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Summary: Fascinating history about Vatican Intrigue and Leonardo
Review: First of all, allow me to commend Lewis Perdue on a rousing novel which kept me turning the pages. Second, I absolutely loved the historical basis of the Vatican palace intrigue that spawned the renegade Elect Brotherhood of St. Peter, all of whom are the DIRECT BIOLOGICAL DESCENDENTS OF ST.PETER! Their history of guarding this connection to the very early days of Christianity and their bizarre methods to continue the line are creative, if not particularly historical. Third, I enjoyed very much the discussion about Leonardo's inventions, especially the more prescient ones. Perdue did a masterful job of taking things that are historically Leonardo and expanding on very plausible ones that could have significant implications for today. Who knows? With all of the missing Da Vinci writings, it could be true. Or at least this book takes us on a plausible journey where the suspension of disbelief is not all that hard to do.
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Summary: The mother of Leonardo/religion thrillers
Review: I have read Mr. Perdue's Daughter of God and found it intriguing and enjoyable, but I had not realized that he had really started his quest for Leonardo and religion so long ago -- more than 20 years. This book is more a traditional action thriller than Daughter of God and certainly lives up to the page-turning-pace that marks that genre. He doesn't give us as many thought-provoking details about religion as Daughter of God, but there was enough to keep me hooked while I followed the hero and heroine through one harrowing situation after another. I was also struck by one scene where the heroine induces the hero to escape their pursuers by jumping off the roof of a building some 40-feet off the surface of Lake Como. This scene looks an awful lot like the scene in DVCode where the heroine simulates the hero's escape jump from a restroom in the Louvre.
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Summary: I loved this book!
Review: I don't know what book some of the other reviewers were reading, but it doesn't sound like the same book I read. I thought this was one wonderful, fast paced romp from beginning to end. I loved the story and didn't mind the fact that the book had been updated from the 1980s original. In this book you see where Perdue started with some of the concepts he develops more fully in Daughter of God. If you like Daughter of God, you will love this one too!
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Summary: cool hero, lots of action
Review: This is a cool book. I've read a lot about leonardo thanks to the DaVinci Code book, but I got totally turned off on the wimpy metrosexual professor there. But in DaVinci Legacy, we've got a rugged bad-boy hero with brains and guts who teams up with a heroine who is almost identical to Sophie from the Code. This book lays out a lot of history in a way that doesn't keep doubling back on itself. The action was frequent, creative and often violent but all that fits in a thriller and just keeps things moving. I especially liked the shoot-out in the champagne cellar. I won't spoil the super and creative scene, one of many.
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Summary: Marvelous Rendering of the story
Review: This is a real rock-em, sock-em, never-stop-em thriller that I read in ONE sitting. I learned far more about leonardo from this book than the other Da Vinci thriller. Plus, this one never got bogged down. I read Perdue's other book on the subject, Daughter of God and i's clear that Da Vinci Legacy was the first visit to the art/religion/leonardo theme. It's also apparent that he is a MUCH better writer today, although I found this book very well written.
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Summary: Mostly Violence, Little Plot
Review: It sounded interesting. I had read Daughter of God and as I recall, that was pretty good. The DaVinci Legacy on the other hand, is all about violence. By the end of the book, I think about half of western Europe must have been dead. Yuk.
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Summary: Where were the continuity police?
Review: The previous reviews are completely on point...the references to 9/11 and having the protaganist pay all his bills with wads of euros did not help update the story a bit. Did an editor even pretend to look at it? Aside from the anachronisms and inconsistencies, it is a poor book...left in its own time period of the 1980s, it would have been simply awful...cartoonish, one-dimensional characters, undeveloped plot line. Not even worth it as a beach read.
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Summary: Creative, Innovative, Hyper-Paced
Review: This book is filled with moments that made me wonder, "could this be true?" The strange brotherhood (all the bloodline of St. Peter) is reasonably rooted in the battles over the papcy and the dueling Popes that enlivened church history. I found the brotherhood's graveyard (with the final resting places of some very famous artists and scientists) to be at least as believable as the parallel in Da Vinci Code. Only for my dollar, I think that Perdue makes for more interesting action, but then that is a personal preference of mine and is no slam at the better-selling Da Vinci book which I read and enjoyed. Quite frankly, I resent the people who have posted vicious reviews here that paint Perdue's writing as the anti-Christ or something just because his style does not appeal to them. I prefer his style, but I think it would just be simply mean and petty to go post reviews trashing Dan Brown just because his style isn't my style. These reviews should help people select a book book that fits their taste and not be a forum for grudge posts which do not add to that. With that said, I need to say that I found Da Vinci Legacy well-written although not as well as Perdue's most recent ones, Daughter of God and Slatewiper. On the other hand, Perdue has had 20 years to improve as a writer. Personally, I cannot wait until I can find a new book by him.
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Summary: "Da Vinci" In the title does not a classic make....
Review: Note that the reviews posted by the publisher are for "Daughter of God". Even the publisher couldn't find a good word about this book. It died a miserable death in 1983; and deservedly so. But the success of Dan Brown with the Code has allowed every story with Da Vinci in the title to be dusted off and reprinted. With such riveting dialogue as "Let go, you crazy Brit!" during a struggle for a gun and "Hey, watch it" during a chase scene, the book just lacks literary creativity. And the attempts to update it just make it worse. Lire are now Euros (but the conversion factor?), and we now know that the first gulf war took place in the early '60's. The dates have not been changed, so the hero would be about 60 in the updated version. A good friend gave me the book so I suppose I'll slog through the rest of it. It IS a quick read; there's THAT going for it!
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Summary: Sort of liked it better than Da Vinci Code
Review: I actually found this book to be a bit more enjoyable read than Brown's. I think the characters in this one had more depth, and I liked the idea of the codex better. However, I think the 'updates' hurt rather than helped the book. I can't quite remember if the details in the story itself dates it, so maybe the mention of 9/11 doesn't quite destroy the continuity of the story. However, knowing that the book was first published in 1983, one's mind can't help but register an incongruity, as other readers have pointed out. Also, the names given in the back of the book and in the book itself are different. Somebody seriously dropped the ball in that respect. What's the point of updating for updating's sake, if it's not really improving the story? I suppose that since it first came out after the assassination attempt on the Pope, it was timely enough then. I'd actually like to see the original version.
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