Duh Vinci

Dave, via Ace of Spades, has discovered the Da Vinci Infringement:

Here's a plot-- about an ancient document, written way back in 1983, which has the exact same plot as the Da Vinci Code. An intrepid author recognizes his work has been ripped off, and seeks to expose the truth, but is thwarted at every turn by evil agents working for a large publishing house.

And it may even be true.

Now, even discounting the fact that formula thrillers are, get this, written according to a formula, and that this basic notion has been floating out there among the conspiracy goofballs for decades, The Da Vinci Code does seem to follow an awful lot of the specific plot points of 1983's The Da Vinci Legacy.

Sample:

1. A scholar is killed.
2. He is the fourth of his type to be killed.
3. Before he dies, he leaves a last message,
4. written in his own blood,
5. on his own body.
6. This occurs on page 35.

It occurs on page 35 in both.

Okay, again-- formula. In every thriller, there is an inciting incident of some kind that sets the ball rolling; in a James Bond film, yet another double-o agent has been killed, for example. (These Double-O's don't seem as tough as you might first think.) And so, yes, the gory, mysterious, numinous murder has to occur early in the book.

But... a message in his own blood on his own body? On page 35 in both?

And the similarities continue.

And I want to make the sequel:

The DiGiorno Conspiracy

The pizza cartel has spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns to cover up the fact that DiGiorno pizza is actually delivered! The story begins with an intrepid investigator being murdered by Domino-can monks when he finds 15th-century pizza boxes handcrafted by Michaelangelo himself.