The Mission

Area 51 #3

by Robert Doherty (Pseudonym), Bob Mayer

Now we know what the government hid there.  It's time we found out why....

Hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest is a place shrouded in mystery.  It is called The Mission.  And in nearby villages people are screaming in pain as they die from a virus more deadly than Ebola.  They can't escape it.  They can't cure it.  They can't stop it from exploding into a worldwide epidemic poised to kill us all....

Scientist Lisa Duncan and Special Forces officer Mike Turcotte suspect this new "Black Death" is actually a biological weapon in an escalating war between us...and "them." Them? The aliens who are part of a chilling conspiracy connected to ancient riddles, a government agency...and Area 51.  Now from the Great Wall of China to a top secret facility beneath Antarctica's ice cap, an eclectic group of soldiers and scholars are working with Duncan and Turcotte to give humankind one last shimmering hope to survive.  To stop the aliens--at least until the Pandora's box of Area 51 opens up again....

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

344 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Pen name for Bob Mayer.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Two stars might be a little harsh for this book but I couldn't quite bring myself to say "I liked it" so I split the difference at 2.5 stars. I did not enjoy this installment as much as the previous books in the Area 51 series and I am not entirely sure why. Like the other two, this story is fast paced and expands on the story begun in the other two. I think maybe the "freshness" of the story has worn off. For whatever reason, the story didn't entertain as much as the previus books. I will still probably read the next installment of the series at some point but I won't rush to do it.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read and had some interesting, though dark, elements (an ebola-like alien-created virus was tough reading giving the current state of events). Unfortunately, the structure of the book itself was a bit of a mess. There were just far too many side people/missions and it turned out that most just didn't really matter. There was also excessive re-capping. It felt at times as though the author didn't really have a novel length story and was stretching with side stories and recaps. A real shame as I loved the previous book! Hoping the next in the series is more like The Reply and not like this one. Better to just focus on Mike and Lisa and their adventures and challenges.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only 2 stars for this, although it was more like a 2.5 star book.

I really enjoyed the first two in the series but this one was a bit of a mess. Far too many characters and substories going on and not much to keep you interested in most of them. It seemed too technical with very little on the two main characters, who were sidelined to a host of new characters who mostly died. It had also been a while since I read the first two books and I found the whole explanation of the 'good aliens', 'bad aliens', 'good and bad humans' poor and unclear. It all made for very muddled reading.

The editing was also poor - continuity mistakes and spelling errors and lots of missing line breaks where the story switched from one set of characters to another (which means you get caught out and confused for a second or two until you realise it's a different storyline). It felt as if it was written in a rush with no clear idea of what was to go in it, and then edited in a rush too. It either needed to be much shorter with the side stories cut, or much longer so you got more involved with each story.

I will read the next one but I hope it's better than this.

[Jacques Hollands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I was listening to the audiobook and hadn't been travelling that much the past week, it took me several days to finish the book. While it wasn't too bad, it simply didn't grab me. This has been the case for the previous two books too.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but the storyline, while simple enough, just doesn't come together. The science is speculative but not terrible; the characters are all a bit vanilla but not totally unrelatable, so what actually bugs me remains a mystery. Perhaps it is the fact that the story seems to jump around a bit. There is some nice build-up in certain instances, and then it just fizzles out. In other instances, the storyline seemed to come out out of the blue, and I wasn't too sure how we got to where we are. I found this a big problem in the first two books of the series, and while it was prevalent in The Mission, it was less so.

SO, yeah, if you have a few hours to just chill, go ahead and read it. It won't be a total waste of your time. I will probably read the fourth book in the series, as it seems to be written progressively better as the series continues, albeit at a languid pace. I am a sucker for series.

[ReadsandThings · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pandemic theme makes this pretty grim reading (particularly when people around you are getting sick with influenza left and right). However, I felt that this volume lacked some of the appeal of the earlier books. The novelty of the alien theme has worn off by now, and instead of forwarding the overarching plot of the series, this book introduces a number of ultimately (probably) insignificant subplots that felt superfluous and really went nowhere. There were also a lot of "info-dump"-passages where the content of the previous books was repeated, which gets rather tedious after a while. I think a "what happened before" chapter at the beginning of the book would have been more reader-friendly than randomly interspersed repetitions, but that may be just me. All in all this book left me with the feeling that the publisher said to the authors, "we want to make this a 10 book series. Bulk it out more!", and that this one was added for, well, bulk.
In all it's still a fast read and pageturner, but I suspect you might skip this particular one without missing out much in the series as a whole.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between this Area 51 series and the Atlantis series (both from Bob Meyer) I am in 7th heaven for some good ole sci-fi action. I have read up to book 4 (of 6) in the Atlantis series and plan to start book 5 real soon .

On the other hand, The Mission is only the 3rd of 7 or 9 books. It seems I have a ways to go there.

Each one is somewhat similar but different enough to make both series fun to read. I learn a lot about some far off locations. Understanding that some facts are tilted/changed to make a good story. A thrill a minute.

I already have all the rest of both series on my Kindle and will start

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie about Area 51 continues where the previous book ended. Nothing is wrapped up. The world is still in danger and it looks like the alien agenda is winning.

I can’t really comment too much. It is such an ongoing thing that saying this section is good or that section is good would never cover it all. Lots going on in this story. Lots of characters. I am listening to it on my Kindle and doing it that way helps me keep the multiple storylines straight.

Lots of books to go in the series so I don’t see the drama ending very soon. I will definitely delve into the next book in the series when I get a craving for sci-fi.

I bought this book with my own money.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked the previous books in the series, you'll probably like this one as well.

I found that unlike the book before it, this one spent the first half recapping what had taken place in the prior books. While it's important to know or remind us about things that had already happened, I didn't expect to find that nothing new was really going on for 150 pages!

Thankfully, the book really took off after that, building up to a massively large, action-packed climax that was really enjoyable.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story in this series! Doherty is a master at writing the military scifi story. He has taken just enough real archeology, added some current alien visitation thinking and come up with a real page-turner. About to tackle the next one "The Sphinx"! The only down-side to these books is the difficult reaidng in the ebook format. MANY typos, font changes, etc. that can be annoying.

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing about this series is how fast the story reads. In this book now that the team has suffered a loss, they are very leery of information they receive from various sources because of the conflicting views and lack of the full story as to why, but they all agree to pursue what is needed for mankind's survival first. They killed the two STAAR members who contacted them at Area 51, despite their help, because of the reaction they had to use the Mothership. When an autopsy was made of their bodies it was found that they were a composite clone of both human and Airlia DNA. A mission was undertaken to the Scorpion Base in Antartica where they found vats used to clone the bodies. Every one of these people carries a medallion which shows a figure reaching up with their arms. The Mission has decided to do a cleanse of the human population by releasing a virus called The Black Death which they create by using the atmosphere of space to cook the virus. They would have succeeded in infecting the entire world if they hadn't crashed a satellite in the Amazon and Those Who Watch hadn't alerted the UNESCO to investigate. Turcotte manages to lead a team to find and get the antidote to stop this from happening. But the Mission who controls the guardian on Easter Island is not done yet.
Meanwhile, those who are part of the STAAR group, have decided to change tactics and make demands of the humans to find artifacts that have been hidden in various places. Two of them go to Station IV, the Russian Area 51, destroy the buildings, kill everyone and remove a technology that works with Airlia guardians which they bring to Soda Lake where there's an old Airlia spot buried under the lake which has vats for cloning which they will need since they were exposed to radiation and their bodies are dying. Their other companion Elek has entered Quian Ling and activated up a shield to stop anyone else from entering and has Che Lu and Lo Fa with him. They had entered carrying the notebook they rescued from Nabinger after they buried his body.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... very exciting. It does require one to have read the previous books in the series to get the full context of what is happening. I read them quite a while ago, but I was able to follow the storyline without having to go back. Good going.

The story: Most of this story centers around the Amazon rain forest and something called "The Mission". There is a war going on between alien races and the humans are caught in the crossfire. What seems to be a bioweapon has been released and somehow Lisa Duncan and Mike Turcotte must find a cure (or at least a vaccine) in order to save the human race from extinction.

Any problems with this story? The author tends to draw ideas from popular conspiracy theories and provide an alien connection to them. I found some of those connections disturbing since I know what the real explanation is. For example: those ancient monuments on Easter Island were moved to their present positions many miles away. How did those ancient people do that? While I am sure some people would accept alien technology as the explanation, in fact it was demonstrated that such a feat could be accomplished by carefully waddling the stone monuments down the road. Since I knew this, when the author suggested a more fantastic explanation, it produced cognitive dissonance in my mind and pulled me out of the story.

Any modesty issues? The S-Word was used here and there. Sex between two unmarried people was mentioned but no details were given. What I mean is this sentence, "A receiver he'd hidden inside the house now picked up the sound of the two making love, but that interested the man not in the least." See what I mean?

The ending was exciting. It was resolved a little too quickly for my own sense of neatness, but it went just fine. A big opening was left for the sequel which is "The Sphinx".

I might read this book again as part of reading the entire series.

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

It's hard to stop reading these - and Mayer has co-opted everything on earth and Mars to bring his story to life. If it's a well-known mystery, (pyramids wherever they may be, Easter Island, the face on Mars, Area 51 itself, the explosion over Tunguska in 1908, foo fighters, the Ark of the Covenant and so many other things - he has crafted an incredible tale of epic proportions - and he's really good at it. Having read some of his Time Patrol novels, I didn't expect such a far-reaching tale, but this is a good series and is hard to put down.

[Walter Boomsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

As noted, this is the third book in a series. I enjoyed it, but I'm starting to find the series tiring and the storyline of the series is becoming convoluted and complex. My "criticism" is less about the book than the series itself. If one reads book three as a standalone, the ending is disappointing. I don't mind some suspense-to some extent, that's the point of a series. But I felt like I invested a lot of thought and energy into characters and groups that weren't (at this point) meaningful to the story I had read. I've ordered book four, but I may need a break.

[Chuck Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I slogged through the first 150 pages or so and finally gave up. This book just couldn’t grab and retain my attention. New people and references to places kept popping up and I had a hard time linking them together and tracking forward despite having some familiar characters from its predecessor book Area 51 by the same author.

[ryan bryers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book but sometimes hard to follow scene switches

Love the book and the overall series but sometimes when I read as I move to a new paragraph the while context is switched to another part of the plot. Inconsistent use of clear breaks in the text to show the context is changing need to be resolved

[Chance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Migraine

The story if you remove the sci-fi and aliens the story was a complexity of double and triple lays of misinformation spycraft stuff. The story was a head ache to rember who was who has the plot kept adding more factions an chacthers locations to track and not be even more confused. All a novel not for people with memory to read.

[M. Sprouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series doesn't sit its ass and depend on past accomplishments. Each new book is better than the last. This is the most suspenseful so far. Most of the details and story line fit together and the author seems to have done some advance planning. Unfortunately, this is not really a stand alone novel. Anyone reading the series should start with book #1 to get the maximum effect.

[Elizabeth Adkisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Military Action and Aliens.

This book series is so well written that I have found it very difficult to put down. The story, as well as the action, pull you in. Like I said, military action and aliens. Enough said.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #3 = More Action

This book seemed to be constantly “on the go” ... it’s still difficult trying to keep straight who-is-who, and if not for the central characters — I’d be more lost than while reading the story.

[Edmond Dantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuano le avventure del gruppo di Turcotte / Duncan e gli altri contro gli alieni che attendono di attaccare la terra da più di 10.000 Anni...
Ottima combinazione come nei precedenti tra combat-thriller e fantaarcheologia....
Le pagine si girano come il vento... e tanto basta....

[janice moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comments

Disliked the triple stars between sections of text. Use bolded hyphens instead. Excellent plot. Provide a link to the next in the series, not just the name. Will facilitate sales and accessibility by your readers.

[Chad Arreguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Doherty/Mayer. I hate his view on politics, from what I've read in his blogs, but this series is right on the money in that it delves into many aspects of conspiracy theories and the Fortean. Starting The Sphinx now!!!

[dejah_thoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pulled this one from the shelf thinking it was a stand-alone but it's actually the second book in a series. It references much of the first book, so that's good, but the plot is rather complicated. It's a good read if you like swashbuckling, fast-paced science fiction with a hint of romance.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was an okay continuation of the series. It was kind of all over the place between many scenes and characters, with action packed in. I personally think it was a little choppy and did not answer or end all scenes. Still great entertainment though.

[Niki · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me several months to finish this. As a result, I lost track of characters and was confused about who was doing what, who was a good guy and other details. I don't like that each book seems to end on a cliff hanger. I guess I'll try one more in the series.

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

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

His take on military seat belts had always been that their only purpose was to try to keep the corpse with the plane if it crashed.

[Netz · Rating 2 out of 5]

way too many recaps in this book.
The story is no longer compelling.

[David Elkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little harder read, and more of a stretch-However still did history correctly

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another interesting book that showed more and yet left more to wondering what was going to be happening.

[William Hutchcraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent continuation of the series