Dateline: Atlantis by Lynn Voedisch Review

Book Details:

Genre:  Contemporary Fantasy
Published by: Fiction Studio Books
Publication Date: April 2, 2013
Number of Pages: 277
ISBN: 978-1-936558-57-5
Purchase Links:   

Synopsis:

DATELINE: ATLANTIS is a contemporary fantasy featuring a female Indiana Jones who dives underwater and accidentally discovers what just might be the lost world of Atlantis. After she and her photographer document fabulous pyramids and other structures under the Caribbean sea, they return to their newspaper in the Los Angeles area, only to have all their evidence stolen. The sea rolls back and reclaims the buildings, and the photographer is kidnapped by unknown criminals.

The simple news assignment becomes more complicated with each turn and takes the Amaryllis Lang (pen name: Amy Quigley) to Chicago, Florida, Mexico and the Bahamas.

An ever-skeptical reporter, the Amaryllis Lang finds that her search for humanity's first family (in the possible Atlantis) dovetails with her own search for her own lost roots. Long ago someone murdered her archeologist parents—and they may be the same villains who are working against her own efforts to bring the Caribbean discovery to light. 

In the midst of the tension, a testy romantic triangle develops. Plus, the pressure never stops as editor Noel Wright III keeps badgering her for a Pulitzer Prize-winning story. After escaping the villains' traps with her life intact, Amaryllis emerges a more open-minded adventurer, a better journalist, and an adventurer who is never afraid to let a historical find change written history.

Excerpt:

She dives underneath the waves. Next to her is the tip of a giant stone structure. It widens as it plunges down to the ocean floor, filling her line of sight. She surfaces and swims toward the top of the rock. Amaryllis fights for breath as the waves roll up toward her chin and away. She dives again. The structure is a pyramid, without a doubt. It can’t be a natural formation. Its lines are too regular. The stones used to fit the pyramid together are huge—twenty-ton boulders at least—yet they are meshed with knife-edge precision. She can’t get her fingernail between them. Another thing occurs to her: this pyramid is not built in steps, but is smooth-sided like the monuments of Egypt.

She bobs up and down, diving and surfacing for a quarter of an hour, finding more impossible things. These walls, unlike those of the Maya structures they found on land, are still smooth. They are weathered and pitted, but not covered over with barna- cles and seaweed. She sees the remnants of writing carved into the rock near the top, but can’t tell what language it is. It has neither the pictorial intricacy of Maya glyphs nor the simplicity of Roman characters. It has a modern aspect, clean and stylized, proportionally balanced, as if it were a font designed by an adver- tising agency. Yet, some of the figures recall the ancient themes of the American Indians: swirling vortices, men with large heads, hunting dogs. The most prominent of all symbols is a cross in- scribed with concentric circles.

Amaryllis’ strength is nearly gone, but she dives once more if only to give the fullest of reports to her cohorts sleeping back onshore. She slips below the surface and feels along the eastern wall, pulling herself down. She is looking for a dark square she glimpsed before, gaping and black. It yawns at once before her, its edges wavy in the ocean swells. A sea turtle darts in front of her, and she constricts her lungs. She streaks to the surface, gulps a huge lungful of air and immediately she’s at the opening again. Seconds disappear as she measures the portal. It’s just big enough to slip through, but will she be able to get back out? A shining gem illuminated by a sun ray catches her eye. She swishes inside.

With lungs screaming, she scans a tiny chamber, carved from top to bottom with ancient writing. Gold glints from porticos on the sides. A painting is still visible on the ceiling. A carved hand, claw-like and strong, rests on a pedestal in the center of the space. The red hand holds a stone so beautiful, she can’t bear to leave it. In the filtered sunlight that passes through the door- way, the gem dazzles like Venus in the night sky. The morning star—the guide that Amaryllis can rely on. She grabs the jewel.

Through the door, up to the surface, sucking in the air—she’s free.

Author Bio:  Lynn Voedisch is a Chicago writer who had a long career as a newspaper reporter and worked for 17 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. She also freelanced for many other publications, both in print and online. She lives with her husband and pet cat three blocks from the Chicago border. Her son, a new attorney, lives in the city. Her hobbies are tennis, tai ch, an promoting the appreciation of literature. Catch Up With the Author: My Review: I LOVED this story. The World of Atlantis drew me in, and I had to know more about this mystery. So many people have tried to find it and failed. I was not surprised when people started dying, and witnesses of Atlantis started to go missing.. The main character, Amaryllis, Was so cool to read about. I felt like I was at a dig site, and there were hidden knives and traps ready to kill her at any time. I wanted to see the pictures of the underground pyramids and it opened up so many ideas in my head. Were there pyramids in more that one place? What about Pangea? Was North America close enough to Egypt that this is possible? The evidence being stolen was a mystery to me. Who wouldn't want to see the pictures? How deep is the ocean that it rolled back enough to cover up a pyramid? Does that mean that it is on a cycle and is sometimes it is more available to be seen, than other times? I liked that Amaryllis travelled all over the states, and even to Bahamas to solve the mystery. There is also the plot of her job as a reporter and the chance of getting an award. If given the chance I would definitely tell everyone and I would be happy to solve some of histories great mysteries. This is only the beginning. What else is there? What other ancient artifacts are hidden in that spot? What is near Atlantis? Are there new species that we didn't know about before?  This author not only got me this excited about the book, but she also included some what of a romance triangle. If Amaryllis survives and proves what she saw, then who will she pick? Will she ever know if they are in it for true love of fame? I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own. This book is a keeper, and I can tell that i will be letting my mom and sisters read it! This would be a great book club book!