Area 7 [Paperback]

Matthew Reilly's Area 7 shows an even more concentrated skill at keeping us turning the pages than his previous bestsellers Ice Station and Temple. He knows just the kind of book he wants to write, and he's repeatedly said that the key agenda behind his kinetic thrillers is to keep the reader's pulse quickened throughout.

In Area 7 America's most secret base is the eponymous Area 7, and hidden deep in the Utah desert, this high-tech Air Force installation is visited by very few unauthorised personnel. But when the President of the United States pays a call, he encounters a nasty surprise: a hostile force is waiting inside. And as mayhem erupts, Schofield, a young marine in the President's entourage, finds himself obliged to live up to his reputation: that he's a good man in a storm. Reilly's speciality is the steady accumulation of cliffhanging situations (as he demonstrated so readily in Temple) and he pulls off the trick with his usual aplomb in this one. If the President here seems considerably brighter than the current real-life incumbent, that's a minor distraction in a thriller that maintains a Rottweiler-like grip on our attention:

The flashlight was the only thing that saved Book II's life. Primarily because it blinded the man on top of the decompression chamber, if only for a moment. That was all the time Book II needed. His shotgun boomed, blasting their commando's goggles to pieces, sending him flying off the top of the chamber. It was a small victory, for at that exact moment, gunfire erupted around the darkened room as a legion of dark figures emerged...

--Barry Forshaw

'Epic, action-packed adventure... unbelievably pacy' - Mirror --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The hero of Ice Station is sent to a US Air Force installation in the Utah desert. Schofield will be escorting the President on an inspection tour of the base itself. But, there are certain people who don't plan on the head of state leaving there alive.

It is America's most secret base, hidden deep in the Utah desert, an Air Force installation known only as Area 7. And today it has a visitor: the President of the United States. He has come to inspect Area 7, to examine its secrets for himself. But he's going to get more than he bargained for on this trip. Because hostile forces are waiting inside... Among the President's helicopter crew, however, is a young Marine. He is quiet, enigmatic, and he hides his eyes behind a pair of silver sunglasses. His name is Schofield. Call-sign: SCARECROW. Rumour has it, he's a good man in a storm. Judging by what the President has just walked into, he'd better be... 'Epic, action-packed adventure...unbelievably pacy' Daily Mirror 'Nonstop thrills...cliffhangers galore' Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Matthew Reilly was born in Sydney in 1974 and studied Law at the University of New South Wales. He has written both screenplays and magazine articles, and recently optioned the film rights to his first novel, Contest. His second and third novels, Ice Station and Temple, became No. 1 bestsellers in his native Australia, and went on to enjoy huge success internationally. The author still lives in Sydney, and keeps on writing. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.