Storming Area 51: Horror at the Gate by Michelle River

Storming Area 51: Horror at the Gate Reviews

• 
  Beckett

  I had zero expectations going into this book; in fact, I almost returned it to Kindle Unlimited without reading it. At first, I thought that this might be a collection of disconnected narratives that all had something to do with Area 51. Nope, the group of authors responsible for Storming Area 51 have plotted out a fascinating little mystery that unravels one thread at a time through different POVs. You don't realize until you're halfway through the book how unreliable the narrators are, how little you understand what's going on, and (up until the very end) you're left wondering who you can really trust. Fitting for a novel that's a contemporary take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers! Storming Area 51 refuses to take the easy way out, breathing fresh life into stock-characters like the zealously militant alien abductee (i.e. Russell Casse from Independence Day) and the monster hunter who only sees things in black-and-white.
  
  My favorite POVs in the book were Elain and Gerald's, and that's probably because they had the most profound emotional arcs. They also provided the most space for the extraterrestrials to demonstrate their ability to sympathize with our human characters and even to collaborate with them as friends. Did I cry when Elain said goodbye to the alien who was controlling her now deceased-husband's body? Oh, yes. I most definitely did. And I cried even harder when he told her to run away before anything happened at the Area 51 gates. Michelle River, who wrote Elain's sections, really knows how to tug at your heartstrings. Even though we only knew them for a few seconds, the Taus controlling Greg's body were some of my favorite characters in this book. While I couldn't stand Neila as a character, Alana Robertson-Webb did one hell of a job writing her. Neila thinks that she has all of the answers, but through our access to other POVs (like Nate, an extreme case of wrong place at the wrong time), we realize that she makes tons of mistakes. And that she's not that much different from the creatures that she's hunting. Also: props to the author team for choosing death-by-trampling for Neila! It was really fitting for her to die as a background character instead of the heroine that she clearly thought of herself as.
  
  The only part of this book that I didn't like (and the reason why it gets four stars instead of five) is the epilogue. In fact, if you decide to read Storming Area 51, I'm actually going to recommend that you skip over the epilogue. For the entire book, your perspective on the Taus, the aliens that walk amongst us, is constantly shifting. The authors do a fantastic job creating extraterrestrial characters that are just as varied and complex as the human characters. Even the background characters, like the Tau that Neila takes out when he leaves his private plane, are so interesting. An alien who just wants to bang sex workers and get trashed! While reading, I (mistakenly) felt that the biggest missed opportunity in Storming Area 51 was not having an alien POV. The epilogue is told from the POV of a Tau commander and ruins all of the mystery that was built up during the narrative. If you're a completionist like me, you'll read the epilogue anyway, but be prepared to be disappointed.
  
  Overall, Storming Area 51 is a fantastic little book, an easy read that will keep your heart pumping! Highly recommended!
• 
  Beverly Laude

  This was an interesting take on what might have happened during the storming of Area 51. The authors have done a great job in imagining the event from various POV's. Are there aliens hidden there? Is the government hiding something?
  
  One of the main characters of the book is a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens as a child. She and a group of people who meet up on Facebook are determined to get to the truth of what is hidden behind the gates. Another POV is that of Elaine, a woman who witnesses her whole family being taken over by something (shades of Invasion of the Body Snatchers). She is just trying to find her young son before it is too late.
  
  Then, you have a microbiologist who has been involved in experimentation on a being from another world called Carl. His conscience finally gets to him and he decides that he has to give Carl a chance to return home. And, of course , there is the alien himself, Carl. All of these characters meet up at Area 51 and things begin to reach a boiling point.
  
  The authors did a good job of building tension and action as the story evolves. There is emotion, fear, terror, and sadness in these tales. I especially enjoyed the scene when Elaine encounters her "husband", Greg. You could feel the emotion between these two characters as Greg assists Elaine in her quest to find her son.
  
  The narrator did a great job and added a lot to my enjoyment of these tales. I was given the chance to listen to this audiobook through Story Origins and chose to review it.
• 
  Tom Casey

  A well written story, good characters, easy to follow. Certainly action packed.
  I received this book for free from #storyoriginapp and wanted to give an honest review
  The narrator is excellent, really enjoyed the way she reads and puts her all into the characters.
• 
  David Green

  A novel idea well executed
  
  The different writing styles of the authors mesh well as they tackle different characters. An interesting approach to storytelling well executed.
• 
  Mama Creep

  I loved it. I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi stories because science words confuse me most of the time lol. However, AREA 51 has intrigued me for years. As much as I was hoping for a bad ending most of the time this book lead me to believe otherwise. But it quickly went downhill after that. This is a very good book. I love that this was not just an encounter of one person but was told in different perspectives. Great book!
• 
  Karen

  Interesting story about aliens living among us. This compelling story kept me reading - I had to find out how it all ended. This is not my usual genre (historical fiction for me) but I thoroughly enjoyed how the authors balanced the dichotomy of evil and yet compassionate aliens. Amazing how five authors can work together to create such a cohesive and interesting story - well done!
• 
  Pat Eroh

  This book would not let me put it down! My son keeps talking about this event so I had to read this and it is even better than I imagined it would be. Great writers and awesome story!
  
  I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
• 
  Drew

  Incredibly fun. Particularly liked the creative concept about who the aliens were and what their motivations were.