Journey to Atlantis (novel)
 Front cover of UK edition | |
| Author | J. J. Fortune |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Bill Sienkiewicz (map by Giorgetta Bell McRee) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Race Against Time series |
| Genre | Juvenile |
| Publisher | Dell Publishing (US), Armada (UK) |
Publication date | 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 141 pp (paperback) |
| ISBN | 0440942721 |
| OCLC | 11789719 |
| Preceded by | Trapped in the USSR |
| Followed by | Danger: Due North |
Journey to Atlantis is book 9 of the Race Against Time series written by J. J. Fortune.
Plot summary
Unlike previous adventures, this novel was unique in that Stephen Lane's parents was not away from their New York home during the story, and they knew that Stephen and his uncle Richard Duffy would be away.
Richard had received an invitation from an old friend, the Greek Constantine Andropolis, to stay at the Greek's new villa outside Athens. Over dinner, he proposed a week's trip with Stephen, suggesting that it would be helpful to Stephen's history education. As it was school term, Stephen would have to write a field report, but it also meant low season air fares, which persuaded Mr. Lane to agree.
When Stephen questioned Richard privately, he was surprised that it was really meant as a pleasure trip and there was no mission awaiting them in Greece.
Nonetheless, even before they touched down in Greece, they found their flight hijacked by a gang calling itself Hellenic Alliance to Terminate Exploitation (HATE).
Following a daring rescue by Greek authorities when the hijackers forced the plane to land at airport of Iraklion in Crete, the uncle-nephew duo found their rescuer was none other than Constantine, who was supposed to be their host. Richard had conveniently omitted mentioning that Constantine was also head of Interpol dealing with art and artefact smuggling.
When Constantine requested them to help him infiltrate a suspicious archaeological project, the uncle-nephew duo could not say no. Constantine had an undercover agent with the project taking place on a fictional uninhabited island named Ionia, made off-limits during the dig. The agent had managed to report treasure was found before radio contact went dead. Richard volunteered to go as an archaeologist to investigate.
During their adventure, the uncle-nephew duo were menaced by greedy treasure hunters, terrorists as well as a beautiful but double-dealing woman.
Non-recurring Characters
- Zeus - nom de guerre used by red-haired leader of HATE. HATE espoused restoring all artefacts back to Greece as well as ancient Greek way of life.
- Diana Briggs - a beautiful archaeologist first encountered by Richard & Stephen on board their hijacked flight. She was also part of the archaeological project they were sent to infiltrate.
- Constantine Andropolis - Richard's friend, head of Interpol dealing with art and artefact smuggling.
- Sophocles Democrites - Publicity-hating archaeologist in charge of project investigated by Constantine.
- Midas - Financier of archaeological project by Democrites.
- Apollo - Athenian business and partner of Midas.
- Stavros - Head of labour force at the archaeological project.
Chapter headings
- First-Class Terror, Monday: 9:00 A.M., Somewhere over the Mediterranean
- A Dream of a Trip, Thursday: 8:00 P.M., New York City
- Rough Landing, Monday: 9:32 A.M., Crete
- A Risky Proposition, Monday: 2:11 P.M., Crete
- A Hot Time in the Old Town, Monday: 3:00 P.M., Crete
- Mr. Money and His Men, Tuesday: 6:20 A.M., Crete
- Taking the Plungle, Wednesday: 10:42 A.M., Ionia (a fictional island in the Aegean Sea)
- Stephen Does a Solo, Wednesday: High Noon, Ionia
- Treasure!, Thursday: 1:39 P.M., Ionia
- Into the Labyrinth, Thursday: Midnight, Ionia
- Den of Thieves, Friday: 1:32 A.M., Ionia
- Out of the Frying Pan, Friday: 4:39 A.M., Ionia
- Backs to the Wall, Friday: 11:30 A.M., Ionia
- Sacrifice to the Gods, Friday: 4:40 P.M., Ionia
- A Friend in Need, Friday: 5:03 P.M., Ionia
- The Grand Tour, Saturday: 6:30 A.M., Athens
- Travelling Light, Sunday: 8:30 A.M., Athens
- The Hunt for a Happy Ending, Sunday: 6:30 P.M., New York City