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Summary: A Da Vinci Codex and a lot of dead Leonardo scholars
Review: Vance Erikson is a rough and buff Leonardo Scholar who stumbles over a forgery in the Codex Leicester which has been bought by his boss, Harrision Kingsbury (who is an obvious roman a clef for the late Armand Hammer). Erikson's discovery makes him a target for a secretive Catholic brotherhood which seeks the real (non-forged) parts in order to strengthen their hand in their struggle with the Vatican. As Erikson sets off to find the truth, he stumbles over a trail of dead colleagues -- four of the world's top Leonardo scholars who have mysteriously been killed. One of them uses his own blood to write a valuable clue which Erikson follows into a mysterious monastery on Lake Como in Italy. There is enough here for me to see the homage paid to this book by its namesake, The Da Vinci Code. This was a rapid-paced thriller which delivered what I like in escapist reading. I did find some inconsistencies in the book's continuity which look as if they were introduced in a quick update of the 1983 version. However, I did not find these serious enough to detract from an excellent read. Quite frankly I do not understand the similarly worded vitriol dumped on this by the first wave of reviewers here.
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Summary: Super Action, creepy bad guys, awesome religious secrets
Review: After reading Daughter of God, I happened over this book, apparently published some 20 years ago. But given the interest in Da Vinci, art, religion, Vatican secrets etc. I picked this one up and totally enjoyed it. Perdue could write well even back then. I particularly enjoyed the scenes around Lago di Como in Italy. It's a favorite place of mine and Perdue describes them so beautifully it made me miss it! One of the scenes describing all the famous people associated with the mysterious anti-Vatican Brotherhood was fascinating as was the whole interaction with the global corporations. Made me wonder whether this was really happening in some way.
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Summary: cool book
Review: This is a cool book, right from the start. Great characters and writing that's a cut way above average. It looks like some editing buffs recognized inconsistancies in the update's timeline, however, this did not bother me at all. This one gripped me and made suspension of disbelief so very easy. I recommend this highly.
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Summary: A real grabber from start to finish
Review: the Da Vinci legacy grabbed me from the very first page to the very last. The scene of the man being impaled on the cross in the church in Pisa was absolutely riveting as was the way the heroine gets the reluctant hero to jump off the roof of the monastery into Lake Como. I found it interesting that the bad guy who set up the spectacular death was named,"The Schoolmaster." Rather similar I would think to that bad guy in Da Vinci Code called "The Teacher." I did find the level of violence here rather high, but then all the previews and reviews of Mel Gibson's "Passion" said the same thing. It seems that religious fervor does inspire more than its share of blood and gore. The Catholic Church's Inquisition set a new standard for this as Perdue pointed out in his other book, Daughter of God.
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Summary: Fascinating way weave Da Vinci and religion
Review: I read Daughter of God last fall and found it one of the most elegantly written thrillers in print. While Da Vinci Legacy is not quite as well written (I suppose Perdue has improved since he wrote it 20+ years ago) I still found it an enjoyable and interesting read, a big cut above the ordinary. The concept that the Vatican is holding secret documents that can bring down modern-day Christianity and also help shift the existing world order is a solid plot idea. Perdue has told this story through the discovery of missing pages in a Da Vinci codex and the involvement of a mysterious order of dangerous monks, the Elect Brothers of St. Peter who are all blood relatives of St. Peter. I found the Brothers and the way they have the saint's bones and a claim on the Vatican to be very much like the Priory of Sion in Da Vinci Code. I also found it curious that in Da Vinci Legacy, Perdue has a bad-guy character named, "The Schoolmaster" while in Da Vinci Code, there is a bad-guy character named "The Teacher." Regardless of whether Code derives from Legacy or not, I throroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author. I would have given this four stars, but I found some of the editing mistakes annoying. Perdue needs a better publisher/
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Summary: Better to Read The Da Vinci Code First
Review: With all the interest now in Da Vinci, due to Dan Brown's novel, I was immediately grabbed by the title of this book. Where Brown's novel is a well-researched (though sometimes questionable) grabber from the start, this book is a little slow and doesn't seem to present anything new to the Da Vinci legend. Vance Erickson, a person who specializes in locating oil, for some reason is also an expert in Leonardo Da Vinci and somehow located a missing diary that was misfiled in a library and gives enough details to show that several pages of a Da Vinci codex (which happens to be owned by Erickson's employer) are fake. This seems to set-off a whole upheaval among a religious fanatical sect, who start killing anyone who might have seen the forged Codex pages. As Erickson goes looking for those people, he finds out they have just been killed or the killers are still there and try to take out Erickson. Erickson seems to escape, not by his efforts but by others including someone who has held a grudge against Erickson for showing him up in a college football game several years earlier. What muddles this book even more is that at the beginning of the book, Erickson is being verbally attacked by a good-looking female art critic at a symposium he is given. You immediately know that they will somehow be thrown together and literally kiss and make-up. This book is not long, but it took me a long time to finish. Whereas, The Da Vinci Code only took me a few days to read. I suggest just reading that book and skipping this one.
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Summary: reedits were bad, parts were unconvincing
Review: Heard about the author in an interview with a local sports radio show. He talked about how Dan Brown stole his ideas for Da Vinci Code and how there were many parallels to his work and Browns--including the mistakes. This book isn't similar to the DaVinci Code book at all in terms of the spirit of the book. In fact this book follows in the spirit of a mainstream Hollywood action movie which isn't very flattering. The motives of the bad characters are unconvincing even when their full intentions are uncovered toward the end of the book. Imagine a killer who kills just because it's fun? Or a conspiracy of wealthy people wanting DaVinci secrets so that they can stay rich, not have to work and be lazy? That motive sounded like a lazy cop out that saved the writer time in thinking up a more creating motivation. The reediting of the book to make it more contemporary was more distracting than not. If the book was written in 1983 then don't talk about the Euro or 9/11 because it disrupts with the other points in the story like the talking about Beirut or talking about Russians as if they were still Communist. The main characters were likeable and it was easy to empathize with them in the story. The pace of the writing was good in moving the story along and mixing in chase scenes with lulls in the story. All in all a decent read for the curious.
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Summary: Needs to be re-editied
Review: Although the story itself is good enough to keep a reader interested, the countless errors in the novel are distracting. The book was first published in the early 80s, so in an effort to make the book more "current," the publishers added lines about 9/11, the Gulf War, etc. However, they don't fit with the timeline and dates given in the book. For instance, one character discusses an event that happened in 1975 as though it were yesterday, then they mention someone as being a Gulf War vet. They talk about being in Beruit, then skip to Gulf War Iraq as though they happened back to back, rather than decades apart. The anachronisms only jumble the story. They probably should have left the origianl novel alone and just republished it (like the Bourne Identity, which - although very dated with phonebooths rather than cellphones - is a very good read). I would not recommend this book.
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Summary: The Da Vinci Legacy
Review: Great read. Fast paced. Considering that the book was originally copywritten in 1983, the book currently has definite topical interest. I think that the concept of the Legation and the ties and comments regarding the CIA shed light on the current war in Iraq. It seems that the only way to get truth now is through fiction. There were some editing glitches that were a bit disconcerting however, the book is insightful and one that I would recommend for background content. Currently reading Perdue's "Daughter of God" and can definitely see growth and improvement in writing, plotting, and pace. Will be looking to read more of this author.
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Summary: better than daughter of god...
Review: upside: i enjoy these thrillers that are based loosely on historical facts or events. lewis perdue does a decent job with this book using da vinci and his inventions and manuscripts as the mystery the plot is centered around. i enjoyed this book much more than his other well-known book, daughter of god. downside: the mystery, at times, appears to take a back seat to the character development and their relationships in this book. not as developed or complex as it could be. i wish perdue could've explored in more detail about da vinci. as in his other book, his writing style is a bit "soap-operish" with cheesy lines and scenes. plagerism controversy with dan brown? if you put this book together with daughter of god, you will notice a lot of parallels between the characters and storylines in the da vinci code and angels and demons. although brown's books are much more in-depth and provide alot more detail, there are similiarties that cannot be denied. time to give perdue some dap for being first. overall: a decent read, but if there are others on your list, read them first.
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