Chris Kuzneski
Encyclopedia
Chris Kuzneski 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 before they are published in America.
Kuzneski’s novels follow the adventures of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones, former members of the MANIACs—an elite Special Forces
unit in the U.S. military. Although the main characters are ex-soldiers, the novels are not “military” thrillers. Instead, they are often compared to the works of Clive Cussler
and James Rollins
. Kuzneski’s thrillers are known for their action, adventure, and humor. His novels have garnered the attention of several notable authors. His books have been endorsed by James Patterson
, Clive Cussler
, Nelson DeMille
, Lee Child
, Douglas Preston
, Vince Flynn
, James Rollins
, Tess Gerritsen
, and Steve Berry.
His fourth thriller, The Lost Throne
, was released in the UK in 2008 and peaked at #5 on the British fiction chart. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2009. It won the Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction at the Florida Book Awards, which is America’s most comprehensive state book awards program. The American paperback reached the New York Times mass-market bestseller list in July 2010.
His fifth thriller, The Prophecy
, was published in the UK in October 2009 and climbed to #4 on the British fiction chart. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2010.
His sixth novel, The Secret Crown, was released by Penguin UK on September 30, 2010 and within two weeks rose to #10 on the The Times
bestsellers list. The American version won’t be released until December 2011.
, Kuzneski currently lives in Tampa
, Florida
. In fourth grade, he wrote The Monster Cookbook, which so impressed the librarian that it was bound and placed in the school library. He played football at the University of Pittsburgh
where he received his undergraduate degree in writing and his master's degree in teaching. While studying at Pitt, he wrote for The Pitt News
, the Indiana Gazette
, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. 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. However, he knew he wanted to be an author, so he left teaching and started working on his first novel, The Plantation
.
One by one, in cities across America, people of all ages are taken from their homes, their cars, their lives. But these aren’t random kidnappings. They’re crimes of passion, planned and researched several months in advance, then executed with a singular objective in mind. Revenge.
Ariane Walker is one of the victims, dragged from her apartment with few clues to follow. The police said there’s little they can do for her, but that isn’t good enough for her boyfriend, Jonathon Payne. With the help of his best friend, Payne gives chase, hoping that a tip about New Orleans somehow pays off. Together, they uncover the mystery of Ariane’s abduction and the truth behind the South’s most violent secret.
In the turmoil and blood running from Russia to Greece to the fabled city of Spati (Sparta) Jonathan Payne, David Jones and Nick Dial uncovers the terrifying series of deaths and tries to discover a secret guarded since the start of time...
In an adventure that spans two continents and several centuries, Payne and Jones must locate a sacred text that may change everything we know about the future.
Germany, present day: Hidden amongst the crates in a newly discovered World War II bunker are documents stamped with a black swan, the insignia of the murdered king. As a favor to a friend, Payne and Jones fly to Bavaria to investigate the discovery, but soon face a deadly battle against an unknown enemy. The duo must solve the mystery behind the king’s death, or else they’ll share his tragic fate.
officer and former commander of the MANIACs.Payne is CEO of Payne Industries, a hi-tech company. He was introduced in The Plantation
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel.
David "D.J." Jones, Payne’s former second-in-command with the MANIACs. Best friends with Payne, he operates a detective agency out of the Payne Industries building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. Jones was introduced in The Plantation
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel.
Nick Dial, director of the homicide division of Interpol
. Dial was introduced in Sign of the Cross
and made a brief appearance in Sword of God
. His character was featured in Kuzneski’s thriller, The Lost Throne
.
Petr Ulster, historian and curator of the Ulster Archives in Küsendorf, Switzerland.
Randy Raskin, a computer researcher at the Pentagon
. He can access classified information that would otherwise be unavailable to Payne and Jones. The character is based on a real-life person, a college friend of Kuzneski’s from the University of Pittsburgh
. Raskin was introduced in Sign of the Cross
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel since.
MANIACs, an elite Special Forces
team composed of the best soldiers in the United States
military. The term MANIACs is an acronym for Marines Army Navy Intelligence Air Force and Coast Guard.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
Book of the Month Club
The Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order book sales club that offers a new book each month to customers.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada. It was formerly the flagship club of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc...
'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 before they are published in America.
Kuzneski’s novels follow the adventures of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones, former members of the MANIACs—an elite Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit in the U.S. military. Although the main characters are ex-soldiers, the novels are not “military” thrillers. Instead, they are often compared to the works of Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
and James Rollins
James Rollins
* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
. Kuzneski’s thrillers are known for their action, adventure, and humor. His novels have garnered the attention of several notable authors. His books have been endorsed by James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
, Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
, Nelson DeMille
Nelson DeMille
Nelson Richard DeMille is an American author of thriller novels. His works include Word of Honor , The Charm School, The Gold Coast, Plum Island, and The General's Daughter .DeMille has also written under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt...
, Lee Child
Lee Child
Jim Grant , better known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British thriller writer. His wife Jane is a New Yorker, and they currently live in New York state. His first novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel....
, Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
, Vince Flynn
Vince Flynn
Vince Flynn is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels. He lives with his wife and three children in the Twin Cities. He was a frequent guest on the Glenn Beck program on the Fox News Channel...
, James Rollins
James Rollins
* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
, Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen, M.D., is a Chinese-American novelist and retired physician. Her first name is really Terry; she decided to feminize it when she was a writer of romance novels.-Early life:...
, and Steve Berry.
His fourth thriller, The Lost Throne
The Lost Throne
The Lost Throne is the fourth novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. Published in November 2008 by Penguin UK, the action thriller peaked at #5 on the British fiction chart and stayed in the Top 10 for four weeks. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2009...
, was released in the UK in 2008 and peaked at #5 on the British fiction chart. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2009. It won the Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction at the Florida Book Awards, which is America’s most comprehensive state book awards program. The American paperback reached the New York Times mass-market bestseller list in July 2010.
His fifth thriller, The Prophecy
The Prophecy (novel)
The Prophecy is the fifth novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. Published in October 2009 by Penguin UK, the action thriller follows the adventures of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones as they try to decipher a newly discovered manuscript written by Nostradamus...
, was published in the UK in October 2009 and climbed to #4 on the British fiction chart. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2010.
His sixth novel, The Secret Crown, was released by Penguin UK on September 30, 2010 and within two weeks rose to #10 on the The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
bestsellers list. The American version won’t be released until December 2011.
Biographical sketch
Born in Indiana, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Kuzneski currently lives in Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. In fourth grade, he wrote The Monster Cookbook, which so impressed the librarian that it was bound and placed in the school library. He played football at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
where he received his undergraduate degree in writing and his master's degree in teaching. While studying at Pitt, he wrote for The Pitt News
The Pitt News
The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland which has been active in some form since 1910. It is published Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer...
, the Indiana Gazette
Indiana Gazette
The Indiana Gazette is a public newspaper printed for the Indiana County and surrounding areas. It has approximately 50,000 subscribers, as well as many newsstand editions. It is delivered daily except for holidays and special occasions...
, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
. 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. However, he knew he wanted to be an author, so he left teaching and started working on his first novel, The Plantation
The Plantation
The Plantation was the debut novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in 2002, it introduced the characters of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers...
.
The Plantation
A ski instructor disappears in the mountains of Colorado. Hours later, a pregnant woman is grabbed in a crowded hospital and smuggled past security without a hitch. Two incidents, a single motive. And so it begins….One by one, in cities across America, people of all ages are taken from their homes, their cars, their lives. But these aren’t random kidnappings. They’re crimes of passion, planned and researched several months in advance, then executed with a singular objective in mind. Revenge.
Ariane Walker is one of the victims, dragged from her apartment with few clues to follow. The police said there’s little they can do for her, but that isn’t good enough for her boyfriend, Jonathon Payne. With the help of his best friend, Payne gives chase, hoping that a tip about New Orleans somehow pays off. Together, they uncover the mystery of Ariane’s abduction and the truth behind the South’s most violent secret.
Sign of the Cross
Payne and Jones are recruited to find Dr. Charles Boyd, an archeologist who recently found the Catacombs of Orvieto, the safe haven for the popes of the Middle Ages. While Boyd avoids pursuit, a series of victims turn up dead, people who were tortured and crucified like Jesus Christ on his final day. All the incidents are interconnected, but it’s up to Payne and Jones to figure out the common thread and why they were selected to solve the puzzle.Sword of God
In a secret bunker run by U.S. intelligence, the unthinkable has happened. While interrogating one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, the unthinkable has happened: an American soldier is brutally executed. Jonathon Payne and David Jones, his former commanders, offer to spearhead the investigation. They quickly realize that there is more to this atrocity than terrorist reprisal—there is a plot in motion that will burn the world in the fires of a holy war. And it's up to them to stop it.The Lost Throne
In the Meteora monasteries high in the towering cliffs of Central Greece, an Elite group of warriors hurl the silent monks from the cliff-top to their Death - the holy men take their secret to their grave. In Russia, an American academician, Richard Byrd, fears for his life as he tries to uncover one of the greatest treasures of human history. But others are dedicated to protect it and will go to any measure to prevent its discovery...In the turmoil and blood running from Russia to Greece to the fabled city of Spati (Sparta) Jonathan Payne, David Jones and Nick Dial uncovers the terrifying series of deaths and tries to discover a secret guarded since the start of time...
The Prophecy
When the writings of 16th-century visionary Nostradamus ring alarmingly true, Jonathon Payne and David Jones find themselves in a life-or-death race to stop those who would use the seer’s predictions for their own dark purposes.In an adventure that spans two continents and several centuries, Payne and Jones must locate a sacred text that may change everything we know about the future.
The Secret Crown
Bavaria, 1886: King Ludwig II is declared insane by his government and forcibly removed from the throne. A day later, Ludwig’s corpse washes up in the shallows of Lake Starnberg. Rumors swirl about the tragedy, but few know why the eccentric king was really killed—and what secret was silenced by his death.Germany, present day: Hidden amongst the crates in a newly discovered World War II bunker are documents stamped with a black swan, the insignia of the murdered king. As a favor to a friend, Payne and Jones fly to Bavaria to investigate the discovery, but soon face a deadly battle against an unknown enemy. The duo must solve the mystery behind the king’s death, or else they’ll share his tragic fate.
Recurring characters
Jonathon Payne, a retired Special ForcesSpecial forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
officer and former commander of the MANIACs.Payne is CEO of Payne Industries, a hi-tech company. He was introduced in The Plantation
The Plantation
The Plantation was the debut novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in 2002, it introduced the characters of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers...
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel.
David "D.J." Jones, Payne’s former second-in-command with the MANIACs. Best friends with Payne, he operates a detective agency out of the Payne Industries building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Jones was introduced in The Plantation
The Plantation
The Plantation was the debut novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in 2002, it introduced the characters of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers...
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel.
Nick Dial, director of the homicide division of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
. Dial was introduced in Sign of the Cross
Sign of the Cross (novel)
Sign of the Cross was the second novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in October 2006 by Penguin Group , the religious thriller followed the exploits of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers...
and made a brief appearance in Sword of God
Sword of God (novel)
Sword of God was the third novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in September 2007 by Penguin Group , the action thriller followed the exploits of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones as they slipped into the Islamic city of Mecca in order to rescue an American...
. His character was featured in Kuzneski’s thriller, The Lost Throne
The Lost Throne
The Lost Throne is the fourth novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. Published in November 2008 by Penguin UK, the action thriller peaked at #5 on the British fiction chart and stayed in the Top 10 for four weeks. Putnam released the American hardcover in July 2009...
.
Petr Ulster, historian and curator of the Ulster Archives in Küsendorf, Switzerland.
Randy Raskin, a computer researcher at the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. He can access classified information that would otherwise be unavailable to Payne and Jones. The character is based on a real-life person, a college friend of Kuzneski’s from the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
. Raskin was introduced in Sign of the Cross
Sign of the Cross (novel)
Sign of the Cross was the second novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in October 2006 by Penguin Group , the religious thriller followed the exploits of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers...
and has appeared in every Kuzneski novel since.
MANIACs, an elite Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
team composed of the best soldiers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military. The term MANIACs is an acronym for Marines Army Navy Intelligence Air Force and Coast Guard.