Matthew Reilly’s “Area 7”

A Must Read 300This week I went back and revisited some of my favorite authors’ earlier works. Matthew Reilly’s Area 7, is a high-octane action thriller following Reilly’s Shane Schofield, and is the second novel following Ice Station (which I reviewed several months ago) to feature Schofield. Area 7 is the most secure and secret military instillation in the United States, and quite possibly the world. Schofield and his group of marines are assigned as protective duty to a special visitor: the president of the United States. Naturally, the president’s visit goes awry, and what follows is an techno-thriller that entwines betrayal, incredible gadgets, a protagonist you just want to root for, and a cast of characters that harken back to the glory days of 80s action movies.

As is typical in a Reilly novel, this book’s pacing is blisteringly fast. While some people may like their novels to set up the backstory meticulously before delving into the “good stuff,” Reilly absolutely nails the pacing needed for this tone of writing. The nature of Area 7‘s story necessitates a race against time for protagonist, but manages to avoid jarring transitions in scene. Schofield is at home in these situations and it shows throughout, allowing the reader to fluctuate between tones of panic or confidence in the protagonist’s abilities, which serves to keep the story from becoming too frantic. In terms of writing, this is one of Reilly’s earlier novels, and at times you can tell. While there is exceptional detail found in the action and technology throughout the novel, some locales could stand to be more fleshed out. Characterization is also a double-edged sword. On one hand, Schofield’s team tends to feel like the heroes from popular 80s action movies, which brings about all the associated coolness you could expect. On the other hand, excluding Schofield himself, some team members feel one dimensional in their use. Hopefully, this issue will be fixed in later Schofield novels as characters make return appearances. Overall, Matthew Reilly’s Area 7 is a book that contains some flaws typical of an author’s early thriller novels, but is a blast to read. If you have been craving a story that is easy to pick up and hard to put down, complete with all the explosions and political betrayals that you can handle, then Area 7 is a good book to look at.

Source: Jake Depew, Assistant Editor