Pop quiz, hotshot: Does THE PYTHAGOREAN SOLUTION sound like: (a) a math textbook, (b) a DA VINCI CODE-esque thriller, or (c) a little of both? Probably (c), although in reality, it’s merely (b). It basically says so right there on the cover.

New in paperback, this Grecian-set thriller begins in 1945 with the sinking of a boat smuggling Nazi goods. Flash-forward to present day, when the downed ship is discovered by a local fisherman, who is then murdered because he Knows Too Much. Just before he dies, his body is found by newly divorced, visiting American John Hammond, to whom the old man gives a map. This map – which the bad guys will do anything to retrieve, naturally – presumably leads to the sunken treasure. Problem is, it’s coded with the Pythagorean Theorem.

And if that gimmick prompts your interest, join the club. But unlike DA VINCI CODE, where the code is woven through the length of the book, the whole deciphering in this SOLUTION comprises maybe three or four pages. But since this was first published two months after DA VINCI CODE, it can’t be a knockoff; I suspect the comparison has been emphasized by the marketing guys, who also likely retitled it to cash in on Dan Brown’s blockbuster.

So don’t look going for the next DA VINCI CODE. Instead, look for a mildly enjoyable action-filled read in which all the characters are cardboard and do exactly what you expect them to. (Will Hammond fall in love with the daughter of the dead man? Check!) Though I wouldn’t exactly classify it as compelling, SOLUTION is entertaining enough for those looking for cheap paperback thrills.