Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: A great work of fiction. Very entertaining. The issues Mr. Brown fictionalizes in the book are probably much more complex than he deals with them here, but he's a novelist, not a historian. In a way, his blatant disregard for providing "balance" in the book is refreshing. Pseudo-counter arguments would have given the novel a greater sense of legitimacy but also would have bogged down and ruined the book. Perhaps the best thing to do is to suspend your logic, prepare to be entertained and read. Ultimately, this book could inspire many to do some real research into the mysteries it addresses.
As a layperson, I'm not sure how accurate Brown's research was. My instincts tell me that much of it was at least "stretched." A strong argument could be made that Brown should have put some sort of disclaimer or explanation into the book, either at the beginning or the end, that either made it clear that he exagerated some of the historical aspects of the book or offered some real reporting on the current research being done on the topics he fictionalizes - i.e the Holy Grail, Mary Magdaline, Knights Templar, etc. Thus the four stars from me instead of five.
Rating: 
Summary: A Literary Thriller
Review: A gruesome murdur in the Louvre, hidden clues to an earth shattering secret, set the pace for a night long quest for Robert Langdon and Sophie, a symbologist and cryptographer respectively. Langdon is being pursued as a suspect while Sophie is blamed as an accomplice in his escape. And they must evade the police while desperately trying to solve a mystery of histrionic proportions. Oh, I loved it. A thorough mix of thrilling events, with calmer moments of historic and scientific explanations to some very esoteric subjects. One naturally wanted to see everything wrapped up in a tight little package in the end, but the type of mind boggling material
presented was not a subject easily dispensed of. Far out fiction for sure, though Dan Brown made a real case for putting religious history into new perspective. Well written, and easy to follow, (unlike some mystery/thrillers that can be confusing to the reader) this book deserves it's status on the best sellers lists.
Rating:
Summary: Twists and Turns Along the Path to the Grail
Review: A Harvard history professor's research into secret sects symbols funnels into a personal quest for the Holy Grail. There are enough twists and turns to make this book difficult to put down. But there are too many coincidences for my taste to rate five stars.
Rating:
Summary: A high speed romp!
Review: A high-speed romp that uses elements from history for the clues. This one was hard to put down. Found myself pulling out my old art history textbooks to look at details from paintings. Lots of fun - thumbs up on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly interesting , grossly stupid
Review: A highly overrated book. The primise is kind of interesting if you toss reality to the winds, but this guy Brown couldn't create an interesting character if his life depended on it. Shallow, stupid dialogue, irrational actions, dopey scenarios (after a gut shot, chould the good perfesser do all that artwork?? C'mon...) make this a loser.
Rating: 
Summary: Popular McThriller
Review: A light, airy, almost forgettable thriller in and of itself (nothing at all remarkable about the writing), the strength of this novel is the attention to details, more often with its locations. This is a fine bathroom novel. The descriptions of Paris and other locations are vivid and well-researched. My frustration with this book is three fold: first, it reads as if Brown memorized the writer's guide "How To Write A Blockbuster." The use of delaying information to create forced cliffhanger after forced cliffhanger became painful. My thought was "Get on with it!" especially when the basic information a third into the book was the same anyone can find on the inside front cover. He also forces drama by having people do things no smart person in their right mind would do. ***SPOILER*** The ONLY reason Langdon is suspected is because he was supposed to meet with the vicitim. Murder weapon? No. Motive? No. If he was to write "Langdon killed me" then he would have done so, right? Why a dumb game? I thought Langdon got exactly what he deserved. Second, Brown isn't always true to his own logic. His conclusions are often trivial, and while one set of "truths" (such as the entire foundation of Christianity) with thousands of witnesses is dismissed, other brands of "truth" are supposedly proven by a single quote from dubious sources. Just because someone says its true doesn't make it so (and maybe that's Brown's point). Third, I guess I expected some clever codes and insightful info on cryptology. What I got was a lot of anagrams and literal codes. Something I could get in any issue of The Hardy Boys. Bottom-line, this is a fun book with some interesting trivia and zip-a-long pacing, but don't expect a steak dinner. You'll get a fast-food McThriller, and if that's your appetitie then by all means...
Rating: 
Summary: Lame
Review: A little warmed over pseudohistory from the Discovery Channel, cardboard characters, and writing so amateurish it is painful to read: this is The Da Vinci Code. I hated this book. I only finished it because it was a Christmas present. About halfway through I began to skim. I finished the last 100 pages in a half hour. That's about as much time as I think it's worth. Oh well, it was on sale and I can probably sell it to somebody else. I picked up another of Dan Brown's book, read the first page, and it was as badly written as this one was. That's all for me! I can bear no more.
Rating:
Summary: Da Vinci ( THe Man From Vincent) (A Clue!)
Review: A love story of one mans' search for the "Bambino" he never knew! an old photo of a 5 year old child with the bittersweet smile of MONA LISA?? (A BIG CLUE?) The family secrets that seperate them and the artisans, scholars and storytellers (can you say "SAINT") that try to re-unite them.
Rating:
Summary: Electric Stuff
Review: A marvel of a book that perfectly blends the art of entertainment with wonderous, albeit theoretic, conclusions. I've read past reviews about this book being outlandish and completely out of line and all I have to say to those commentaries is: Get A Life! Well schooled in history, especially ancient history, I have only come to one factual conclusion in my life - that history is imperfect. Brown said it well himself, and I paraphrase, 'history is regurgitated fables that contstantly replay themselves.' If this is true, if history is indeed imperfect and merely blurred sketches of real truth, then isn't it safe to say that nothing is pristine - nothing is void of error? There are many instances where Brown might take some poetic license, but when he discusses the issue of women - he's dead on. His pagan and Native American (or tribal) research and how they respected women as great contributors to that perfect balance, (ying/yang), is well documented in many respected historical texts. I'm afraid that some of our devout Christian readers would like to 'turn the other cheek' when it comes to women's suffering and how it relates to the Church, but the truth is the Church very much fostered centuries of the feminine banishment from civilization (i.e: Salem). Being a man of faith myself, I personally cannot be swayed from believing in a higher power, however, I welcome all challenges knowing that I am only human and admittedly no squat when it comes to this immense universe we all share. Logically, it makes sense that we all came from 'some' kind of higher source, but acting like I definitely know what that source is just underlines how human I truly am. So for all you Bible beaters out there take notice, the Bible was written by man, man himself is imperfect (the Good Book would be the first to admit to that!), so the question begs - isn't the Bible somewhat imperfect? And if so, how is Brown any more misguided? I mean, he is a man - who wrote a book.
Rating:
Summary: Fairy tale
Review: A masterfully written suspense mystery with thrilling details. If I like a book, I usually try to find out more about the author, the story background etc. I first felt very much inspired and sought more information about Western history in various historical encyclopedias and looked up authors like Baldauf, Hardouin, Edwin Johnson, Wilhelm Kammeyer and others. The book stirred my imagination and I felt very enthusiastic about it... until I found a book by a Russian mathematician Fomenko who, in his book "History: Fiction or Science" claims that the history we are taught in school and that is considered as basic knowledge is... false! I first got a hick-up, but got finally persuaded by his conclusions. Now, applied to the "Da Vinci Code", the latter looks terribly, TERRIBLY like a fairy tale. However, I DO recommend it because it is an excellently concocted thriller.
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