Review : Area 7 by Matthew Reilly

Title : Area 7 Author : Matthew Reilly Reading Dates : 20 Oct - 22 Oct 2012 Total Pages : 565
Shane Schofield Ice Station Area 7 Scarecrow Hell Island Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves Scarecrow Returns
From Amazon : From the bestselling author of Ice Station, another dizzyingly fast-paced adventure thriller featuring Shane Schofield. It is America's most secret base, hidden deep in the Utah desert, an Air Force installation known only as Area 7. And today it has a visitor: the President of the United States. He has come to inspect Area 7, to examine its secrets for himself. But he's going to get more than he bargained for on this trip. Because hostile forces are waiting inside...Among the President's helicopter crew, however, is a young Marine. He is quiet, enigmatic, and he hides his eyes behind a pair of silver sunglasses. His name is Schofield. Call-sign: Scarecrow. Rumour has it, he's a good man in a storm. Judging by what the President has just walked into, he'd better be...

Book Review of Area 7.

Suffice to say that whatever I have to say about Area 7, I’ve already said in my review of Ice Station.

Area 7, like Ice Station, pales in comparison to Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. As far as recycled plotlines are concerned, Area 7 does one worst than Ice Station. There’s even 1 scene that is nearly identical to that in Army of Thieves. I’m not sure to be amused or not, considering the fact that Army of Thieves came later in the Schane Schofield series.

As for the little boy Kevin, if he’s supposed to provide the cute factor, he fails woefully. He hardly appears in the book, and comes off as spooky when he does appear.

To sum up, this is the end of my adventures with the Scarecrow. I should have stopped while I was ahead.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? No.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? No.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? No.
• Who would I recommend this too? Not recommended.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Borrow it.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Review : Ice Station by Matthew Reilly

Title : Ice Station Author : Matthew Reilly Reading Dates : 14 Oct - 19 Oct 2012 Total Pages : 690
Shane Schofield Ice Station Area 7 Scarecrow Hell Island Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves Scarecrow Returns
From Amazon : Anarctica is the last unconquered continent, a murderous expanse of howling winds, blinding whiteouts and deadly crevasses. On one edge of Antarctica is Wilkes Station. Beneath Wilkes Station is the gate to hell itself... A team of U.S. divers, exploring three thousand feet beneath the ice shelf has vanished. Sending out an SOS, Wilkes draws a rapid deployment team of Marines-and someone else... First comes a horrific firefight. Then comes a plunge into a drowning pool filled with killer whales. Next comes the hard part, as a handful of survivors begin an electrifying, red-hot, non-stop battle of survival across the continent and against wave after wave of elite military assassins-who've all come for one thing: a secret buried deep beneath the ice...

Book Review of Ice Station.

Ice Station would have been a better read with more distance and time from Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves.

About a quarter through through Ice Station, I realized that the plot and a number of the character were nearly identical to those in Army of Thieves. I had expected the fast paced and improbable action sequences appearing in Army of Thieves but not for some of the plotline to be almost a duplicate of the book.

In Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, we had Bertie the robot supplying the mandatory cuteness factor as well as some much needed assistance. Here, we have the duo of Kirsty and her pet seal, Wendy. Unfortunately, they’re not as cute nor as reliable as Bertie. Kirsty is more annoying than cute while Wendy isn’t as helpful in fighting off predators of the human variety.

Then, there’s the obligatory traitor within their ranks. A theme similarly recurring in Army of Thieves. If their own leaders are involved , I don’t see that ending happening. Its too pat and I would have expected further damage.

No, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was a better rendition of Schane Schofield’s story.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? No.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Only because I already have it.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? No.
• Who would I recommend this too? Not really.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Borrow it.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Review : Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves

Title : Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves Author : Matthew Reilly Reading Dates : 16 Sep - 20 Sep 2012 Total Pages : 453
Shane Schofield Ice Station Area 7 Scarecrow Hell Island Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves Scarecrow Returns
From Amazon : At an abandoned Soviet base in the Arctic, the battle to save the world has begun… THE SECRET BASE. It is a top-secret base known only as Dragon Island. A long-forgotten relic of the Cold War, it houses a weapon of terrible destructive force, a weapon that has just been re-activated… A RENEGADE ARMY. When Dragon Island is seized by a brutal terrorist force calling itself the Army of Thieves, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, and there are no crack units close enough to get there in time to stop the Army setting off the weapon. ONE SMALL TEAM. Except, that is, for a small equipment-testing team up in the Arctic led by a Marine captain named Schofield, call-sign SCARECROW. It’s not a strike force; just a handful of Marines and civilians. It’s not equipped to attack a fortified island held by a vicious army.But Scarecrow will lead the team in anyway, because someone has to. THE ULTIMATE HERO IS BACK, FACING THE ULTIMATE ARMY OF VILLAINS

Book Review of Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves.

Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was an experiment for me. I’d never read Matthew Reilly’s books before and picked it up out of curiosity. I was nicely surprised.

Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was an exciting read. A few hours of mindless violence mixed in with improbable situations with amazing special effects. It reminds me of the kind of action thrillers I like to catch on the big screen occasionally.. Not the kind of book I’d recommend but one I can’t help liking.

What I loved most about it though was Bertie, the little robot that follows one of Scarecrow’s team members around. I couldn’t stop imagining him as a combination of Wall-E and the spirit of The Little Engine That Could combined. I’d pick up the next book in the series just so I could read about Bertie again.

A fun read. One that I wouldn’t mind repeating even if I find it a bit embarrassing that I actually liked it.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Maybe, but just because I want to read about Bertie again.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Maybe.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Not really. It was fun but not a book I love.
• Who would I recommend this too? Action thriller fans.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Borrow it.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Review : The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth

Title : The President's Vampire Author : Christopher Farnsworth Reading Dates : 14 Sep - 16 Sep 2012 Total Pages : 335
The President's Vampire Blood Oath The President's Vampire Red, White and Blood
From Amazon : The ultimate secret. The ultimate agent. Nathaniel Cade returns. For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President's Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade's existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of. When a new outbreak of an ancient evil-one that he has seen before- comes to light, Cade and his human handler, Zach Barrows, must track down its source. To "protect and serve" often means settling old scores and confronting new betrayals . . . as only a centuries-old predator can.

Book Review of The President's Vampire.

Once again, I had fun with Christopher Farnsworth’s The President’s Vampire series.

Nathaniel Cade and Zach Barrows’ story remains as exciting and fast-paced as ever. The only disappointing bit was Zach’s development as a character. After the incidents in Blood Oath, I had thought that Zach had matured but this doesn’t seem to be the case. While he seems to have grasped the importance of his role, he doesn’t seem ready yet to shoulder the responsibilities and sacrifices that comes with it. Quite often in The President’s Vampire, Zach behaves like a petulant teenager, unwilling to listen to Cade’s advice when it involved personal sacrifices.

The other intriguing bit to the second book was how Cade’s oath here becomes a disadvantage. Early on, I had already wondered what would happen if the wrong person got control of the vampire since he is compelled to obey the orders from the President and his representatives. While the events that transpire here don’t get that far, it does give us a taste of what could happen. And Cade’s nemesis, The Shadow Company seems to have even considered the possibility of gaining control of him themselves.

All in all, an exciting and fun read. I especially love the ending when Cade manages to find a way around his oath.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Definitely.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Yes. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next book.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes.
• Who would I recommend this too? Paranormal, horror or thriller fans.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. Definitely a keeper.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge; Eclectic Reader Challenge 2012

Review : Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

Title : Only Time Will Tell Author : Jeffrey Archer Reading Dates : 25 Aug - 31 Aug 2012 Total Pages : 450
The Clifton Chronicles Only Time Will Tell The Sins of the Father
From Amazon : From the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1920, with the words “I was told that my father was killed in the war.” A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he’s left school. But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys’ school, and his life will never be the same again. As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line? This introductory novel in Archer’s ambitious series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler’s Germany. From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.

Book Review of Only Time Will Tell.

I enjoyed Only Time Will Tell. It reminded me a lot of my favourite book by Jeffrey Archer, Kane and Abel. While it isn’t as good, it does come close.

What I enjoyed about Only Time Will Tell is the characters that populate the story and how Jeffrey Archer sets about entwining their lives together. The characters in Only Time Will Tell aren’t saints but they make it easy to believe that goodness in itself puts them in a class of their own regardless of their station in life. I couldn’t help liking Harry and his extended family, all of whom never hesitate in making hard choices in order to give their loved ones a brighter future than they had.

The other interesting part about Only Time Will Tell is how the author reveals the facts surrounding Harry Clifton’s father’s death. By telling the story from the different characters viewpoints, only we the reader become privy to the entire tale. And even then, I get the feeling that there’s more to the story to come. After all, they each have a part of the puzzle and not all of them have had a chance to tell it yet.

Even so, while I enjoyed Only Time Will Tell and there is a cliffhanger ending, I didn’t end the story with a burning desire to read the next book. I supposed it is because the first book in The Clifton Chronicles gives off the vibe that nothing truly bad could ever happen to the good guys. That no matter what adversity Harry may face, he and his loved ones will triumph in the end.

A lovely read to pass the time.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Yes.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Yes, but I can wait.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Probably not.
• Who would I recommend this too? Fiction readers looking for a feel good read.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Borrow it.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge; Eclectic Reader Challenge 2012

Review : The Passage by Justin Cronin

Title : The Passage Author : Justin Cronin Reading Dates : 28 Jul - 31 Jul 2011
The Passage
Books in the series: The Passage The Twelve The City of Mirrors
From goodreads :
“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.” First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear — of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse. As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey — spanning miles and decades — towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun. With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Book Review of The Passage.

I loved The Passage and can’t wait to read the next books in the trilogy. In fact, immediately after finishing The Passage, I had to restrain myself from re-reading the book.

Aside from a few chapters early on which seemed overly wordy, the rest of the tale grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go until the end. And even those parts, could be due to my impatience to get back to what was happening with the main character, Amy.

Amy is a mystery which isn’t fully resolved, even at the end of the The Passage. Sure, the group that sets out with her in an attempt to save their colony, finds out the truth of the virus which destroyed their world and possibly how to save it. But that doesn’t fully explain Amy because she’s obviously something more than that. And with everything that she has endured, it is amazing how she could still be the person she is.

As for the story, I couldn’t possibly describe everything that The Passage made me feel. There were so many parts where terrible things happen, which made me worry and root for the people in it to survive. The ending of the world especially, was haunting. I could picture everything in my mind and also the awful sadness and inevitability of it all. And still be amazed at what people are capable of during such times, not just the bad but the good as well.

My favorite moments though are probably the short interlude Amy had with her surrogate father. No matter how brief the time they had, I believe that those were probably Amy’s happiest memories. And the end, when it comes, somehow makes everything worth it all.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy, The Twelve.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Definitely.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? The next book is now on my wish list.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes, this one's a keeper.
• Who would I recommend this too? In particular, those who like dystopian stories.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. This is that needs to be read again and again.

Read another review on the book by :

• Book Journey
• Reading with Tequila
• The Crowded Leaf

Books alluded to :

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