Rating: 
Summary: Great 1st half, then...
Review: OK, so this was my first Dan Brown book. I thought it was well written and found the historical notes throughout the book very interesting. I wish there was an easier way to find out for myself what is actually true, not being one to trust someone just because they put it in print. :)When the plot is finally uncovered I found myself laughing out loud! I'm not a big believer in conspiracies...do you know any group of people who can keep a secret? To say that Christianity is flawed because an artist believed Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child...then to go on and talk about gods & goddesses, the age of pisces and aquarious...I found this so contradictory. I just do not get people who saw this as so revolutionary!
Rating: 
Summary: surprised by how much I enjoyed it
Review: This book is a tremendous amount of fun. It's a beach read -- Brown's not trying to be Umberto Eco -- that I zipped through in a day. What's genius about it is that Brown takes something that most of us are steeped in and interested in, a particular faith, and asks the reader to approach it from a historical context instead of a divine one. He does a very good job of gathering a lot of facts (about Opus Dei, the Knights Templar, etc.) and weaving them together in a plausible "what if" scenario. Best of all, he gives a great gift to the reader in that he sparks your interest in investigating these things for yourself -- an impressive accomplishment. He's a curious and inventive writer of pulp thrillers and he deserves his success. I'm looking forward to reading his other work.
Rating:
Summary: Read it and Then Make up your own mind as to what is true!
Review: I am sure most of the reviews have given this book great accolades and it is not by accident because the book is that good!
Having recently read Deception Point (a totally excellent thriller from start to finish), by Brown it took me a little while to get into this book. It starts off a little bit slow compared to the other book, but it takes off in a new direction. It involves a treasure hunt of sorts as Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu follow ingenious clues in search one of the most famous hidden religious secrets of all time. Meanwhile, they are being pursued by the French Police (for a murder they did not commit) and a zealous religious sect that will stop at nothing to ensure that the secret is destroyed before it is revealed to the world. Brown has put a lifetime of research into this well written and thought provocative story. He explains the symbolism in many of Leonardo Da Vinci's works and other famous artists throughout history including Walt Disney! I am surprised that this book is not talked about like the film, "Last Temptation of Christ," since a lot of what it talks about is totally different than what is being taught by the various churches.
Rating: 
Summary: OVERRATED.
Review: Much hype is surrounding Dan Brown's latest novel, The Da Vinci Code. It has been on the NY Times Best Sellers' list for months now, and quite frankly, I'm growing a bit weary. Not a day had passed where I could enter a classroom without seeing girls turning the pages of the book. But I ask, why the enthusiasm? If you haven't read this adversity, I suggest you atleast read its predecessor Angels and Demons. It introduces you to the hero himself Robert Langdon. After a comparsion of the two novels, Da Vinci falls flat on its title page. Although a smart business move (which is what we all try to achieve if our aim is to receive an ounce of profit), does it compromise artistic integrity? Brown has found a niche for himself and he seems to capitalize it. Perhaps it'll gain you attention for the next piece you publish, but he's in the process of writing yet another with Langdon. Gimmicky? Appears so to me. Where as Angels had the suspense and the intelligence, Da Vinci barely touches the bar raised by it's mother book. I suppose it could possibly be the setting, the time frame Langdon is given in the two novels--and the dire consequence. Whereas he has a tenuous 10-some hours to save the Vatican from explosion--that's Botticelli, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Bernini all being shatterned to fragments before our very eyes--he isn't faced with the same plight in Da Vinci. I've found that with each page I am engorged in useless tidbits of relgious + art history, Da Vinci only provided me the knowledge of the hand in Last Supper. I was never the Leonardo fan myself, as I preferred Raphael and of course Botticelli, so perhaps some bias is relevant. However, the abeyance of Angels is what keeps the reader's interest, and it's sadly missed in Da Vinci. If you haven't read Angels + Demons and had been planning on reading The Da Vinci Code--and you do not wish to be spoiled by Dan Brown's intelligent, although a bit limiting move--then by all means, read The Da Vinci Code. But if your goal is to read a book laden with stimulating, purchase the previous. Your wallet will thank you.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Code
Review: The DaVinci Code is another great adventure for Dan Brown's character, Robert Langdon. Dan Brown writes a great thriller that contains a lot historical facts. He keeps you turning the pages until you have finished the book. You are either intrigued with what you may learn next or what is going to happen next. After reading the book you understand why the book has been such a huge success.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Angels & Demons
Review: I found that this book was not as good and thrilling as Angels & Demons. I also felt that some of the "truth" sound a bit stretched. It was not as good as the hype. I hope his next novel will be much better.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for a Good Book?
Review: If you are in search of a captivating book I have no better suggestion for you than the Da Vinci code. As an art history/history major this book was like a review of everything I learned in college - quite an education! But if you are not intereseted in history or art, don't pass it up. This is one of the most suspenseful, masterfully written books I've read in a long time, possibly ever. While critics might call his quick chapters that end in a way that you just have to read the next chapter "formulaic", it works. There are many unpredictable plot twists that will keep you guessing til the end. I began the book on a plane ride and finished it at 3 in the morning that night, barely being able to put it down in between.
This book entertwines so much history with the religious hypotheses that it just seems so believable. It will give you something to think about and talk about for months after you finish. In fact, you will be so interested in what you read that you will want to find out more about everything from the Knights Templar and Mary Magdalene to Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, good narration, poor CD quality control
Review: I'm reviewing the unabridged CD set narrated by Paul Michael. I won't review the book here except to say I enjoyed it. I'll focus on the CD version. The book is narrated on 13 CDs in standard CDA format. Each CD contains about 25 tracks, each containing 3 to 4 minutes of narrative. This is more time than most CDs contain and it causes problems. I have four CD players in my house and not one of them could read the last five or six tracks from each CD without pausing, skipping, or crackling. I even returned the first set but had exactly the same problems with the second set. I downloaded some software specifically designed to recover bad CDs but even when I turned all the error correction options on, it still couldn't read some of the tracks. I have to conclude the CDs are not correctly burned. Who ever produced these CDs did a very poor job and really let Dan Brown, Paul Michael, and Random House down. Although it wouldn't bother most people, I noticed that the track information between CDs is inconsistent with track and album names being different formats between CDs. As I was trying to rip the CDs so I could listen to them on my iPod, I found myself taking a lot of time to re-enter the information in a consistent manner so the tracks would play in the correct order. I would have given this four stars if the CDs had been burned correctly. Perhaps Costco had a bad batch.
Rating:
Summary: Fiction, people, fiction!
Review: Any time a book inspires such mixed reviews and causes a stir as mighty as The Da Vinci Code, it's worth a read. There is no easier way to say it: This is fiction. Don't take it seriously. Don't expect miracles or divine enlightenment. Get involved in the riddles and the symbols and be interested in the way the author ties together so many themes, but for goodness sake, remember it's a work of fiction. Personally, I had trouble getting into the book at first, but once the characters came together, I was much more interested. I agree with the reviewer that the characters were very one dimensional, but this is a story focused upon a single goal (sort of), bringing together complete strangers, and taking place inside 24 hours. I think the interesting thing about this book is that everyone gets something different from it, and it could be worth buying it used for the fun of finding out what you'll get. Just remember: IT'S FICTION!
Rating: 
Summary: The Da Vanci Code is not even good fiction.
Review: The book centers around this secret society of Sion which is supposedly tasked with keeping a secret of great power, a secret which has given power, wealth, and success to those who possess it. The story falls apart once the secret is revealed.
The author makes no attempt to show how the secret actually resulted in power, wealth, or success, nor can one reasonably postulate how it could, if your goal is to keep the information secret. What would anyone in such a secret society have to gain by keeping such information secret, if it did not really lead to wealth or power? The story would have at least made sense and would have been far more interesting if the secret were how to greatly prolong life, or how to generate wealth, or something that would reasonably explain the connection of wealth and power with possessing the secret, and why someone would want to maintain the secret. The reason for the society possessing so much power is totally absent. The author also fails to support why someone would be motivated to murder to possess the secret.
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