The Lost Throne
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The Lost Throne (Jonathon Payne and David Jones Mystery #4)

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3.79 of 5 stars 3.79  ·  rating details  ·  648 ratings  ·  97 reviews
Carved into the towering cliffs of central Greece, the Met?ora monasteries are all but inaccessible. Holy Trinity is the most isolated, its sacred brotherhood the guardians of a long-forgotten secret.In the dead of night, the sanctity of the holy retreat is shattered by an elite group of warriors carrying ancient weapons. One by one, they hurl the silent monks from the cli...more
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Published July 23rd 2009 by Brilliance Corporation (first published January 1st 2008)
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Linda
Looking for a beach or plane read? Like adventure? The Lost Throne fits the bill. A wealthy amateur archaeologist, who entered Russia illegally, is killed, execution style, in St. Petersberg, Russia. His beautiful but brainy assistant, Allison, calls on Jon Payne and DJ Jones, intrepid ex-MANIACS (special ops guys), to rescue her. At the same time, seven Greek Orthodox monks are beheaded in an all but inaccessible monastery.

Will these two threads merge? You bet they will. Payne and Jon...more
Sam Woodfield
I had forgotten just how much I loved Kuzneski's writting but this reminded me and did not disappoint.

Yet again Kuzneski has written a real page turner which keeps you gripped from the first page to the last. Payne and Jones appear again and are the same fantastic characters as in Kuzneski's previous novels.

Yet again this novel is based aroud a religion, the first being around Christianity, the second Islam, and this Orthodox, and this is something I knew nothing about and so found fascinatin...more
Tim Pendry
Oh dear ... what a disappointment. The previous two books ['Sign of the Cross' and 'Sword of God':] were formulaic but had a certain raw energy and innocent paciness that made them enjoyable. Chapters were short and ended on a high note so you wanted to keep turning the page even though you knew that you were just munching on boy-chocolate.

This one is formula without the energy, too long and leisurely, with dull plot McGuffins, hackneyed characterisation and an excessive use of cut-a...more
Clark  Isaacs
Chris Kuzneski is an internationally best-selling author of “Sword of God”, “Sign of the Cross”, “The Plantation”, and the fourth in this series “The Lost Throne.” “The Prophesy” is the fifth novel and was just recently released in hardcover. This review is about “The Lost Throne” which took place primarily in Greece and Russia. This is an exciting action-packed adventure loaded with mystery, lost treasures, and ancient monasteries.

Portrayed as legendary-like characters are Jonath...more
Magda
Okay, so this was picked up on a whim. The cover looked interesting and the description piqued my interest (Meteora monasteries? Sure!). Inside, it was more of Dan Brown with unrealistic monastic expectations (and then some: actual "Spartans" (oh, how those quotation marks are deserved: philosophically, in the internal history, something was definitely lost) continuing the tradition to the present-day).

But the best part was the random humor, mostly from what I gather are re...more
Paul Pessolano
Kuzneski reminds me of some of my favorite authors like; Steve Berry, James Rollins, and Matthew Reilly. Their stories take the reader back to mysteries of the past but are told in the present.

Jonathan Payne and David Jones are former military that belonged to a group called "Maniacs".

Jonathan receives a call at night asking for help. The call leads Jonathan and David on a mission to Greece. The find that the call for help came from Richard Byrd who as been m...more
Elizabeth
The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski (pp. 590)
A historical thriller focused on ancient Greek antiquities, Spartans, and international monks. Instead of the one loner ex-CIA type, Kuzneski employs a buddy team of D.J. Jones and Jonathan Payne, ex-special forces elite. Their skills come from their training and experience in black ops, but personality-wise are very buddy cop movie, down to the different sizes, races, and economic backgrounds that define their characters.
A series of r...more
Jeannie Mancini
The Lost Throne is the author’s first hardcover debut, the third in his Payne and Jones thriller series. This was my first book by this author, I had not read the first two books in the series prior to picking up this new installment. The reason I decided to try this one first was due to my previous interest and fascination with the history of Meteora Greece and it's mysterious monasteries.

The story itself, a murder mystery involving eight monks at one of the monasteries of Meteora,...more
Jeffrey
Jeffrey rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: thriller fans who like a historical basis
Although this novel has an engrossing plot, I thought the separate sides of the novel took too long to join up. On the one side you have Jon and DJ, who have received a message by cellphone from someone, who needs there help but who has not left his name and the calls are filled with static. After using the services of a special friend at the Pentagon, they figure out that that calls are from Saint Petersburg, Russia, and track down the number of the person making the calls, which turns out to ...more
Linda I
This novel was a great little beach read of a thriller. Fast paced, albeit a tad predictable with fairly generic characters, well-written (though some parts had clunky dialogue), and loaded with interesting Greek/ancient world history. Jonathon Payne and David Jones, two former elite military personnel, receive a mysterious call from St. Petersburg, Russia, by a Stanford professor asking for their help. By the time they receive his call, it's too late to help him but not too late for his researc...more
Lauren
Picked this one off the shelf because of James bond and my desire to see the monasteries at Meteora. I love this genre, so I hope it's clean.

OK, I don't think he's in the same category as James Rollins (I think he's my favorite author in this area) but it was still pretty good. There was more language in it than I would have liked. There wasn't any sex in it (except innuendos) and I did appreciate that rarity in this type of book.

Small confession here: I think this genre...more
Dana
This book should contain a warning: Beware, nothing will be done until the last page is read.

Jonathon Payne and D.J. Jones, former members of an elite special forces unit, are called by a man being pursued in St. Petersburg, Russia. The calls are missed and upon investigation they find out the calls are from Richard Byrd, an American archaeological smuggler. After a frantic call from Byrd's assistant they find themselves on the way to Russia to save Allison, a doctorate candidate. Al...more
Dondre
Kept me on the edge of hallucinating at the action parts. Its starts of with these monks at an ancient monastery in present day Greece that are BEHEADED for a lost book. later, Jon Payne and his friend David Jones, who are ex-MANIACS (a sort of special ops) relax at St.Petersburg,Florida when they get a call from a man who's name is Richard Byrd from St.Petersburg,Russia. Allison,Byrd's brainy assistant, witnesses Byrd's assassination and calls Jon and David to help her. They all soon go on an a...more
Diego
ENGLISH: Probably one of the best historical thrillers I've read. I did it wrong because I started a saga with the last book, but the main characters are perfectly described and past events are mentioned and explained so you don't miss anything or you can just read this one with no need for the first ones.
Is set in Greece, but also in St Petersburg and half Europe. The thing that amazed me the most was the perfect description of the Peterhof building, along with the rest of the places. The...more
Morris
The Lost Throne brings us the third adventure of D.J. Jones and Jonathan Payne. This time they receive a call from a distressed woman in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her employer was just gunned down in front of her and she needs help. They set out immediately to rescue her. Once in Russia, they investigate the death of her employer only to find themselves on a treasure hunt.

The trail leads them to Mt. Athos, Greece. They run into an old acquaintance, Nick Dial, who has been investigating...more
AndrewP
Came across this book and even though I had never heard of the title or the author the synopsis on the back sounded interesting. A modern day treasure hunt and murder mystery that centers around St. Petersburg in Russia and several locations in Greece. The story is split into two threads in these locations and it is not until the very end that they come together.
Not a bad story as far as it goes, even though the characters are pretty stereotypical and one or two of the ideas a bit f...more
Tim
Pretty good fast paced book. Some of the characters were cliches but they did keep the story interesting (the girl was a blond bombshell, these guys were the Best of the Best, etc.). And I'm not crazy about the 'lucky' coincidences that solved many of the problems in the book. Like the fisherman who's boat they use in Russia HAPPENS to own a yacht in Greece where they need to go next. I thought the story was fairly original though other than those points mentioned.
G33kette
I just finished reading this book.
When I started it I really didn't like the writing style, and I wasn't really that keen on all the hollywood style characters. Also I thought the plot was just on the dan brown - da vinci code band wagon buuuuut....
When I actually got into the book I enjoyed it. The plot was quick enough to keep me interested and I read the second half all in one night when I wasn't feeling very well.
Definitely an entertaining read.
Scooter Monkey
This book was ok. The historical premise for the book was really interesting but the story was just very forced and the characters were barely believable, more like flawless robots than human characters. Kuzneski didn't let the story develop naturally he beat you over the head with where he wanted the story to go and I have to agree with the other reviews the whole book is spent moving the characters towards the end and then nothing happens.
Shiela
Kuzneski is definitely one of my favorites in the thriller genre. With more interesting storylines, plot foils and action, the adventures of Payne and Jones are far superior to Steve Berry and Dan Brown (albeit a tad bit far fetched but thats the appeal with high octane thrillers). In this 4th rendition of the Payne and Jones file, the search is on for the ancient statue of Zeus in the breathtaking mountains of sunny Greece (brings back fond memories). A few dead monks and ancient Spartan war...more
Deborah Hamilton
If you are looking for the perfect book, look no further. Set in Greece and Russia DJ and Payne are sucked into a new adventure. While on a mission to save a woman from harms way, DJ and Payne find themselves on a treasure hunt of all treasure hunts. Simultaneously, Nick Dial is back to work trying to solve the recent murder at a Greek monastery. Page turner till the end with remarkable research. My favorite book this year.
Vineet
The book is about Treasure hunting but the real action takes an eternity to begin. There is a lot of buildup - regions and religions explained, Historical characters and their mannerisms examined, a murder gets dissected in great detail and a lot of stupid banter and kiddish jokes exchanged between the lead characters.



We keep getting promising glimpses of barbaric villains preparing to engage our heroes (MANIACS as described by the author) as we wait for the titanic struggle to begin. To give y...more
Karen
Although I started this in August just before I started back at work, I really enjoyed the mystery and the history in the book. It was fun and really was unlike any other book I had read recently. Chapters were short and made it very easy to continue reading in my little time that I did have. (Sitting on my own "throne." Those who are into Sparta, Greece or history, this book is definitely up your alley!
Antonia
let's face it: there's times when you need to read something that requires you not to think and just "go for the ride".
that's such a book. nice descriptions and plot and even though it was fairly long it did not feel so as it was action action action and thus: very manly, very tough and (male, main) characters very good-looking and very tough-talking etc. etc. tough etc. manly etc. you know the type.
Sam
A brilliant follow up to The Sign and Sword, Kuzneski has once again delivered a fast-paced exciting adventure story with Payne and Jones once again taking centre stage and saving the day, the damsel and the treasure. Not only does Kuzneski entwine modern day adventure with historical fact (and undoubtedly a bit of fiction too) but he has also weaved in more contempory references that make the story all the more vibrant. The banter between Payne and Jones is as amusing as ever and even had me ...more
Susan Johnson
I didn't finish this book. Maybe I was just in a mood...

I felt like it was a "Harlequin Books" attempt at a thriller. The locale was interesting, but the characters were shallow, trite and predictable.

I can envision this being made into a movie-of-the-week on some cable network and then dying into well earned obscurity.
Suzie
Really, really, laugh out loud AWFUL!

It appears to have been written by a teenaged boy, full of dreadful cliches and steryotypes.

I kept imagining a Micky Spillane type voice-over.

I was expecting something a bit more like Matthew Reilly or Lee Child - delightful hokum - but the writing in this is soooo bad I couldn't help chuckling, for all the wrong reasons!
Gcpumph
Gcpumph rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: everyone
Wonderful book. I never figured the entire story out. I figured out only sections. If you like mystery mixed with ex-CIA agents and historical artifacts to be discovered...with...actual Spartans killing people in present day Greece, this is the book for you. It is really good. It has some humor and keeps you on the edge of your seat!
VioLeT
When two characters are talking on the phone, they should not, in turn, be nodding, shaking their heads, lighting cigarettes, or whatever, because the constantly changing perspective - as if they are both in the same room, even though they are not - makes me very, very stabby.
Michael Durant
Full Review

"The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski is an action blockbuster book, if you can believe it. While every bit the literary fluff that The Dresden Files are, it's still worth it to relax your brain."
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Chris Kuzneski (born in 1969) is a New York Times bestselling American author. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have been published in more than 40 countries. His works have also been named a Literary Guild's featured selection and honored by the Florida Book Awards. Due to his success in the United Kingdom, his books are released in the British market several months...more
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