Book Review: The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski (Jonathan Payne & David Jones #4)

I am fond of treasure hunt stories.

Indiana Jones movies and The Sigma Force novels are among my favorite films and books. I like treasure hunt stories based on speculations of historical facts, where the heroes travel around the world to exotic locations, encounter esoteric societies harboring centuries old conspiracies, then decipher forgotten tomes and explore dark, ancient ruins to recover lost histories and artifacts.

For me, curling up on a couch with a treasure hunt thriller novel and a cup of tea, helps me to unwind and relax after a day's work. I am always on the lookout for a good treasure hunt thriller. The Lost Throne attracted my attention, because this book embodies everything that makes a treasure hunt story fun and exiting. When it became available at my local library, I loaned it as soon as I could.

The Lost Throne is a treasure hunt thriller written by best-selling author Chris Kuzneski. It is also the fourth book in a series featuring two characters, Jonathan Payne and David Jones. Although The Lost Throne is the fourth book in a series, but you don't need to read the previous novels, because each book in this series is a stand-alone novel. This book counts to 600 pages, and I had a great time reading it during the weekend. Today, I would like to review this book.

Synopsis:

Former MANIAC operatives Jonathan Payne and David Jones were enjoying the sunshine-bathed beach in Florida, when they received a mysterious phone call. Distress and panic flooded the voice of the caller, warning Payne that this is a “life or death” situation. The cryptic phone call drew Payne and Jones into a series of investigations, spanning across continental Europe.

Meanwhile, a group of men, armed with ancient Spartan weapons and armors, broke into the monastery of Meteora in Greece and brutally executed 8 monks. Nick Dial, an investigator from Interpol, arrived on the crime scene to resolve this puzzling case. Is there a connection between Payne's mystery phone call and the murder case at Meterora?

My thoughts on this book:

In the past, I have read two other books in Jonathan Payne and David Jones series, namely Sword of God and The Prophecy. I enjoyed them despite some flaws in the structuring of those two books. In comparison to those two books, The Lost Throne didn't bring any ground-breaking improvements over those two books. This book follows a formulaic storytelling method found in other Kuzneski's books, where the main plot is divided into two parallel storylines that only converged at the end.

I don't mind reading a book with parallel storylines, as long as the author can converge them at the end convincingly. However, in The Lost Throne (and other books written by Kuzneski), I found the ending of this book unbelievable, where the parallel storylines converged in a rough, forcible manner. This is the main flaw of The Lost Throne.

Having said this, I still had a great time reading this book. Firstly, the story in this book moves at a very fast pace. Like most best-selling thriller novels, The Lost Throne is a page-turning adventure romp filled with octane driven actions and puzzling mysteries. The kind of stuff that will keep you at the edge of your seat, paging through the book and wanting more. Secondly, while the writings in this book are sometimes cheesy, but it is clear, concise, and helps the story to flow smoothly.

Like most thriller novels, The Lost Throne does not excel in the department of characterization. The characters are mostly two dimensional, lacking real character developments. However, as protagonists, Jonathan Payne and David Jones are likeable characters. Their dialogues are humorous, bringing comedic effects into the book. In my view, it would have been good if the author can embed some sort of character development into the story, to show how the events from the book influenced or changed the characters.

In summary, while The Lost Throne has its share of flaws, but this book tells an entertaining, thrilling adventure story. If you are looking to read a thoughtful, well written book, then I would NOT recommend this book to you. However, if you looking to read a fun and exciting book that will help you unwind during the weekend (something like Matthew Reilly's books), then look no further, The Lost Throne will provide you with great entertainment for a few hours.