Millennium

Syndicated political columnist and novelist Anderson (The Japan Conspiracy) obviously wanted to craft a major statement about the U.S. government's alleged UFO cover-up, but this flaccid potboiler reads more like an egocentric fantasy than a tough-minded expose. Hard-nosed Washington, D.C., syndicated columnist Mick Aaronson meets an extraterrestrial, Klaatu (yes, the same name as the alien in the 1952 film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, to which this story bears more than a few resemblances), who in 1999 has come to Earth in human form to warn the President that our planet will be subjected to mass sterilization unless humanity overcomes its arrogance and complacency. Turned away from the White House, Klaatu delivers his message instead to Aaronson, who writes columns spreading the word. Meanwhile, Ghost, an inner-city drug dealer, has stolen Klaatu's magic rock, which confers powers of mind control, enabling this gang leader to seduce, rob and murder with impunity. The cast also includes an apocalyptic New Age preacher, who seeks Dead Sea scrolls that foretell a Judgment Day linked to the alien's visit; a decadent heiress and UFO abductee, who falls in love with Klaatu; and a headstrong woman reporter, who gets in too deep. Though its take on the supposed alien/human breeding program popularized by writers like John Mack and Budd Hopkins is certainly timely, Anderson's wisecracking novel falls short of success as both science fiction and thriller. (Oct.)