Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre
Review: Starts out good and fizzles out way too soon. Ends up being an explanation of the rise, deception etc. of the Catholic Church. Tell me something I don't know!
Rating: 
Summary: A "glass is half full" 3 stars...
Review: Strong start to this book, but it definately tails off towards the end. Brown's secret society speculation is fascinating and the book is a page turner almost all the way through. But aside from some of the interesting tidbits the author throws in, the story itself is weak at best and annoyingly bad at worst. That said, I was fascinated by Browns discussion of religion. I guess I would have given this book one more star if not for the excess of praise heaped upon it by other reviewers and it's seemingly endless spot atop the best seller list. Thus, I deny it 1 star in protest...
Rating: 
Summary: It's Good! And It's Accurate!!
Review: Sub line (As far as we know).
Two secret and covert groups have been squaring off since the time of Jesus. One's the Catholic Church, the other, a group of knights who don't want the Church to let the world know that Jesus was a real man who lived an earthly life more than they're telling us.
This story is great from the get-go. And even better, as far as I can tell, it's pretty accurate. If you've ever read Holy Blood Holy Grail, The Templar Revelation, The Hiram Key or any other of the "nonfiction" books out there about this subject, then here's a nail-biter of a narrative, and you know what's going on the whole time.
If you haven't studied these other selections, than this is just the primer to do so. My wife always asks why I read all this conspiracy stuff, but after this book, she's hooked, too.
If you like historical fiction, you can't do better than this!
Rating:
Summary: A Thriller in Format, Not in Story
Review: Successful novels aren't always carried by the sum of their components, and this novel is an example of how one component alone can sometimes propel a book to bestsellerdom. In this case the component is the subject matter itself: Jesus Christ's bloodline and the suppression of documents that suggest a woman should be heading up the Church in Rome. Other components I found weak. Main characters, for this reader, remained paper-thin. The French police captain and his second-in-command revealed a hackneyed relationship. The story attempted to duplicate the frenetic pace of some movie thrillers, but its effort fell short because its energy to accomplish this was consumed by format rather than story: more than 100 chapters, plus a pro- and epilogue, and too many of them unfolded in an escaping vehicle. Additionally, because much of the story has its action in France, its appears author and editor thought it necessary to pepper the text with countless French lines. A little of this goes a long way for readers who do not speak French. Although I finished the story, early-on something began to nag at me and it remained to the very end. This is a generous time of year and so I've awarded it 3 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing!
Review: Such profound material . . I was wondering how he would end it and as far as I am concerned, he was wondering too. For all the puzzle-solving, intellectual highballing that he puts into his characters, at the end, nothing. It was a page turner, and I only wish there was something of substance as I turned to the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Wow...fastest read ever.
Review: Super summer reading! There is SO MUCH that keeps the reader focused and engaged. Brown writes detail, but keeps the story moving. I confess...after reading this book, I looked at Da Vinci's Last Supper for quite a long time. Who knew?
Rating:
Summary: Completely engrossing and entertaining
Review: Suppose the church's teachings about Jesus were completely wrong. Instead of being a celibate divinity, he was a very mortal who married and sired a line of descendents that still exists in the 21st Century and appointed his wife as the first head of the church. And, suppose an organization exists to protect this knowledge, pass it on and, at the right moment, reveal it to all mankind. That's the jumping off point for Dan Brown's superb and engaging novel, The Da Vinci Code, if novel is a sufficient term to describe the intricate puzzles within puzzles, codes within codes and reflections of reflections that wind through this engaging story. Beyond the puzzles, Brown offers a wealth of historical information, and seems to be fascinated with etymology. Anyone who can read this novel without at least once going to an encyclopedia or the internet to check one of Brown's revelations is a far better man than I. If the book has any drawback, it is that he occasionally becomes a bit prosaic, or better said, lets his characters become a bit prosaic when it is necessary to give some of the historic background. But those parts are few and far between; the quick-moving story more than compensates for the few slow spots. I read major portions of this while I was exercising on the elliptical trainer and give it a 10 out of 10 on my ETI (elliptical trainer index), which is to say that I was so engrossed in the story, twenty-minute chunks of time slipped by during which I did not check my exercise progress.
Rating:
Summary: Quick fun but...
Review: Sure it is well researched. Sure it is a page turner. But it really is the equivalent of chocolate cake: I can't put that down either, but the pleasure is fleeting and it leaves me fat and lethargic. This is a fine book for a 6 hour airplane ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Familiar Ground, Arguable 'Facts', but still a fine read!
Review: Sure there are some things to be annoyed about - Brown follows an age old thriller story arc where the hero (and sometimes a heroine as well) go on the run and hook up with the wise mentor. Hey wasn't this story arc used in that Keanu Reeves flick? It's a myth arc all by itself (maybe on purpose?) And it sure does owe a debt to 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail'. But this remains a fine, page turner of a thriller. I would hope, though, that readers are encouraged to not accept everything here on face value - this is a 'fantasy' of a thriller. Is Brown running the Sion, bloodline story as an established, inarguable fact? Many sites and works have been written that explain, in exhaustive detail, that the Priory of Sion was a hoax and that Plantard - the 'head' of the organisation, was a scheming, anti-semitic former crim who was, like many right-wingers of his time, anti-Masonic and interested in Celtic traditions and Grail legends. The Priory of Sion apparently created a number of dubious fictions - such as claiming that the familial home of a Templar Grand Master was at Blanchefort, near Rennes-le-Chateau when in fact Blanchefort was the home of a Cathar noble by that name, not a Templar Grand Master. Worst still many researchers believe that the 'bloodline' story Brown uses is a well known forgery (planted in libraries) and fiction (and I quote from one site): "The survival of the Merovingian bloodline as promulgated in the "Priory" documents is based on the alleged marriage of Giselle de Razes to the seventh-century Merovingian King Dagobert Il. Giselle de Razes never existed. Plantard and his associates fabricated her." Umberto Eco poked fun at this whole thing in "Foucault's Pendulum' showing that anyone can create a conspiracy/mystery utilising esoteric documents - there are millions of them - and by liberal interpretaions of the often mystical language of ancient texts. Of course Brown's research in other areas - symbology in art and architecture and language primarily - is fascinating. Be nice if he listed some sources! Can't wait for the next one, Mr Brown.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! Talk about impossible to put down!!!
Review: Suspense/thriller is not my normal genre. I generally prefer historical fiction, but with all the buzz surrounding The DaVinci Code, I Had topick it up for a test read. That was on a Friday night. By Sunday morning, I had gotten only a handful of hours' sleep, had neglected all weekend chores except doing laundy (easily done while reading) and was finished with this incredible thrill ride! It opens with a murder in the Louvre, and the experts have been called in. Needless to say, sparks fly between them,much as the sparks fly throughout Europe as you fly through the pages of The DaVinci Code. The search for the Sacred Feminine, the Knights Templar, even the Freemasons all take a place in this outstanding novel. Better not start reading this until Friday. You won't be back in the real world all weekend. Trust me. Buy this, read it and be prepared to pass it along, it seems as though eveyone loves The DaVinci Code. Follow it up with Angels & Demons for another thrill ride. Have fun!!
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