Saucer: Savage Planet

Saucer: Savage Planet by Stephen Coonts

St. Martin's Press: 4/1/2014
Trade Paperback, 352 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1250042002
www.coonts.com
Saucer Series #3

Aliens are coming! 

A year after young engineering student Rip Cantrell discovered the first flying saucer buried deep in the sands of the Sahara, another saucer is brought up from the bottom of the Atlantic.  The recovery is funded by a pharmaceutical executive who believes that the saucer holds the key to an anti-aging drug formula that space travelers would need to voyage between galaxies.  But one of his technicians, Adam Solo, an alien marooned on Earth for a thousand years, steals the saucer, hoping to summon a starship to rescue him.  Unfortunately, the stolen saucer has damaged communications gear.

Solo goes to Rip Cantrell and his partner, ex-Air Force test pilot Charlotte “Charley” Pine, and Rip's uncle Egg, for help in summoning a starship.  Meanwhile, as a terrified world fearful of space invaders approaches meltdown, big pharma moguls and their thugs are hot on the trail of the foursome.

In a world turned upside down, it may be the arriving aliens who offer limitless possibilities.  Rip and Charley face an incredible decision: Do they dare leave the safety of earth to travel into the great wilderness of the universe?  Full of UFO’s, futuristic technology, edge-of-your-seat flying scenes and unforgettable characters, human and otherwise, Stephen Coonts' Savage Planet is classic storytelling at its best . . . and pure, unadulterated fun.

My Thoughts:

Saucer: Savage Planet by Stephen Coonts concludes the series originally began with Saucer (2003) and Saucer: The Conquest (2006) and is recommended for those who need closure.


Rip Cantrell,  discovers a flying saucer buried in the Sahara desert with help from Charlotte Pine and his uncle Arthur “Egg” Cantrell. Only a year later a second saucer is discovered buried in the Great Barrier Reef. Pharmaceutical baron Harrison Douglas is behind the funding for the recovery efforts because he believes he can reap financial gain from products made based on the alien science. Douglas gets a hold of the Roswell saucer which was originally at Area 51. Then Adam Solo, a technician who is actually an alien-in hiding and working for Douglas, steals the saucer.
 
Solo hopes to find a way to call for help but with the communications device damaged, he connects with Rip and the gang hoping the saucer he found can help him get home. In the meantime everyone is after them.

Those who read and enjoyed the previous two books may want to pick up this third installment just for the conclusion of the series.  It's an easy read and the pace is fast enough to keep you entertained. While this final book was the weakest of the three, it is fun escapism. For me this is an airplane book - certainly worth reading but I wouldn't pull my hair out in grief if I misplaced my copy in my travels. I do like the closure, though it was a long time coming...


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for review purposes.