Happy accidents

I read with interest Old Tosh and Balderdash by Andrew Faiz in October. While I agree with the content and argument presented, I believe he does a disservice to the authors of the books noted in the article. He implies The Eight by Katherine Neville, and The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, were written in response to The Da Vinci Code. In fact, Ms. Neville's book was written in 1988, preceding the publication of Dan Brown's blockbuster by 15 years! The Rule of Four was published nearly a year after Da Vinci, but I would be very surprised if they had not written the greater part of their book before the 2003 publication date of The Da Vinci Code. I agree both are wonderful reads, but let's get our facts straight! They do not "try to distance themselves from Da Vinci." although perhaps sales of both books have increased as a result of the popularity of Da Vinci. A happy accident indeed, but definitely an accident. And that is my final contribution to keeping the story alive.