Review by JD: The Atlantis Legacy by Thomas Greanias

Posted by Shellie – read and written by JD

 

Book Stats: 

• The Atlantis Legacy - (Two books now re-issued in one volume; original books titled Raising Atlantis, and The Atlantis Prophecy)
• by Thomas Greanias
• ISBN: 978-1-4391-4902-7
• Pages 543: paperback
• Pocket Books, 2009 (original books published in 2005 and 2008)

Synopsis and Review Combo:

*Caution – outrageous fantasy alert*

The star of these books is Conrad Yeats who is the world’s leading astro-achaeologist - a combination of astronomer, archaeologist and astrologist. His father is a high ranking US army general who is in charge of DARPA – the Pentagon’s top-secret research and development organization. His “partner” is Sister Serena Serghetti – the Vatican’s top linguist and cryptologist.

In the first of the two stories, they discover the lost civilization of Atlantis, which has been buried two miles beneath the ice of Antarctica for thousands of years. While exploring a fantastic pyramid, they trigger a process which threatens to destroy much of the civilized world of today, and find themselves in a race to unlock ancient secrets that might prevent the devastation. In the second of the stories, Yeats father has died but his tombstone has some astrological signs and codes that are clearly intended to send a message that only Yeats can interpret. It leads him on a quest, following clues hidden beneath monuments in Washington DC, and trying to out-smart an ancient and deadly organization intent on creating a new world order.

It’s all very Dan Brown. In fact the second of the books goes even further and is more like a cross between Dan Brown and James Bond! I’m sure Greanias is fed up of the comparison, but the marketing material mentions Brown’s name several times, so the comparison is inevitable. If you like Brown, the chances are that you may well enjoy this; if you don’t like him, stay away.

Me? I liked The Da Vinci Code but had a hard time with Angels and Demons, where the plot was so outrageous I found it a bit silly. These stories take elements of both of those books, then crank up the outrageousness factor even more. They are replete with ancient other-worldly civilizations, government bodies filled with bad guys from secret organizations, Freemasons, Knights Templar, the Roman Catholic church, plots to change the world, and trails of clues that are so fiendishly difficult to follow that you couldn’t possibly succeed unless, well, you’re the star of a Dan Bran or Thomas Greanias book. Oh, and of course there’s George Washington. He plays a big role in the second story.

I really shouldn’t have liked these stories, but the truth is I read the first story in double quick time and then plunged straight into the second story. While I kept on grumbling about the plot and the characters, I also kept on reading and clearly got some guilty pleasures from the experience. On balance I’d rate it 2.5 Stars.

Author Info

(click on author pic for an interesting website)

Thomas Greanias is the New York Times bestselling author of Raising Atlantis, The Atlantis Prophecy and The Atlantis Revelation.
Recognized as one of the world's leading authors of adventure, Greanias was the first to break out on the Web with several hit interactive series, No. 1 eBooks on Amazon worldwide, and No. 1 Audiobooks on iTunes worldwide. His books in print from Simon & Schuster have appeared on all the major U.S. bestseller lists and in more than a dozen languages in more than 75 countries. The New York publishing giant calls Thomas Greanias "one of the driving forces and trailblazers in transforming publishing into what it will eventually become in the not so distant future."
Greanias received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University. He has reported on issues of national security as an on-air correspondent in Washington, D.C., for NBC affiliates. He also has advised Congress, the White House and Fortune 50 CEOs on the future of digital media.
He lives with his wife and two sons in Los Angeles.

This book was won by Layers of Thought from The Literate Housewife during BBAW and snatched up by John the second it came in the mail (and yes he did grumble but devoured the whole thing quite quickly). Thanks Jennifer!

Amazon purchasing links are as follows US/UK/Canada:

The Atlantis Legacy The Atlantis Legacy The Atlantis Legacy