Swimming to Atlantis: A Novel

by Charles J. Hebert

Attorney Andrew Jordan spurns his successful career with a respected New Orleans law firm to embark on an adventure with a clairvoyant homeless man camped out in front of Andrew's office building

279 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Susan Crowther]

I had trouble getting into the story initially but then it got interesting and I didn't want to put it down. The writing was uneven at times and it felt like the author couldn't decide if the genre was supposed to be fantasy, legal thriller, or environmental allegory. It incorporates all those elements at various times but this is actually a redemption story. The story is about a selfish young attorney who befriends a homeless man who claims to be from Atlantis. The tone was quirky at first but then got darker later in the story. The author ultimately brings all these diverse elements together though and I found myself still thinking about Flipper after I finished reading the book. I enjoyed the fantasy parts a lot and also felt this could have been written as Christian fiction with some tweaks - after all, Flipper (the alleged Atlantis visitor) also goes by Christian Waterman. The case prep and trial scenes were realistic although a key trial verdict wasn't. Overall an entertaining story though. If you decide to read this story (and I do think you'll enjoy it if you do), my advice is to be patient. I tried several times to read it and kept returning it to the TBR pile. A big part of that reason is that Andy (the main protagonist) is not very likable at first. In fact, he's a real jerk. I think if it had been clearer from the description that it's a redemption story, I would have stayed with it longer the first time I tried to read it. A decluttering project, as well as my love of anything Atlantis-related, motivated me to finally fish or cut bait (pun intended). I'm glad I gave it another try.

[Robert]

The beginning of the book starts out a little quirky almost conversational in tone but then it picks up when the attorney meets the web-footed homeless man and from then on it starts to be one of those books you can't wait to finish.