Rating: 
Summary: This book lives up to the hype!!
Review: This is definitely one of the most exciting, fast paced, and easy to follow fiction I have ever read. This book also sparked a number of interest for me, i.e. Dead Sea Scrolls, Da Vinci, and the origin of Christianity. Every chapter was like a scene in a movie. I highly recommend this book, to both religious and non religious people!
Rating:
Summary: Controversial and dubious but absolutely smashing!
Review: Controversy? In spades! Dan Brown has created exactly what he, his editors, his publishers, and his agent crafted...controversy. Why? Because controversy sells. And no two subjects are the focus of controversy more than sex and religion. I applaude Mr. Brown for having the guts and keen insight into the simplistic psyche of the literary public. As to his book, THE DA VINCI CODE, I found it fun, fast-paced, and intriguing. But wait! Isn't that what one looks for in fiction? The continuing controversy and scorn Mr. Brown receives is in my opinion somewhat laughable. Mr. Brown has struck the nerve of many with this book but at what cost? This book can be loosely classified as "historical fiction," but the reader must decide where history stops and fiction starts. This intellectual conundrum is the core creator of the underlying controversy. Mr. Brown will suck you in with a known historical fact while weaving his fictional storyline around those very facts. So, by the time the reader is through a passage or chapter, he/she says, "Hmmmm." To say this isn't ingenious is disingenuous. To the book... Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is in Paris attending a conference when he is awakened by a phone call from hotel management and taken to a murder scene. After dusting the sleep from his eyes, he finds the victim is the curator of The Louvre, Jacques Sauniere, a man Langdon was to have met earlier that evening. However, Sauniere never showed and now the mystery of his rude imposition is clear. The Parisian authorities ostensibly ask Langdon to assist them in their investigation due to the mysterious and arcane message left on Sauniere's body. Unbeknownst to Langdon however, the French Police consider him the prime murder suspect due to an undisclosed line in the archaic message. Enter Sophie Neveu, an attractive, brainy cryptologist working for the French Police, and, conveniently, the granddaughter of Sauniere. She has seen pictures from the murder scene, including the "undisclosed line" kept from Langdon, and as such, believes Langdon to be innocent. Moreover, she believes the message grotesquely situated on her grandfather's body was left for her as a bizarre yet pointed "treasure hunt." The treasure? The Holy Grail. Langdon is a returning character from Brown's earlier novel, ANGELS AND DEMONS. THE DA VINCI CODE is an ostensible history lesson albeit dubious at best. The action however, is pure fiction and masterfully wound. His use of parallel storylines with chapter-ending cliffhangers keeps the book fast-paced and suspensful to the end. Just like a good novel should. To say Da Vinci was a man ahead of his time is a supreme understatement. Perhaps a great deal of this furor is entrenched solidly in our ignorance of Da Vinci and his "sight" into the future. Remember, history has him pegged as the first to envision manned flight. This, in the 16th century, well before the Wrights put it together. So, to say Dan Brown found the right recipe for a blockbuster novel would also qualify as a supreme understatement. Brown's focus on Da Vinci's paintings and ostensibly interpretive messages within is ingenious. Let's face it, Da Vinci lived 1,500 years after the events in question. One MUST question HOW Da Vinci would KNOW the actual facts of these events. This is the overriding "pinch of realism" that will continue to make the reader wonder yet this same "pinch" continues to make the reader thirst for more. I read a review wherein the author indicated the following: "There is a paragraph or two in 'The Da Vinci Code' conveying the true meaning of history and man's involvement with it. Those who dominate & win can write history as they see fit. Those who lose will cease to exist in history." How poignant. If this theory were applied to Da Vinci's paintings and the purported sybolism/meaning, one might be able to brush aside the zealous rhetoric and enjoy this book. Again, how does Da Vinci KNOW these facts? Everyone has their own beliefs and will reach their own conclusions. Mr. Brown can be criticized for his research and promulgations relative to Christian history and the Catholic Church but the question that one must ask (if taking Brown's storyline to heart) is: Do you believe the history you know as an undeniable truth or do you question it? Is history as black and white as we learned it in school or is there room for interpretation, shades of gray if you will? You be the judge.
Rating: 
Summary: Good ideas but such poor writing!
Review: OK I finally gave into the hype and decided to read it. By the end of the first chapter it was obvious the writing had serious flaws. Clumsy sentences. Awkward writing. It is an interesting subject that is true. And these ancient historical conspiracies are facinating. But these are covered so much better in other books, several of which are mentioned in the "recommended instead of" section. I started reading a couple of them and the difference in the quality of the writing is quite striking. It is one thing to be a good researcher and another thing to be a good writer or novelist.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, it is that good
Review: Ever since I read a review about this book in PEOPLE Magazine, I have been dying to read it. Now I know why- it has every interesting aspect any good novel should have tied into it: history, mystery, suspense, intellect, intriguing characters, and unfathomable reality connections. Dan Brown's wonderful, hands-down performance tangles the reader into the temporary discipleship web he has spun of the forgotten faith mentioned throughout the book. Excellent character foils double to represent the timeline generations of the Church and to create inticing reading. Many times while reading this book, I found myself racing to and from the computer to check on facts created in this novel, which were very true, as far fetched as they may seem. The Da Vinci code not only opened my eyes to a world I never imagined could exist but reminded me that all things have ulterior motives. Bottom line: At the final page, I found myself secretly wishing a second catastrophe would uprise so that the adventure could continue.
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Summary: Theres more to this story !!
Review: The real Knights Templars protect a real secret, read a book called "The Hiram Key".....
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre?
Review: Davinci Code didn't live up to the hype, at least not for me. If I hadn't been expecting so much maybe would have been 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: STRANGE?
Review: If it didn't waste so many words and so much of the readers time this book might be tolerable. The author should cut to the chase, give the reader a more rounded story and quit wasting the readers time. If someone, that could read, wanted to find out what this author makes an effort toward, they should get the book called "MEET MARK TWAIN"
Rating:
Summary: A fun and fast read
Review: This book was great fun. Once I started reading I was hard pressed to put the book down. The action starts immediately and throughout it all, I was learning a lot about quite a few subjects. The characters are drawn broadly, but they are believable and distinct from one another. There are all types peppered throughout. Most readers will enjoy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing, fun read
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend and was quite happy to do so. I love to ready about conspiracies and alternate views. I have no concerns about the author's research. Truthfully, I don't care. It's fiction, people. The author claims that some things are factual. Ok, I understand that. The rest is fiction. I think the book offers a lot of food for thought. That's how I consider what's a good read. If it makes me think and ask questions, I think the author did a good job. I don't consider this book to bash anyone's religion. However, that won't stop those overly sensitive zealots out there from shrieking in offense. Do I believe everything the authors states and theorizes? No, because I understand that it's fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Angels and Demons is better!!!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. However, I do feel it got too much hype and is slightly over rated. I read Angels and Demons first, and I loved it. I found the DaVinci Code to be too similar to Angels and Demons. It was almost the same....only they changed the characters names around. I would recommend Angels and Demons over the DaVinici Code. I felt that The DaVinci Code dragged ona bit and was not as gripping and intriguing as Angels and Demons!!!
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