Review: 'Atlantis' by Bob Mayer

Post date: Nov 18, 2014 10:36:50 PM

Just after the end of WWII, a Marine aviator named Foreman narrowly avoids being lost in the Bermuda Triangle with the infamous Flight 19. Decades later, Foreman, now with the CIA, sends a group of Army Green Berets into a remote part of Cambodia to retrieve equipment from a crashed spy plane. Only one member of that team, Eric Dane, came back.Years later, Dane is once again recruited to return to that area of Cambodia to rescue the crew of a down aircraft. Dane, after all, is the only person known to have returned from that part of the country. This time, Dane knows what to expect. Like the Bermuda Triangle, this portion of Cambodian is a triangle of mysterious fog where people and aircraft disappear, a land of strange and deadly monsters the likes of which no one can imagine. What Dane learns on this second trip to the area is that it is a threat that once destroyed fabled Atlantis, and now threatens to destroy all life on Earth.

Thus the plot of Atlantis, written by best-selling author Bob Mayer (writing under one of his many pen names), unfolds in a series of actions spanning decades, culminating with a taut, action-packed climax that will keep the reader glued to the pages.

Yet, while the plot pulls from many different legends and is jammed packed with action, it's not a frivolous book. Mayer's characters are well-drawn—especially Dane and his relationship with his rescue dog, Chelsey. The plot is well thought out and, despite its basis in legend, believable. Mayer, a West Point graduate and retired Green Beret himself, is especially adept at writing action scenes. The story of Dane's first trip into Cambodia is particularly realistic.

Atlantis is the first book in Mayer's popular Atlantis series. (By my count, the prolific Mayer has something like nine series, a bunch of stand-alone novels, and even more nonfiction books.) I'm looking forward to reading more of Mayer's craft.