The Grail

Area 51 #5

by Bob Mayer

Book 5 in the Area 51 series

Scientist Lisa Duncan has found the legendary Holy Grail. But can she keep it out of enemy hands?

That enemy is the Airlia, frighteningly sophisticated extraterrestrials who came to Earth millennia ago and left behind ancient riddles in the form of the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, and the statues of Easter Island. Now the aliens have returned to take over the planet.

A team of Area 51 soldiers and scientists race to find the Airlia’s keys to power—including the Grail—before the aliens do. But with Lisa surrounded by the Airlia at the Great Sphinx of Giza, her lover, Special Forces officer Mike Turcotte, must launch a daring rescue…and make an impossible decision: save the girl or the Grail?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Fantasy, Paranormal, Military Fiction, Thriller

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 6, 2001

About the author

Besides my own interests, 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'm a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and a New York Times Bestselling Author. I've sold over five million books. My newest series begins with New York Minute, a thriller set in New York City in 1977.

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

Reviews

[David Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sci-Fi action galore!

What a great series. Aliens, hi tech gadgets and plenty of action. Plus history and lost treasures. Things look bleak for mankind. Caught in the middle of a time spanning galactic war. Onward to Book 6.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I really admire is that despite this book being the 5th in the series, the author still manages to pull it off. There's as much tension, mystery and action as ever. It's not easy to hold the reader's attention throughout one book, let alone a whole series, and Bob Mayer does it like no one else. Even though there's not much character development, I still love the little eccentric group fighting off the big threat: an African professor, an old Chinese archeologist, a Russian military man and - of course - a bunch of Americans, including the main characters, Mike Turcotte and Lisa Duncan. Everybody is hiding something, nothing is what it seems, the war is raging on. There's no time to stop and think - the pace of the book is incredible, and the military details are also pretty impressive. Great book, great series.

[Jacques Hollands · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a bit more than the others so far in the series. There were a couple of great scenes, such as the battle at Easter Island. The editing seemed tighter and as a whole the story wasn't as disjointed as some of the previous books.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Grail, the fifth book in the Area 51 series by Bob Mayer, continues the saga of earth as interfered with by aliens known as the Airlia. Artad or Aspasia, which one is the right one to side with? Is that even the right question? Who is the mysterious man in black that scares everybody? Why is Lisa Duncan stuck underneath the Sphinx? What's going on at Easter Island? Egypt? China? Area 51?

This book wound up being as enjoyable as the previous books. Initially, however, I was bored and had a tough time getting into the story. It just wasn't grabbing me or my imagination. But I remained committed to completing the book, and I'm glad I did. About the 40% mark is when I started being engaged in the story. And the setup for the next chapter is immense. I can't imagine where the story goes next.

I recommend the book, but only in order. You don't have to know all that has come before, but it will be mighty confusing if haven't followed the series so far. 3-1/2 stars gets a 4.

[Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in the Area 51 series. I'm still finding these to be very enjoyable to read, though in a somewhat different way. After 5 books you really start getting comfortable with the reappearing characters, ultimately wanting to know more and more about them, and the larger story. It's really something I enjoy, and one reason why I tend to favor very long series, regarding them as some of my favorite books. And this series continues to deliver an entertaining storyline, that keeps you guessing as to what is really going on. It's definitely one of those "guilty pleasure" style series for me. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading these type of books.

[Thomas Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will civilization end as we know it? Who really is the bad guy? This series is an absolute mind blower!

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tying point of this book has to do with rescuing Duncan and possibly the Ark and the Grail both of which are underground in the hidden chamber under the stone Sphinx. Turcotte is working furiously to achieve this while also trying to locate the other fractions of the Airlia, one of which is working on releasing Artad from his slumber in the tomb of Quien Ling. Professor Mualama who had escorted Duncan to the Hall of Records and had been released by Asparia's Shadow, who finds a way to get the Grail activated by Duncan by getting the two stones that are missing from the Hall of Records. Mualama still has the Burton manuscript which he begins to translate which gives the team group more information about the inner conflict between them, plus gives them better information about how the guardians work and their technology can do. But the translation is not fast and Turcotte is impatient. They do get information about a Watcher headquarter where they can get a Watcher Ring which will help them gain entry into the tunnels leading to the Hall of Records but they aren't told of how to avoid or destroy the foo driven mechanical creature which guards the tunnels. Turcotte alone survives but fails to rescue Duncan. Using both descriptions from the translations made by Mualama and the mathematical equations made by Nabinger but modified to Airlia math, they are able to figure out most of the locations of where guardians are on the entire planet and eventually figure out the key headquarter site of the Mission, where Asparia's Shadow has taken Duncan to wait for the results of her transformation from using one stone with the Grail. Meanwhile, Artad and his army have fully awakened. We learn from the translations that Artad used multiple disguises over the ages and one of them was the mythical Arthur of Camelot. At that time, he was attempting some kind of unity using the Ark, the Grail, and Excalibur but was thwarted in his endeavors. Turcotte is able to get where the Mission is (on Mount Sinai) and is able to gain entry but because they don't have a blueprint of the interior, Turcotte arrives too late in the action to save Duncan from being shot. It appears that she dies from the gunshot wound that Yakov shot through her to get to Asparia's Shadow to get him to drop her. They do also rescue the Ark which the Israels take. Asparia's Shadow escapes with the Grail. Turcotte goes into a depressed state of mind which all of the team try to talk him out of, which doesn't work until they are all called to the new room set up at Area 51 where Duncan's body was being examined. To their surprise, Duncan is sitting up and awake and unharmed.

[Chad Arreguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing as always. Now, EXCALIBUR!!!

These books have encapsulated all manner of things Fortean and created a story that links them all together in a believable way (well, believable to some, anyways.) Each book has surprised and shocked me many times and I'm looking forward to see how the story enfolds in the next book in the series, Excalibur. Very intelligent and entertaining read.

[neal davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragged on a bit

I usually enjoy these stories but this one seemed to drag a bit ,also just as your getting in to the story and meeting New characters next thing they are all dead ,the author introduces special forces from all over the world only to kill them of in the next chapter the main characters are dangerous to be around but they always get lucky when things go wrong not so much the people around them,saying that I'll cary on with the series and see if it picks up.👽

[Walter Boomsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm lost and tired. In all fairness, that may say as much about my approach to the book as the book itself. I'm tired of trying to keep up with the sub-plots and characters coming and going. Yes, there are moments of excitement and drama, but reading this series has become a lot of mental work. It almost seems as if the storyline has disappeared. I doubt I will finish the series. I've lost confidence in the author's ability to reach conclusions.

[Elizabeth Adkisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five down....

It seems at every turn, the bad guys are one step ahead of everyone else. I get more and more anxious wanting Turcotte and his team to get some payback. Five books into the series, and I want more. I'm wondering why someone isn't making a movie yet. On to the next book.

[Richard Baggett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and adventure.

I have read five of the books in the series and have not been disappointed. The books stay true to the players and storyline. I am looking forward to the next book.

[Laure Reminick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense and hard to see how they can get out of this

So intense that I had to skim pages ahead to see how some scenes came out (I'm a wimp, but still). Great storytelling

[Robie Trites · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stand by my assessment of the last book.

[Philip Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Nice technical details .

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how things are still going. I was worried about Duncan and loved how things went in the end...though I'm still worried.

[Richard W. McCuistian · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are some amazing books.

Love this series... Haven't read anything this good in a long long time. Can't wait to read the next one!!!

[Noodle The Naughty Night Owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10: Excellent read, well written, fell right into the fictional world created.

[Kathleen Lubbers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read!



Aliens, ( some good, some evil) religion, detailed information on aviation ,scuba, ships, parachuting etc. It was a learning experience for me, the authors SEAL expertise is evident- guys will LOVE it, but I liked it too! There's fighting but not gory. I enjoyed the way all the mysterious places and historical figures take on new meaning in this "what if" story, can't wait to read the next one!

[Shaft · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as fun as the first three, definitely a lack of actual content with too much lore being shoved in as padding

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often by this point in a series (book #5) they start to grow stale or repetitive but this one seems to be holding steady and even becoming better each time. The author mixes up the plot and introduces new characters well but probably the sheer scope of the material is what allows it to keep going at a nice pace. After all there is a lot you can do when you come to understand that the entire history of our planet and every significant event was actually shaped and manipulated by aliens.

Still quite a bit of military-style action to suit those fans but this entry in the series delved more into the historical aspects of what’s really been happening throughout human history. The author used a cool technique this time around to help give us some excellent backstory on the alien history. He uses the famous explorer from history, Sir Richard Francis Burton, to tell us the story. But rather than use some kind of flashback tool, the characters of the story translate some of his lost material throughout the course of the novel, feeding us awesome pieces of the puzzle one translated chapter at a time. I happen to be a huge fan of Burton and have read several biographies of him. He had an amazing life and if you haven’t had the chance to really “discover” him yourself I urge you to do so. The author of this novel could not have chosen a better historical figure to enhance the plot here.

Looking forward to the next with continued hopes that this series doesn’t peter out.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very fun read in the Area 51 series. I've decided for this one to switch over my tags from sci-fi and military to sci-fi and fantasy. This novel had less in the area of military ops (though the battle armor was pretty wild!), and more in the area of fantasy. It's amazing to me that Bob Mayer can move from Egyptian history to Arthurian legend and it all somehow works! And, for a Dragon lover like me, it was awesome how he managed to even work in Dragons, in a new way. Really looking forward to the next in the series to see what Artad is all about, and what's going on with Lisa!

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one really feels like it exists only to move the story to the next book. It's way, way more expository than the previous entries in the series with huge sections of the novel just characters reading from the secret manuscript of Richard Francis Burton. I have no doubt that the pertinent information from this one will be repeated in the next book in between describing specter gun ships and the back stories of characters who are destined to die in three pages so I'd probably recommend skipping this one if you decide to read the series.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are finally coming together with this book. I think I'm finally following who everyone is: the Airlia, Aspasia and Artad wise at least. So many things that start with 'A'.

In this book you finally get to see more sides of characters and learn more about the history of the aliens. It does leave you with more questions and wanting to read the next book to find out what happens to the characters next.

[Tufty McTavish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pick a few myths & legends, mix with SciFi & aliens, data dump from a translated diary every other chapter, then shoot some sh!t up. I kinda like the action scenes, but the data dumps were very tiresome. And the mix & match of myths and legends - Dracula's coming in the next few episodes I reckon as he got heavily hinted at in this one - just got plain annoying for me I'm afraid, which is why it took so long to finish.

[Robert Usher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting story

I would recommend this book to anyone following the area 51 series. The book can stand alone but is best read as a continuation of the story as this gives the reader a fuller understanding of what is going on. I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to read this book even if they hadn't started the series from the beginning. They will still be enthralled by the story shown in this book independently.

[Carlos Trevino · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I'm starting to love about these novels other than the alien aspect is how the author does such a brilliant job of integrating different ppl and events in history into the story. Burton's journals almost made it feel like I was reading a mini novel within the novel and with Artad now in play, I'm that much more eager to get to sixth book.

[Spot Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another installment in the history spanning Area 51 series. Giving just enough closure to be labeled a novel, yet leaving you with a fade-to-black "Executive Producer Chris Carter" X-Files ending. Always gifting you more questions than answers. If the goal was to keep me reading; it's working!

Damn you Mayer!

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything just keeps coming faster and faster. Multiple groups in play with multiple plans operating over multiple books has created some kind of four player chess game where not only do the humans not know all the rules but only have pawns and knights on the board. Can't wait to see what's next.

[Bob Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Grail (Area 51, #5) by Robert Doherty was enjoyable SF reading. Wish I had started with book #1 as it would have made more sense from the start. I've read a couple of other Area 51 books and will probably go back and read the rest of the series at some point.