Shane Schofield, call-sign 'Scarecrow', is a young Marine, promoted with his team to guard the President of the United States in Matthew Reilly's 'Area 7'. The President is on a routine tour of Area 7 when it all goes haywire. The President is held hostage, betrayed by a man in his closest circle. Scarecrow is forced to fight not only for his life, but for the life of the President and the lives of millions of others.

 

Australian author Matthew Reilly has said that he likes to write action movies in book form, and he certainly achieves this goal. Scarecrow is a likeable hero, if a bit stiff and stilted in parts, and the cast of secondary characters is enjoyable. Reilly writes in a way that makes it impossible to put the book down once the action gets going.  Not a light read, it's quite graphic in its violence, but certainly a fast one.