Book Review: The Atlantis Origin Mystery Trilogy

The Atlantis Gene: (from Amazon)

The Immari are good at keeping secrets. For 2,000 years, they've hidden the truth about human evolution. They've also searched for an ancient enemy--a threat that could wipe out the human race. Now the search is over.

Off the coast of Antarctica, a research vessel discovers a mysterious structure buried deep in an iceberg. It has been there for thousands of years, and something is guarding it. As the Immari rush to execute their plan, a brilliant geneticist makes a discovery that could change everything.

Dr. Kate Warner moved to Jakarta, Indonesia to escape her past. She hasn't recovered from what happened to her, but she has made an incredible breakthrough: a cure for autism. Or so she thinks. What she has found is far more dangerous--for her and the entire human race. Her work could be the key to the next stage of human evolution. In the hands of the Immari, it would mean the end of humanity as we know it.

Agent David Vale has spent ten years trying to stop the Immari. Now he's out of time. His informant is dead. His organization has been infiltrated. His enemy is hunting him. But when David receives a coded message related to the Immari attack, he risks everything to save the one person that can help him solve it: Dr. Kate Warner.

Together, Kate and David must race to unravel a global conspiracy and learn the truth about the Atlantis Gene... and human origins. Their journey takes them to the far corners of the globe and into the secrets of their pasts. The Immari are close on their heels and will stop at nothing to obtain Kate's research and force the next stage of human evolution--even if it means killing 99.9% of the world's population. David and Kate can stop them... if they can trust each other. And stay alive.

(I am not including the other two synopsis here because you have to start with the first and follow the story in order.) 

First, let me say, I normally read mystery, crime, and true crime books.  Also, I am way behind on doing any sort of book reviews.    So look for a few books to show up soon including a couple of series and a few true crime books.   With that in mind, I thought I would share the Atlantis Origin Mystery Trilogy.  

My take:

What I enjoyed most about this series is that it mixed history, science, and mystery together and combined a couple of main characters, Kate and David, who you follow throughout the series.   The Series starts with The Atlantis Gene and concludes with The Atlantis World and in between you ride along through a bunch of twists and turns that leave you simultaneously scratching your head, wanting throw the book (or Kindle in my case) at the wall because the bad guys (the Immari) in this series are so unlikable, and yet you just can't stop reading.  

The story starts when we find out that human history was given a little kick in the pants several thousand years ago, just at the brink of our extinction, when a little gene therapy saved us and  helped us advance.  Of course this little kick came from your friendly aliens.   Throughout the series, we follow Kate and David in their race to save the human race and Earth from themselves and some not no nice aliens.    

Now let me say that without giving away anything in this series, the main characters Kate and David, are both likable and cute.  Kate is a doctor specializing in Autism and reversing the effects and David is your average super hero/secret agent.     As you follow Kate and David through this series and their natural attraction to each other, of course, they fall in love, and I don't think I am giving anything away here, because that move is pretty obvious from about 5 chapters in to the first book.   Anyway, it is an intergalactic roller coaster that can only end in one of two ways, we survive or we become extinct.    

The first two books follow a single fight here on our world but by the third book the series crosses the universe and back in the effort to save little old us.   It is a fun ride! 

Just the facts:

The books are easy to read even with all the science mumbo jumbo mixed in.  Actually, I didn't mind that and was able to follow.    The history facts that are woven into the story are fascinating and made me actually look up some of the true life facts thrown at you.  Full Disclosure: I love history so I may or may not have downloaded a book on Proto-Indo Europeans.  I know, I know, I am a history nerd.    Between the three books you meet a large cast of characters and by the third book you may have a hard time remembering who was who in the first book.   There were a few things that I kept wanting resolved from the first book that just seemed forgotten but don't give up, you will get your answers, eventually.   

I enjoyed this series and recommend it to anyone who likes Science Fiction and Mystery books.   It crosses back and forth between those with a little Romance thrown in.   

This Night Wounds Time: The story of Susan Smalley and Stacie Madison

Goodreads Synopsis:

This Night Wounds Time: The Mysterious Disappearances of Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley

by Shawn Sutherland

Shortly after midnight on March 20, 1988, Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley, two seniors at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas, ventured out into the night. Their destination was Forest Lane, the legendary cruise strip known to every Dallas teenager as the premier hot spot for meeting up with friends. The girls were never seen again. 22 years later, their disappearance remains perhaps the most infamous unsolved mystery in North Texas history. The product of the author's original research, this book, which the Carrollton Police Department credits with revitalizing its investigation into this cold case, examines: the lives of these two young women; what is known about that fateful night; theories and speculation regarding their final fates; the person of interest original case investigators insist was never "properly eliminated as a suspect"; and the impact this haunting event continues to have on the Carrollton community. For additional information, see http://www.thisnightwoundstime.com(less)

This wasn't the blog I intended for today but thanks to a craft project that is giving me fits, you will have to wait for my latest crafty/DIY blog.  :(    That's okay because I feel like this blog is much more important in the grand scheme of things. 

If you knew me, you would know that I am a true crime fanatic.  I can't get enough of the stuff.  This book is different however, in so many ways.    I went to school with these girls.  Susan and I were in several classes together throughout High School.   We were all suppose to graduate in the spring of 1988.  I did, Susan and Stacie never got the chance. 

Personal persepective first:

This book is written by an author (Who I do not know) that graduated a few years before we entered Newman Smith High School so while he knows the area, he did not know the girls.  First, I want to say a little about this event from a personal perspective before I talk about the book.   While Susan and I had several classes together and she was always very kind and polite to me, we were not friends.  It was a graduating class of something like 500 people that year so to know everyone was not really possible.   I don't remember Stacie and I ever having any classes together but I can't swear we didn't   Still, the girls were known to me.  They were both in one of the popular groups.  I wasn't.  I was the fat, shy, insecure, quiet girl.  To say that this particular event did not touch most of us graduating that year however, is just plain wrong.  The girls apparently disappeared from a popular hangout at that time and the place where they may have ended up was another place that many of us hung out, granted it was a cemetary but we were 17 and 18 years old and just mostly looking for a place to drink a beer and not get in trouble.  Because of the details of the case, I am sure this crime was personal but to say that this could have been any one of us at that time, is just truth.   I will never forget Senior Night.  The girls had disappeared several weeks before and it was tradition in our school that the seniors spent one last night as a group before graduation. We got together, had dinner, watched slide shows, and I don't remember what else.  During the dinner there was a point when they dedicated a song to Stacie and Susan.  I want to say it was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" but really, it was almost 27 years ago (GASP!)  so I don't know that my memory is right.   I do know that everyone got very quiet as they showed pictures and everyone was sad.   Senior year was hard for me.  I 'broke up' with my two best friends right before prom.  Don't ask me why, the only thing I recall was that I had lost a bunch of weight and was starting to get the attention of boys and suddenly they were telling me that I was ugly and I needed a reality check.  I think I probably let some of it go to my head.  The attention from boys, not the ugly part.  Additonally, I was leaving school early that year to go to The University of Texas for summer school. Talk about stress!  I followed this case while at UT and have continued to Google it periodically throughtout the last 27 years.  In fact, googling it was how I found this book. 

The book:

First let me say this book was hard for me to read.   Hard because I found the author was including information that, to me seemed unrelated to the events, although after finishing it, I realized he was simply trying to give the reader a feel for how innocent Carrollton, Tx really was at the time. It goes without saying that even though it is a suburb of Dallas, Carrollton at that time, had no experience with anything like this.  To be honest, I don't think it has had anything like this happen since. Carrollton-Farmers Branch, in spite of the fact that Vanilla Ice (yes he makes an appearence in the book) wanted you to believe otherwise,  was an upper middle-class suburb and at that time, Newman Smith was the school where the upper part of the upper middle-class sent their kids.  The book was also difficult to read because it is a self published and therefore doesn't have the benefit of fancy editors and people who fix all the little stuff.   The author seems to have quoted a lot of people the way they speak and I found the way they speak kind of distracting and repetitive.  Aside from that, the book was filled with information about the case that I found both shocking and unsettling.  It may not be the best book you ever read.  It may not be the fanciest, but it certainly should be something you are touched by and remember.   I finished it in one afternoon and I think it is also important to state that the author is selling this book at cost.  He truly wants the mystery solved because like most everyone in Carollton, Tx in 1988, he was touched by this event. 

Why I think you should read this book:

First of all, you are not going to have the memory overload I received.  Second, you never know who may be out there reading who might have some crazy piece of evidence that could finally bring Stacie and Susan home.   Third, it is important to preserve the memories of these girls and for me personally, it is important that anyone touched by the case have some closure.   27 years is a long time for parents to wait for their daughters to come home.  27 years is a long time for brothers and sisters to wait for their sisters to show up.   27 years is a long time for friends to miss someone.   27 years is a long time to investigate a missing persons case and have no answers.  27 years is a long, long time for whoever did this to get away with murder.