One man's quest to find the ultimate treasure and give it back to the world....
Atlantis Gold
Egypt, 1938
A leading archaeologist vanishes while exploring a newly discovered chamber inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Mediterranean Sea, Present Day
Ex-U.S. Navy specialists Carter Hunt and Jayden Takada are working one of their first jobs in civilian life--repairing a subsea data cable for an international telecom company-- when their mini-sub is attacked by persons unknown wishing to stem the flow of information in and out of Egypt. They survive the encounter only to receive a call from Hunt’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Madison Chambers, an archaeologist currently on an excavation at the Great Pyramid of Giza.
She has a most unusual request—she needs someone to scuba dive inside the pyramid. Hunt agrees to help, but soon finds out that the same people behind his close call on the data cable are also interested in what has been found in the pyramid.
Before long, Hunt and Takada find themselves on the run from a shadowy criminal enterprise that will stop at nothing to obtain artifacts that appear to lead to nothing less than the lost city of Atlantis.
A trail of clues looks like it will lead the accidental explorers to legendary riches of unfathomable worth, but will they be able to safeguard them from those who would do anything to control ancient secrets?
Author of over 30 novels, Rick Chesler holds a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and can often be found diving, boating or traveling to research his next thriller idea. A former contractor for the U.S. Deptartment of Commerce and the State of Hawaii, he now lives in South Florida with his family, at the edge of the Bermuda Triangle. Visit him online at twitter.com/rickchesler, facebook.com/rickchesler, or rickchesler.com.
SERIES: ATLANTIS GOLD: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 1) ARK FOUND: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 2) GOLDEN ONE An Omega Files Adventure (Book 3) CROSS FOUND: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 4)
JURASSIC DEAD (co-authored): Jurassic Dead Jurassic Dead 2: Z-Volution Jurassic Dead 3: Ctrl-Z
OUTCAST Ops: Game of Drones (co-authored) The Poseidon Initiative African Firestorm (co-authored) Red Ice (co-authored) Watchlist (co-authored) Shadow Gov (co-authored)
TARA SHORES THRILLERS Wired Kingdom kiDNApped Solar Island
DANE MADDOCK ORIGINS (co-authored) Splashdown Electra Amber Treasure of the Dead Dane Maddock: The Tomb
OGMIOS TEAM ORIGINS (co-authored) Lucifer's Machine
STANDALONE NOVELS: Edit: A Prehistoric Thriller Manuscript 512 (releasing Fall 2018) Hawaiian Punch (co-authored) Uncontacted DMZ: A Dinosaur Thriller The Tank The Flat: A Novel of Supernatural Horror (co-authored) The Yeti (co-authored) Landing Party Sawfish Luna Hotel Megalodon Blood Harbor: A Novel of Suspense
Well, I guess Rick Chesler can’t put gloriously hungry chompy things in every book. (Imagine my very sad face right here.)
In Atlantis Gold, Chesler takes a break from creature features to bring us one seriously pulse pounding adventure. It’s simply an adrenaline rush! With shades of James Rollins adventure novel, Chelser still makes the genre truly his own with characters you love and non-stop action that takes the reader around the world.
The archaeological mystery here is extremely well done. I was riveted. I so wanted all of this to be true! We also have a compelling villain – I want to know more about this person’s story!
This is the first in what promises to be a very exciting series and I’m fully on board for the ride.
Note: at the time I’m reviewing this, it’s available on KU, but totally worth buying outright.
What an excellent tale of adventure with some exciting new characters. This Rick Chesler story is a little different, as we don't encounter any epic sea creatures, but it certainly was an intense read. I loved the mystery in the story and can't wait to learn more about all of the characters we met!
Rick Chesler must be the most frustrating author I’ve come across. I have now read three of his books, but always finish them feeling just a bit underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, I love his storytelling, but don’t necessarily appreciate the conclusions.
His books’ titles promises so much, but he always seem to stop just short of going the whole way. I suppose one can describe his writing as the proverbial journey. He loves to write about the events leading up to the title, but once there, he backs off. Let me explain, here the title is Atlantis Gold, and 95% of the book is about discovering Atlantis. But once there, the books wraps up abruptly. I found the same thing with his other two books I’ve read, The Yeti and Guardians of Atlantis. It is frustrating. I want to read more about the mystical Atlantis, I want more engagement with the Yeti, and so on.
But if I focus on the journey he takes you on, I have to admit that I enjoy his writing. The pacing is superb. Not too slow, not too fast. Fortunately, he hasn’t fallen in the trap of so many authors that write over-the-top ridiculous action sequences that leaves one exhausted just reading it.
But yeah, I’m a sucker. I will read the second book in the series.
Another good Chesler book. I enjoy his creature books the most I think, but I am actually pretty excited for this series going forward. It is obviously told in the tradition of the Clive Cussler books, which I also enjoy. For an indie author, I feel Chesler is top of the line. His novels rival Cussler's in storytelling. Who doesn't like to read about underground pyramids and the Lost City of Atlantis?
It also reminds me of the Dane Maddock series, which Chesler has contributed to, but I think I prefer these characters.
You've got your evil characters who are only after the money, then you've got the heroes who not only have to avoid being killed by the greedy villains (much like two factions in the Brendon Frasor Mummy film), but have to escape from life-or-death situations and discover the undiscoverable.. in this case: Atlantis.
The cover alone makes this tempting, but Chesler's penchant for top-notch adventure tales continues to impress. You won't find a better indie author out there right now.
Atlantis Gold by Rick Chesler is exciting and jam-packed with adventure as to ex-Navy men and an ex-girlfriend search for the lost city of Atlantis. The book is written in the vein of a Clive Cussler book with its many twists and turns, and thrills that will keep you turning pages.
Atlantis Gold is the genre I enjoy reading and this did not disappoint me. I'm looking forward to reading more of Chesler's books that are packed full of scientific research and exotic locations. A five-star read. K.D. McNiven
There are only a handful of books that I wasn't able to finish in the last 40+ years, and sadly this book is one of them. I really wanted to like it as this was in a genre I read a lot but I was only able to get a third of the way through. The mediocre writing and the lack of basic research of the real life locations and activities in this novel made it impossible for me to finish it.
3.5"This was merely an adventurous vacation outing. Certainly it was made more exciting with the Atlantis connection, but deep down, that was all just an excuse to have a little adventure, right?" p.123
Rick Chesler's 'Guardians of Atlantis' was one of my most enjoyable reads in 2024 because as unhinged as it was, it was obvious how much fun Rick Chesler had writing it, asking 'what if...?' at the edge of each already outrageous plot point. Whooly mammoths hatched out of eggs underneath an Egyptian pyramid, underneath a second, underground Sphynx statue -- it was great!
By comparison, Atlantis Gold, written a few years earlier, was very subdued, and it felt more like Chesler was restraining himself to try and make the plot somewhat plausible. Don't get me wrong: there were still plenty of crazy antics that suggested a healthy imagination was at work, but I'm happy that in his next attempt at an Atlantis story he really went for it. I wish more writers of this type could learn from his work that a lot of times people (as in me, speaking for all of humanity) want something outrageous, something unconstrained by the limitations of reality and what feels possible not something impossible masquarading as real or concievable.
In particular, I liked the implication that despite the lost Atlantian treasure being found in Cuba, the Cuban government kindly shares it with the world, no questions asked, and that this discovery brings us all closer together rather than being something to fight over. Would that we did live on such a timeline...
None of this to say I didn't enjoy Atlantis Gold, because I did. The moments that most stretched reality were definitely recognizable as what I had so enjoyed about Guardians, so in a way, Atlantis Gold, having been published first, marks the beginning of an evolution towards books I'd like even more. And I definitely have every intention of picking up more for a future good time.
I will say, though, that describing the sidekick character, Jayden, like this: "The wily Asian-American ex-Navy man" (p.105) was perhaps the wildest thing that happened in the entire book. It's too ridiculous to actually be seriously criticized, but I have to wonder how anyone could read that back in the edit and not realize at the very least how goofy that sounds, not least because the POV character is his best friend and would therefore know (I assume) what Jayden's background is.
LiDAR satellite imagery has made a great improvement to finding buried archeological sites and artefacts as we learn in Atlantis Gold, book 2 in Rick Chesler's Omega Files Adventure series. MC Madison is an authorised archeologist on a dig in Egypt, when she locates a collapsed chamber (by using LiDAR), in the Great Pyramid. It's been flooded by a trigger trap, activated by an ancient tomb robber. Being a brave and intrepid woman, she promptly scuba dives into the depths and recovers an object hidden between fallen rocks, with the help of trusted friends she has to summon to get her out - their trophy is a bronze alloy head, that when examined reveals a formerly unseen kind of crystal formation. What could it be - and where will Rebecca and Carter go next? What happens to Madison after their return to her camp?
The non-stop action, discovery, betrayal and deadly danger, leading to ultimate triumph and a fabulous finale will set your heart racing and keep you on the edge of your seat...don't wait - grab yourself a copy today and tell all your friends!
When archeologist Dr. Maddie Chambers finds a chamber filled with water underneath the Great Pyramid in Egypt she calls her friend ex-Navy Seal Carter Hunt to dive down and investigate. After he and his buddy Jayden Takada bring up an unusual bronze head their camp is attacked by professional artifact thieves, they’re barely able to hide the head from them but Dr. Chambers is taken instead.
I always love to read stories that are connected to Atlantis in some way and this one was interesting. Some of the info at the beginning made me feel like there should be a previous book. The clues were different, but a little too vague. They made a lot of lucky guesses and action.
Footnote: 1) It’s funny. The book I read previous to this was about a computer expert who had discovered LiDAR and designed a mapping program using it. Yet this book was written first and they already have been using it for a while.
2) They are planning to pay him with Paypal but hadn’t even gotten his name until the end?
Fave scenes: Hunt & Jayden checking out the break in the underwater cable, descriptions of the Atlantis Resort, the ancient airlock and landing in the ‘glider’.
Overall this was a worthwhile read. His dialogue writing leaves room for improvement and his set up for certain observations was too detailed so you knew what was often coming before he then stated the obvious. The many typos were also a distraction. The action is engaging, however, which is what I came for and things really start popping off around 2/3s of the way in. Sadly the ending was too rushed and created a meh feeling at the end.
*SPOILER* I found the ending to be very flat. Why did nothing happen to Daedalus or his crew? I was hoping that when the trio made it back to Key West and get the Atlantean notoriety they would turn in Treasures Inc for blowing up part of the Bimini Road (especially without any permits), they'd at least tell others about the golden pyramid down there, or like my wife said, have D and Carter have a truce that D wouldn't have them killed in exchange for not turning the baddies into the authorities.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
More like 3.5 stars but I went with 4 because of some innovative ideas I hadn't seen before. I thought the story dragged in spots then it would kick into high gear and I couldn't read fast enough. It was a bit like a roller coaster. Finally, I thought the story ended rather abruptly as one of the biggest storylines was kind of left dangling. I guess I'll have to read the rest of the books to see how that works out. Well, maybe I will. Maybe I won't.
Another great book by Rick Chesler! Atlantis Gold is an electrifying story of two ex-Navy men and an archeologist in their quest to discover the lost city of Atlantis. The trio's collective endeavor is, needless to say, far from smooth sailing, as a greedy mogul gets in the way of their search for the historical holy grail. Action-laden, gripping, and unputdownable, Atlantis Gold will reinvigorate your sense of adventure!
Professional scuba divers getting excited, making dumb decisions, and running out of air....twice! Scuba diving to extreme depth and having lots of time. Also not impressed with the archeological procedures. BTW, the Bimini road has been satisfactorily explained as a natural occurrence.
Maddy is excavating a pyramid that has a flooded chamber. She calls on her friend Carter and he brings Jayden with him to help. Carter is carrying the head of a bronze statue they found in the water. They are attacked on the way out of the water. The adventure brings. Had trouble putting it down but I had to sleep. Great subject and characters.
Maybe im biased but i was looking for a book very similar to James Rollins....almost there but couldve used more adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed though. Read in 2 days after work
CHESLER seems to have a major problem with the settings of his novels. He has to have his protagonists travel unimaginable distances in fanciful ways to make the plot lines fit together. Having said that, he does write a good adventure novel.
I was captivated from the first page. Likeable characters, even the protagonist, somewhat. Finding a writer with whom I have not read before and enjoying the storyline. I found my own treasure. Now I'm looking forward to reading more of Cheslers books.
Carter Hunt and Jayden travel to Egypt to help a friend who needs a scuba diver in a chamber of a pyramid. From there they are chased across the world and Maddie is kidnapped.
This is a great book if your looking for excitement and thrill without having to think real hard. Good for a nice read on vacation or to chill out from the real world. I also love that this was a clean novel. No bad language.
I enjoy a good archeology hunt and find with some action and all that is in this book. Like getting real information about historical stuff even if it is mixed in with fiction. I like the two main characters and enjoyed their adventure.
Liked the book for casual reading, don’t look for anything complex. Best read with a Martini in hand. Maybe the next one will challenge Clive, not this one for sure.
To me it was a cliffhanger which I do not like. The story was interesting and had action but don't leave me wondering what what was going to happen next. Must need money to require readers to have to purchase another book to find out what was the possible ending.
Excellent adventure tale that sets up a new series. With numerous plot threads seemingly left open and with characters you'll want to come back to, the world is Chesler's oyster
I love the interesting characters. I love the story theme. I was just a little disappointed with all the grammar and spelling errors. I would however highly recommend it to anyone.