Rating: 
Summary: read the original - it was better
Review: if you found this book as lacking in intellectual stimulation as i did and you would like to read the excellent original from which the idea for this book were culled, read Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. THAT was challenging and none of the twists have predictable endings. To bad Mr. Brown, Angels and Demons was much more intriguing.
Rating: 
Summary: It's fiction, people!
Review: Overall, I found this book to be very entertaining. The theories were interesting, the plot moved quickly and there was plenty of suspense. No, the writing wasn't spectacular and the characters lacked depth, but so what? It was a good, fun read.Don't take this book too seriously. It's fiction, people! If you're worried/offended/disturbed about the theories contained within, get off your duff and do your own research...then you can form an educated opinion. This is a novel, not a theological treatise!
Rating: 
Summary: Great premise, but...
Review: This novel has generated much interest for predictable reasons: it's a page turner with an enticing plot. It starts with a bang but runs out of gas about halfway through, right after we find out what the search is all about. From there it's one ridiculous turn of events after another, with cardboard cutouts racing through what is better described as a movie treatment. I found the ultra-short, cliffhanging chapters tiresome and distracting. The Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, and the Priory Of Sion are extremely fascinating topics. However, as clever as the author would seem, he simply borrowed the research of others (read Holy Blood, Holy Grail) and wrapped it up in a paint by numbers thriller. The meat in this book is great, it just needs more seasoning.
Rating: 
Summary: AN AWESOME RIDE!
Review: THE DA VINCE CODE is a smooth book to read. The chapters are extremely short, which makes it convenient to find stopping points - not that you'll want to stop (this book is so engulfing). The flow of the story is really easy to follow, even though it often splits up, switching from scene to scene. Brown is masterful at telling the story from one viewpoint, and then switching and telling it from the eyes of a different character. I cannot give this book enough praise. Not only is it chocked full of information guaranteed to spark the imagination of the conspiracy theorist in anyone, but it is so complex, with intense and unexpected twists and turns all the way until the end. You will be guessing and trying to crack The Da Vinci Code the whole time. What's best, is that the person behind it all, is the one person I would have never even suspected, not even for a moment - and yet it makes perfect sense. I am blown away.
Also recommended: LIFE OF PI by Martel, THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: an accurate historical perspective
Review: this book had everything, suspense, action, and more importantly a good history lesson for people with little knowledge of the civil war or the holocaust. Brown's perspective on how the last supper influenced the holocaust and slavery is brilliant, something i'd never seen before. i mean, who knew that da vinci was fascinated by the apostle judas, and that within the painting, there is a code that reveals the coming of hitler, stalin, and our new world tyrant george bush. absolutely mindblowing. i guess art is packed with so many symbols that i never knew were there. contained in christ's beard, we find out, is a subtle inscription in aramaic, an ancient language, which proclaimed da vinci's love for another man named Italo, thus proving, that da vinci was a homosexual after all. man, all of this packed into one mind bender of a book. it's just unbelievable. brown has upped the bar for all writers out there.
Rating:
Summary: P T Barnum was right
Review: If only I had 1000 acres of Florida swamp land; I would solicit all of the folks giving this hardbound nonsense a 4 star review. This book reads like it was written by a National Enquirer staffer. Truly a side show that would have made Barnum
drool.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: The hero of our story Robert Langdon is in Paris on business hrecieves a phone call thar curator of the Louvre has been murdered.Langdon had been scheduled to meet with the curator that night but the curator failed to show.A ciphered message is found on the floor near the body.Langdon teams up with French Cryptologist Sophie Neveu to try to solve this mystery.Many of the clues lie within the works of DaVinci.
Langdon discovers that the curator was involved with the Priory of Sion a secret society whose members include Sir Isaac
Newton,Botticelli,Victor Hugo,and Da Vinci.He believes that this society is hunting for an ancient secret.
Neveu and Langdon race across Paris and London trying to out wit a secret powerbroker.His identity will shock you.The ending of the book will shock you as well.
This is an excellent book that I enjoyed reading.It is definitely classified as a page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Originally intellectual thriller
Review: Many reviewers call this book "an intelligent thriller", which surprises me a bit. For me "intelligent thriller" is sinonimouse to "clever" and, thankfully, such novels are not that rare. I'd call it an INTELLECTUAL thriller. It's main strength and most dazzling parts are not action, but historical theories.
Now, that's refreshing. Many novels were based on different historical theories, but it's the first one to make the theory the center of the novel, and not just a background for shooting and explosions. I enjoyed reading this novel a great deal. The pace of the novel is good. There is not much in the way of actual action - it's mostly talking, really, but it's engaiging talking. As the novel touches upon history of the christianity, I believe, that some people will find it offensive. But in reality it's no more offensive then some historical novel about Inqusition in that it doesn't say anything against Christian faith, but raises some questions with catholic church. The main drawback of the novel is that Mr.Brown played with the actual facts to fit them better into his theory. While this is allright in any other book, it's NOT in this kind. It's the same as playing with numbers in your accounting.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but...
Review: The book's main story is really good, but some the contents, which I can't list without spoiling the story, are very controversial and can be found disturbing by a lot of people, specially by Christians or Catholics.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read; I've read a lot of them, and I don't say that lightly. Factual elements, interesting characters, a fascinating plot, and excellent writing combined to literally keep me up all night reading it (two nights in a row!). Several of the books I've read lately have contained parts written in a style that only served to distract and take me out of the story, or printing errors and typos that did the same, but not so with The Da Vinci Code. Rather than forcing *himself* on the reader, the author focuses on telling his story clearly and compellingly. I felt fully immersed in the tale, especially since I had a large book depicting Da Vinci's artwork to refer to (though if you don't have one, the author's website provides some very nice pictures). Although there were several times I was able to figure things out ahead of the characters (particularly codes), that was probably what the author intended--more fun reading it that way, and there were also many unforeseen twists and turns. And yes, I'll admit it, the end was so good (not to mention completely unexpected) that it actually made me cry. This book is reminiscent of Allan W. Eckert's _The HAB Theory_ and Steve Alten's _Domain_. Whether you've heard what it's about, whether you give the theory espoused therein any credence or not, you won't want to miss this one!
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