Rating: 
Summary: This is really getting good now
Review: The author isn't going to win a Nobel Prize for literature, but Area 51: The Sphinx has me more excited about this series than ever, which is quite an accomplishment for a series already at least 1400 pages long. There's not much point in describing the plot since this is the fourth Area 51 novel to be released. I must admit the plot has grown quite complicated by now, and I'm sometimes unsure which alien-controlled or alien-influenced groups are which because they are all so mysterious and inscrutable. It would be easy to take the basic premise of alien contact and let the story flop around like a dead fish, with predictable results, but the author has long ago transcended the UFO theme and laced his storytelling with unpredictable twists and turns, continually bringing in fresh new excitement and potentialities of earth's greatest mysteries, such as the fabled Hall of Records beneath the Sphinx, the Ark of the Covenant, and lost cities in the Amazon. I love the way he has brought a Russian Section 4 (read Soviet Majestic-12) operative into the heart of the activity, playing with the trust factor between the American and Russian agents like a literary yo-yo. In this novel, the very fate of the United States rests in the hands of the unlikely US-Russian duo. It is true that the author makes no real effort to tie up any loose ends at the end of this story, but I don't care by this point because I'm already poised to pounce on the fifth novel and keep plunging ahead. The introduction of nanotechnology by the "bad guys," the introduction of the Ark of the Covenant, the inevitable search for the Holy Grail, and even a quick tease about Noah's Ark are just a few of the many things that have me running to Book 5. I can see how some readers might become frustrated with the prospect of a long-drawn out story, especially since much of the "truth" of the events written of here will not become apparent until a later time, but I am perpetually perched right on the end of my seat. If you read up through book three (The Mission) and felt your interests flagging a little bit, I urge you to take a chance on this fourth novel because I think it will more than recapture your earlier interest. Personally, I hope this series never ends.
Rating:
Summary: Area 51 The Sphinx
Review: The Sphinx was a great book. It lefdt yoiu on the edge of your seat the entire time. It came from actoin to mystery and then back to action thruoghtuot the entire book. Lisa Duncan has became more adventurous throughout the book doing more things she ever did. Mike Turcotte has gooten even tougher wich i didn't think possible. Edging Quin into this book a bit more was a great addition to the series, but not as good a Mualama, who i hope continues to be in this series. He added bravery, which added mystery, action, and suspense. All this made him a tough archeologist unlike any of the other archeologist in this book or the ones before it. The ending of this book is fantastic. leaving soo many unanswered questions which made you crave for more. It ends right in the middle of a very suspensful scene, which can be found throughout the entire book, which makes the ending more mysterious and makes you hunger for the next book "The Grail" sooo much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than previous books in the series
Review: The Sphinx, book 4 of the Area 51 series, is overall a better novel than the previous ones I've read. This is not really a sequel, but a continuation of the overall story. The author has begun to deviate somewhat from the central storyline, but he makes it work.This one involves the supposition that the Ark of the Covenant lies beneath the Sphinx. Lisa Duncan's quest is to determine whether or not it really resides there. The usual "aliens tracking humans trying to keep them from learning the truth" occurs here and the storyline builds to a big conclusion. The book is not a 5-star book due to its dragging in parts and the author trying to tie too many things together. Some of them work and some don't. Things become more unrealistic in the following book -- "The Grail". Read this one if you found the earlier books readable, but don't start with this one. Otherwise, some of the subplots will make little to no sense.
Rating:
Summary: Better than previous books in the series
Review: The Sphinx, book 4 of the Area 51 series, is overall a better novel than the previous ones I've read. This is not really a sequel, but a continuation of the overall story. The author has begun to deviate somewhat from the central storyline, but he makes it work. This one involves the supposition that the Ark of the Covenant lies beneath the Sphinx. Lisa Duncan's quest is to determine whether or not it really resides there. The usual "aliens tracking humans trying to keep them from learning the truth" occurs here and the storyline builds to a big conclusion. The book is not a 5-star book due to its dragging in parts and the author trying to tie too many things together. Some of them work and some don't. Things become more unrealistic in the following book -- "The Grail". Read this one if you found the earlier books readable, but don't start with this one. Otherwise, some of the subplots will make little to no sense.
Rating:
Summary: Indiana Jones Meet's Close Encounters...
Review: This book has SO MANY high points I don't even know where to begin. The storyline about the Sphinx is truly one of inspiration. After 'The Mission' I was wondering just where Doherty was taking us, and now that we've found what is under the Sphinx, I think we have an idea...I THINK. Although not revealing the entire purpose of what is found under the Sphinx, we learn a lot more than we did in 'The Mission'. The search in South America was an interesting side-note as well. All in all I felt as though I were reading an off-shoot of an Indiana Jones novel that tried to establish the existence of aliens. Well done, and I have to admit, it left me wanting more. I anxiously await the next installment. Give the 'Area 51' series a try, for sci-fi/adventure entertainment I rank it better than average.
Rating: 
Summary: Area 51: The Sphinx
Review: This book was disappointing. The characters were farfetched. The jumps in the story were scattered and in cohesive. The links were too broad and dysfunctional as a storyline. This story was manufactured for retail and lacked SF plausibility.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Review: This book was fun and exciting keeping you on the edge of your seet and when your done with this you will want more!
Rating:
Summary: On the edge
Review: This book, this series, keeps me on the edge. Love it. Wish it was published faster. To those who didn't the cliffhanger ending, well, duh, that's why it's a series. What's in the Ark? I want to know
Rating: 
Summary: Lack of conclusion
Review: This is a great, suspenseful story, but there is no conclusion to the book. Actually, I became extremely angry at the author for intentionally stringing the reader along into buying the next book in the series (which he indicates won't be out till 2001).
Rating: 
Summary: More mediocre paranoia fiction
Review: This is actually the best in the series (at least through the first four, which is all I intend to read). Doherty is actually showing glimmers of understanding how to write in this story. At some points, his characters are no longer one dimensional, but actually show two dimensions. There is still no depth, however. Unfortunately, as Doherty improves some of his writing, he also seems to have given up in telling a complete story. All he does is make things more complicated and doesn't resolve much by the end of the story. For any true fan of science fiction - a person who has read the masters of the genre - this work seems only to have one purpose: to make other books seem better in comparison. If you wish to read good alien invasion stories by real writers, try "The Visitors" by Clifford Simak, "Footfall" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, "The Monitors" by Keith Laumer, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney or "Childhood's End" by Arthur Clarke. Any of these works (just the first few that came off the top of my head) show more talent in a single chapter than Doherty does in four volumes.
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