Millenium

by Jack Anderson

Millennium begins with an alien visitor - disguised as a human - appearing in our nation's capital, with a dire warning. He is a renegade from an advanced civilization out to destroy a race believed to be irredeemably violent and dangerous - the human race. But before he can deliver his message, the alien falls victim to human violence. Pursued by an obsessed government agent and a crazed drug dealer, both of whom are after his alien technology, the visitor has only one chance for survival. The future of the human race now hinges on a hard-bitten journalist in the twilight of his career and his beautiful, impetuous assistant.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up off the Park Ridge Public Library sale shelf last week while in town to help a friend organize his parents' home there after their deaths. I got it simply because it intrigued me that Jack Anderson, the columnist, would write a novel about alien abductions being covered up by the US government. The "Author's Note" indicated that, yes, indeed, he did.

The themes of abduction, hybridization programs, coverups by wicked secret agencies of government are all there, set in the period just before 2000. The aliens turn out to be well-intended, so well-intended that they have quarantined our planet to protect the rest of the cosmos from us until we're exterminated (whether they plan to do the extermination or simply expect us to destroy ourselves is left somewhat ambiguous), but one of their number breaks the quarantine to try to get us to reform ourselves. The story is basically about his efforts and about those who hinder and help him in them. Unsurprisingly, one of the human helpers is an elderly syndicated journalist...

This could have been a decent thriller if Anderson had rooted it more explicitly in reality or, like Tom Clancy, had more informatively portrayed the workings of governmental agencies. At least I had hoped to get some insight from such a connected fellow as himself. He fails to do any of this, but instead focuses on his characters. Unfortunately, he is no good at characterization. Everyone is two-dimensional, distinguished only by their surfaces. So far as UFOs are concerned, if Anderson knew anything in particular beyond what the general public can easily find out, this book doesn't demonstrate it.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published 1994. The plot is unrealistic even for pseudo science fiction. Anderson obviously wrote himself into the book as one of the characters. Full of "end of the world" and the "aliens are here" lines. Anderson was a nationally known columnist considered by some as the father of investigative reporting but then also as a muckraker. By the time this book was written and published he was well into Parkinson's disease and he died in 2004. Perhaps best read as a symptom of its time.

[Sally Bisbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

SF thriller novel. An alien visitor falls afoul of Earth’s human dangers, and a journalist has to save him and the planet.

This was a kickass book! For a couple of years after I read it, I diligently searched - in vain - for more books by Mr. Anderson. I was sorely disappointed when I couldn't find any that came close to this one.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago, when I was in highschool, and I remember quite enjoying it. Well, the writing was really crappy, but the story kind of caught me. Maybe because there was mostly action and entanglement or because I have never read a science-fiction book until then, let alone one about aliens.
Anyway, if I were to read it againg... well, I wouldn't for anything in the world.

[Foxtower · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always leary when any book begins with "that" alien and the standard " abduction", yet this book went new places with new ideas that weren't too tainted by the same old same old... a little bit maybe, but still an enjoyable story!

[Pmcdnld2 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be a good sci-fi story. Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize winner but this was silly, unbelievable and not worth the time

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Done. Tried to finish. May still try. Got too bored, mainly with alien's message. Good message but uninteresting for moving story forward.