"Saucer" by Stephen Coonts

 

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffen

Copyright: 2002

ISBN: 0312283423

Saucer tells the tale of a seismic survey team in the central Sahara who find an actual flying saucer entombed in the side of a sandstone cliff. 

The story's protagonist is Rip Cantrell an engineering student who is working on the team as part of a summer job, when he first spots a bright flash of light being reflected off the skin of the saucer which had become slightly uncovered. After uncovering the saucer over a number of days, they engage the services of an archaeologist who is at a dig a short distance away. They determine that it had been there for some 140,000 years, and this is just the beginning of their adventures.

Much to their dismay their discovery is soon found out by the United States Airforce, an Australian billionaire, and the Libyan military. All of whom claim ownership, or at least intend on keeping the saucer for their own.

This book is a fast paced read, that is written as if it could really have happened (at least when you ignore the anti-gravity technology, and a couple of other science fiction tropes). There is significant amount of political intrigue and corruption, that sets the stage for an interesting story, and gives it the link to world events in the first part of the 21st century.

A good read. There is a sequel to this book which I will review in the future.