Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating, to say the least....
Review: I loved this book! I heard the uproar surrounding it, and decided to check it out for myself. It was so much better than I expected. Before I read this one, though, I read Angels & Demons. It set the stage. Amazing. I didn't think it could any better. I was wrong. The Da Vinci Code blew me away!!
If you've read the book, you have to check out Dan Brown's website. www.danbrown.com
There are some fascinating facts, pictures, and an incredible game. Game seems too light a word. More of a treasure hunt along the lines of the adventure Robert and Sophie took. It led me all over the internet, and I certainly learned a few things.
Rating: 
Summary: The plot saved this novel
Review: Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" has been claimed as a masterpiece."Da Vinci's" plot adds credibility to this hailing, however the writing style does not. Brown's plot is incredible. The symbology is amazing and the descriptions of architecture and art are impeccable. The connections made throughout the book are mind-numbing and thought-provoking, including pagan symbology with Christian history. Unfortunately, Dan Brown's character development is flawed. The characters do not have much depth, feeling too flat and inhuman. The most believable characteris the man who dies in the beginning of the book. Here, Brown's use of plot twists and puzzles comes to life, lending credibility to the character who left clues while expecting his death. Another shortcoming is in the suspense. Brown creates it rather than letting it flow from the plot, writing passages such as "the five words he would say would make her mouth drop." It would be desirable to let the suspense come naturally rather than trying to create hooks and cliffhangers. In all, the book is worth reading, and the ideology behind the plotline is stunning. Though it might offend some, the rationale and research behind the ideas presented in novel form is worth looking at. The connections of history and symbology are worth understanding even to the most unbelieving individual. It is only Brown's character development and artificial suspense that lowers "The Da Vinci Code" to three stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Its a page turner. you won't put it down. It will make you want to read more books on scandals of the Catholic Church.
Rating:
Summary: best in years - this book almost cost me my job
Review: Not only does this book present valuable theories on the subject of Christianity and the Holy Grail, but it is also an amazing piece of fictional writing. I literally could not put it down. Stayed up all night and late into the morning to finish it at the expense of a couple missed meetings ;)
Seriously, though, I'm a novice on Grail theory and know just enough to recognize the basic ideas presented and I found this book enlightening enough on the topic to teach, yet fascinating enough as an adventure to read through and not question the validity of the theories as fact. Amazing. Would (and have) recommend it to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: A real yawner
Review: The story started out well enough, with the plot unfolding at a sufficiently fast pace for me to overlook the paper-thin characters and the rather clunky writing style. As, however, the story became increasingly predictable, the other flaws began to loom larger, and about halfway through I began to simply skim. Soon, even that became more trouble than it's worth, and now the book sits on an end table, about fify pages shy of completion. I will probably pick it up again after I read some of the more interesting books I got for Christmas, just to see if I really did guess the rest of the story. It's nice, I guess, to see somebody dissing Corporate Christianity, but other than that I really wonder what the big deal about this book is.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Read.
Review: When I first heard about this book, I did not consider it. I am not a person who normally reads mystery and suspense. But a friend said she loved this book and I thought why not. So I bought the book over the Holiday's and to my surprise I could not put it down. It was great! It was suspenseful, intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat (well airplane seat). To be honest the ending kind of dragged but that could have been me, wanting to know what would happen to the main characters. Highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer Prize Winner
Review: This is an extraordinary book. I could not put it down. It is captivating from the very beginning. Extremely well researched. This answered a lot of my questions about the non-existant female presence in the Catholic Church.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and Interesting
Review: This book does not read like others in the sence that the story developes as the characters do. Dan Brown writes in a style that allows the reader to feel accomplshment by using so many short chapters. It allows you to keep the interest of the multiple plots that are developing without loosing track of any one story while they intertwine. The story developes at a very fast pace and will keep you entertained to the end. Highly reccommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I read in 2003
Review: Maybe the characters are a little flat and last quarter lacks the strength of the rest of the book; but, if for no other reason than this book got me to look at "The Last Supper" it was worth it. Yet, it was better than just that. I looked forward to each reading and forced myself to put it down each night. I don't think about religion and art much, so it was a bit of a catalyst for me. A perfect book, no; one I'd recommend to all my friends, absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Dont buy this book
Review: Da Vinci Code is a book with only one thing going for it, its presentiation of certian theories of chrisitian history. It does not have interesting characters, plot or settings. It certainly does not have good writing. I only give it two stars because unlike its predecessor, Angels and Demons, I was able to finish it. If, like me, you've read all the same books as Dan Brown and are familiar with the theories, this book has nothing to offer. His characters are shallow and any information on them is dropped in dead chunks of exposition. His entire book takes place in 24 hours so the settings have no depth. There is one particular scene in which a character is bound and prays for forgiveness, after which the authorial voice bashed its way in and declares that the prayer will be answered. This sort of foreshadowing is reminscent of the worst of 1930's pulp writing and should have been caught and killed by any competent editor. I mention it because he used the same technique in Angels and Demons (causing me to throw the book across the room). His characters remind me of rejects from a James Bond movie. Rejected for being too over the top to be realistic. Although, in all fairness, I did get all the way through Da Vinci Code, which I was unable to do with Angels and Demons. Please go read Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs (Relic, Reliquary, Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life with Crows) or F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series. (Tomb etc.)
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