Sign Of The Cross - by Chris Kuzneski

Sign Of Che Cross is yet another in a long line of religious thrillers in the same vein as The Da Vinci Code but it was going cheap and the blurb on the back cover made it attractive enough for a no-brainer read. Here's the basic tempter from the back…

A Vatican priest is found murdered on the shores of Denmark, nailed to a cross in the shadow of Hamlet's castle. He is the first victim in a vicious killing spree that spans the world, each horrific murder exactly mirroring the crucifixion of Christ.

Meanwhile, deep in the Roman catacombs of Orvieto, an archaeologist uncovers an ancient scroll dating back two thousand years. The scroll, he knows, holds the key to a dark and treacherous secret that will rock the very foundations of the Church. But only if he can decipher its lost meanings and only if he can live long enough to reveal them.

As expected it was a fairly easy and undemanding read with a plausible storyline to give it some credence. Kuzneski has obviously done a fair bit of research and has managed to come up with a decent plot, almost believable characters and a pace that makes you want to just read the next chapter and then the next.

It does keep you guessing for a while as to who's behind the killings and why. It's an unfortunate coincidence for the bad guys that the archaeologist was rooting around in something connected to their scheme just as they kicked off with the killing spree but I don't suppose it'd been much of a story otherwise.

The only annoying thing was the fact that, once the action hotted up, quite a lot of the chapters ended with one of those little leading statements of things to come. You know what I mean. Stuff like "Of course, that was nothing compared to the evidence that someone was about to uncover next." and "Miraculously, their prayers would be answered less than an hour later."

Nevertheless, it's not a bad read and ideal for a long plane or train ride.

Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
ISBN: 978-0-141-030845
My Rating: 6/10