Area 7

As I state for every review of Matthew Reilly books: If you'll go in understanding that reality must be suspended, you'll have a ball of a time. How Reilly writes such amazing action sequences is beyond me, but he just keeps topping himself.

Rogue Air Force commandos take over the secretive Area 7 when the US president is visiting. Little do they account for Capt. Shane Schofield and his band of Marine bad asses who are there to protect the president. The commandos have arranged to have a device put onto the president's heart. If that device stops communicating, airports around the country will be blown up. Throw in a biological weapon, next gen space shuttles, and the most heinous prisoners, and you've got a rollicking thriller.

While show more Area 7 is a sequel to The Ice Station, the prior doesn't need to be read (although you should cause it's great too). show less

Area 7 is the second thriller in the Shane Schofield series. After the events of Ice Station, Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield, captain in the US Marine Corps, has been assigned to the relatively low key job of protecting the President while he's on the Marine One helicopter. When the President decides to visit a remote military base called Area 7, Schofield and his team, Elizabeth “Fox” Gant, Gena “Mother” Newman and Buck “Book II” Riley, accompany him. Once at the base, they discover that it has been taken over by a rogue General who they thought to be dead, Charles “Caesar” Russell. Not only has Caesar planted bombs in fourteen cities across America, he’s made it so that the death of the president will detonate them. show more

He challenges the President to a contest. He tells the President that military personnel have paid the price for the blunders done by the civilian leadership. He informs him that a transmitter was surgically implanted near his heart. If his heartbeat stops, the nuclear arsenal will explode. If the President lives, the country lives. And if he dies, the country dies. The President has to survive in Area 7, which has been locked down with 50 traitorous special ops soldiers trying to murder him. Of course, the President will have Schofield and his small group of soldiers to help him.

This is a book that meets every expectation of the action-adventure genre. There is page after page of non-stop action and once things kick off, the reader is breathless until the very end. This is a pure adrenaline, action novel that is the equivalent of an action blockbuster movie starring whoever your favorite action hero is. We get a gang of insane criminals who have been used as guinea-pigs, and even vicious Komodo dragons. The chase continues over land, under water and even goes into space, yes space! This book is definitely not for someone looking for a realistic fiction story but wow! You can't get a better action series than this one. show less

Like many of these Shane Schofield books they take a bit of suspended disbelief and a lot of accepted probable impossibility. The one thing though you can always depend on with this series is non-stop action and an escape from reality. They are just good, fun stories. Matthew Reilly is a genius when putting words on paper to create a memorable adventure. No matter how improbable the story may get you can always be sure that this author going to tie the story line together masterfully with clever twists and details. You just have to lean back and enjoy the ride.

One day the President of the United States decided to take a little tour…

Welcome to a place that does not exist outside of the highest levels of the government or the military. The research conducted at the mysterious Area 7 and Area 8 is the stuff of conspiracy theories and nightmares. The last thing that many who enter this place will see is the giant blast doors closing behind him, sealing their fate.

This day is different though, for there has been a breakthrough that has a chance to save millions or devastate half the world if were to fall into the wrong hands. The President of the United States wants to see evidence of this for his self and schedules a trip to tour the facility. With him as ever is a contingent of Secret Service show more agents, military personnel, and White House Staff.

This time though there are special guests among the marines that are traveling with the President. Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield and his fellow marines are the survivors of a previous mission, Ice Station, that ended up going terribly wrong; with total disaster being averted only by the actions of Scarecrow and his crew. In order to let things cool down and keep the press from harassing them they were assigned to what they hoped would be a simple guard assignment to one of the most secure research stations in the country.

Unknown to them they are flying into a whirlwind of betrayal, greed, and violence that will once again test their skills to the limit.

If you ever want to read how a video game plays this is your chance. The story takes a couple of chapters to set up and then takes off into one non-stop action sequence that doesn’t stop till the end. The author himself states that he is going for the feel of a big budget action movie and it shows. There is not too much character building other than a few references to the previous book and a couple of quotes in the front that set the tone for why the bad guys do what they do.

Also like most action movies, the characters dialogue often takes a back seat to all the explosions going on and can often seem a little wooden, so don’t expect any rousing speeches out of them. All in all I liked this book because it really does capture the craziness of a summer blockbuster or an action oriented video game, I really wanted to keep going to see what crazy set piece was coming up next. If you like stories that have a lot of action and not a lot of room for talking this might be one for you. Or if your just looking for a good story that lets you turn your brain off and enjoy the ride take a look at this one and you probably won’t be disappointed. show less

I thought "Ice Station" was great - this is even better. More action (if that's possible), a touch of romance between Scarecrow and Gant, a wonderful character called Mother, lots of thrills and suspense, and a race against time to save the President of the United States. What more could you ask for in a book? Absolutely devoured it!!

Suspend belief for this military thriller. Unbelievable plots and impossible escapes from impending death aplenty. A rogue Air Force General supposedly executed, armed with his own Air Force Special Ops unit takes on the US President with his Marine Corp and Secret Service escort. Shane Schofield (Scarecrow) and his team battle for control of a secret military laboratory and bioweapons facility, trying to prevent racial and political disaster. Yet, there is even more treachery as some of the Air Force team is a mercenary group for a South African faction with a third agenda. Lightning fast pace.

This reads as a men’s shoot-em-up action movie, with helicopters, and speedboats, and planes, and even space shuttles. My husband loved it and is reading more of Matt’s stuff. I read it because I was in between books. Reilly knows how to keep the action going, that for sure. He’s weak on characterization. The introduction of every new character gets a quick rundown of their appearance. Which I promptly forgot because in most cases it was irrelevant. I remembered Mother had a prosthetic leg and Scofield had scars across his eyes (which seemed really weird) and those things were important to the story. Scofield is accompanying the Pres. to the top secret Area 7 (think Area 51 but no aliens) for an inspection. Then, as the cliche show more goes, all hell breaks loose. show less