70,000 years ago, the human race almost went extinct.
We survived, but no one knows how.
Until now.
The countdown to the next stage of human evolution is about to begin, and humanity may not survive this time.

————————————

The Immari are good at keeping secrets. For 2,000 years, they have hidden the truth about human evolution. And they’ve 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 has discovered a mysterious structure buried deep in an iceberg. It’s been there for thousands of years, and it isn’t man made. The Immari think they know what it is, but they aren’t taking any chances. The time has come to execute their master plan: humanity must evolve or perish. In a lab in Indonesia, a brilliant geneticist may have just discovered the key to their plan.

Four years ago, Dr. Kate Warner left California for Jakarta, Indonesia to escape her past. She hasn’t recovered from what happened to her, but she has made an incredible discovery: a cure for autism. Or so she thinks. What she’s found is actually far more dangerous. Her research could rewrite human history and unleash the next stage of human evolution. In the hands of the Immari, it would mean the end of humanity as we know it.

One man has seen pieces of the Immari conspiracy: Agent David Vale. But he’s out of time to stop it. His informant is dead. His organization has been infiltrated. His enemy is hunting him. But when he receives a cryptic code from an anonymous source, he risks everything to save the only person that can solve it: Dr. Kate Warner.

Now 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 find the Atlantis Gene 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 admit I was a little hesitant when I originally added this book to my TBR list before downloading it from Amazon. Autism is a touchy subject and talk of trying to find some sort of “cure” even more so. It is a topic I try to steer clear of simply because I do not want to cause strife to my readers.

Thankfully, the autism angle is only one small plot point among dozens that make up The Atlantis Gene. From aliens to Nazis, from time travel to 9/11 conspiracy theories – I’m fairly sure this book has them all.

For the first part of the book, Riddle has a pretty good story. The pacing is decent and the action scenes are plenty. The characters are interesting enough and while the incredibly short and copious chapters can be irritating, it’s not the first time I’ve encountered such writing and can be easily forgiven.

It is only with the last quarter of the book does the story go completely off the rails. I will freely admit that one of the only reasons I finished this book was to see what kind of a train wreck would result. And dear reader, I was not disappointed. By the end, the story line goes sideways so quickly it’s a wonder I don’t have whiplash.

I’m not going to say that The Atlantis Gene is a bad book. Based on entertainment value alone I found it enjoyable. However, readers going in expecting something serious should take care. Though the book bills itself as an action thriller, it is more along the lines of a B-movie or perhaps something SyFy might come out with.

There are two more books in the series and I will likely add them to my TBR list. If nothing else, it will be entertaining.