Rating: 
Summary: Starts better than it ends
Review: A great book to read on a plane. It starts out very strong and keeps you guessing throughout. Ending is a little weak.
Rating: 
Summary: Punches our culture's cheap hot buttons
Review: Those who think that witches and worshipers of the mother goddess are well-meaning, harmless, put-upon folks whose aim is to do good to people will no doubt love this book. Those who think that witches are often in league with demons and that demons are very real, and mean to bring harm to us humans, will very likely not like CODE at all. I am in the latter group, and for that reason I found the book annoying. Because it is also written in a terribly amateurish style, I also found it tedious. It's a little well paced and suspenseful, but once the author's agenda became clear it lost most of its tenuous hold on me.How the author came by his apparent reputation for careful research is a mystery. His research appears neither careful nor truthful. It could be that he is merely mistaken about some things, but in other cases it looks very much that he is intentionally distorting or falsifying what he must know to be true for the sake of his agenda, which is extraordinarily pro-goddess and anti-Catholic. Much of what he asserts about the Church is not merely false, but ridiculously so. Other reviewers have mentioned several instances that I won't repeat here, but for one point. Brown mentions a fifteenth century book called THE WITCHES HAMMER, calling it perhaps the most blood-soaked book in history, being responsible for perhaps as many as 9,000,000 deaths of alleged witches. Such an extraordinarily improbable statement demanded some research of my own. I found, first, that in 1500 - near the publication of the HAMMER - the entire population of Europe including Russia and the Ottoman Empire was a little under 62 million. That would have meant burning at the stake 1 of evey 7 people in Europe, a calamitous rate that would have rivaled the Black Death. It simply did not happen. The second thing I found was an English translation of the HAMMER itself. I read it, too, which perhaps the author did not. It is a late-medieval manual to aid Churchmen in dealing with witches of the time. The translator's introduction, which amounts to a 40-page historical essay neatly summarizing the issues is well worth reading even if you don't delve into the HAMMER itself. On the whole it is an extraordinarily interesting work. It makes a good companion piece to CS Lewis' masterpiece THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, or Malachi Martin's HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL, or the two recent volumes by Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome. For that matter THE EXORCIST by William Peter Blatty, which served as the basis for the famous movie of the same name, would be well worth reading. It was novelized, but it was nevertheless based on a real case. For those who believe in neither demons nor the pernicious effects of witches, I suggest that they merely open their everyday eyes and look around. Now that witches have become a popular item in our culture, consider the Zantops' Dartmouth murders; the sniper murders in Maryland; the Columbine High School murders; the Manson murders. Remember when the Manson events burst on the scene? How it was unheard of before? That was only 30 years ago! Worship of the mother goddess and the witchcraft that seems to go pretty much hand in hand with it are by no means harmless. They are malignant influences, and this book seems intent on preaching them to its readers. No thanks; not for me.
Rating:
Summary: A detective story for the TV viewer mentality
Review: Great opening chapter, and downhill from there. I was suspicious when so many articles and websites and reviews commented that "they never knew such and such" or that their "eyes were opened" about church- and art-history. Was this written-for-screenplay-use book being taken seriously? Apparently so. Beyond the wooden characters, and predictable plot - the guy was seemingly trying to teach or inform the readers about "great mysteries." My frustration hit its peak in the first few chapters. He has his art-scholar quoting experts talking about "Wicca" as an "ancient religion." Anyone with three minutes on the internet can discover that Wicca was made up whole-cloth in the past 50 years from the writings of A. Crowley. The positive reviews seem to have a common thread: they are gleeful. They are enjoying what they perceive as "those Catholics/Christian getting theirs, hee-heehumor. Likewise, liking a book because it proves a point is not the same as the enjoyment of a good beach-book. Thumbs down. For those who were concerned or "never knew..." some of the "facts" presented - a little research will do the trick. This pulp-fiction bodice-ripper of a detective story has not undone 2000 years of history and understanding. This conclusion can be made on a critique of the "sources" cited in the book - without recourse to point/counterpoint on his conclusions. For an article on that, see Crisis Magazine: http://www.crisismagazine.com/september2003/feature1.htm
Rating: 
Summary: Very fast read
Review: The thing that really got me after I completed the book (in under 2 days!) was that most of the novel expands 7 hours. With a lot of flashbacks, character points of view and history to keep you going, this book is one of the most fast paced books I have ever read. The story behind the mystery is very enticing. I noticed some of the other reviewers mentioned sitting by a computer while they read the story - I too did this and interrupted my reading quite frequently to look up details. At the very least, keep a thorough art book - Renaissance in particular - handy while you read this novel. Definite top 5 books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: It Will Blow Your Mind
Review: Finally! A GOOD book! I haven't read anything this good in a long time. Dan Brown is a genius. He is able to write a thriller/history channel/Harry-Potter-can't-put-it-down suspense novel with seemingly unconnected facts that somehow, all manage to come together in the end for a truly astounding work of art. You'll walk away from this book a seemingly more intelligent and learned person. I read the whole darn thing in one day, I couldn't put it down! So, if you haven't already, GET THIS BOOK! AMAZING, WONDERFUL, B-E-A-UTIFUL!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating parallels
Review: In reading this terrific thriller, I could not help but be reminded of another religious suspense thriller, THE LAST DAY (Warner Books) which contains the same level of research and historic tie-ins, and delivers the same type of controversial bite as DA VINCI CODE. There are few writers out there who can keep me as entranced in a story, and these two books are among the best examples of that talent. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: PHENOMENAL THRILLER
Review: Although wrapped as a thriller, this nailbiting yarn from Brown braces a controversial subject. Little surprise then that it has provoked such pointless debate here in the reviews. Funny, because a bit of literaly license is not uncommon, e.g., in the description of the Pyramids in "Death on the Nile" (Agatha Christie), or old England imagery from Sherlock Holmes, or the veracity of "Blairwitch Project." This is not intended as a documentary, it is fiction, so it is in fact quite a positive thing that it mirrors reality SO closely. As a sinister thriller with a killer plot, be prepared to immerse in speculation, action and intrigue. Fascinating. As a book about religion or cults, assuming that really gets your goat, well it will incite you to get to your keyboard (as it did me) and that's a good thing, people! A highly recommended book to own. I could even stand an entire second reading!
Rating:
Summary: Suspense on Every Page
Review: I could not put this book down. The mysteries just kept building up and up to the exciting climax. Dan Brown kept my attention from start to finish. His grasp of symbology and cryptology tied everything together in a neat package. The characters were believable. My husband was so enthused about "The Da Vanci Code" that he read this book in record time. He especially enjoyed the way Mr. Brown incorporated technical features throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: An exciting book. You cant put it down because it is so exciting.
Rating:
Summary: My mind is still spinning!!!
Review: This book challenges everything you have been taught your whole life about religion. Not only entertaining and heart-pouding, this book really questions the core of the readers beliefs. I can imagine that many extremely devout Christians will be upset at this book, but God gave us free will and the ability to question. What is amazing is that I don't know what I think of my previous definition of God anymore. I can feel the student in me getting excited about learning again. This is a must read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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