Saucer (Saucer, 1) - Softcover

Coonts, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312283423 ISBN 13: 9780312283421

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002

Synopsis

Stephen Coonts has earned an extraordinary worldwide reputation with his military thrillers featuring Jake Grafton, one of the most popular and recognizable characters in contemporary suspense fiction. In this exhilarating departure, Coonts takes readers on an imaginative journey into space that is as suspenseful as any of his other stories . . .

When Rip Cantrell, a seismic survey worker in the Sahara, spots a glint of reflected light in the distance, he investigates-and finds a piece of metal apparently entombed in the sandstone. Before long, Rip and his colleagues uncover a flying saucer that has been resting there for 140,000 years.

Their discovery doesn't remain a secret for long. The U.S. Air Force sends a UFO investigation team, which arrives just minutes before a team sent by an Australian billionaire to steal the saucer's secrets. Before either side can outwit the other, the Libyan military arrives.

Meanwhile, Rip has been checking out the saucer. With the help of a beautiful ex-Air Force test pilot Charley Pine, Rip flies the saucer away, embarking on a fantastic journey into space and around the world, keeping just ahead of those who want the saucer for themselves.

Saucer is a dazzling flying story and an action-filled look at what might have been...and what might be.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Praise for the novels of Stephen Coonts

America
"The master of the techno-thriller spins a bone-chilling worst-case scenario involving international spies, military heroics, conniving politicians, devious agencies, a hijacked nuclear sub, lethal computer hackers, currency speculators, maniac moguls and greedy mercenaries that rivals Clancy for fiction-as-realism and Cussler for spirited action... [Coonts] never lets up with heart-racing jet/missile combat, suspenseful submarine maneuvers and doomsday scenarios that feel only too real, providing real food for thought in his dramatization of the missile-shield debate."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Fans of Coonts and his hero Grafton will love it. Great fun."-Library Journal

"Coonts's action and the techno-talk are as gripping as ever."-Kirkus Reviews

"Thrilling roller-coaster action. Give a hearty welcome back to Adm. Jake Grafton." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

Hong Kong
"The author gives us superior suspense with a great cast of made-up characters...But the best thing about this book is Coonts's scenario for turning China into a democracy."
--Liz Smith, The New York Post

"A high-octane blend of techno-wizardry [and] ultraviolence...[Coonts] skillfully captures the postmodern flavor of Hong Kong, where a cell phone is as apt as an AK-47 to be a revolutionary weapon."-USA Today

"Entertaining...intriguing."-Booklist

"Will be enjoyed by Coonts's many fans...Coonts has perfected the art of the high-tech adventure story."-Library Journal

"Coonts does a remarkable job of capturing the mood of clashing cultures in Hong Kong."
-Publishers Weekly

"Filled with action, intrigue, and humanity."-San Jose Mercury News

"Move over Clancy, readers know they can count on Coonts."-Midwest Book Review

Cuba
"Enough Tomahawk missiles, stealth bombers, and staccato action to satisfy [Coonts's] most demanding fans." -USA Today

"[A] gripping and intelligent thriller."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Perhaps the best of Stephen Coonts's six novels about modern warfare."
-Austin American-Statesman

"Coonts delivers some of his best gung-ho suspense writing yet."-Kirkus Reviews

"Dramatic, diverting action...Coonts delivers."--Booklist

Fortunes of War
"[Coonts] is a natural storyteller [with] a rare gift...Fortunes of War is crammed with a action, suspense, and characters with more than the usual one dimension found in these books.--USA Today

"A stirring examination of courage, compassion, and profound nobility of military professionals under fire. Coonts's best yet."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Full of action and suspense...a strong addition to the genre." -Publishers Weekly

Flight of the Intruder
"Extraordinary! Once you start reading, you won't want to stop!"-Tom Clancy

"Coonts knows how to write and build suspense...this is the mark of a natural storyteller."
--The New York Times Book Review

"[Coonts's] gripping, first-person narration of aerial combat is the best I've ever read. Once begun, this book cannot be laid aside."-The Wall Street Journal

"Kept me strapped in the cockpit of the author's imagination for a down-and-dirty novel."
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

From the Back Cover:

"Coonts knows how to write and build suspense." -The New York Times Book Review

A relic from the past. A bridge to the future.

After 140,000 Years...
Seismic Surveyor Rip Cantrell has made an exhilarating discovery-a flying saucer embedded in the Sahara sandstone. Buried for eons, it's not the invention of modern man. Computer-equipped, it can't belong to ancient man. Rip's betting his life on the only alternative. If the ship's memory bank holds the proof he needs, it's going to rock civilization, and make Rip a very famous man.

Its Time Has Come.
Once the secret's out, Rip's outwitted by an enterprising billionaire set to steal the saucer's profitable technology-and outnumbered by the Libyan army looking to lay claim to history. But it's in a skeptical UFO investigation team that Rip finds an unlikely ally: test-pilot Charlotte Pine. Together, they come up with a plan to protect the saucer's secrets.

But Where In The World Is It Going?
Under a hail of bullets, in an exhaust of white fire, Rip and Charlotte are off. Accelerating on a fantastic journey across continents and oceans, they're about to experience the mystery of what once was, and explore the possibilities of what could be, on an adventure 140,000 years in the making.

"Tough to put down." --Publishers Weekly

"A comic, feel-good sf adventure." -Kirkus Reviews

"Coonts is a natural storyteller." -USA Today

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312283423
• ISBN 13: 9780312283421
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352