Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely, hands down brilliant.
Review: Finally, a thriller that is actually about something. Dan Brown's muscular prose, top-notch pacing, and mind-bending twists left me utterly spellbound. I think it will prove one of the most important novels of this decade; the timing of its publication during such a challenging chapter in our history is impecable. Someone finally had the nerve and verve to address a growing desire among Western culture to question religious doctrine and satiate our hunger for deeper truths. Bravo. Keep an open mind out there.
Rating:
Summary: An Intelligent Page-Turner
Review: Finally we get an intelligent page-turner. This book is well researched and yet it is a work of fiction; if unclear use a dictionary or breath and think for five seconds. All the bad reviews that I have read seem to be from jealous wanna be writers, narrow-minded religious fanatics and pathetic, uptight snobs that will put down anything that is popular.
Rating: 
Summary: A good mystery, well researched
Review: A great thriller that involved a professor and a crytographer searching for the holy grail after the death of the curator of the Louvre (who was also the leader of a secret society protecting the grail). Lots of twists and turns. Well researched book that looks into the Freemasons, Catholic Church, and pre-Christian religions. The end of the text was a little disappointing but all and all it was a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Conned again!
Review: Okay, I admit I read it in one sitting but please be aware that this book is the literary equivalent of Lethal Weapon 4. Lots of mindless action, stilted dialogue, naive cultural viewpoints, and an ending that leaves you rather embarrassed that you read the book. And of course be sure to use Google to find the historical inaccuracies and author indulgences.
Rating:
Summary: The Duh-Vinci Code
Review: It is always a disappointment when writers, especially of thrillers, assume their readership is obtuse and/or in a perpetual state of suspended disbelief. The "clues" that weave this story together were frequetly obvious, and waiting for the Harvard intellectual, French cryptologist and British Grail historian to catch on six or seven pages later was tedious reading and just didn't seem credible. That said, I thought the scholarship re: church lore, etc...compelling enough to see the book through to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK???
Review: First off, I have to admit that I only made it through about a fifth of the book, so there may have been a few twists and turns that would have merited another star. I'm neither Catholic nor male, wasn't offended by this book as much as annoyed as I'd heard great things, and found it a pretty generic thriller, unbelievably so. I found the subject tedious and the writing not particularly memorable, especially the author's habit of halting in the middle of action and leaping to another chapter, then back again. I think this particular device must be in the Doubleday Handbook of How to Write A Page Turner, as it seems to crop up among their writers fairly often. In the end it was simple boredom that made me put the thing down. It was so well reviewed that I thought surely it couldn't be another piece of revisionist feminist nonsense, a la THE RED TENT -- but alas it was. Whereas TRT took aim (and stirred hype) by targeting the Patriarchs, THE DA VINCI CODE takes on the Holy Mother Church and its various sects and organizations and to what end, I didn't find, though I'm sure the goddess somehow came out on top. Trendy nonsense that will soon be forgotten, and shame on the reviewers and NPR people who made so much of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not that good
Review: I enjoyed this novel and it does qualify as a "page turner." The plot is certainly more intriquing and original than most mystery fiction. But the characters are straight from central casting and one does get the feeling the book was written with a definite eye towards selling the movie rights. A high-brow plot, but written for the masses. Doesn't deserve the hype, but not a bad read.
Rating:
Summary: No Big Whoop.
Review: Ordinarily, if I read a thriller like this I would not find the need to comment on it. However, there has been way too many accolades heaped upon a book that, while interesting, is poorly written, has cartoonish characters, and a simplistic plot. I can only surmise that some people "love" this book more for its fictional hypothesis than for any literary merit. And I'm not judging it by high-brow standards. Mr. Brown simply does not write as well as some of his contemporaries within the same genre. Mr. Brown does, however, have a finely-tuned ear. An ear that is able to pick up on the desire for people to re-write history to jibe with current sociological trends. This is fictional religious history for the "girls kick ass!" crowd. I suspect that Mr. Brown, in all honesty, wrote this book with more of an eye towards the "almighty dollar" than the "sacred feminine."
In which case, this book is a resounding success. What was it that PT Barnum said about suckers?
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling Read
Review: This book is a real page turner and filled with interesting imagery. You are in safe hands with Dan Brown as he unfolds the story. The plot hangs together well and is interesting. The art history background makes this a worthwhile read in itself, and the suspense adds to the experience.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: This book came highly recommended to me by many friends whose literary tastes I really respect. It is a good read for a beach day and it is mostly enjoyable with that perspective. However, there are many serious flaws in the book that worry me. First, it is very hard to distinguish fact from fiction for the un-initiated in Da Vinci's work, religious sects, etc. It can lead to dangerous conclusions in people that "read but don't question" modern fiction. Second, I found the book annoying at times in its use of simplistic language. Its' stupid comnments (mostly Langdon's thoughts) insult the average intellect and cheapen the book. Who cannot read the part about Langdon wondering if the inside of the Zurich Depository was "decorated by Allied Steel" and feel how senseless and idiotic that thought is? The story line is entertaining and thought-provoking but no more than the average thriller out there. One good outcome, at least for me, is the desire to search for the historical truth regarding all the controversial subjects presented and come to my own informed conclusions.
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