Star-crossed hero races to save nation

   Thomas Greanias’ “The Atlantis Prophecy” is an entertaining paperback beach read, but it might be a good idea to take an occasional break from the book by cooling off with a swim. The action is fast, frantic and a little confusing.
   Astro-archaeologist Conrad Yeats tries to unravel a conspiracy dating back to the founding of the United States, involving a plan to destroy the republic and create a North American empire in its place. Clues have been left in the monuments of the nation’s new capital, including a document authored by first President George Washington, that enable Yeats to discover that the monuments are about to align astronomically and lock with the stars to set off a catastrophe that will involve the entire world.
   Yeats literally goes underground in Washington, searching through tunnels under the monuments for clues with the ruthless “Alignment,” an organization involved in the conspiracy, in pursuit. Yeats has other issues, including an Air Force general father (he left Conrad the first clue), who may or may not be dead. He also has a neoconservative girlfriend and another woman he adores, who is an activist nun and Vatican linguist. 
    The book is the second in a series after “Raising Atlantis,” which involves the discovery of Atlantis under Antarctica. Greanias’ new book gets off to an engrossing start with Washington entrusting his slave, Hercules, with his secret document. "The Atlantis Prophecy” also works as a guided tour of Washington and gives the reader interesting historical information, such as revealing that “Washingtonople” was proposed as the name for the new capital. Yeats is given enough personality to make him interesting, but except for outspoken Sister Serena Serghetti, most of the other characters are one-dimensional. Greanias should have put a speed limit on the action in the book; a slower pace would have given readers a chance to catch up to what is happening. The ending is a letdown.  
   Greanias, who founded and heads the media production company Atlantis Interactive Studios, will be in Las Vegas in late July for book signings.  His Web site is www.Atlantisprophecy.com.