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doctoraction's review against another edition
1.0
Very bad. Got given it as a gift. Wouldn't have bothered finishing it expect that I really like the person who bought it for me and stopping books half-way through unsettles me.
It plays like a cliched action film from the mid-80's with some recent historical fiction touches thrown in to jump on the bandwagon. The characters are stereotypes, the dialogue is cringe-inducing, prose is flatter than a pancake. I felt the author was in love with his two invincible-wise-cracking-ex-special-forces-action-hero main characters but I have no idea why.
The one plus feature it has is that it's gone fast. If the only fiction you've ever read as an adult is Harry Potter and you like Jean-Claude Van Damne films, this could be for you.
It plays like a cliched action film from the mid-80's with some recent historical fiction touches thrown in to jump on the bandwagon. The characters are stereotypes, the dialogue is cringe-inducing, prose is flatter than a pancake. I felt the author was in love with his two invincible-wise-cracking-ex-special-forces-action-hero main characters but I have no idea why.
The one plus feature it has is that it's gone fast. If the only fiction you've ever read as an adult is Harry Potter and you like Jean-Claude Van Damne films, this could be for you.
chryscurl's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant - I really enjoy the way Mr Kuzneski has such fun with his characters and plots. Such entertaining reading. I love Payne and Jones, their interactions add the right amount of levity to the gun toting that accompanies their adventures.
This is probably one of my favourites so far, Nostradamus provides a rich vein of possibilities.
Definitely recommend this title.
This is probably one of my favourites so far, Nostradamus provides a rich vein of possibilities.
Definitely recommend this title.
sams84's review against another edition
4.0
Following on from Payne and Jones' adventures in The Lost Throne, this book finds them drawn into the world of prophecy and the life (and death) of Nostrodamus. Once again Kuzneski combines modern day action with a historical mystery of epic proportions (lets face it what bigger mystery is there than Nostrodamus). Although this wasn't as good as Lost Throne it was still very enjoyable with all the bits I loved in his previous novels, the banter between Payne and Jones is as amusing as ever and the research that Kuzneski puts into his work is outstanding (I now know what a Philly Cheesesteak actually is). There was only one frustrating thing about this book and that was the ending, it finishes on an absolute cliff-hanger (I'm not going to tell you what though) of true Nostrodamus proportions.
b_austridge's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bmlowry8's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
zogi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
klouwho's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
speesh's review against another edition
1.0
This one I got cheap from the Porthcawl RNLI second-hand book section.
And just as well.
I suppose I shouldn't be too harsh on it, as it didn't exactly cost me a whole lot, however...it had been on my Amazon 'Wish List', so it could have been a lot worse.
It's a story based around Nostradamus, both the man and his predictions. But that seemed to be pushed a little too much into the background, for my liking. It seemed just a frame-work for what is really a pretty formulaic (the main bad guy is a refined, super-rich, un-scrupulous but well-mannered killer; the good-guys are one black, one white, Special Forces-trained, rich, good-looking, wise-cracking, with rich friends who are experts in the fields our heroes need expertise from, or well-connected friends, still working where they need them to be and who are experts in the other fields they need them to be experts in) story; everything functions as it should, when it should. And everything is consequently un-realistic and detached from reality.
Whilst it's nowhere near as bad as a Clive Cussler 'novel', the problem I had with it was, it read very quickly, the story was rather slight and it generally felt like a knock-off. It felt like his publishers had said "Quick! We need to get a book out fast! What have you got?" "Well, I'm half way through this one..." "Right, finish it by the weekend and we're good". One would hope that whatever else he was working on at the time this demand came in, is better than this one.
Well worth the 20p it cost.
And just as well.
I suppose I shouldn't be too harsh on it, as it didn't exactly cost me a whole lot, however...it had been on my Amazon 'Wish List', so it could have been a lot worse.
It's a story based around Nostradamus, both the man and his predictions. But that seemed to be pushed a little too much into the background, for my liking. It seemed just a frame-work for what is really a pretty formulaic (the main bad guy is a refined, super-rich, un-scrupulous but well-mannered killer; the good-guys are one black, one white, Special Forces-trained, rich, good-looking, wise-cracking, with rich friends who are experts in the fields our heroes need expertise from, or well-connected friends, still working where they need them to be and who are experts in the other fields they need them to be experts in) story; everything functions as it should, when it should. And everything is consequently un-realistic and detached from reality.
Whilst it's nowhere near as bad as a Clive Cussler 'novel', the problem I had with it was, it read very quickly, the story was rather slight and it generally felt like a knock-off. It felt like his publishers had said "Quick! We need to get a book out fast! What have you got?" "Well, I'm half way through this one..." "Right, finish it by the weekend and we're good". One would hope that whatever else he was working on at the time this demand came in, is better than this one.
Well worth the 20p it cost.
ksfmcdaniel's review
3.0
Too much attempted foreshadowing gets very annoying, but an interesting story line.
macindog's review
3.0
Another easy-to-read pulp fiction novel from Chris Kuzneski and featuring Payne and Jones, his regular all-round heroes.
This time round the plot revolves around the prophecies of Nostradamus and it's a reasonably well-woven tale, if somewhat formulaic. A decent read if you're stick on a train or plane.
This time round the plot revolves around the prophecies of Nostradamus and it's a reasonably well-woven tale, if somewhat formulaic. A decent read if you're stick on a train or plane.