Rating: 
Summary: Fiction is stranger than Belief
Review: If you never read the 1982 book HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL (Baigent,Leigh,& Lincoln, New York:Delacorte Press), you might think that Dan Brown came up with some interesting 'facts' from the historical record. However if you do two things, read the 1982 book and do an internet search for "Priory of Sion" (use Google), you will come up with the material from which to craft the story of the DaVinci Code. And it's crafted from some very clever flights of fancy. But the reader should be prepared to face the question: which is closer to fiction -- Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE or the claim that Jesus Christ rose from the dead?
Rating:
Summary: MUST read
Review: If you read only one book this year, it should be The Da Vinci Code. In fact, if you only read one book this decade, it should be this one. I could not put it down. Dan Brown pulls you in on so many levels. This book redefines the phrase, "page-turner." I was blown away. I have recommended this book to everyone I know.
Rating: 
Summary: For the ignorant...
Review: If you study any religious history or art history you would know
this book is aimed at convincing only the ignorant they are reading great religious insights.If you want to read a critisism on Christianity then read Neitzsche, so even if you beleive in Christianity you
have read an inteligent critisism not a totally rediculous
account of Christianity and art.
Rating:
Summary: Full of.....
Review: If you take pleasure in exploring excellent characterizations, creative plot and sub-plots, examining some religious history, scanning human reasoning, analyzing anagrams, speculating outcomes and embracing mystery, then Brown's theory on a grand scale search for the Holy Grail is your foundation of excellent fiction...or is it fiction? You decide. It could be full of....
Rating:
Summary: Take this book for what it is FICTION and you will enjoy it
Review: If you take this book as a work of fiction, then you are in for a fast paced rollercoaster ride. I can see why this might offend some hardcore religious people. As a Roman Catholic who happens to be half Italian, I would urge you to read this book. When my grandmother died she left me a copy of the painting of DaVinci's "Last Supper". After I read the book I studied the painting. Remember this is entertainment and it does get you to think outside the box. I don't agree with all of the theories put forth in this book, but I do find them very intersting. It really makes you ponder how you learned about religion.
Rating: 
Summary: Foucault's Pendulum for Dummies
Review: If you think you've read this book before, you have. Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" covers much the same ground, is better written, and more sound in its research. The author can't even take the step of having his Parisian characters create puzzles in French (and his own French seems at times in need of assistance). Worst is his annoying habit of ending chapters as the characters view some shocking item - not to be revealed for pages to come. By mid book, you are juggling so many of these, it's not surprising if you forget a few by the time they are in fact revealed! It is amusing that he takes a legitimate religious organization, Opus Dei, and turns into a cartoon of a James Bond evil spy ring. One only hopes that too many don't look in this pious group for shadowy albino assassins. I dare say they won't find any. And by the way, cell phones don't work in airplanes. You are thousands of feet from the nearest antenna which is pointed down (you know, towards where the cell phones are for the most part!)
Rating:
Summary: Great Plot Distracted By Poor Writing, Historic Absurdities
Review: If you want a page turner for the sake of a page turner, this is it, but not much more. It's got the start-to-finish chase sequence that makes it exciting, and plenty of twists to catch the puzzling reader. The complex plot weaves the reader from start to finish adequately. Annoyingly, the author uses 3-page "chapters" from start to finish, ending virtually each one with a sort of cliff hanger -- the mechanism became tiresome very quickly. But if you want a page turner with genuine historic substance and truth, this isn't it, though it seems to purport to be based on truth. If you want theological fairness (in this paganistic sort-of theological novel), or well developed characters, or believable dialogue, you're looking in the wrong place. I found myself rolling my eyes WAY too many times to appreciate the book, and was distracted far too frequently than impressed. Parts of it seemed preachy from a wierd pagan / female godess perspective. Annoying (and academically dishonest, it seemed). The slams on Chrisianity and the Bible were so overwhelming it was dizzying. The narrator takes the obvious perspective that there was no true virgin birth, no divine Christ, no Christian truth (only historic, self-interested, niave barbarism), and force-feeds it to the reader in the context of what purports to be significant scientific and historic fact. Imagine going on line and gathering up a bucketfull of unsubstantiatied conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail and catholic domination, and weaving them into a complex murder mystery, then you've pretty much got the book in a nutshell. The science and the history are suggested as truth, but are contrived, at best. Knowing that, it made the characters, and the story, unbelievable. Regarding the writing, if you enjoy reading phrases like "his jaw dropped!" over and over and over and over as an immature substitute for more imaginative and thoughtful prose, this book is for you. One character "winks" all the time while another constantly "flashes" (angry, inhospitable, surprised, confused, dumbfounded, etc.) looks at diferent moments. At one point (flashback) a hardened criminal shouts "holy crap!," and Ivy League men "giggle" when they talk about sex in class. The characters were themselves cartoons. You get Hallmark/sappy flasbacks of one character (as she reflects at convenient moments into her relationship with her now-dead grandfather) as the only real attempt at character development. (She had vague syrupy recollections of childhood moments with grandpa that came into focused perfect memory each time some crucial detail was necessary in the puzzle. The characters were distractingly undeveloped and instead shaped into good guys and bad guys by characature. Example: Opening scene includes a now-adult arrmed albino with red eyes, who had grown up a street thug - parentless of course - enjoying the prolonged death of our elderly murder victim; leaving him alone to die in agony rather than finishing him off, and of course allowing the victim to leave a secret message that becomes the central puzzle (or at least the first puzzle) to the whole yarn. Or do I mean yawn? Invariably, the characters have perfect and ingenious insight or recall at just the right moments, exceding Sherlock Holmes in brilliance but lacking all charm or intrigue. I began thrilled with the excitement of the book and was just glad to get it over by the time I finished it. Bottom lines:
complex plot = 9/10
characters interesting = 2/10
believable dialogue = 1/10
belieavable (i.e., accurate) background information = 0/10
believable storyline = 2/10
fun read = only if you can take the Christian bashing and pagan preachiness and enjoy a surface approach to storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: If you want a page turner, here ya go! I'm not a big reader but this had me riveted from start to finish. Very interesting and thought provoking!
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Entertainment!
Review: If you want a story so cleverly crafted that you'll find it hard to stop reading, then this is it. This intelligently written book sets up a thrilling, turbo-paced mystery wrapped in mind-bending puzzles and riddles, thought-provoking "alternative" history, and elusive enigma where nothing seems to be what you thought it was. The turn of events launches you into the plot so quickly that, as a reader, you'll hit the ground running from the very first page and accelerate through the other 450. You can scarcely catch your breath between chapters. If the intriguing premise of this fictional story compels you to learn more of the actual historical background of art, architecture, math and religion described therein, that's frosting on the cake! Drawing an informed opinion on any these aspects should be based on your own findings of fact, not a work of F-I-C-T-I-O-N. I'm guessing some readers seem to hold overly-serious, haughty expectations better suited to non-fiction. In my view, "The Da Vinci Code" is definitely 5-star entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Entertainment!!!!
Review: If you want a story so cleverly crafted that you'll find it hard to stop reading, this is your kind of book. This intelligent fictional work sets up a thrilling, turbo-paced mystery wrapped in mind-bending puzzles, thought-provoking "alternative" history, and elusive enigma where nothing seems to be what you thought it was. The turn of events launches you into the plot so quickly that, as a reader, you'll hit the ground running from the very first page and accelerate through the other 450. You can scarcely catch your breath between chapters (these are short and numerous so breathe deeply.) If the premise of this story compels you to learn more of the actual historical aspects of art and religion described therein, that's frosting on the cake. This book is F-I-C-T-I-O-N, so if you want to draw an informed opinion, do so based on your own findings of fact. I'm guessing some of the detractors I've read of here seem to hold haughty expectations better suited to non-fiction. In my view, "The Da Vinci Code" is definitely 5-star entertainment.
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