Area 51: Redemption – a #BookReview

Title: Area 51: Redemption (Book 10 of 11) by NY Times Bestseller Bob Mayer

Genre: Currently #174 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, War & Military

Publication Date: April 24, 2018

Source: Won a copy on a Goodreads Giveaway!

Title and Cover: Area 51: Redemption – Cover continues the dynamite series covers

Area 51: Redemption is a continuation of the series regarding alien direction and population on earth and how their presence affected the human race through the millennia, leaving only the most subtle of reminders of their possible existence on the planet. In this, the tenth of the series, Mike Turcotte, is back as the ex-Special Forces officer who helped free the earth of the Airlia while winning WWIII. But Turcotte kept a secret–far worse than that of the Airlia domination.

(From the Amazon book blurb: “The continuation of the series that has sold over 2 million copies, screenplay written by the man who penned Alien, Total Recall and produced Minority Report and is Cool Gus approved. This book will be followed by Area 51: Invasion on 14 July 2018.”)

You would be correct in that if this is a sci-fi, I probably had my associate reviewer read and contribute his review to mine. Also, as always, I’ll post his review here first.

The CE’s Review:

A premise that alien cultures have existed on earth for thousands of years is the core of this book.  Earth is an outpost for a number of species who are here to assist and take advantage of humans. The problem is that ability of man to have free choice and independent thought. Alien species need to act carefully for if they are detected they are hunted and destroyed.

Major Mike Turcotte, Yakov co-pilot, Quinn, Kincaid and Leahy are a team whose mission is to save the world from aliens called Airlia. The Airlia have been molding and dominating the human race for over 10,000 years. The antagonist is a lady named Mrs. Parrish who is seeking immortality and also to regenerate the love of her life, her husband. She will go to any length to achieve that goal and is extremely ruthless in dealing with persons no longer useful. She is also the most wealthy in the world and has the power. In addition to her ulterior motive, she is hoping to translocate a seed group of humans to help save the human race. She has, however, no respect for the individual life nor for the people who assist her. She will kill anyone who gets in her way or has outlived their usefulness.

Overall the book is an interesting study of the ability of humans to continue as a species. Mayer points out the futility of man and his ability to have compassion along with a desire to control all. Greed and corruption as well as personal avarice overshadow the survival instinct. India and Pakistan are at nuclear war as are Iran and Iraq. Meanwhile, a real threat in the form of an entirely powerful and alien species is heading towards earth. We do not seem to learn our lesson that as a species we must stand together to stand a chance against galactic enemies. Fragmented, we push ourselves to the brink of total annihilation. In the last few years, our species recognized the alien threat and decided to fight. Some of them had been here for over ten thousand years. Mankind did not ask the question, why didn’t they defeat us when they had the chance? 

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. A fact gradually recognized by the characters in this book. Great job of writing and very thought provoking. It has already produced several lively discussions. I highly recommend this book and its’ message. Five stars

My Review

Yes, Mayer’s done it again–imaginatively ties up ancient human history and myths with a sci-fi guaranteed to scare the socks off you. Whether to just hand in my belly button now or hang in there–I’m not sure. I do know, however, that Bob Mayer weaves one devil of a multi-layered plot, bringing back all the characters created and fleshed so well in previous series entries that it’s a tragedy when he terminates one character to introduce yet another, perhaps more emotionally involved character.

I’ve read a number of Mayer’s (military) books and became a solid fan with Eyes of the Hammer back in 2014 (see that #ThrowbackThursday review here). This is the first of the Area 51 books I’ve read and knew the CE would enjoy as well. So, no, I didn’t find each of the characters in this book fully fleshed. They have been before, but it didn’t seem to matter–I knew what kind of people (or not) they were by the role they played in laying out this well-crafted plot on it’s way to conclusion with book 11–Invasion. The narrative easily pulls you in so you don’t miss a beat.

I love the way Mayer can take a legend or myth like Atlantis and find such a perfectly plausible explanation that makes faultless sense. Gees, I’ve always wondered what happened to Atlantis, now I know! And maybe that’s why these books grab your imagination and turn the book into truth–Mayer truth–a new look into human origins.

Major Mike Turcotte is not flawless, but he has managed to live through WWIII and is now confronting what is even more terrible. In the meantime, we are (re)introduced to emotive alien, Nyx, an astrobiologist of Mars, who tries valiantly to own a dog–okay–it’s a nanotech dog. And Maria (Mrs. Parrish’s assistant) has George, faithful fur child. There are survivors of the Mars mission: Yakov (the Russian–loved him),  Quinn, Kincaid, and Leahy of the previous series. Leahy has taken on a new and more formidable role.

The Ancient Enemy is coming, faster than anyone knew or prepared for. There are venues to monitor and many facts and figures, fascinating photos and diagrams all well-above my pay grade to digest. Nikola Tesla!! Forget Edison. Why doesn’t Tesla have a whole chapter to himself in our history books? (And btw, I hated, as a girl, hearing about the nuclear detonations in Nevada; more so now.)

The opening grabs your attention immediately. Dialogue is intelligent and believable. The aliens Nosferatu and his beloved, the romance equation; his tender consideration for her becomes alarming when they are described a little more “deeply.” What a range of characters you can have when not all are human! Mike is not the only strong protagonist, but he is a survivor, and perhaps you can feel safe investing in his tough, independent personality. Also, he’s extremely important to Parrish’s mission.

I won this ebook in a Goodreads Giveaway, as mentioned before, and was thrilled as I’m a solid Bob Mayer fan. Would I recommend Area 51: Redemption even coming in at the tenth of the series? A solid Roger That! Then you’ll be looking forward to the release of Invasion as much as I. And I’m glad to see that’ll happen very soon (July)!

Rosepoint Publishing:  Five of Five Stars 

The Author: (From Amazon Author page) Look! Squirrel!
Bob Mayer is the grandfather of two future leaders of the Resistance Against the Machines, a NY Times Bestselling author, graduate of West Point, former Special Operations and the feeder of two Yellow Labs, most famously Cool Gus. He’s had over 70 books published and sold over 5 million, including the #1 series Area 51, The Green Berets, Atlantis and the Green Beret. Born in the Bronx, having traveled the world (usually not tourist spots), he now lives peacefully with his wife (who also collaborates with him), and labs. He previously wrote under multiple pen names including Robert Doherty and Greg Donegan.

(From Goodreads Author page) I’m a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and a New York Times Bestselling Author. I’ve sold over five million books.

I read whatever my wife tells me to read– she’s a voracious reader and has wide-ranging tastes as my reviews show (she also always has the TV remote and she’s always right about what to watch). I read a lot of nonfiction, mostly for research. Some of my favorite books are Lonesome Dove, Mystic River, LOTR, and an array of science fiction classics including the Foundation series. Our house is covered with books, although I finally broke down and started reading eBooks, strangely enough on my iPhone. Since I carry it pretty much everywhere, it means I always have an entire library of books with me.

I love using history and science in my books. My Area 51 series pretty much had me rewriting our entire history of civilization.

©2018 V Williams