American author Chris Kuzneski has mentioned Malta in two of his thrillers after he received a letter from a Maltese reader.

Kuzneski confirmed this in an e-mail he sent me a few days ago.

I came across the reference to Malta while reading Kuzneski’s bestseller The Lost Throne. Malta is hardly ever mentioned anywhere, sometimes it does not even appear on a map.

So, when I saw it in print, I immediately browsed the author’s website and sent him an e-mail in which I expressed my surprise that Malta got a mention in the book. Nothing much, but it was there.

I was even more surprised when, a few hours later, the author personally replied to my e-mail, telling me that he elected to mention Malta after receiving a letter from a Maltese reader some years ago. It made him wonder how his books ended up in Malta, seeing that he has no publisher here, and then went on to mention our country not only in The Lost Throne, but in a subsequent thriller, The Prophecy.

I emailed him back, asking for his permission to quote his e-mail in a news story, and he replied in the affirmative.

This is what he wrote:

“Hey Stephen,

“Thanks for the e-mail. I’m thrilled that you enjoy my books. I always like seeing positive words from an editor.

“As for Malta, I’ve actually mentioned it in two novels now − The Lost Throne and The Prophecy − and there’s a good chance I’ll do it again in future books. In case you’re wondering, here’s the reason why. . . .

“Back when Sign Of The Cross first came out, I received a lot of fan mail from the US and the UK. As a new author, I loved tracking where it came from. Chicago. Seattle. London. Ireland. It was all so exciting, seeing how far my words had traveled. Then one day, out of the blue, I got a fan letter from Malta. I remember thinking, how in the world did my book get to Malta? I don’t have a publisher in Malta! He went on to explain it was the British version of the book, and he had purchased it from so and so. But all I remember thinking is that my book somehow made it to the middle of the Mediterranean. For some reason, I thought that was the coolest thing in the world!

“By then, I was already done writing Sword Of God and had started work on The Lost Throne. Just for kicks, I decided to put Malta in the book − not only as an inside joke for me, but also as a reward for the fan. (His name is Robbie Govus by the way. I still hear from him after every book.) I did the same thing in The Prophecy. It’s just a small mention, but it’s in there. Hopefully, you’ll get a kick out of that, too.”

I’m sure I will, when I read it. Who knows, maybe one day Chris Kuzneski will write a whole novel, or a sizeable part of it, based in Malta.

Chris Kuzneski (born 1969) is the author of, in chronological order, of The Plantation, Sign of the Cross, Sword of God, The Lost Throne, The Prophecy and The Secret Crown. He lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida and is currently working on the seventh thriller in the Jonathon Payne and David “DJ” Jones.

News stories should never be written in the first person, but there are exceptions to the rule. It was impossible to write the story without mentioning my personal involvement so I chose the unorthodox way to bring this to the attention of our readers.

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