The Second Ship

Exceptional first book in the Rho Agenda series! I was grabbed in the Prologue and wasn't let go. Great reading for young people, sci fi buffs and UFO fans, amazing yet made plausible, some perhaps even probable, BUT you do not have to be a fan of sci-fi to thoroughly enjoy this book, it covers so many genres. Richard Phillips is an author to be reckoned with, absolutely incredible. He knows exactly what he is saying and knows how to say it.

For those readers who are UFOnauts, it all begins in Groom Lake, Nevada, site of the infamous Area 51. Book One of the Rho Agenda, takes place in and around Los Alamos, New Mexico. I am old enough to recall hearing of the "Roswell Incident" when it happened, so the book is of particular interest to show more me. However, don't be led astray by that personal fact, this is not about Roswell. This is The Second Ship. A model plane is the method through which this ship will be discovered; not just a model plane but one carrying a camera as an experiment. This model plane just happens to crash in some difficult terrain and must be retrieved.

Three high school students, while retrieving their plane, have stumbled across a cave which hides the back entrance, or rather entry point, where an alien ship buried itself when crashing. A highly sophisticated camouflaging device almost thwarts them, but no, they can actually walk right through it, disappearing as they go in and completely out of sight once they are in. As they turn around, they see the back of the ship which they feel must have been able to generate the cloaking devise at the mouth of the cave. There is a gaping hole where it appears the ship was shot down, perhaps by the Rho ship.

The Rho ship crashed in the next year after the Roswell event, and has been undergoing tests in either another cavern or another part of the same cave. This ship was also damaged but whether from the crash or a collision or shot down is unknown. The authorities, from several different areas of security, presumably only know of the Rho ship, a cigar-shaped monster. This second ship the teens have just discovered is round, has a mind of its own and is only too ready to give portions of it to the newcomers. The problem with being a high school student though, is that there are certain restrictions on your free time, which makes it difficult for them to spend much time with the ship, but when they do, miraculous things happen.

Each student already excels in specific areas: Heather in mathematics, her next-door neighbours the twins Jennifer, excelling in technology, and Mark, into sports. Now, having investigated a number of areas in the ship and done some tests, they have found these skills amplified by multiples. They must now play down their skills so they won't draw attention to themselves and raise suspicion. Soon, Heather realizes that she is being 'stalked' by a skinny tattered man who appears homeless and possibly dangerous. Somehow he knows that they have been to the Second Ship.

This book has it all; humour, terror, alien ships, corruption, love, kidnapping, good, evil, secret agents, exciting, conspiracy, greed, thrills and chills, intrigue, deep dark secrets, action, adventure, and great cliff-hangers, especially the last one. The writing style keeps the reader in a constant race against time, running several parts of the story in chapters of their own. This is not as difficult as it sounds, I found it easier to keep track of the parts that make up the whole this way. Other styles would have left me floundering. The book is extremely readable, technical terms seem easy to grasp for the novice, and the action never stops, very fast paced. "The Second Ship" leads into a "must have" feeling for the second book of the series, "Immune". This series definitely promises to carry on like lightning. show less

Kept me reading . . . Yes, there are some cliched characterizations.
Yes, there is a dialogue timewarp that makes the narrative voices of the adult and teen characters refer to one another with phrases straight from the pages of books that are now fifty years old and TV shows that have to be colorized to keep today's audiences from changing the channel, BUT this is a work of science fiction!

These characters are the direct descendents of their fictional forebears. They keep this sci-fi thriller moving and if sometimes their dialects are more nostalgic than realistic, so be it because it is still a pretty good yarn.

The cliffhanger ending will probably see me through to a currently reading status sometime soon on
[a:Richard show more Phillips|6998563|Richard Phillips|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png]' [b:Immune|6343743|Immune (The Rho Agenda, #2)|Richard Phillips|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328309380s/6343743.jpg|6529930].
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Full of mystery and intrigue, this book explores what would have happened if aliens ships (UFOs) had actually crashed on earth, and the government scientists had discovered, explored and exploited the alien technology. I find the treatment of the subject matter quite gratifying - everything is shrouded in secrecy and revealed only in parts; the reader doesn't get a grasp of the full extent of the technology until much later in the book. Throw a few rogue scientists, super-assassins and undercover agents into the mix and you've got a compelling piece of Sci-Fi waiting to be read.

The story centers around three high school students who also stumble across the alien technology in the desert, giving rise to experimentation and the show more consequences thereof. Here a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief is required, as they start building their own versions of the technology in their basement.

As they get entangled in the intricacies of the schemes, you are drawn into their fight for survival, leading to a nail-biting climax. The only gripe is that the story is only part finished, to be continued in sequels, despite being a fairly lengthy book. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read. show less

In all the mentions of this novel and peripheral encounters I had with it prior to reading, it somehow eluded me that it’s what I would consider ‘YA’ material- the polarizing Young Adult label that either terrifies or ensnares readers in droves. Fortunately, it is undoubtably SF as well, and carries the theme of danger lying in wait alongside graciously given gift-horses. As stated in the publisher’s jacket summary, it is about the recovery of alien technology from crash-landed UFOs. There’s some promising conflict set up between two opposing alien civilizations from which the two crashes originate, but it is largely deferred to subsequent novels. The teenage trio of protagonists take on some superpowers, as they tend to do in show more YA stories, and struggle to save the world while keeping their secret from Mom & Dad. The challenges they face all played out very over-and-done quickly, even after some heavy foreshadowing, and so the victories seemed unearned. The three teenagers are also all written fairly interchangeably I thought, and I never full distinguished them in my mind. I will leave it to younger readers to judge whether Phillips successfully captured teenage thought and dilemma adequately, although I suspect his characters a bit over-matured. One satisfying technique used here successfully was to slowly weave together plot threads from disparate characters which at first seemed unrelated. With a number of unresolved questions and troubling character disappearances, we seem well positioned for a follow-up story, though I hope it expands the stage settings and characters. show less

My Take: What a rollercoaster ride of a book!!. I really liked this book, it grabbed you with the first page and never let go.

When the government decides to start releasing the technology that has been found on the ship the whole would is excited. The first technology to be released is cold fusion. Is this a good thing or the beginning of something else?

Heather and her friends,twins, Mark and Jen find a second ship out in the desert and enter it. what they find changes their life drastically and they have to keep it secret for now.

This is a great book and I think anyone who reads it will enjoy the mystery and thrill of the ride.

I really appreciated this book. I love science fiction/thriller type books, but sometimes they are lacking in plot and believability. I have to say that this was one of the most INTELLIGENT books in this genre I have read.

I read the author’s bio on the back of the book and noticed that he has the background to write this book. And it definitely shows.

The book centers on a space ship known as the Rho ship hidden by the government, three teens who find a second ship (hence the title of the book), and various mercenaries and government plots involved with the technology of the ships. The teens have started exploring the Second ship, learning about it, letting it learn them, and wisely keeping it a bit of a secret.

I love the fact that show more Mr. Phillips didn’t dumb down the teens. I’m not TOO far from that age group, myself, and I’ve often despaired of the fact that teens are treated as if they don’t have a brain and can’t make mature decisions.

Unfortunately there is one person aware of the second ship. A person who sees it as a sort of God-given gift to him. He’s more or less inconsequential, but he IS a lesson.

The Rho ship that the government has found, and is releasing technology bit by bit to the public is a pawn used by various people. People blinded by science, and so, willing to lay aside the morality of their decisions. People after something greater, but in a gray way we’re not privy to yet. And of course people who want what it yields for the perceived power of controlling the world.
The technology in this book is great. Computers on the Second ship are mind controlled. The ship computer enhances the abilities of the human mind from the 10% we use now to full capacity. The technology of both ships can be used for good. Or for, not exactly evil, but selfish reasons. For delusions of grandeur, for power, for manipulation. All the things that make us so very human.

The Second Ship explores who we are, what we are, and what we could be if given the chance. But is that “chance” for the best? show less

While the book did seem to drag at some points and there seemed to be a lot packed into this first book I am totally hooked on the series. Brother and sister, Mark and Jennifer, along with their best friend Heather discover an alien ship and after experimenting with the technology they start to develop all sorts of special abilities. So while at first a lot of what they seem able to do seems unbelievable for teenagers you will quickly get sucked into their adventures as they try to warn the NSA about some sinister plots by the head of the Rho Project. Under cover agents, Jack and Janet, add to the mystery as they try to figure out who has been sending encrypted messages to the NSA (really Mark, Heather and Jennifer) and in the mean time show more get mixed up in the secret experimentation going on with the Rho Project. I did find it odd that Phillips portrays Jack and Janet as having a relationship despite apparently being some of the most elite agents. From what I gathered this sort of thing is usually frowned upon and I can’t imagine agents that are as good as Jack and Janet would let themselves continue to work together after they became emotionally involved. Despite little things like that this was an excellent first book in a series that will definitely leave the reader wanting to find out what happens next. show less