Saucer

Saucer, Book 1

By: Stephen Coonts

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2004 Stephen Coonts (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A comic, feel-good sf adventure." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Dick Hill, who is a well-respected narrator, does a superb job....Hill's commendable performance illustrates well the saying that it often is not what one says but how one says it." ( Library Journal)

Kooky

Don't read this as serious sci-fi with scientific explanation and deeply developed characters...it's not that. Light satire makes it a book that's just plain fun. Yes, the characters are a bit flat and credulity gets stretched here and there. The reaction of government to the finding of a flyable flying saucer was spot on--stupid and clumsy--just like always. Couple that with a greedy global zillionaire and a budding romance...you just can't stop listening. Coonts wrote more of Rip Cantrell--I may just have to check them out!

Great book

Would make a thrilling movie. I read it years ago and listened to it in just three days!

Interesting satire

This is my first Stephen Coonts book. I always figured he was way to serious and probably wrote to realistic violence for me. I can handle SciFi/Fantasy violence fine. But this one, the killings didn't bother me at all. I felt they all deserved what they got. I absolutely loved the political satire about the president and his stupidity about the orders he gave and his utter lack of basic knowledge. Also, the military intervention both by the U.S. and Australian government to me portrays exactly how the governments would or have handled such occurances.

The greed angle impressed me. It is amazing how realistic that was and was very believable.

I was surprised by the 'cougar' angle. Not a lot of what I have read handles that subject very much, it is a very common happening in real life.

Having actually seen with my own eyes UFOs many years ago. My sighting was validated with other identical sightings the same day by others who where with me and also reported in NYC at the same time and 75 miles east of where I was. It happened in the 50s before we even ventured into space. This is a subject that is of great interest to me. I love the ideas behind the saucer in this book as they are to me very valid premises.

It amazes me how many creationists can't embrace that if He could create what we have here on earth, that he would be limited to just this tiny little rock we live on and feel that such ideas as other worlds would smash their views of the religion they embrace instead of enhancing their awe of what He can do.

I am looking forward to the rest in the series.

chief brown usn

As with all the Coonts books read BZ looking foreword to the next book Cuba.

great story and good male voicing

Wonderfully paced and basic storytelling that trusts the reader to be smart while at the same time doesn't try to get too lofty in complex engineering or theory language. The voicing is decent for the male characters but cliche and almost condescending for the female voices. I doubt it's intentional, likely just a voice actor that hasn't had much experience at the subtle changes needed for differentiating a female character.

Awesome

it was really good. The over all great. Liked it a lot. Thanks for good reading.

An ok book

A believable story, with some technical flaws. I found some of the people in the book to be two dimensional.
The most memorable moment for me was the suggestion that we came from the group of people in the saucer, even though we have 98.4 percent of our DNA in common with the apes.
I found some of the narrators voices to be a little much, but over all not bad.

Good story. Limited plot.

Interesting story. Gets bogged down with bad guys trying to take the saucer and we never get what we really want. Exploration, answers about our past and where did the creators go. Instead we get local smart farm boy finds saucer, trys to keep saucer and pretty girl, fights bad guys, gives saucer up. Dick Hill you are great to listen to.

Bad Science

The science was terrible and the story was juvenile. Only kept it because it was a cut rate buy. Don't bother.

Maybe nice for teenagers

The first problem with "Saucer" is its completely predictable plot, which is 100% linear from beginning to end. The second problem is the lack of depth of its characters. None of them come across as very unique or engaging.
On the positive side, the story moves along at a fairly consistent pace, without getting too bogged down in irrelevant details.
And, although Dick Hill is a competent narrator, his nasal, whiny-sounding portrayal of women really gets on your nerves after a while.
Overall, this book doesn't even come up the level of brain candy—more like brain pablum.