[.ca] Area 7 (ISBN 0333907841)

From Amazon.co.uk:
Matthew Reilly's Area 7 shows an even more concentrated skill at keeping us turning the pages than his previous bestsellers Ice Station and Temple. He knows just the kind of book he wants to write, and he's repeatedly said that the key agenda behind his kinetic thrillers is to keep the reader's pulse quickened throughout. In Area 7 America's most secret base is the eponymous Area 7, and hidden deep in the Utah desert, this high-tech Air Force installation is visited by very few unauthorised personnel. But when the President of the United States pays a call, he encounters a nasty surprise: a hostile force is waiting inside. And as mayhem erupts, Schofield, a young marine in the President's entourage, finds himself obliged to live up to his reputation: that he's a good man in a storm. Reilly's speciality is the steady accumulation of cliffhanging situations (as he demonstrated so readily in Temple) and he pulls off the trick with his usual aplomb in this one. If the President here seems considerably brighter than the current real-life incumbent, that's a minor distraction in a thriller that maintains a Rottweiler-like grip on our attention: The flashlight was the only thing that saved Book II's life. Primarily because it blinded the man on top of the decompression chamber, if only for a moment. That was all the time Book II needed. His shotgun boomed, blasting their commando's goggles to pieces, sending him flying off the top of the chamber. It was a small victory, for at that exact moment, gunfire erupted around the darkened room as a legion of dark figures emerged... --Barry Forshaw

Pretty Weak:
I can tolerate some level of unrealistic aspects. I'm a huge fan of the redundant Clive Cussler beach reads, so I'm used to things happening that probably couldn't. This pushed it, though. It wasn't simply the action. Unrealistic action maybe I could tolerate. Maybe. The characters, though... ouch. I'll put it this way - at one point a man turns to the main character and asks what happened to his father. "Well, he was hung upside down, lowered into a pool, and eaten by killer whales." "Oh, thanks, the military wouldn't tell me," the young man responds. Only in Matthew Reilly's world could someone find out his father wasn't simply killed in action but used as a giant worm in killer whale fishing - fed alive to the huge beasts head first - and not bat an eye. People fall hundreds of feet, "faster, faster, faster" only to be stopped by a solid rope without so much as a dislocated shoulder. Little boys eerily know the future. Too many different factions and useless plot twists, such as a brief trip to space. It just seems like Reilly was busy playing Half Life while watching Con Air and decided it could all be made into an interesting novel wrapped around the president. It failed. Just try to read this without throwing it out the window. Everything is too convenient, nothing is realistic, and half the dialogue would sound better in a comic book aimed at 12 year olds. Only worth reading if you pick it up used.

Bullets and Bombs in the desert:
Shane Schofeild: If he had a nickle for every time he saved the world, he'd have.... fifteen cents. But that's still a lot. Area 7, the second of the Schofeild novels, finds our intrepid (if slightly two dimensional) hero in the middle of a US Airforce base/research facility, acting as a body guard to the President of the United States. With him are some friends from the previous Schofield novel, also guarding the commander in chief. The base, called Area 7, is the home of the United States' must cutting-edge biological weapon research. More specifically, the scientists at the base are working round the clock to find a vaccine to a Chineese biological weapon called the Sinovirus, which targets only non-Aisian people (via their specific pigmentation). Well, they've finally developed a vaccine, but guess what? The fifty well-armed, highly trained, ultra-elite soldiers guarding the base are actually traitors, intent on killing the Prez and stealing the vaccine! To make matters worse, they've attached a satelite transmitter to the President's heart, which will denotate nuclear weapons in major cities all over America if the POTUS's heart stops beating. In other words, if Mr. President dies, so does the country. It's up to Schofeild and friends to defeat the bad guys and save the day! But in a Reilly novel, its never that simple. Matthew incorporates a series of plot twists into his relatively straightforward narrative, including a racist military conspiracy, a corrupt South-African general, a plot to take over America, a thermonuclear weapon, escaped convicts, and a trip into outer space. Admit it, you're just drooling over this novel, aren't you? Now, I'll admit, Area 7 is not going to change your life (besides getting you hooked on Reilly novels). The characters tend to be one sided and cliched. The ending is the predictable happy one, where the hero gets the girl, the little kid isn't harmed, and all the fuzzy little animals are safe..... but its an action thriller. Are you really looking for powerful moral statements and thought provoking subject matter in an action thriller? No. You're looking for a lightening-fast plot, explosions, gunfights, chases, and lots of violence. And that's exactly what you're going to get.

Realism...who needs it?:
I thought Reilly had pushed the limits of silliness with "Ice Station." At least, the level of annoyance among readers would surely prevent any further publications by this author. Alas, this was not to be. The author returns with yet another offering of acceptable literary skill combined with a total lack of research and common sense. I will say only that any reader possessing any brain activity whatever should spend their book money elsewhere. There are many excellent authors and worthy stories to entertain everyone out there. This book, like other Reilly stories, will likely leave only a bad taste among readers, and regret at time wasted reading it.

Embarrassing:
This book is an embarrassment for both the author and for anyone who reads it. I cannot believe the publisher allowed this book to go to press. I'd never heard of Matt Reilly and was hoping for a techno-thriller with a strong basis in fact -- something in the tradition of Larry Bond, Tom Clancy, Stephen Hunter, et al. Instead, I got a novelized version of a video game, complete with "gaseous explosions" of hollow-point bullets (sensational and utterly false), American military personnel uttering Australian slang, and American soldiers equipped with a bizarre collection of decidedly non-standard weaponry including the FN P90 submachine gun, repeatedly and erroneously referred to as an "assault rifle" capable of spewing "thousands" of rounds per minute. In hindsight, the worst part of the book is the portrayal of American military personnel by a foreigner (Reilly is Australian) as amoral, bloodthirsty, racist, and dedicated to the violent overthrow of the US government. This book is truly garbage.

Another Matt Reilly Rollercoaster Ride:
Matt Reilly's novels are not for everyone. Readers with a discerning palate expecting thought-provoking characterization and literary depth should most certainly turn elsewhere. On the other hand, those seeking non-stop thrills, jaw-dropping action, and an extremely fast narrative will be highly entertained by Reilly's books. Suspension of disbelief is a must when tackling one of his works. Sit back, relax, and simply enjoy the ride.