Even for a light thriller, this was a disappointment. Although author Steve Berry sets up and interesting scenario, the denouement was a bloodbath of unparalleled and utterly unforecast and unnecessary violence. The plot and characters reeked of Ubermensch and the storyline nearly fell apart about midway through. Utterly unconvincing.
While the book has been compared to The DaVinci Code there are few, if any similarities. The puzzle is not so neatly constructed and the writing might, if anything, be a step below that of DaVinci. Yes, I know the Catholic community reserves its special animus for Mr. Brown's magnum opus--but the writing is not nearly so bad as that of at least two Catholic writers I can think of off-hand, and for thriller stuff, not nearly as bad as a good many I have read--Mr. Berry's opus among them. On the other hand, this was a first novel, and there are glimmers here and there of real ability, so it is with something like anticipation that I look forward to reading The Romanov Legacy although another work by a Spanish author will intervene.
