Rating: 
Summary: This book is [not good]
Review: My review title says it all. If Reilly set out to write a really bad book, which would eventually be made into a really bad movie, he succeeded admirably with "Area 7". I recently read the book at an island holiday resort, and the only reason I didn't throw it in the rubbish (as I eventually did when I returned to the mainland) was that I had nothing else to read on the beach. Reilly develops his characters such that you frankly don't care who lives or dies. His plots are inane, and considering the research he claims to have done, they contain numerous technical impossibilities. Frankly, the book reads like it was written by a 12 year old. Someone should also disable the italics function on Reilly's word processor. Not only are italics grossly overused, they often just don't make sense. Save your time, don't buy this book, and certainly don't read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: Matthew Reilly really scored with this novel. For those who want to get straight to the action this is the book for you. Right off the bat a man gets executed, then brought back to life in the vehicle supposed to be taking him to the morgue.This book is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. For those of you squirmish readers, don't even think of stepping within a hundred yards of this book. Mind-boggling descriptions of the killing and battles leave a clear picture. Included in the book are diagrams of the building with important objects. These are very helpful for those who have trouble remembering the immense ammounts of detail. Reilly's other two books are equally amazing and should be read by anyone who considers themselves a fan of action. If your still not sure try buying a used one, or getting from a library, I'll bet you will go out and get one just for the sake of having a new copy. I couldn't put this book down. I am disapointed that the book wasn't longer only because I finished it so quickly.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably Stupid
Review: Let me start by saying that this isn't the worst-written book I've ever read. But it has to be the stupidest and least-believable one. As I continued to plow through this unrelenting waste of time, I kept asking "Why?" Why did the bad guy implant a radio transmitter in the heart of someone on the off-chance that he would become President? Why did he set up an elaborate game of hunter/hunted in the super-secret installation? Why did all the commandos go along with all this? Why did he plant "Plasma" bombs (apparently atomic bombs were't cool enough) in 14 American cities...did he think the survivors would thank him for emasculating the U.S.? Trust me, you have to do more than suspend your disbelief to read this book...you will have to have it surgically removed. Then, I suppose, you can take a crack at the author's other books. Save yourself...I can't get back the several hours I wasted on this book, but it's not too late for you. Run, do not walk, away from it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast and fun.
Review: I admit it. I've read all three of Reilly's books. They are fast and fun. If you're willing to completely suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride, they're a great time. It seems that, in each novel, Reilly raises the stakes a bit. More daring escapes, more gunplay, more impossible situations. Possible spoiler ahead: This book includes improbable escapes from water, air, biohazards, and space. A few of these escapes were a little hard to swallow, even with the brain in auto-mode. The books are written in near-screenplay style. The writing style would improve quite a bit if he would just stop using italics in every other sentence. We all know they're meant to show emphasis; but in an action novel, it's pretty obvious where the emphasis belongs. The italics get quite annoying after a while. Reilly's books are not great literature. That's ok. He's not trying for great literature. He's going for your basic mindless action-movie book. Escapes, explosions, gun battles, winning against impossible odds. If you're looking for a fun read, try Reilly.
Rating:
Summary: Unrelenting!
Review: Reilly delivers action like no other author. His books read like screenplays (perhaps they are that rather than literature). "Area 7" isn't quite as good as "Ice Station" or "Temple" but it's a fun ride nonetheless. I found that having read "Ice Station" helped with knowing the characters a little better. (Reilly is not big on character development) If Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield and his platoon don't show up in the movies someday, I will be highly disapointed. For a pure adrenaline rush and escapism of the highest degree, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: HIGH ON ACTION!
Review: This latest novel of Matthew Rielly is as action driven as all the rest and leaves you panting from rigorous reading. The plot and pace are always full steam ahead with his books and thats all fine and good, but I just wish he would really buckle down and get into more of a storyline and character building and I think with age he will do this, and thus his Magnus opus will be written as all writers do sooner or later. Hollywood style action/adventure reading is fun and Matthew does it best.
Rating:
Summary: If you're lookin' for action -- look NO FURTHER!
Review: I fully understand that authors trying to be everything to everyone simply fail...so if you are looking for an action novel that has the ring of truth to every page, look elsewhere than Matthew Reilly. However, IF you are looking to escape life for a little while and you want action, and I mean A-C-T-I-O-N the likes of which you have NEVER experienced before (unless you have read Mr. Reilly in the past), check out 'Area 7' ASAP. Just attempting to detail the speed with which Reilly writes is a difficult task. His writing is like captured energy that, once started, virtually takes off like a Tomahawk Missle on a course that NOBODY can stop. If you don't believe me, give one of his novels a try. 'Area 7' is just another story -- scratch that, NOTHING that Reilly writes is 'just another' ANYTHING, 'Area 7' is a vehicle for an imagination that is hyped on speed and the only outlet is the written page. This story begins as the newly elected President is on one of those military base tours when trouble finds its way into his life. Never fear...with Mr. Reilly firmly in control, it won't take long for the plot to unfold at a blistering pace. Somebody wants the Prez dead, and they want to do it in a really spectacular fashion -- with the entire country keeping tabs on his progress, or lack thereof. One wickedly twisted ex-military Colonel takes over Area 7 with the goal of not just killing the President, but there are a few other objectives he intends to pull off along the way, ALL of which are quite horrific. Add to that the world's first Laboratory-Created Ethnic Virus genetically engineered to kill based on RACE, and for good measure the Chinese have a Space Shuttle which factors into the mix with some rather thrilling results. Is there absolutely ANYTHING within the pages of this (or any) Reilly adventure that can be believed? NOPE. B-u-u-u-t, if you can successfully suspend your belief from page 1 onward and just sit back and enjoy this for the mindless fun it was intended to be, well then you are in for a REAL treat. If you have read Reilly's 'Ice Station' then you will welcome the return of Shane 'Scarecrow' Schofield in this tale. Action piled on top of thrills & chills and even some escaped convicts factor into this Warp-Speed action/adventure that is almost (but not quite) as fun as Reilly's previous gem, 'Temple' (which I just LOVED). In short, if you crave a tale with the scope of Clive Cussler, but with a plot that moves at literally the speed of sound, give Matthew Reilly a few minutes of your time and you will end up adding another author to your growing list of 'GOTTA READS'. Absolutely positively mindless entertainment which succeeds on a grand scale. CAUTION: NOT for those who nit-pik the plausibility of everything.
Rating:
Summary: A good read if you don't think about it to much
Review: Area 7 is a flat out, pedal to the floor action novel. And it works well if you don't think about the story.
Rielly brings back Shane Scholfield, from his earlier book Ice Station. This time out Scholfield and his team are guarding the President on a visit to a top secret military base.
Granted nobody really reads this kind of book for its literary merit, but a bomb attached to the President's heart? Come on!
But on the plus side, Rielly does a great job with the action scenes. Which is pretty much all the book is.
Reilly doesn't bother with character development either...
Rating:
Summary: Execrable
Review: I hate being negative about anything (really I do) but this has to be the worst written book I have ever read. Plumbing the depth of implausability and beleivability it could at least be forgiven if it were well written. However, I found the storytelling would have only be credible if it were written by a 13 year old (not a late 20's ex-lawyer). The action sequences read like fight sequences from the Batman TV series of old (words such as "Blam!", "Splat!" are used). And just when you think it couldn't get any more lightwight then up crop illustrations to help you take it all in (surely a hint that the writer can't adequately construe in words what is happenning so he has to resort to pictures - which are also execrable) Area 7's only saving grace is that, because of the way its written in sticatto comic-book like sections, it's over quickly. If you want a lightweight and less celebral change from the likes of Clancy et al then this might be one to read on holiday with your brain firmly turned off. For me this is both the first and last of Matthew Reilly I'll read
Rating:
Summary: Reilly 3 for 3
Review: I have just recently finished Area 7 and was just as impressed with it as I have been with his other two novels. Its escapism at its best. His characters tend to be a little on the superhuman side but then so do the Indiana Jones types. One good thing about Reilly's books is that my son enjoys reading them as much as I do so it gives us something to talk about which if you have teenagers you know common subjects are extremely rare. I have been on the lookout for his first book "Contest" but can't seem to find it anywhere. Probably never published in U.S.. One thing that always puzzled me about his writing is why an Australian would choose American characters as his heroes without at least someone being from Australia.
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