Sign of the Cross (Payne & Jones Series) [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Chris Kuzneski (Author), Dick Hill (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009 | Series: Payne & Jones Series (Book 2)

On a Danish shore, a Vatican priest is found – hanging on a cross. Within days, the same crime is repeated…this time in Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, deep in the legendary Catacombs under Orvieto, Italy, an archaeologist unearths a scroll dating back two thousand years, revealing secrets that could rock the foundations of Christianity. Its discovery makes him the most wanted criminal in all of Europe. But his most dangerous enemies operate outside the law of man… “An immensely inventive and rewarding thriller.” – Lewis Perdue, author of Daughter of God “I was hooked at the first sentence...it was one continuous wild ride.” – John Gilstrap, author of At All Costs

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD; MP3 Una edition (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423386590
• ISBN-13: 978-1423386599
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,183,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHRIS KUZNESKI is the international bestselling author of six novels. His latest thriller, THE SECRET CROWN, will be released in America in January, 2012.

Chris grew up in Indiana, PA, with his parents and three siblings. As a fourth-grader, he wrote his first book, The Monster Cookbook, a work of fiction that detailed the culinary and nutritional needs of a dozen creatures that he'd created. The school's librarian was so impressed that she had it hardbound and placed in the school's library with all the books that his classmates enjoyed. Unbeknownst to her, a career in writing was born.

Chris attended Indiana High School where he was voted Class Clown of his senior class and anchored the offensive line on a team that won back-to-back CENPAC championships. He continued his football career at the University of Pittsburgh ― playing with future NFL stars Tony Siragusa, Jeff Christy, Mark Stepnoski, Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, and many others. Unfortunately, a freak foot injury ended his athletic career.

While studying at Pitt, he wrote for The Pitt News, the Indiana Gazette, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, eventually earning his B.A. in writing and his M.A. in teaching. From 1992 until 1998, he taught English and coached football in two western Pennsylvania school districts and was selected to Who's Who Among America's Teachers. But in his mind, he still wasn't doing what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a writer, so he quit his job and took a leap of faith . . .

His first novel, THE PLANTATION, was praised by James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, Lee Child, James Rollins, and several of the top writers in the genre. His next thriller, SIGN OF THE CROSS, was released in 2006 and became an international bestseller. So far, it has been translated into more than fifteen languages. SWORD OF GOD climbed even higher on the charts, hitting the New York Times and London Times bestseller lists. His fourth book, THE LOST THRONE, debuted in the UK Top-5 and stayed on the charts for several weeks. It was also his first American hardcover. His latest book, THE PROPHECY, reached #4 on the UK charts and was released by Putnam in the summer of 2010. The paperback version will be available in July 2011.

Chris currently lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida. When he's not enjoying the sun, surf, and hurricanes, he's working on his next Payne & Jones novel, which will be the seventh in the series.

For more information, please visit his main website: chriskuzneski.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful 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, October 16, 2006

By 

Thriller Lover (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

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..., January 17, 2007

By 

G. Albert "Lover of books and cats" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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, October 6, 2006

By 

Tduff "TD" (Chattanooga TN) - See all my reviews

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.