The Secret Crown by Chris Kuzneski

It is seldom that I find a new author that I enjoy as much as I did this one.  Chris Kuzneski (who claims that he is not sure how to pronounce his last name) kept me up until the wee hours last night reading this new novel which was released January 12th.


Chris is a New York Times best selling author who lives on the Gulf coast of Florida. (I actually thought about moving there once until I had a dream in which I saw a long row of leathery tanned men sitting in Adirondack chairs lined up all along the coast...I wanted the Gulf Coast so that I could enjoy the sunsets being far to lazy to get up and see the sunrise on the Atlantic side - Actually today I wish I lived there as it is freaking cold here in Iowa).  Being an intelligent person he moved there after having been born in Indiana and having lived in northern climes previously..  Previously he was also a football player and a teacher.  Then he took up writing (Actually he wrote his first book when he was in fourth grade) and has many titles to choose from.  He uses some of the same characters in several books but they are not dependant on one another and can be read in any order.  They also seem to have something similar in many of them a hunt for a fabulous treasure.


The Secret Crown introduced me to King Ludwig II of Bavaria.  Known as the mad king (he was eccentric) he was loved by his people and (probably) murdered  by his cabinet.  He was a builder and one of his castles was used by Walt Disney as a model for Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland. (Visit his castles here.) Actually his "madness" in building his castles has brought in millions of tourist dollars to his country so perhaps he was not "mad" but rather just a dreamer.


It is a fast paced novel with venues from Pittsburgh to Germany and Switzerland. There is a lot of action (the bad guys get killed) and you do learn a lot about the King and his eccentricities as you read the exciting story.  It is told without boring you.  That is actually something I like.  Chris has a Facebook page and a Web site where you can take a virtual tour of his books.  I just went to Amazon and ordered 4 more of his books. If someone wants to borrow The Secret Crown just let me know.