I didn't realize that both books I selected from a second-hand bookshop in London were written by the same author (Lynn Picknett) until I finished "Mary Magdalene" and turn my attention to "Lucifer" - nothing against Picknett, but her books basically cover very much the same territory and she can't help but often going back to books she wrote previously, for example going into details of Da Vinci/Shroud of Turin mystery no matter does it have anything to do with the subject or not.
Its a pity publishers felt it was necessary to add bombastic "Meaning of the true Da Vinci code" below her title because it has nothing to do with the whole Dan Brown issue. Pickett is fun and she does cover lot of "mysteries" but here also lies a biggest fault in her writing - too often she simply meanders, jumping from one subject to another without explaining how and why these chapters are connected at all. At the very beginning she connects Lucifer with ancient pagan Gods like Pan,Satyrs and such (and occasionally she got me thinking there lies a grain of truth in all this) but before going any deeper, off she would go into another century and speeding like pinball ball here, there and anywhere. Yes it is entertaining read but not very deep or should I say, serious. She crammed brazilian spiritualists, witch hunt, John the Baptist, Leonardo Da Vinci and Aleister Crowley in one big mix that somehow feels unfinished, unsorted and unedited. Picknett sounds very likable as a person and no doubt she might be very nice dinner guest, but her writing is unfocused.
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