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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Kuzneski elbows his way into the overcrowded field of the papal thriller with his sophomore effort (after 2002's racially charged The Plantation), combining the requisite plot twists and Da Vinci-esque secret histories with a Passion of the Christ-like attention to gore. And there's plenty of opportunity for gore: Kuzneski kicks off the action with a nasty crucifixion in modern-day Denmark. It turns out the victim is a Vatican priest, and his murder is just the first. Meanwhile, maverick archeologist Dr. Charles Boyd and his assistant Maria Pelati discover a 2000-year-old scroll underneath the Italian town of Orvieto that contains "a secret that would change... the history of the world—forever." Instantly, the two become the most wanted people in Europe, pursued by the Vatican, a large measure of Western European law enforcement and two freelance CIA agents. As the chase begins, more crucified priests are turning up across the globe, and the head of Interpol's new homicide division, Nick Dial, finds himself edging closer to the heart of a centuries-old coverup. Cat and mouse games accelerate and alliances shuffle as the overstuffed plot brings its numerous players together, but excessive detail and exposition-heavy dialogue slow the action. Despite its flaws, Kuzneski knows what fans of the genre want: compelling and well-researched history, high-tech 21st-century sleuthing and a lot of action. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Harrowing, but always suspenseful, Sign of the Cross, makes you wish it would never end. Clive Cussler Chris Kuzneski is a remarkable new writer, who completely understands what makes for a good story: action, sex suspense, humour, and great characters. Nelson DeMille A fast-moving adventure of sins and secrets loaded with atmosphere, intrigue, and suspense. -- Steve Berry, Author Of The Templar Legacy Chris Kuzneski's writing has the same raw power as the early Stephen King James Patterson
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I've ever stumbled upon,
By
This review is from: SIGN OF THE CROSS (Paperback)
I happened onto this book and what a fantastic surprise. Coming off a few of Dan Brown's books, my expectations were high and Kusneski did not disappoint. His well thought out research, coupled withintriguing conspiracy theories, provide for a thrilling read. If you enjoy fast-paced stories with great character development then you will love this book. The characters truly come to life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews) 18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
If You Liked the Da Vinci Code, this is a Decent Choice,
By Thriller Lover - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sign of the Cross (Mass Market Paperback)
I had really mixed feelings about this novel. I recommend it, with some major reservations.On the one hand, SIGN OF THE CROSS has a remarkably ambitious and inventive plot. It is similar to THE DA VINCI CODE in that sense. Like Dan Brown, Mr. Kuzneski has done a great deal of research on alternative histories of Christianity. He does a very decent job weaving much of this historical research into the storyline. By reading this novel, I learned a lot of interesting facts about the Christian religion, as well as Roman history. This novel, like the DA VINCI CODE, is very fast paced and contains a number of exciting action scenes that are well done. This novel also takes place in a variety of countries, like Denmark, Libya, China, Italy, Thailand and the United States. The chapters are relatively short, and this novel is hard to put down once you get started. This book also has a relatively good climax -- there is a major revelation at the end of this novel that I thought was highly creative. The major flaw of SIGN OF THE CROSS is the characterization and dialogue. There are too many characters in this book, and Kuzneski keeps switching the perspective from character to character. As a result, no single character is fully fleshed out, and many characters comes across as little more than cardboard cutouts that rush from one action scene to another. Some of the supporting characters are downright cartoonish. Also, much of the dialogue in this novel is rather stilted and kind of clunky. I must also admit that I didn't really care for Jonathon Payne, one of the "heroes" of this book. Payne is supposed to be a good guy, but has few qualms about using extremely violent tactics (i.e. torture) to achieve his goals. Payne is also a bit too invulnerable and superhuman for my tastes, more of a bland action hero than a real human being. As a result, I felt very little emotional engagement in the story since I didn't feel very much sympathy for any of the characters. If Kuzneski had made his characters more three dimensional and vivid, this could have been a genuinely great novel. Overall, though, I was impressed enough with the plot of this novel to recommend it. I think Kuzneski has exceptional plotting and research skills, but he needs to work more on his dialogue and characterization. If he does that, he could become the next Dan Brown or Steve Berry. Three and a half stars. 13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Calculated Error...,
By G. Albert "Lover of books and cats" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sign of the Cross (Mass Market Paperback)
I did not like this book and it is my own fault for succumbing to curiosity; I did not see how anything could be new on the topic after DA VINCI CODE and Kathy Reich's BREAK NO BONES....The subject of whether Christ died on the cross or not has been stirred too many times and no real thinker will buy these suppositions anyway. But while the author is gripping in his descriptives of the crimes ( i.e: crucifictions, helicoptor crashes, etc) that seems to be his only forte. He gives in to name dropping, mentioning Stephen King and Dan Brown for example, as if to alert us that he knows his story has been done before and that he is a reader, too. It is amateurish. A maddening error is seen when a character asks himself a question and it is answered for him by the author. Then there are the teases at chapter ends and the sudden yanks back to reality when he reminds us he is writing a book, when the hallmark of a good novel is that the reader enters into it completely and loses touch with the world of reality for the duration. It is my belief that it is never wise to attempt to mix humor with drama. I tossed the book aside but then a few days later leafed through the parts I had not read, but it did not improve my opinion. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well paced, excellent work,
By Tduff "TD" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sign of the Cross (Mass Market Paperback)
It's not a literary classic by any means, but I just found the book to be extremely entertaining in the best way,I could compare to watching Terminator 2. It's not gonna win any Oscars for Arnold's acting or the direction, but it's a blast while you're watching it. |
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