Read: The Secret Crown

Darn. I just noticed that I skipped a book in a series. I hate when that happens. I prefer to read a series in the right order. Even though, here, it does not really matter.

There are still the same main characters; there is not much development: neither the characters nor the general plot are much different from the novels before The Secret Crown in Kuzneski’s Payne & Jones series. While Kuzneski finally got rid of the foreshadowing device his characters are still engaged in their stereotypical banter. Kuzneski should put a little more effort in the dialogues.

Yet, the novel is entertaining and, indeed, at about the same level of the earlier Cussler novels with respect to literary quality (it’s low-brow entertainment to relax and unwind and that’s why I read them) and bloodshed. The background story is moderately well research. The only annoying mistake that slipped through fact-checking concerns a modern day detail. Berlin Tegel is not the largest German airport, Frankfurt is.