Groom Lake

Journey below Area 51 in a conspiratorial thriller that will mystify readers with chilling insight about fringe sciences controlled by the military-industrial complex. Author Bryan O challenges readers to discern fact from fiction in a mainstream narrative that questions the origin and use of advanced technologies. The plot offers multiple perspectives, allowing readers to identify with the book whether they are believers, non-believers or new to the conspiracy genre. Groom Lake is not just a novel; the story is a briefing on America’s shadow programs, methods and reasoning, intertwined with fast-paced scenarios where intelligence agents guard their fringe programs from inquisitive civilians, China’s Ministry of State Security and a congressional task force investigating hidden government spending.ReviewAN EXPERIMENTAL FANTASY ABOUT GOVERNMENT SECRETS, UFOS AND THE LOOMING THREAT OF AMERICA'S MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.Readers expecting a paranoid polemic about the mysterious and nefarious exo-political goings-on at Area 51 will be surprised: this is a novel. Readers expecting a fantasy structured around the cultural ballyhoo surrounding Area 51 will be surprised: this story is all true or at least this is what the author wants us to believe. Or does he? It s a playful strategy and will deeply satisfy readers who love fringe culture (e.g., cold fusion, UFOs, remote viewing, et al.), but as the author directly addresses his readers, challenging them to figure out if the prefatory letter to his novel is authentic and if he might not be a black-ops hero disseminating an intergalactic revelation, the spell is preemptively broken by being so on the nose with the strategy of ambiguity. What is much more likely is that like so many self-proclaimed investigators and investigations into Area 51 and the shadow government, this novel is a bold, intelligently conceived piece of wish fulfillment and self-promotion. No problem for addicts of the fringe, but readers unfamiliar with the world of UFO/conspiracy should be advised this comes with the territory; in fact, were it not for such ingenuous personalities, there would be no fringe culture of which to speak. The hero of the narrative, which is addictively broken up with presumably fictitious essays and reports from operatives and officials in the know, is the strikingly named Ben Skyles, a USAP (Unacknowledged Special Access Project) operative. It is with his Byzantine journey through the shadow world that the author reveals his message. A deal has been brokered between the military-industrial complex and extraterrestrials, and nations have powers of control that would make even the fabulist teleplay writers of The X-Files blush. For this kind of book, an author's self-importance is finally not a hindrance but a benefit, and it's more or less understood that the author is the real hero here. The narrative proper is engaging and fast paced, but again some of the spell of its climax is broken when the author can't help but remind us just how diligent we must be in uncovering the truth about aliens and how lucky we have been to receive this particular revelation.A DYNAMIC WORK OF FRINGE CULTURE THAT WILL ENTERTAIN AND INTRIGUE READERS IF NOT CONVERT THEM TO THE UFO RELIGION. --Kirkus Reviews From the AuthorAuthor's Question:Can a novel be an effective tool for distributing information?There are artistic license advantages to presenting fact as fiction that would otherwise be unacceptable in a non-fiction book, buy why use fiction to present facts? What if the government had decades of mounting secrets and the individuals in charge finally decided it was time to change the directives and make this information known? Certainly a press conference followed by a special-interest-backed congressional feeding frenzy for control of the new information would not serve the public's best interest. One logical approach might be to disperse the information slowly, using various media outlets that remove the shock value and ease acceptance through a methodical heightened awareness.A letter at the beginning of Groom Lake is addressed to me as ghostwriter for the character spearheading this story. The challenge presented is discerning if I fabricated the letter for the story, or if the letter, and the novel, were contrived as part of a larger purpose. Regardless of the verdict, readers will finish this book with a heightened awareness of practices and fringe sciences controlled by government factions.