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Area 51 #2

The Reply

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Area 51 was the most secret place in America.  But it was only one piece in a puzzle that stretched from Egypt's Pyramids to the mysterious face on Mars...

Part of a plan begun 5,000 years ago by those who had been here before.  And are coming back.

When scientist Lisa Duncan and Special Forces officer Mike Turcotte uncovered the stunning truth about Area 51--a "training area" on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada--they opened up a Pandora's box kept hidden from the American public for fifty years.

What they uncovered explained decades of UFO sightings--and the most baffling mysteries of history from the Great Pyramid to Easter Island.

But these findings were only the beginning. Now a signal had come in from outer our first contact with extraterrestrials. The message said they were coming. It didn't say they had been here before...and left something behind. But what waited deep within the Rift Valley of Ethiopia and inside an ancient Chinese tomb would determine Earth's fate. The dawning of a new age.  Or the destruction of us all...


Robert Doherty is a pseudonym for a bestselling writer of military suspense thrillers. He is also the author of Area 51 and The Rock, and is currently working on a third novel in the Area 51 series, entitled Area 51: The Mission.

376 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 9, 1998

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About the author

Robert Doherty

49 books161 followers
Pen name for Bob Mayer.

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5 stars
923 (32%)
4 stars
1,067 (37%)
3 stars
707 (24%)
2 stars
118 (4%)
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34 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
Profile Image for Stephen.
1,516 reviews12.4k followers
July 1, 2010
3.0 stars. Very good sequel to Area 51. As with the first book, this is a fun, quick read. Ties into the plot most of the most famous alien conspiracy theories and moves at a fast pace. Not deep thinking fare, but a fun ride. Definitely worth reading.
Profile Image for Jacques Hollands.
237 reviews5 followers
February 9, 2021
As was the case with the first book (Area 51) in the series, Area 51, The Reply was a fun read, but at times felt disjointed. I felt like I was reading an abridged version of the book. As a matter of fact, I researched whether there were different versions of the book. Things tended to happen seemingly out of the blue with no lead on.

These types of series can often take a while to get invested in the characters and the storyline. Therefore, I will probably continue reading the series but hoping that the editing and storyline will be a bit tighter going forward.
419 reviews42 followers
February 9, 2019
I enjoyed the first book in this series---"Area 51". So I immediately read book 2 "Area 51: The Reply".

A good sequel to the first book, it is also a Sf thriller, taking up directly after the action of Book 1 and taking the reader a little further into the mysterious happenings. Again decent plot and characters and lots of action and fairly easy reading. As before, suitable for age 12 on up.

This total series runs to ten books. Although I did enjoy them, I personally did not enjoy them enough to plan on reading eight more. But I am a slow reader due to vision problems----sone of you younger kids could probably read the entire ten book seriesv in a month. These must be read in order as it is one continous story. So read the first one, and if you enjoy it read as many as you like. The last few are harder to find; all are out of print but I often see them in used bookstores.
Profile Image for wally.
3,631 reviews5 followers
February 27, 2017
just finished this one. good read. i really liked it. haven't read the 1st (this is the 2nd) but i've already downloaded the 3rd. don't know if there is more. prolly ought to read the 1st, too now. or not. either way. onward and upward. (not too bad of a price, either)
Profile Image for Ann.
140 reviews3 followers
July 6, 2015
The 2nd installment of the series was definitely fun and the story interesting. Admittedly, I listened a lot to the audible book - and likely learned understanding the narrator better by now - but I found the plot and characterizations easier to follow than in volume 1.
There are two qualms I have with this book, though. The first one it shares with the first book: the very short, very compact chapters - work well for effect in print, but don't lend themselves well for audiobooks. However, the fast, thrill pace they create partially make up for that.
The second qualm is with a plot point / event sequence of this book specifically. In order to resolve the final quest, the hero shows a skill in rocket maneuvering I don't consider believable without proper training and/or at least previous experience of zero-G-flights, and then there's the issue of an outright murder committed for which I don't see how a functional judicial system will let him get away with it - even if the murdered person turns out to be what is hinted at earlier on.
Anyway, all this aside, the story is way too entertaining to stop here. Continuing with the third volume!
752 reviews
August 25, 2019
This book starts with a memory stored in the guardian pyramid on Easter Island that Nabinger was in contact with which tells a partial story of the events that resulted in the destruction of the Island of Atlantis as told from the viewpoint of an Airilia showing that it had occurred by weapons powered up by the Mothership, hence the need to not power up the Mothership. Meanwhile at Area 51, near Groom Lake, a new organization of personnel headed by Major Quinn, who was selected by Lisa Duncan and Mike Turcotte as best liaison to handle the site. Kelly Reynolds, the journalist, who held uncover what happened to her friend Johnny Simmons decides to go to Easter Island to get an exclusive viewpoint of what was happening by talking to Nabinger, who had been communicating with the guardian there. The guardian there had contacted Mars and had gotten a response, which translated into a reply to Earth along the lines of we are friends and will do you no harm. Meanwhile, Turcotte has a meeting with a Russian, using the name Karol Kostanov, who really is Yakov from Sector IV, the Russian version of Area 51. He offers them information about a site in south-western Ethiopia, that is a possible Airlia site but the Russians never were able to investigate. Mike and a team go in and find a large ruby sphere suspended over a hole drilled down to the Earth's core, (a doomsday device), surrounded by Airlia computerlike technology covered in high runes. They get the impression that this has to be handled with care.
The team has discovered that there are at least 2 warring agents of Airlia who are effecting the information they receive not knowing there's another and none of these groups want humans to know the full story, which makes choosing who is telling the truth confusing. Meanwhile, Mars has replied to the guardian and has sent 6 Talonships to Earth. Nabinger has discovered that the original part of the Great Wall is a high rune for the Word Help. After a discussion of which sites the foo fighters (in reaction to the Talonships coming), it was decided that the team would go to the tomb of Qian-Ling, where a Che Lu was attempting to enter because she had found high runes evidence and wanted Nabinger's help to translate. Of course, there's Airlia equipment inside with a warning defense mechanism in place to a lower level they can't enter without a key, but they find another guardian also which Nabinger communicates with and gets conflicting information about the Airlia who are coming from Mars but he is able to translate a good deal of information from the high runes inside. The team is also helped by a Russian team, who had penetrated the tomb from a different entry but like them was locked inside, until Nabinger triggers an escape hatch out, but not everyone lives to continue on because of the Chinese Rebel army attack. Nabinger dies when the helicopter he was on was shot down, taking all his research with him. Back at Area 51, a new person enters the scene, who seems to have access to help the team battle the incoming Talonships. Turcotte takes a bouncer to the site where the Ruby Sphere is and gets it, while 4 nuclear suitcase bomb is prepared for him and placed inside the Mothership, plus a modified bouncer for him to return to Earth. He puts the Ruby sphere inside the mothership and flies it up to space in a high orbit around the Earth. Meanwhile, Kelly Reynolds has decided to stay on Easter Island alone and ventured down to the guardian to try to create a contact. The bomb and the sphere explode as Mike figured killing all the Airlians who came from Mars and their ships except for the single Talonship whose occupants died and the ship was spinning uncontrolled in space.
A new member to the team, Kincaid from NASA, who was the person who was in control of the satellites in space, was helped by Conrad (a member of STAAR) in getting the satellite orbiting Mars (Surveyor) to freefall down with its nuclear bomb, but it didn't cause enough damage.
Profile Image for Paquita Gabarró.
376 reviews3 followers
January 1, 2021
Un libro con bastante acción y misterio, aunque no me empezó a enganchar hasta casi la mitad, porque la primera parte está bastante llena de datos que vienen bien como introducción para situarte, pero creo que con menos de esos datos hubiera bastado. Por otra parte el libro me ha gustado, no digo que no, la trama está bien construida y las situaciones bien enlazadas unas con otras, incluso hay momentos de verdadera angustia por lo que le pueda pasar al "bueno" de la historia. En definitiva un libro recomendable, para los que les guste la ciencia ficción, mezclado con aventuras y riesgos, secretos gubernamentales, etc.
305 reviews3 followers
December 30, 2017
I wasn't sure I would like this one. It was a slow, but steady read. The plot-line was well done, and a little twisty. With it being the "Holidays", (who started that anyway ... there is nothing "holiday" about it). I think that I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I could have read it straight through. But, it was the "Holidays". Ugh.
Once everyone left, I was able to read the last half straight through. I was riveted, and really enjoyed all the sneaky, one upperness, and the jumping up and down, cheering the characters along.
I'll have to read it again.
587 reviews2 followers
March 27, 2018
“Good” is too strong a term; “Entertaining” is a better description

The strongest part of this story is that Book #2 definitely picks up from the ending of Book #1. And, it continues the tale, which is also a plus. After that, though, there are A LOT of things that occur which make it difficult to willingly suspend one’s disbelief. Add to that mix is confusion for the Reader, because there are many, many things being thrown at you ... and, if you don’t have all of the terms and people’s names and relationships down pat — ugh!
Profile Image for Jamie Uribe.
266 reviews
January 4, 2023
Okay, there are so many things to say about this book, but I will keep it short.

So we found a Guardian in Eastern Ireland. They sent a message to a ship, or Aliens called the ASPASIA. We also know there were some aliens on earth called Airlia.

So, in this band, we are trying to figure out if we can trust them. And band together as a world and save the world.

We also get some insight on an alien and what she is thinking and doing.
Profile Image for Michael Greenfield.
Author 2 books1 follower
July 10, 2019
Enjoyable read with good characters and a fast paced plot. Get the feeling I'll be reading book 3 very soon.

It's definitely one for those that enjoy scifi based action/adventure, with the definite feel of the old 30's cinema serials or the Indy series of films. Not a dated feel, but the enjoyment of our heroes bouncing from one trial to the next.

Great fun.
Profile Image for Niki.
698 reviews10 followers
March 25, 2020
This is the second book in the series. At first I thought that certain characters were getting on my nerves but then I stopped to think that their reactions are true to the way the character is written. That being said, it is my opinion that this series should be good for awhile since the author actually cared enough to give the characters some depth.
28 reviews
July 2, 2023
Thriller pacing, but that’s not enough

Book 2 in the series continued much like the first, but a few of those elements started to wear thin. Chief among them are thin characterization and a transparent plot. The pacing and military details are a fun ride, but I don’t like being able to figure out the plot early in a book. Area 51 is part of a long, too transparent, series.
Profile Image for M. Sprouse.
719 reviews3 followers
December 29, 2024
I found this one easier to read than the first in the series. "The Reply" had more action and revealed more about the aliens. There were several twists, but the author continues to keep you guessing on which side humanity should align itself. As long as the rest are as interesting and easy to read as this one, I'll keep reading this "escapist" literature.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Adkisson.
24 reviews1 follower
January 24, 2018
Hard to put down.

I loved the first book in the series. This one was actually even better. The more I read, the more I was pulled into the story. I never was able to guess what was going to happen next. Time to get the next book in the series. Awesome sci-fi.
8 reviews
July 23, 2018
Good easy read and fast paced same as part one the only down side I had was to much repeating of the first book, had to skip through around 30% all at different stages. Would be better if the recap was in the prologue. Otherwise enjoyed the story.
Profile Image for Richard W. McCuistian.
156 reviews1 follower
November 10, 2018
Bob Mayer can pull a story together like very few other authors I've read. And I've read a lot of books. This is some rich reading - but you need to read the Area 51 series in order to appreciate it. Outstanding work, Bob - I just bought part 3 and can't wait to see what happens next.
Profile Image for Edmond Dantes.
376 reviews31 followers
October 15, 2019
Lettura Piacevole che mescola l'action militaresca anni 80/90 con la SF e la archeoastronomia (da VonDaniken/Kolosimo in poi)
Non sarà certo altra letteratura, ma tiene decisamente incollati alle pagine (a dispetto dei possibili errori scientifici)
Profile Image for Chance.
1,106 reviews21 followers
November 16, 2020
Aliens worst roomies

The story was to similar to the first book but just different to make seem like new in the premise. I also didn’t like how you didn’t add date and locations at start if chs to help reader know when and where things had happened.
Profile Image for Noodle The Naughty Night Owl.
2,326 reviews38 followers
August 20, 2022
8/10: Excellent read, well written, fell right into the fictional world created.

“I’m a soldier in the United States Army and I’ve been ordered by my chain of command to do this. I’m not happy about it, but there wasn’t a happiness clause in my enlistment contract.”
Profile Image for Andrew D Flynn.
71 reviews3 followers
December 22, 2016
Continuing from the first book in the series. Again, well done and 'believable'. Author does a good job of bridging common myths and sensationalism into a story that seems to fit.

Liking this guilty pleasure!
33 reviews
March 11, 2017
Spellbinding!

Just as informative and as much action packed adventure as book one in the series! Onto book 3. Will aliens take over planet earth? Can't wait to find out!
Profile Image for Ester.
Author 22 books146 followers
May 7, 2017
This was a fast paced read. Very intriguing. I couldn't put the book down. The ending left me wanting more.
Profile Image for Linda.
63 reviews5 followers
July 3, 2017
An interesting and engaging continuation of book 1 with an ending I didn't expect
18 reviews
September 13, 2018
Great series

Restarting this series. Didn't get to finish before. Well worth the time. Great writing style and characters. Makes it believable

Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews

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