Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46248 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-22
• Released on: 2006-08-22
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fact into fiction? In bestseller Strieber's engrossing SF thriller, which draws heavily from Communion (1987), the author's controversial account of his personal contact with aliens, Danny and Katelyn Callaghan are a happily married couple oblivious that both took a saucer ride as kids—until a UFO sighting in their Indiana town awakens subliminal memories and excites their genius teenage son, Conner. Meanwhile, in a secret facility in Colorado, Air Force Lt. Lauren Glass learns that the Roswell incident really happened, and that for decades the surviving ETs have been sharing their advanced science with us. In exchange, these "Grays" have sought to rejuvenate their dying species by genetically manipulating human receptacles for their DNA. But some military hard-liners see this as a betrayal of humanity, and they launch a manhunt that brings them to Indiana and the Callaghans' doorstep. Though Strieber's human characters are sometimes as stiff and unbelievable as his Grays, his depiction of black ops intrigue and military espionage is a first-rate exercise in literary paranoia. It goes without saying that his abduction scenarios have a disturbing authenticity that even skeptical readers will find provocative. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
The author of this novel claims to have been abducted by aliens (the grays) in 1985. Journeying from afar in the universe, the grays are about to descend on Earth again for the purpose of saving us from ourselves. The focus of their plan is 9-year-old Conner, whom they view as a potential savior. Their plan also involves genetically manipulating all of humankind. Stephen Langs narration is intense, and the suspense is unrelenting. Lang captures the essence of the precocious Conner, the kids who torment him, and the father who is intimidated by him. No story of an encounter with aliens is complete without a government conspiracy, and Lang makes the conspiracy in this book believable beyond a doubt. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
In 1985, Strieber, then a top horror writer, author of The Wolfen 1978) and The Hunger (1981), had an alien-abduction experience. The book he wrote about it, Communion (1987), was so successful that his output of fiction dwindled in the 1990s as he expanded upon his biggest best-seller. Stillborn sequels to The Hunger emerged in 2001 and 2002, but The Grays is a quantum leap back to his fictional form, powered by his newer, nonfiction obsessions. In it aliens--the grays--have been with humanity for a good, long time, for excellent reasons. They've been helping humanity avoid their mistakes, which destroyed their emotions. Now, after a several-million-years journey, the rest of the grays, for whom those among us were pioneers with a purpose, are nearing Earth. Measures crucial to their success have been set in motion, most important among them, the creation of a human child of supernormal intelligence to receive the grays' advanced knowledge. Trouble is, hints of the child's existence had to be made to humans with authority; hence, the Roswell business. And hence, the development of rival factions within the top-secret military operation that guards the Roswell aliens. Strieber manages the plot built on those premises as a breakneck race to find the child and, depending on which faction the characters belong to, protect or destroy it. It's a terrific read, already blocked out like a screenplay for the major movie now in the works, marred only by a few treacly passages about the wonder of it all. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Excellent! Fast-paced. Electric!
I read Communion a long time ago...I thought that book was very provocative. The Grays is a "ficitious" account of alien/human teamwork which plants the seed that the events portrayed are quite feasibly believable. I applaud Whitley Streiber for yet another thought provoking read...
Thanks!

Entertaining but jumpy and rushed in spots
I thought this was pretty entertaining. The beginning had good hook and good build, but throughout, certain character moments, and even plot moments seemed jumpy and rushed. It was as though there were chunks of narrative missing. There were compelling enough characters, but there needed to be a bit more build. It doesn't take much. Pat Frank's marvelous character stories in Alas, Babylon are an example of how you can make the reader more invested in each player without a whole lot of extra writing. that is a gold standard for me though. If all the main players had even a more detailed "off page" story in the writer's mind, I think it would have played better. I won't say I didn't like it, but I felt I was reading something that had the possibilities of being soooo much better.

A Sweet Cream Pie And A Whitley Strieber Novel
Every once and a while I like to cut loose and spend a day with a good book. Ever since The Hunger way back when, Whitley Strieber has been a favorite. This guy has got 'mad literary skills.' I've followed him through Communion and the whole sick alien trip. You think your gonna find a better author on the subject?--forgetta about it!

See, what I'll do is, I'll unplug the land line, grab a sweet Italian cream pie, a big bag of Dutch pretzels, a squeeze bottle of yellow mustard, and a few beers, loosen my belt, unzip my jeans, and sink back in the comfortable chair for hours at a time. It don't get any better.

The first time I was abducted, well, it was a trip of an experience, and I ain't selfish---it's something I wish on everybody. I woke up to find myself lit up like a semiconductor and floating through the freak'in wall. A lot of household objects were also drifting through the air--a pizza box, the car keys, a framed picture of my father, a pile of stroke books, my razor, a zucchini--it was amazing, I can tell ya.

Inside the ship, the grays were swarming like locusts on the Serengeti. There must have been 18 or more of 'em. They make a rasping asthmatic sound that's hard to tolerate, but otherwise, they treat you good. They got the quiet manners of an Italian pope. St. Philomena didn't carry herself with more poise or dignity.

I was pretty much paralyzed the first time they took me up, but I still used the experience to learn things. I discovered parts of my body I didn't even know I had and things that could be done to me. Yowza--I'm practically a liberal now! You think they wanna hurt you? Hey, don't worrya about it!

After a while they shifted me around, and instead of a white glowing room like something out of a 70s Penthouse spread, I found myself staring at a basement café with exposed brick walls and a lot of small tables with candles in colored jars on 'em. The grays were now wearing blue-and-white striped jerseys and berets. They had little mustaches and goatees--you know, chin hair. One was playing the accordion in a dark corner and another was singing 'Lili Marlene' under a dim light.

They do Polynesian and Egyptian themes too.

The next morning I woke up in bed, a bit sore in the keister but otherwise pretty much as usual. The pizza box, house keys, and whatnot were back on the kitchen table, but the two slices of pizza that had been in the box were gone. But hey--I'm gonna begrudge our space brothers two slices of a Veggie Wedgie pie? Forgetta about it!

Since then, I've kinda strong-armed 'em into working for me, and discovered what hard workers they are. No one trims a nicer hedge, weeds a bed of petunias, or builds a better veranda. They prepare a plate of gnocchi bolognese and a three-bean salad your grandmother would trade her goat for.

They're tireless, reliable, and follow instructions first time every time. They don't eat, drink, sleep, wear clothes, overreact to thunder, or use the john, and you don't have to pay 'em or register 'em with Uncle Sam.

You just gotta sorta keep 'em out of sight is all. Old lady Notrathomaso went ballistic when she found 'em in her chokeberry bushes. High fences still make good neighbors. Whatever Pilgrim Father came up with that bit of timeless wisdom was dead on.

At night I just herd 'em all in the shed and lock it up. They can stay like that for weeks in any weather and be none the worse for it. If I hadda guess I'd say they're made of some sorta soft plastic. They're pliable, like al dente pasta. They got moist, poreless skin like tree frogs and smell like fresh asparagus. I guess they could beam themselves up if they were unhappy. They ain't done so as of yet.

If you think you could deal with 8 docile but industrious monkeys around the house, call me up. I'm thinking of renting 'em out. Would they be taking jobs from good tax-paying Americans? Maybe. But you should see the trim job they did in the dining room. Im-mac-u-late. Not a spot of paint on the lacquer. What high school kid can do that? Hey, it's a capitalist's dream I got going on here.

I disagree, therefore, with Strieber about what the grays are all about. Far from dissecting me, I sorta wish one would drop dead--so I could dissect it. I have a suspicion I'd find nothing but roots, tubers, and fungus inside, and moss for brains. Sometimes I put little hats on 'em and march 'em around the yard.

Still, The Grays is good stuff if you can get past the character of the young genius, Conner. And I mean really young--like, 10. He's a bit of an obnoxious brat and know-it-all, but that's the literary world for ya. Huck Finn or Oliver Twist, he ain't. He's more like Tom Terrific with ADD.

If you bought this book, you've probably already heard about black helicopters, undetectable military bases, cavity probes, Roswell, and the whole sick conspiracy trip. Nothing new in that regard here. But Strieber tells a dramatic horror story for a few hours--you'll forget to eat your pretzels, is all I can say.

I got the idea to use one of my grays as a footstool last night, but that seemed like going too far. I gotta soft heart--me, inflicting pain or humiliation?--forgetta about it! I'm pulling your joint!

I recommend you get this novel and then ease into Strieber's others if you like it. It ain't a waste of money and it ain't fruitcake.