ended finish leaves room for Mr. Doherty to revisit the series again. Personally, I was ready for a final resolution and Mr. Doherty did not disappoint.

The strong point of the series, and this book as well, is that the author works interesting tidbits of history and science into the novel. The book is sort of like a ufological Tom Clancy novel in that respect.

Read this book and you will learn about Nikola Tesla, volcanoes and Easter Island.

On the other hand, this book is a lot harder to follow than the original novel which set off this series. I found myself skimming the endless action involving the aliens and lingering on the interesting passages. There are a number of well-written scenes with vivid imagery, such as the frozen mountain climbers on a ledge.

I will probably read other books in this series, especially if I am at an airport looking for something to read on a flight. Just don't expect to find literature equal to that of Ray Bradbury or Asimov in this series. That is not its purpose.

If you enjoy military and sci-fi then you need to read the Area 51 series. You can tell the author wasn't kidding when he says he is ex Special Forces by the correct military details and descriptions he provides throughout the book. All of the Area 51 books are nonstop page turners and are a great in-depth story line with a perfect ending. I highly recommend starting with his first book, Area51 and then move through the series so you understand the characters and the overall objective they are trying to reach. The books can be read out of order and still make complete sense but for the max enjoyment start at the beginning.

The Area 51 series of books are some of the best reading I have ever completed. OUTSTANDING!!!

I have read all of the area 51 books and have loved them all. This was by far the best because it answers all of your questions and leaves the opening for a book after. I was shocked to find out, what Lisa Duncan is!!!!! The book had a great ending I only wished that it had been a little longer and had a longer ending battle with both Aspasia and Artad. The thing I like most about the area 51 series is that it is orginal and keeps you guessing all the way through, it is by far the greastest book in the series. I also liked the fact that the Swarm finnaly came into it. That is why I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Bob Mayer (writing under the pen name of Robert Doherty) has taken many a reader on a wild, amazingly adrenaline-pumping ride over the course of his Area 51 novels, and everything is finally brought together and explained in this seventh and final book of the series. I have no idea why I waited so long to read this book, having been enthralled by the earlier books as I read them one after the other a while back, and it did take a little time to regain my bearings. The author always manages to provide a lot of pertinent background information early on in each novel, and thank goodness for that. To say these books are action-packed and full of twists and turns barely begins to convey the sense of non-stop events, discoveries, missions, deaths, and surprises that pack these books almost as densely as a neutron star. By this point, there are a fairly significant number of players in the game of earth's future: the Airlia alien race who has been on earth for millennia, the Airlia traitors who broke off and formed their own faction (and it remains murky at all times as to which side is which), the leaders of the Airlia factions and their "shadows," Watchers and Ones Who Wait who have spent untold centuries doing just what their names imply, a mysterious and absolutely world-threatening race called the Swarm, and now yet another alien race steps to the plate. The course of the saga stretches from one end of human history to the other.

The Third World War has ended, leaving massive casualties across the entire globe, but the alien threat, while diminished, remains. Mike Turcotte, the special forces soldier turned budding intergalactic hero, must first find a way off the top of Mount Everest, where he has secured the legendary sword Excalibur, and fight yet another day against not only the aliens still present on earth but their dangerous minions rebuilding a huge array on the surface of Mars. Among other things, he must also rescue and overcome his confusion with his increasingly mysterious former boss and lover Lisa Duncan, save entire populations from the little plots of savage revenge unleashed by retreating Airlia forces, and come to terms with a deep mystery about himself, one which threatens to prove his very own memories a dark lie.

The nonstop action in these pages is relentless and absorbing, but this final book just seems a bit rushed to me at certain points. With all Turcotte and his colleagues have been through over the course of a couple of thousand pages of story already, a few major tasks just seem a little too easy this time around. The proclaimed Truth is not all that shocking, either, although it did add a dimension I had not put much thought into. Still, this is definitely a book all Area 51 fans must read; if you've gone this far in the series, you are not going to stop now, and Doherty's always frenetic, action-packed storyline will have you wishing that the series would in fact never end. Fear not, though. This remarkable series of books may come to a conclusion here, but the Area 51 saga, in a different guise, is in the works, with the recently published Area 51: Nosferatu leading the way.

It was a daunting task to wrap up all 7 books in the series, but Bob managed to do it quite nicely. Yes, the book was too short and seemed rushed at points -- like he had to meet the publisher's deadline, or something. But it was, nonetheless, an enjoyable and fast-paced read. As for the new Area 51 series, "Nosferatu", I think I'll start something different. I had a good experience with these books (except for The Mission), and I'll leave it at that. Thanks again, Bob, for the fun.

I've read every one of these books since they started with the original Area 51. Robert Doherty (aka Bob Mayer) does a good job of reminding me in every book what happened in the previous ones. This being the seventh and last book in the series, does an excellent job of closing the whole story of Mike Turcotte's valiant efforts to save the world. And at the end, when The Truth is revealed, it's not too much of a surprise, the books have been leaking the information the entire time. Thanks, Bob, for these past few years...