The Lost Throne
Built high on the natural rock of Thessaly in Greece are a series of six monasteries, once there were more. The monks who live on these mountains of Meteora are few and, during the middle of one night they are slaughtered by a band of men wearing bronze helmets and carrying ancient weapons. At the same time, across the European continent, a well-known academic searching for hidden treasure fears for his life.
Thus begins Chris Kuzneski’s latest thriller. The Lost Throne is of that genre, not an historical novel. Yes, it is teeming with historical facts which appear to be lifted almost verbatim from books of reference, its pages filled with huge swathes out of travelogues but it is set in the present day and research should be seamless. The tale can be, at times, suspenseful, harrowing and entertaining yet flits from location to location and character to character making for butterfly storytelling. The basic language and loosely layered structure limits its appeal and reads like a form of tabloid writing.
I recognise and applaud the author’s attempts to combine historical details with mythology and adventure but, the breadth of ignorance demonstrated by the characters themselves becomes so unbelievable as the story progresses that it slips to the farcical. The Author’s Note at the end of the book actually insults the intelligence of his knowledgeable readers.
