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Sword of God | 
| Author: Chris Kuzneski
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 38567
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0141034432
EAN: 9780141034430
ASIN: 0141034432
Publication Date: October 4, 2007
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
Kuznewski keeps his style - a fast running and entertaining thriller with shallow language & many stereotypes September 10, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I picked this book up by change as I like this genre of thrillers. And it follows the expected pattern: a religious secret, short chapters, different guys following the same story from different angels. As usual it is based on the feeling that religious groups are not honest and that believes are based on lies. The threat however merge very late in the book - more than half way through. And for a very long time one has not a clue why one is following these various lines.
However there are some changes to the "usual story": first it is not - again - another secret of the Catholic Church which is covered up. Here it is about the Islam. And a large part is therefore not set in Rome or the Vatican but in Mecca. Similarity is that the question is asked how the believe system came about (why is what in the Koran?). But one can feel that the author is not too familiar with Islam and explains a lot about the religion, a bit like a little schoolboy showing off what he has just learned. But this is actually not too bad as most in the West are indeed not familiar with the tradition of Islam. I suppose that is why the religious dimension is less evident here. It is never said with one word that the discovery might rock the Islam as in the usual story.
So the core is rather Islamic terrorism and the conflict West against Islam, hate, revenge and the various interests in keeping the conflict burning. Here I am afraid the picture is rather black and white.
Having said this the book is written with a great flow and indeed makes a gripping yarn, easy to read and not at all boring. The style is however very flat and the personalities are not very rounded. Compared to book 1 tehy have not at all develpped. They are and remain stereotypes. It is a bit like a film script and one can see the space for the commercial breaks. In his first book Kuznewski asked the question: Why did Americans have to make a joke out of everything? - yes, why indeed and why Kuznewski too. The book is plastered with this kind of lines. This gives the whole book a very, very shallow touch and puts in terms of language on the level on 3rd rate detective stories. Maybe I am just to European for it.
All in all, it is a book which clearly entertains the reader, it is fast running thriller, but in terms of language and style and personality rather shallow. Ideal for a long distance flight or train rides as one will not be bored while reading it.
 A no-brainer? September 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Thanks for the advice from a previous reviewer that the best way to enjoy this was to switch off your brain first. Unfortunately the problem here is that someone appears to have given that exact same advice to Mr Kuzneski before writing it. There are some mediocrely written passages here, but for the most part it wavers between sub-standard, poor and laugh-out-loud ridiculous. The humour is pathetic frat humour at best. The sort that if Mr Kuzneski took his bag of jokes on the stand-up circuit of the hard-bitten Northern working-men's clubs, he'd have been carried out in a body bag by now. Yes, in fact, that is my recommendation to Mr K: give up writing and go on the stand-up club circuit.
 An easy and fun read July 13, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sword is the third book by Kuzneski featuring the two US military characters, Payne and Jones and is a standalone story, with little connectivity between previous volumes. The author is clearly becoming more confident with the characters as the series progresses, creating more banter between the likeable protagonists. Kuzneski has adapted his writing style to feature less of the pointless cliffhangers than marred his previous book. The distracting feature of Sword of God is that for most of the book it feels like two distinctly separate plots. That said, this approach does keep the reader keen to see how they ultimately converge. In fairness, the Sword of God title is although a minor point in the story, almost added to ride the Dan Brown coattails, and as a result Sword of God is less religious-thriller than you would think. To explain the genre would be to spoil the suspense, yet the fact remains that Sword is a fascinating read, even though it's rather simple and derivative.
 Don't listen to other reviews May 25, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have read all three of Kuzneski's books and thought every one of them as great entertainment.
I have no idea why there are so many negative reviews. I don't like to over analyse books, I just like to switch my brain off and get immersed in the book and Kuzneski is the type of author that you can do that with.
I loaned all three books to the book club in my work and every one who read the books enjoyed them.
The books are fast paced full of likable characters and with twists and turns in every chapter.
So its summer time relax on the beach and chill with a few good books like these.
Boring........... April 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I gave his previous effort 3 stars and hoped there would be a definate improvement this time round. Unfortunately there isn't - I've read approximately half of it and put it down, I can't summon up any interest in it whatsoever.
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