A thriller published by American author Chris Kuzneski soon after his visit to Malta last year won first prize in the E-book Original Novel category at Thrillerfest, held in New York over the weekend.

Thrillerfest is a yearly event which brings together all the most famous novelists in a week of activities including discussions on publications, book signings and interviews. The awards presented on the last day of the event are considered to be the Oscars of thriller publications.

Kuzneski’s book, “The Prisoner’s Gold”, is partly set in Malta, and was published a few months after the author was here at the invitation of the Malta Tourism Authority in a bid to diversify its market in the United States.

Kuzneski was in Malta in June last year with two other American writers, Boyd Morrison (right) and Graham Brown (left), both of whom have also published adventure books with stories extensively featuring Malta.

The three had been invited after readers pointed out that Kuzneski had mentioned Malta in several of his books in the past 10 years, including in adventure stories that hit the Amazon number one spot in the bestselling books list.

Boyd Morrison back in Malta

Chris Kuzneski thriller

Clive Cussler Graham Brown thriller

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Novel partly based in Malta in final