This novel did demonstrate that the author had lost some of his focus, at least to begin with. It starts with a good idea about nukes linked up to a radio transmitter on the president's heart, and evil soldiers hunting him down within an air base in order to stop the transmitter setting off the nukes. But I had some trouble understanding where the tension laid, especially when the lead bad guy could detonate the nukes at any time. So hunting the president was like a game, but it lacked tension because in the end, the lead bad guy just sat around watching the game rather than taking part. This bad guy is called Caesar Russell, and don't ask me what motivates him to orchestrate this plot. I was barely reminded over the course of the book what his deal is. There are hints: a virus is involved, created at the air base's underground labs, and this virus targets those with a particular skin colour. Perhaps this racism could've been delved into more strongly initially - I was really baffled almost the whole way through. There're the nukes situated around America ready to go off; there's the Chinese space shuffle plot; and there's the African virus plot. Just too confusing. And the villain's motivations being unclear, it seems the author forgot to give Captain Schofield, our hero, the proper motivation too. There's a boy in the story called Kevin and his blood has the anti-virus, but why oh why does Schofield focus on retrieving this boy constantly? I would've thought one boy meant little compared to the millions of Americans threatened by the nukes. It just seems like weak characterisation, and I groaned when Schofield said, "What kind of world do we live in if we can't protect one boy first?" Holy crap, protect the boy? Instead of millions of Americans first? Yeah, right. I didn't like that, and the only reason the author creates this terrible motivation is to extend the action scenes.I was totally lost when the first major action scene erupted. It involved advanced aircraft parked in an underground hangar, and the good guys hiding in a plane, then driving it around like maniacs, shooting all the bad guys. I mean, I do enjoy mindless violence, the video game sort, but it didn't work this time. The purpose of the action is unclear. It seems the author just wanted explosions and that's it. And the reason I'm complaining is because nothing is explained about the enemy soldiers that Schofield is killing. Who are they? What country do they belong to? I don't know. But Schofield is bent on protecting the president ... when really, the lead bad guy should be the focus ... because that guy could detonate the nukes whenever. However, the action scenes get worse! Schofield foolishly races away from the air base on an underground train in order to help the anti-virus kid, and then there's this massively pointless speedboat chase in Lake Powell, and it includes advanced helicopters, and guess what? It results in nothing. The boy is returned to the air base (?), then Schofield returns to the air base (?), then the boy goes to another air base a few kilometres away, and Schofield never actually speaks to the boy, and he goes empty-handed throughout all these pursuits. The book, as you're probably aware by now, needed more logic and intelligence. I just couldn't connect with the situation, and even the president in the story is a hollow non-character, shuffled about by Schofield and has no name or personality. Jeez. In the end, this was only a mildly enjoyable outing. It did get better towards the end, where I actually appreciated things more and could understand the plot. Yes, it was all a game orchestrated by Caesar Russell to humiliate the president on live TV (finally, a clear explanation/recap). I once emailed the author regarding the space shuttle scene, saying it's ridiculous, but he defended it, saying to me his books are meant to be outrageous. However, I think there's a fine line between believable outrageousness and scrapping the bottom of the barrel for action scenes.Enjoyment Factor: 3 starsMovie Potential: 4 stars
*Minor Spoilers*Area 7 follows the story of Captain Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield and his team of Marines who are assigned to the helicopter crew responsible for traveling with and providing security for, the President of the United States. The President is traveling to a secret USAF facility deep in the desert of Arizona for what seems like a routine inspection. However, things quickly go awry and Scarecrow and his team are thrown into a nuclear game of cat and mouse with a rogue USAF General bent on starting a revolution which is initiated with the public humiliation and death of the President.I read this book not even realizing that this was a series but I didn't feel like I was missing enough of the backstory to feel out of the loop. There were a few callbacks to the previous books but nothing that was pertinent to the present story. This story falls squarely in the the genre of over the stop military/conspiracy fiction that I can't get enough of. These are my Harlequin novels. A dime a dozen and not particularly known for their substance. The characters were written well enough for me to get a grip on their motivations and feelings without going into meaningless exposition. The writing itself was fast paced and kept me reading. I have a bad habit of binge reading a book like this in one or two sittings and Area 7 was no exception. It gets a little overwhelming in the 2nd and 3rd acts with the introduction of Kodiak bears, Komodo lizards, and serial killers joining the fray. I realize that the book was supposed to be an over the top testosterone driven carnival ride but it got out of hand for a few chapters. As far as the writing goes, my only pet peeve is that the author feels the need to end sentences about something climactic or dramatic happening with an exclamation point. I really dislike that gimmick, it treats your readers as if they are stupid. Here's an example for you. "...and a pair of black-gloved hands appeared on either side of Schofield's head, one of them brandishing a knife!" Just totally unnecessary, we get it, there's somebody attacking the main character, using this type of punctuation isn't terrible when used sparingly. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that once you notice, you can't stop noticing it.The story itself was engrossing, well paced, and left me wanting more. I will absolutely be looking into the other books by Mr. Reilly and I whole-heartedly suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of the genre.
What do You think about Area 7 (2003)?
I love reading Matthew Reilly. His books are a great way of detaching yourself from reality and taking you on a fantastic fast paced story adventure! I especially like his chapter structure. Ok, the story's can sometimes be completely out there and off the wall but I just find them incredibly enjoyable. This book is no different. Presidential kidnapping, America in danger of collapse, hero comes to save the day type story that keeps you hooked to see how it all pans out. Brainless fun, and that's a major compliment!
—DarthGonzo
On the plus side Matthew has managed to cram in just about as much action as all James Bond movies put togheter in a single book, so he surely knows his way around in action genre I must say, and he has a firm grip of the story, fantastic as it is.On the minus side... well, the writing is childish. And by that I mean that he makes everything superdramatic and he surely loves his sound effects. We pretty much know how an explosion sound - no need to spell out a "KABOOM". And being an action book with plenty of explosions you will see this a lot.
—Magnus Karlsson
I listened to this as an audio book in the car and I don't know where to start! By half way through the first disc there was so much action, shooting and killing that it seemed unlikely such a pace could be maintained for 11 discs. But I was so wrong...... This is action adventure at its most absurd. Every hour or two there is another race against the clock, nine fifty five, nine fifty six, nine fifty seven, nine fifty eight.... - you get the picture. All countdowns are spelt out that clearly. Whenever there was anything to be found on a computer screen we got every single line of text and code. The poor narrator also had to read out a list of names, ranks and units which took about seven minutes to complete!This, combined with the names, had me laughing all the way to the office. Schofield, better known as "Scarecrow". Gant better known as "Fox* along with Elvis, Love Machine and Mother...... even the baddies were good enough to have nick names Cobra and Caesar.I also loved the fact that the author gave every single bit of detail on every weapon, the ammunition, its capabilities and how it looked. This was combined with some brilliant phrases such as "There was only one word to describe the helicopters - Awesome".... then six more descriptive words were quickly employed, just in case we didn't realise how awesome it was. It was like listening to the plot of some six or seven well known action movies rolled into one... president in danger, evil renegade members of the armed forces, convicts, every form of threat known to man.4 stars for the sheer unadulterated absurdity - it was completely outstanding!!
—Rachel
