Area 7

Rating:
Summary: One of Reilly's Lesser Efforts
Review: Don't get me wrong. "Area 7" is still a thrilling read, but this time around everything feels just a little bit more forced. The closed setting, the plot twists, and of course the action. Granted, it was Reilly's first sequel, so he was trying to figure out the ropes, and there was a bit of a misstep.

The idea of this enclosed real-life deathmatch appears interesting at first, and some of the twists promise good things, but really...it just isn't as exciting as previous novels. It picked up pace quite explosive in the final fifty or so pages, and it was a quick read throughout, but a dissappointing novel.

Not really a good one for the new Reilly fan, but if you are already familiar with his work, you should get this one. It's worth reading, it just doesn't reach the dizzying heights of his other stuff.

Rating:
Summary: No damn good, I'm afraid.
Review: I have been most curious to read Michael Reilly, as any aspiring author should be- the guy writes bestsellers. This strikes me as mysterious, as Area 7 seems to represent the problem with bad plot driven fiction.

The prose first off is mildly annoying- I think the editing wasn't stringent enough with his use of bombshell sentences. A parody:
"James put on the shoes.
[i]The red shoes.[/i]
The same shoes he'd seen in the president's locker."

Followed by a chapter break. Next:

The president said, `where'd you get those shoes?'
'I found them,' James said. The president nodded.
[i]His head.[/i]

That's exaggerated, of course. But these bombshells are very annoying- he could have done with using about two thirds less than he used. Other passing annoyances: Rielly's clear naivety with the actual state of affairs in the politically correct US military. One article from Fred Reed would set him straight. Reilly takes time out to mourn that there's "Still racism in the army," time out also for a scene where a poor victimized, traumatized US servicewomen is offered a diamond necklace by another soldier for her birthday (sexual harassment! Oh my God! Definitely as bad a problem as a pending nuclear holocaust.) Reilly also does his bit for women on the front line, describing a trooper nicknamed "Mother" who of course is the ultimate soldier, much looked up to by her male colleagues. This political correctness no doubt meets the approval of some, but it can hardly be called courageous to pander to these lobbies. That's the problem with delving into politics in your work- it may get judged along political lines. Which makes a good lesson to aspiring writers: an acute awareness of political realities- or at least knowing what you don't know- will serve a writer well in the scheme of things. I would not want ignorance in print, on record, to haunt me when later in life I learned the world works contrary to my knowledge.

But back to the actual story, which is bad enough on its own. The plot? Yes, interesting for the first 5 or 6 pages, with a nice mystery brewing, or so you may think at first. The problem is where the mystery leads- far beyond what you've got a right to ask of half-smart readers to swallow. Suspending disbelief becomes a distinct chore after about page 10. The setup at the point I've set the book down is ridiculous- a rogue army unit capture the president to embarrass him on national TV. How? Why, by using a device a rogue surgeon planted into his heart before he became president. The device will blow up a bunch of nukes in airports across the country, if the president's heart stops beating.
This seems silly, but there's more.
The rogues then inform the president that these crack-troops have orders to kill him. So. What we have are some disgruntled army dudes who, because they feel the president or politicians generally have let the military down, are trying to blow up the country in a needlessly complicated process geared for our entertainment as readers. The rogue soldiers meanwhile have access to his nuclear weapons, rendering the ludicrous plot redundant. The part with the device in the president's heart is something utterly superfluous and should have remained on the cutting room floor. One feels was included simply because it hadn't been done yet (although I see from another review that in fact this device has been used before)- so the writer is in love with plot devices, not character. Doesn't make for a good story, I'm afraid. This is the kind of WWF script that's annoyed me when I've encountered Robert Ludlum.

This bizarre and unrealistic plot would (possibly) only work if it could be established the military guys are, en masse, off their rockers. This isn't established- hence plot driven problems. Not enough attention being paid to character, we take these military types at face value and can only conclude the plan's ridiculous. It is. This is make-believe, but come on ... cut the rational mind a little slack, would you?

Also the banter between the other army types, including the protagonist, is not especially interesting. They are cardboard cutouts. The chopping and changing between their scenes and the president's (especially early on) is done with very little artistry. To be fair, I have been reading Dan Simmons lately, who has that technique down to a mastery, but if Reilly's supposed to be any good, he should, too. His changing is clumsy- "Oh, my God!" said the president.

Chapter break. Babble between un-interesting characters. Cut back to president.

"The president's looking at a glass cube."

Oh. I'd been expecting aliens in mating season with that clumsy "Wait for it!" introduction. How did this book get into print?

That aside, thus far some things are interesting, including the back-story elements I can directly pinpoint to a website called crimelibrary; he's lifted the human lab experiment victims' back-stories right from a couple of cases there- so, his massive research in this case was a 5 minute googling.

I did approach this book with an open mind- I was hoping to find an Aussie author worth his salt. If there is one, he's not Reilly, I'm sorry to report. After giving up on the story I did manage to read (most of) the interview with the author at the back of the book. Notably, he says that if character development is taking too long, the developing character gets `the chop'. Um. Well, no comment would be a diplomatic response, but ... this goes contrary to everything else I've understood of good fiction, and it's been confirmed by every respected writer I've heard talk about the subject. Evidently Reilly is doing something right, given his sales, but I am not sure what that something is.

Rating:
Summary: Contrived and far fetched
Review: After 50 pages, I had to give it up!! The plot was simply too unbelievable. I had no desire to find out "what happens next" because I knew that it would be ridiculous.

Rating:
Summary: not even a good action story
Review: Area-7 - an underground fortress in SW America - is one of the most secure military installations on Earth. Using tons of high-tech, most of it involving bio-warfare tested on condemned criminals, Area-7 scientists develop cures for diseases engineered by America's enemies. Unfortunately, "Caesar" Russel, a disgraced and supposedly executed former USAF general, seizes Area-7 and locks everybody - including the President and his loyal marine contingent - inside. Russel has implanted a microscopic transmitter on the president's heart connecting the unwitting chief to nuclear warheads placed in every major northern city. All will explode should Caesar's troopers locate and kill the president. Also, the "football" - the president's nuclear-war trigger - will signal the bombs unless the president keys in his palm print every 90 minutes. With his special shock troops, Caesar can easily kill the President, but he needs the Chief to suffer the humiliation deserved by all politicians. Unbeknownst to Russell, Area-7's South African chief bio-chemist has his own plans now that he's developed a cure for a Chinese bio-engineered disease. Unknown to him, some of Ceasar's own men have gone into business themselves - with the Chinese. Unexpected by them is the role to be played by Area-7's residents - the vilest criminals in America. And a nasty shock to them all is "Scarecrow" Schofield - the world's toughest Marine and the novel's hero.

I wasn't looking for literature - deep characters, a complex plot, irony - yet "Area 7" still left me hungry. Reilly not only tosses character development, he practically junks the idea characters - each is a walking mannequin who knows his dossier and never deviates. (The book starts off with Schofield's nominal superior being described as a cowardly careerist; a civilian presidential aide is from page 1 one of those politically connected, vapid and craven morons who populate failed sitcoms. By the climactic end of "Area 7", Schofield's boss is still a martinet, while the civilian faces Russell's plan with a desperate call his stockbroker - sell dollars!!!).

"Area-7" isn't literature, but it's no fun either - it's far too unoriginal. Reilly fans like to compare Schofield to Indiana Jones, but he's more like one of those forgotten Indy-clones who romped countless botched "Raiders" rip-offs. The story is largely a string of clumsily choreographed action scenes, none of which will surprise to anybody who's watched late-night cable or straight-to-video movies or played computer games like "Half-Life". (Underground fortress; hide around corners, watch-out for the special troops, kill, steal their ammo, rinse and repeat.) Reilly's idea of using a heart as a fail-safe isn't new either (read Nance's "Medusa's Child"; see the movie "Spawn") while Caesar looks like any of the disgruntled post-Cold War hawks of early 1990's novels and movies. Reilly crams so much action in so small a space, it's almost laughable - as if his books were oversized screenplays in search of a producer, but I can't even imagine Steven Segal giving "Area 7" a serious look. In the space of a few pages, Schofield hijacks a space shuttle, blasts into orbit, downs a Chinese shuttle, lands intact and escapes the spaceship before Caesar's men destroy it. "Area-7" is less of a story for a book than some high-powered 3D computer game - which would be okay if it came with the gorgeous graphics and sound and characters empowered with AI. (Reading "Area" probably approximates watching somebody else play a video game with every possible cheat enabled.) Instead, the narrative falls back on Reilly's prose which are both action-packed and an action-suckage loaded down with over-blown verbiage and irrelevant technical detail. Nobody just carries a semiautomatic pistol or assault rifle - we get the make and model of every gun in the book, (even though the way they're used seems to make each as good as the other), its nationality and, where applicable, whether the weapon is nickel-plated or whether the magazine is curved or straight. Unfortunately, Reilly needs specifics like that because without them he wouldn't have enough to fill up his action scenes; nor would "Area 7" have enough technical data for its author to write sentences like "what many people don't realize is that...." and win praise for exhaustive research and "chilling plausibility". The enemy characters have less AI than you'd get in "Half-Life" - especially in there choice of weapons, rooted in a love of high-tech rather than common sense (having trapped our heroes inside of a hangared AWACS jet, Caesar's commandos assault it with a guided-missiles, even though missiles can't be trusted against the plane's electronics; simply shooting the tires and its engines doesn't occur to anybody). Our heroes seem to be expert at just about anything they come across (with the marines capable of flying helicopters and navigating the electronics and cockpits of the Air Force E-3) and always seem to come out on top (shooting down a Sidewinder missile with a machine gun?). If you want non-stop action that's actually fun, pick up a Dirk Pitt Novel (I recommend "Cyclops").

Rating:
Summary: Action-Packed, but not very believable
Review: SEVERAL times while reading this book, I found myself laughing out loud at the unbelievable scenes. This book has some really cool action sequences, but man are they HARD to even begin to believe.

Some of the stuff is things you'd only think to find in a video game.

I'm not sorry I read it, but I think it'll be a long while before I pick up another Matthew Reilly book.



Rating:
Summary: Thrilling and exciting!
Review: This is the first book of Matthew Reilly's I've read, and it's very thrilling. To me, it seemed to combine the intensity of a halo novel by Eric Nylund/William C. Dietz and complexity of an Agatha Cristie mystery, you get an extremely fun-to-read book. I never wanted to set this book down as I was reading it, because it was so thrilling, and I was also curious, as reading a mystery, as to what would happen next. Brilliantly written!

Rating:
Summary: hogwash
Review: Ever finished reading on of his books. Well done. It's the most terrible form of hogwash I have ever laid eyes on. Perhaps one has to be a member of the higher intelligence fraternity to be able to understand this kind of technocrap. Please ignore it!

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but extremely far-fetched.
Review: It took me about 3 hours to get through this book. Admittedly fast-paced, Reilly's book pays far little attention to technical detail, and instead spends more time describing 7 fight scenes with imaginative outcomes.

For a $4 bargain book, I wasn't too dissapointed, but this book will be forgotten within a week.

This is garage sale fiction at its finest.



Rating:
Summary: Another Matt Reilly Rollercoaster Ride
Review: 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.