A good action adventure. Indiana Jones with a touch of political intrigue. A diverse team of experts is assembled and hired to locate the lost treasure hidden by a member of the late Romanov family just before the revolution.

There are plenty of hints that each team member has an incredible story to tell. The author wisely chose to reveal only tidbits that can be added in future novels. This is a series I will continue to follow, not only to enjoy riding along with the team, but also to learn more about who they are. ( )

The Hunters is the first book in the Hunters series which looks like it will be a reasonable series, however I was primarily interested in this book more for its specific story line - a treasure hunt involving trains.

I do enjoy a good book that features hijinks involving railways and this book certainly does coupled with one of my favourite genres - adventure thrillers based on historic events, of which this book also is.

A group is hired by a mysterious bloke to find the treasure stolen from Romania by Russia during the closing of World War 1, which was then stolen again from Russia, more or less. Whilst the plot isn't exactly bulletproof there is plenty of action scenes which cover for said deficiencies which results in an entertaining page turning narrative. ( )

I loved this book. Listened to it in audio format. Will be reading the rest of the series! ( )

The Hunters is the first in a series by Chris Kuzneski. The story revolves around a team of experts (military, burglary, computers, history, munitions) that are hired to recover the lost treasure of Romania.

During World War I, fearing a German victory, the Romanian government decided to transport all of its national wealth to Russia for safekeeping. In 1916, the treasure was loaded onto 2 trains and sent on its way to Russia. However, in the confusion of war and then the Russian revolution, the treasure was lost.

I had high hopes of finding another ensemble adventure series (similar to the Oregon Files) but found myself somewhat disappointed in this book. The story itself was interesting and there is potential with the team that has been established but the storytelling was lacking. There were several instances of “whoa, where did that come from?” when information would be introduced out of the blue. There were also gaps in the storyline where the reader had to connect the dots.

Rating: 3.5 Stars ( )

THE TEAM:
Financed by a billionaire philanthropist, this elite team—a soldier, an historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert, and a thief—is tasked with finding the world’s most legendary treasures.

THE MISSION:
Fearing a German victory in WWI, the Romanian government signed a deal with Russia to protect the country’s treasures. In 1916, two trains full of gold and the most precious possessions of the Romanian state—paintings, jewelry, and ancient artifacts—were sent to the underground vaults of the Kremlin. But in the turmoil of war, the Romanian treasure was scattered and lost.

THE PRIZE:
The collection is now valued at over $3.5 billion. Despite several attempts to find it, its location has remained a mystery…until now.

From The Book:
THE TEAM:
Financed by a billionaire philanthropist, this elite team—a soldier, an historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert, and a thief—is tasked with finding the world’s most legendary treasures.

THE MISSION:
Fearing a German victory in WWI, the Romanian government signed a deal with Russia to protect the country’s treasures. In 1916, two trains full of gold and the most precious possessions of the Romanian state—paintings, jewelry, and ancient artifacts—were sent to the underground vaults of the Kremlin. But in the turmoil of war, the Romanian treasure was scattered and lost.

THE PRIZE:
The collection is now valued at over $3.5 billion. Despite several attempts to find it, its location has remained a mystery…until now.

My Thoughts:
In order for a the reader to have a visual in their minds of what is taking place on the page, the author needs to be able to provide enough dialog for this picture to form since there is no wide screen TV. This didn't happen in this book. Lots of action...almost too much if that is possible...but not enough interaction among the characters for the reader to get the "why" this was happening.

The "Team" was composed of a mix of personalities that had never worked together before. This is fine in the office but when you are planning to steal a treasure that more than one group of people are willing to kill you to keep....this is far from ideal. Of course these are strong minded stubborn types for the most part, with a computer nerd and a translator that the author was actually thinking we would buy that she learned to drive a train just from watching the old engineer...who was one of the best characters in the book by the way.

The book received the half-star because I read with a group where we took the book in sections and each person added there comments. Seeing the others perspective on the story let me see the story from a different angle. I really like this author and have read others of his books and enjoyed them immensely. I enjoyed this one more because of the group I read it with. Anyone who likes non-stop action thrillers combined with lots of history will love this book. ( )