La cuarta cripta

Area 51 #1

by Robert Doherty (Pseudonym), Bob Mayer

El experimento más escalofriante de todos los tiempos está a punto de comenzar. El presidente lo ignora por completo. La prensa también. Se trata de un experimento secreto, que se está llevando a cabo en una base militar de Nuevo México y que puede resultar catastrófico. Nadie sabe nada tampoco sobre el inquietante hallazgo de un arqueólogo en la Gran Pirámide de Egipto, que puede cambiar el mundo. Lo único cierto en esta cadena de enigmas y revelaciones que hielan la sangre es que algo terrible está por ocurrir, una catástrofe que la consejera en asuntos científicos del presidente deberá evitar, cueste lo que cueste.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Audiobook

440 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 1997

About the author

Pen name for Bob Mayer.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A fun, quick read. Does a really good job of weaving into the plot most of the well known alien conspiracy theories and the story moves at a fast pace. Not deep thinking fare, but a fun ride.

[Aldaren Nadorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not believe anyone who says that the book is not great literature!

Area 51 is one of THE BEST Sci-Fi books I've read.
Robert Doherty mixes the ancient mysteries on our planet and makes a new possible outcome for our future and what might happend. I enjoy very much the thin line where this can be true if just few things are different with our planet.
If you enjoy different point of view for religion, science and conspiracy THIS IS YOUR BOOK.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this 1st book in the Area 51 series. Would it be a science fiction saga along the lines of Stargate or more of a military thriller like something Dale Brown would write? The answer is...both.

This is essentially a contemporary action/adventure novel that happens to have a plot that deals with aliens, motherships, etc. There is quite a bit of military thriller writing (not surprising given the author's background) but that is balanced with a fair amount of historical/archeological puzzles that lead the characters to find out just what is happening at Area 51 and what has the US government been hiding for decades.

The novel was actually a pretty fun read and better than I had expected. Not quite 5 star material but I'll definitely be reading more in this series.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, a lot of this (like the first 2/3) felt more like a sort of extended wind up. Then we get an abbreviated escape/chase/climax that really does little more than set up the next book when (I assume) the actual action and interaction with alien races one of whom at least may be arriving to treat all of Earth's inhabitance worse than the Europeans treated the native Americans begins.

So, not too bad I guess but I found it slightly underwhelming.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy going, but it did hint at some true, intriguing mysteries. Were the sealed sarcophagi in the Great Pyramids really empty? And is there really almost no mention of the pyramids in Ancient Egyptian texts? (If so, I feel better about the lack of any mention of the Exodus.)
This thick little book explains it all: UFOs and “abductees”, Atlantis, pyramids, those poor cattle, Easter Island…highly informative! Well plotted, I suppose, but I found it very difficult to follow, and written with no style whatsoever.
Poor Johnny. There aren’t any malevolent aliens, only the U.S. government making him think there are.
It did get across the message that man (or at least the U.S. military and government) is evil enough; no alien race could outdo us (or them). Operation Paperclip? It’s true. Goddamn Nazi scum!
Dr. von Seeckt makes only the second sympathetic ex-Nazi I have run across in literature.
These characters were hardly developed, but I do like stories about different people with different missions joining up by chance, becoming friends, and fighting the bad guys.
I don’t know if I’ll seek out the next in the series.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bob Mayer (AKA Robert Doherty AKA Greg Donegan AKA Joe Dalton AKA Bob McGuire).

Ok, so Area51 isn't great literature, but that doesn't mean it's worthless. Sure I've read books with better plotting and writing, but that's not what I expected when I picked up this book. It was a great escape and a very fun ride. It's not meant to reveal anything grand or tell you something didn't already know. It's simply entertainment and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it's fun to just read something that won't broaden your horizons or change your life.

The characters were very stereotypical: Mike Turcotte (the ultimate good guy, but ridden with angst); General Gullick (hard-edge, no-nonsense military); Kelly Reynolds (reporter who has to get the story to the world), etc. Granted, people like this exist. But these characters just seemed cut out of a mould for me. I was guessing each twist and turn of the story as I read through the book and, not too surprisingly, I guessed correctly each time.

Having said that, however, I have to say that the book is a fast-paced read and pretty enjoyable. Yes, it is cliched in many ways, but Doherty does a nice job of keeping the story moving and making you wonder just what is really going on and how the protagonists are going to get out of the mess they are in. Do not read it for any accuracy of ancient mysteries on the planet (because some of the aspects in the book are stated wrong) - just read it for a fun romp. All in all, I thought it was a good story and a well-paced read: there was just really nothing new here.

[Бранимир Събев · Rating 2 out of 5]

Една от поредиците, на които се чудя на акъла си как съм ги изтърпял чак толкова много, вместо да спра още в началото.

[Furrydestroyer 420 · Rating 5 out of 5]

LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!! GONNA CLAP SOME ALIEN CHEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! TODAYS THE BIG DAY BOYSSSS

[Joey Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book totally rocked this thriller writer/Air Force Brat/science geek's heart! Give me well-written action scenes, cool weaponry, government coverup, radiation (my medical specialty), archaeology, and intrigue and I'm a happy girl.

It's not a quick read, and I think you'll enjoy the ride. You get quite a bang for your buck. But that doesn't mean it drags, because it doesn't. In fact I'd surmise I finished this novel at warp speed.

Characters are three dimensional, not flat or without emotion, and I'm looking forward to finishing the sequel, which I downloaded today on Audible.

The only thing missing is romance, but there is a tiny touch of romantic tension that seems (in my opinion) to develop between Kelly and Mike, and I'm hoping to see more of that in the rest of the series.

While we can only wonder if we're truly alone in the universe, as our present aeronautical science hasn't taken us further than the moon, it's fun to have books like this to bring us on adventures we might not get to experience during our lifetime.

As an old fan of the X Files, I love books like this and believe that the truth still IS out there. Somewhere.

Thanks for the great read, Bob. :)

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew! This was a humdingah of a thrill ride. It showed up as 746 pages on the Nook, but it moved fast and the pages flew with the flick of a thumb.




It's the start of a series and I can't wait to read more. Doherty writes an intriguing mixture of science fiction and thriller. There's the military, scientists, archeologists, newspaper reporters, and aliens. The action takes place all over the world and the action moves fast. Don't get attached to anyone, as they are likely to die or get abducted or have experiments done....




All of the characters are well done, both good and bad peeps. At least this time the military isn't all the way bad guy, just onesie-twosie or threesie....




All I had to do was get over some inconsistancies in military schtuff, I can't help myself after being in the Air Force for a goodly while. The inconsistancies were hiccups after a bit, so not a biggie.




I hope there will be more archeological bits in the future books. And I hope the main core of the good guys will be in the upcoming books.




Five humdingah thrill ride beans.....

[Tufty McTavish · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a recommendation that this was enjoyable military-SF I thought I'd take a punt while it was on offer in a Kindle Daily Deal. And as it turns out I fair enjoyed this occasionally fast-paced action-adventure, set against a background of broadly familiar UFO mythology. In-between the action scenes are history dumps that link enough fact with the fantastical fiction to readily blur the lines between the two. I quite liked that.

Overall a light, easy read that entertained for a few hours - it reminded me of a wham-bam summer blockbuster action movie quite a few times - certainly enough that I carried straight onto book #2 in the series.

[Ctgt · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I ended up enjoying this much more than I thought I would. If you like action, conspiracies, ancient aliens, UFOs, sci/fi, pyramids, hieroglyphs, runes or any of the other "fringe" stories that abound, you will really like this book. The pacing was quite good and I found myself becoming more and more engrossed as the story unfolded. The first in the series and I will definitely ne checking out the next title. A fun read.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just what I was looking for. A fun and entertaining read where I didn't have to think too much. Not great literature, but a good fluff action book. Good enough that I will move right on to the next book in the series.

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of a series of ten. It is a fast paced science fiction thriller. UFO sightings; military action; conspiracies and lots of action. Decent plot and characters; not going to win a Hugo award but a great book to pass a few evenings reading.

Suitable for age 12 on up.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok - I was hoping for more intrigue

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the Area 51 Nightstalkers book better, but this was a good book as well. It is an entertaining, mindless read.

[Olmedo Vogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

The area 51 is really mysterious, i can believe in the OVNIS. ♥
Five stars!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was in high school I spent a lot of time at the library. Holds were sorted alphabetically, and I would peek over at ROB, M to see what they were reading. That's how I discovered this series. I think I started with a later book, but I know I read two or three of them at least. I decided to revisit the series as an adult. I don't think I've read this one before, and I'm not sure I would have loved it as a high schooler as much as I remember loving the ones I did read. But it's a solid adventure, even if the suspense of the countdown falls flat for me. Pretty straightforward, and I'm excited to see how this turns into the series I remember so fondly. Or if that's just nostalgia glasses. Onto the next!

[Terrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the elements of a summer sci-fi blockbuster movie from 1987. An entertaining light read.

Oddly enough, I finished this book on World UFO Day 2024.
The truth is out there. 🛸

[Coffee Store Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very accurate representation of the events of September 20th, 2019.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few months ago, we took a trip from Las Vegas to Death Valley National Park. Area 51 is located behind one of the mountain ranges on the route. One of our stops was at a gas station/convenience store named Area 51. While not exactly near Area 51, the store does display green alien lifeforms and merchandise. While I have no doubt that Area 51 is just an aircraft testing and development facility, there are certainly plenty of conspiracy theories. And some of them can be fun, like this book.

The plot involves the most chilling experiment of all time. There are a dozen scientists and military personnel aware of the experiment and one of them thinks allowing the experiment to go forward may have cataclysmic consequences. There are a handful of people who try to stop the group, and they succeed in saving mankind.

I’m not a big sci-fi fan, but this story was excellent! The characters were well-developed, dialog was believable and the plot was fun. Lest you think that only government conspiracy is involved, the author manages to nicely weave in alien spacecrafts and a mothership, experimental aircraft, foo fighters (I had no idea these things really exist!), Egyptian pyramids, Atlantis, Easter Island, cow mutilations and crop circles just to keep everything interesting.

While this was a great book to escape from reality, be aware that there are 13 books in this series. Sometimes you just can’t stop at just 1, and I may be reading No. 2, The Reply.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

[Scott Rhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

While reading "Area 51", I spent more time wondering who "Robert Doherty" is than the actual plot. Probably not a good sign, although the book is actually quite readable and entertaining. Apparently, (according to the author's bio on the back page of the book) Doherty is the pen-name of a popular writer of military fiction, a genre of which I don't read a lot other than some early Tom Clancy. I tried reading a W.E.B. Griffin book and couldn't get into it. With Larry Bond and Stephen Coontz I needed a glossary to understand the jargon. Basically, I think you actually have to have been, or be, in the military to enjoy military fiction. That said, Doherty's "Area 51" is interesting in several respects, not the least of which is that he manages to tie the theory of Atlantis, the Pyramid of Giza, Adolf Hitler, and the legendary base known as Area 51 in New Mexico (which is rumored to house a downed UFO) all together into a fairly coherent and fascinating narrative about alien invasion and governmental cover-ups. If it were nonfiction, this book would be masturbation material for every conspiracy theory nut-job out there. What's even more interesting is how seriously the author takes the material. There is not a shred of ironic humor anywhere in the book. Now whether that's because Doherty actually kind of believes in this stuff or is just really really REALLY subtle with his irony is debatable, although I lean toward the latter. This is actually pretty entertaining stuff, and Doherty makes it all the more fascinating by interjecting it with what I'm guessing is some historical and military authenticity. All the scenes involving military guys in scary secret war-rooms and soldiers in the field and guys flying expensive military hardware ring pretty damn real. Maybe that's because I've never been a fly on the wall of those scary secret war-rooms or in battlefields or expensive military flying machines, but I'm going to hazard a guess that all that military jive that doesn't make a lick o' sense to me may actually be the writings of someone who knows what he's talking about. While not on my list of priorities, I someday plan on reading the next couple books in the series.

[James Caterino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I have been meaning to reread.

I was all over this novel when the "Area 51" series launched back in the late '90s. As an "X-Files" fan and a UFO buff this was conspiracy crack and paranormal science fiction sugar to feed my endless appetite for anything remotely related to what was a thriving sub-genre at the time.

The book was not quite what I expected. While I was anticipating a "Close Encounters" meets 'Dark Skies" tale of brooding wonderment, this book is more in line with the type of novels Michael Crichton was doing at the time, but with a military perspective replacing Crichton's scientific one. "Area 51" also shares many of the characteristics found in the adventure novels of James Rollins.

It is a riveting read. "Area 51", and indeed the entire series is breathlessly paced action adventure writing at its best. Bob Mayer (writing as Robert Doherty here) is a gifted storyteller with a real knack for creating exciting action and solid characters.

Bottom line: "Area 51" is real page-turner of an adventure story.

[Mathew Charpentier · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the book, I was bored with it and gave up. A few years later I had to read a mystery book for school I got to choose, and although not classifed as a mystery book it certainly kepps you guessing, that and I didn't want to buy a book I would only read once. So I picked up where I left off and soon found myself unable to put the book down! So the best addvice aobut rading this one is give it time and it will grow on you.

What I liked most was how the author tied in real facts in the book. I was particularly surprised with his overall knowledge of Top Secret government projects, conspiracy theories, and the Ancient Astronaught Theory. All these woven inot a plausable scenario involving human contact with extra terrestial beings and their technology.

The book also answeres just about every question it raises, but there are still plenty of things yeat to be revelaed you'll have to read the whole series to find those answeres.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book with a few small problems. This book I got to really enjoy at about the half way point. Up until then, it was a bit disjointed with so many characters and so many mentions of characters that it does take a while for the novel to come together. Once it does it is pretty good. Clearly, however, this was the first book in a series and I assume it is setting up the rest of the series. The potential for future is great. The writing style is good and tells a good story. I do recommend it and I plan to read the next.

[Dee Haddrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Mayer (writing as Robert Doherty) has written an action-packed, fast paced scifi thriller that will make conspiracy theorists jump up and down with delight! Aliens, pyramids, govt conspiracies, Easter Island--- you name it, this book has got it. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

[Kathryn Lee Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books have the lamest covers I have ever seen and yet they are some of the best scifi I ever read. Go figure hehehe.

[Shari Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, now I gotta read the next one!

[Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting and easy, a good read

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to give this book 3 1/2 stars because the meat of the story was good, but the ending was not as satisfying as I had hoped. It ended in a cliffhanger and I hate those. Luckily for me, the sequel ("The Reply") is available.

The story: A journalist, Johnny, is following a story regarding Area 51, a secret military base that has not been secret for years. UFO enthusiasts insist that the government is hiding an alien ship there. But just in case, Johnny sets up a "dead-man" signal on his answering machine and asks his former girlfriend, Kelly, to check on it. If the message didn't change on a date and time certain, that meant he was in deep trouble. In another thread of this story, a presidential aid, Dr. Lisa Duncan, is on a committee regarding Area 51, but suspects that the military is holding something back, so she gets a former Green Beret, Mike Turcotte, to check out Area 51. Indeed, he does find a number of strange things and when he tries to report back, bad things start to happen. People die and others are in deadly danger, including Kelly and Johnny. Someone has to find out what is going on at Area 51.

Any problems with this story? Well... the whole "Area 51" theme is something I usually avoid. However, I found myself intrigued with the story anyway. It had elements of other stories such as "Stargate" by Dean Devlin, "Resurrection" by Arwen Elys Dayton, The Devil Colony" by James Rollins, and especially "The Second Ship" by Richard Phillips. I hung in with the narrative and liked it despite the cliffhanger at the end.

Some of the military characters were a little too near the ledge. I've never been in the military, but I found it strange that a high-ranking military person would brandish his weapon and threaten to kill a subordinate for any reason other than self-defense or outright treason.

Any modesty issues? Well... the F-word was used over 20 times. Other than that, I don't recall anything. It was apparent that Kelly and Johnny were former lovers, but the reference to their former intimacy was so vague, I almost missed it. In any case, for the purposes of this story, their relationship had evolved into a friendship, and that is all it was.

I decided to try the next book in the series, "The Reply". If I like that book as well as I liked this book, I might read this book again.