Michelangelo's Notebook

How often do you read negative reviews of a movie, BUT go see it anyway, and LOVE it?! Well, I read the negative reviews on this site, then read the book anyway and, you guessed it--I LOVED it!!! While not always convincing, neither was it "over the top"--You feel things COULD have happened as described!! (After all, it is FICTION, and, for those who care, it had only two brief sex scenes!!) This was almost as good a fast-paced page-turner as Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" (which I rate a 5-star plus!!). I believe most readers will find it an enjoyable read.

I hate to see this book equated with the Da Vinci Code. It's better in terms of plot and writing. By contrast, "The Code" is poorly written and derivative - certainly derived in concept from "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" (which I read when it was first published), but in novel form follows more closely Lewis Perdue's (far better) "Da Vinci Legacy." Although Michelangelo's Notebook is not a great book, it is an entertaining who-done-it that concentrates on Nazi art theft - one of my favorite topics for escapism.

This is a great modern day mystery novel. This, in my opinion, has big screen potential just like Da Vinci Code. I like how this one guys has flashbacks to a significant event during World War II. Something about art. Also, I find it kind of funny when they mention The Da Vinci Code. "It sounds like we are moving into Dan Brown territory here: weird cults, Catholic conspiracies, Leonardo da Vinci painting in code. Sounds like a lot of white supremacist David Duke twaddle to me."

If you like Dan Brown's books, or Niel Stephenson, this is a decent book to wast an afternoon on, but its not a masterpiece. Interesting story background, but fairl boring characters. Way too many pop-culture references are going to date this book quickly, including a reference to "how much this situation is like da Vinci' code" - at least he admits his source material. Uninteresting twist thrown in on the last two pages, to tie the two plots together.

This is definately the best book of the summer. Christopher delivers an impressive page-turner about a young art historian who stumbles across an original Michelangelo drawing, unwittingly making herself a target. If you like the Dan Brown books, don't miss this. Paul Christopher has a big future!