THE HUNTERS

At first glance this looks suspiciously like a novel following the "Da Vinci Code" style.  It is, fortunately, much more than that.  Chris Kuzneski is an established thriller writer and has an existing series with recurring characters Payne and Jones.  The Hunters marks the start of a brand new series for him.  

Essentially the "Hunters" are a team of highly independent characters, each bringing their own skill set, brought together by the somewhat shadowy figure of Jean-Marc Papineau.  The latter being a billionaire with his own agenda for the work they will undertake.  Having undergone a test mission the team is fully introduced to each other - the ex-military leader, an historian, a computer genius, a weapons expert and a thief - and the main task is revealed.  They are to locate and recover the huge Romanian treasure trove that was stolen by the Russians during the First World War.  Fearing a German victory the Romanian government had signed a deal with the Russians to preserve the country's most valuable artifacts until after the war.  This resulted in two treasure trains being sent to the vaults of the Kremlin but this vast treasure was lost to the Romanian people when the Russians reneged on their agreement and it appeared the treasure had been scattered and lost.

The novel is a rip-roaring ride through Eastern Europe and some of its history.  The pace does not flag and the characters sustain one's interest and, for the most part, sympathy, through the story.  For a change in a thriller novel the female characters are believable and seem like real women, not some sort of ideal.  I found myself looking forward immensely to any future novels in this series.