Book info

• Title Area 51
• Author Robert Doherty
• Year 1997
• Genre Science Fiction

Since before the dawning of modern man, an alien mothership and nine abandoned flying saucers have been hidden away in Area 51, a top-secret military base in the Nevada desert. There, scientists have studied the crafts, hoping to unlock the secrets of the alien technology and, perhaps, the origins of life on Earth. But now a deranged general wants to activate the mothership’s interstellar drive—and the consequences could prove catastrophic for humankind.

Thoughts

I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but if I’m honest, the covers did put me off reading this for a long time. I picked up the first book in the Area 51 series in a sale, and finally got round to giving it a read. It was really good, far better than I’d imagined.

What’s great about it is how rooted in reality the whole thing is, regardless of how far-fetched. Area 51 exists, obviously, and has the whole extra-terrestrial thing going on there, but this book takes all the facts and speculation and builds upon it.

Building to a great crescendo, the book flits between characters to follow their progress as they either try to uncover the secret, or keep it under wraps. I enjoyed it massively and want to check out the next in the series - regardless of what’s on the cover.

Rating: 4 / 5