Equal parts lightweight thriller, treatise on Aristotle and his lost works, and hatchet job on Christianity and, in particular, Roman Catholicism. I was expecting the thriller part, and Kaye doesn't disappoint, providing an interesting and fast-moving story. A cozy thriller, in a way. The plot was occasionally implausible and had its awkward moments, but it wasn't bad for a first-time effort at fiction. And as a fan of fiction with a Vatican connection, I enjoyed it. I was also expecting the Aristotle part, and some of this was more interesting than the thriller story, including the book's afterword, although I probably only agreed with about half of Kaye's theories and guesses here. (Given the many gaps in the official history of the man, it's nearly impossible to talk about Aristotle without making some guesses along the way.) The hatchet job was disappointing in that there are already too many Dan Brown copy cats out there who have done it far better, and with far more supporting material. For readers who are offended by (or who have simply had their fill of) stories about evil Catholics and killer Cardinals working hard to keep the truth from their simplistic and dimwitted followers at all costs, etc., etc., etc., you'll probably want to skip this one. Unless you have a relatively thick skin and can see that the hatchet isn't being wielded very effectively. ( )

Too many twists and turns, and the character of one of the villains (Dana's lover) is just too inconsistent. Dana's success at walking away from two murder scenes and the criminal activity in Russia strikes me a just plain too lucky. The speculation about Aristotle's lost dialogs being atheistic is interesting and the relationship between Christianity and the Dionysian cult is also interesting, but I think I would prefer this in straight scholarly discourse. ( )