Rating: 
Summary: A most original and daring story!
Review: An art historian and curator is mysteriously murdered in the Paris Louvre. Barely alive and aware of his impending demise, he leaves clues as to his murderer and the reason for it. His clues are contained within a complex series of riddles that lead key individuals to all the right people and all the right places to solve the crime and pass on a special secret. The secret is something that has haunted the leaders of the Catholic Church and questions the validity of the entire Christian institution. Most certainly a unique story, this work of fiction is one of the most well-composed dear reader may ever come across. Some may find offense because it questions the interpretation forced upon us by the New Testament. Brown's writings remind us that the bible is written in a metaphorical sense that Christians have been told for centuries how to interpret, without using our own senses. One enjoyable aspect of the story is that Brown introduces us to the origins of common words and phrases for which most of us understand little. Whether or not these origins are correct is probably a worthless concern. It will certainly have us stopping ourselves in mid thought when we say stock phrases about our observations for which we have no idea why! All in all, a page-turning novel that keeps us second-guessing and changing our minds about the real reason for our rush to get to the end... whodunnit and why?!
Rating:
Summary: EDGE OF YOUR SEAT - EVERY PAGE
Review: AN AWESOME THRILLER AND MYSTERY. A WONDERFUL READ, EVEN FOR NON READERS. FULL OF RICH DETAIL AND JUST A GREAT STORY. 2-4 PAGE CHAPTERS MAKE IT EASY TO PICK UP AND PUT DOWN OFTER.......BUT GOOD LUCK WITH EVER PUTTING IT DOWN ONCE YOU START !
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: An easy read broken into many short chapters for nice stopping points, except that you really can't stop turning the pages. The mystery is laid out beautifully and Brown has done a great deal of research which surfaces throughout the book. The content of the research sparked my interest and forced me to do my own research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and The Magdalene which led me to more research on The Essenes, The Priory of Sion and Knights Templar. Fascinating topics that I knew nothing about. It is interesting to read other reviews that slam this book for the simple fact that it raises questions about orthodox religion and beliefs that they have never questioned. I am a deacon on our United Church of Christ consistory, but I am always searching for more infomation. New information isn't necessarily going to change my beliefs, but it can open my eyes to a variety of other beliefs and thoughts that are available. This book can lead you to many interesting viewpoints and thought processes on religion with a little bit of research on your own using the interent. The story itself keeps you thinking the whole way through and ties itself together beautifully in the end. To help answer one question that I read earlier, "Why would the Priory of Sion be so determined to keep their secret?" Ask the Cathars of the 1400's why the Church of Rome went on their crusades.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophie throws the soap...
Review: An entertaining book for puzzle-lovers. But my goodness, am I seriously supposed to believe that the Louvre Museum has actual bars of soap! C'est incroyable! Everyone uses liquid soap these days!
Rating: 
Summary: Mind candy for the brain
Review: An entertaining quick read, though I think it'll end up making a better movie than it did a book. The mechanics of plotting could have been smoother, and the book would have been better had I just been allowed to read the author's cleverness for myself without the characters telling me over and over again how clever he was. That became distracting early on.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: An entertaining read. I bought it as a friend had recommended it and it was also ranked No. 1 at Amazon.
The author tries and does a good job to popularize the theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. There are some very entertaining passages in the book when he discusses the mortality of Jesus and how the Church came about. The book also goes into various tangents that are intelligent but not related to the subject. Well, my brain can only take so much useless information.
Rating:
Summary: The Best of Religious Thrillers ... Very Highly Recommended!
Review: An eternal secret has to be learned for that its keepers are being systematically murdered by sacred forces. The last of those murdered, a prominent curator at the Louvre, decides to set a French cryptographer (his granddaughter to whom he never spoke in 10 years) and an American symbologist on a journey that, granting their skills, would eventually lead them to the knowledge of that 2000-year-old secret. The sacred forces learn about the late curator's plan and decide to join in on the hunt for the most controversial secret of all time. This has got to be the best thriller I have read! I completely enjoyed the vast amount of religious and aesthetic information provided throughout the book. Sometimes it feels that all of this could be true, but then you realize that this is a work of fiction! I love religious novels and this one hit the spot. I am impressed with the writing style, character and suspense development. The secret brotherhood, the Holy Grail, the Church's secrets and dark history and the very concept of divinity are but a taste of what this novel offers its readers. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys religious thrillers and thought-provoking stories about Christ and his legacy. This is definitely one novel I will reread time and again. It's that riveting!
Rating:
Summary: Mary Magdalene, the wife of the Messiah
Review: An excellent book - I could hardly put it down. It's sinful that mainstream Christianity has demonized Mary Magdalene, the wife of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Mr. Brown reveals the truth to a broad audience. Thank God for this fine book!!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read!
Review: An excellent book - it grabbed me within the first two pages, and kept me intrigued until the very last word! Not one to believe everything I read (especially in a work of fiction ;), I've done some researching on my own, and applaud the author on his incorporation of verifiable facts while still maintaining the reader's sense of wonder. After finishing this one, I ran right out to buy his other books, and they are as fascinating as this one. One of my new favorite authors - I can't wait to read his next offerings!
Rating:
Summary: Just Read It, DON'T Base Your Life On It!
Review: An excellent read, but it's truly SAD to think that some readers assume that Dan Brown's contrived history is factual and would even base their spiritual beliefs on a book of fiction. Just read some of the other reviews to see what I'm talking about. It reminds of the guy who watched too many episodes of Highlander and decided he was an immortal! (I'm not making this up.) One reader compared Da Vinci Code to James BeauSeigneur's Christ Clone Trilogy and suggested that like BeauSeigneur, Brown should footnote all the factual material. While BeauSeigneur and Brown have a similar style and both deal with controversial religious topics, BeauSeigneur can footnote the facts in his fiction BECAUSE THEY ARE FACTS. Brown's "facts" cannot be footnoted because they are a fictitious as the rest of the book.
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