Rating: 
Summary: Stop after first 100 pages
Review: Dan Brown got me hooked during the first 100 pages of the book, but brother (no pun intended) were the last few hundred pages a chore to finish reading. I have no Catholic axe to grind either, although the book was highly insulting to the Vatican-based organization. The reason I disliked the biggest portion of the book was that is was B-O-R-I-N-G. What a major disappointment after all the great reviews I'd read about it. Brown didn't deliver after a very good opening. It read like a bad movie script. Very shallow characters. No action. Predictable plot points. I would encourage you to go elsewhere for a great summer read!
Rating: 
Summary: Read This Book!
Review: Dan Brown had me from the first page. From the murder in the Louvre through all the twists and turns of this story, I could not put the book down. After reading The Da Vinci Code, I found myself compelled to read another of his novels, Angels and Demons, as well as a couple of the books referenced in the novel. The amount of research he put into this is remarkable, no matter what opinions the reader may have on his subject. The legend of the Grail has haunted us for centuries. If you're on the quest, buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: Dan Brown had some interesting historical insight on the brotherhoods and of Da Vinci's life. However, the story is very predictable, especially after all the attention it has received. If you like this type of story, you should read Katherine Neville's books "The Eight" & "Magic Circle". She does a much better job in concocting a story line that keeps you on your toes.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story wasted
Review: Dan Brown has a great idea for a story, and he tells it in a fast paced, exciting narrative that kept me reading, even when I wanted to throw the book across the room in utter frustration. Brown, I have to assume, wanted to create the sort of intellectual/religious/historical novel that Umberto Eco achieved in "The Name of the Rose" and almost got right in "Foucault's Pendelum." The difference is that Eco, a semiotics professor and not nearly as good a story teller, did his homework.When I read a mystery--and this more or less qualifies--I expect the writer to obey the iron law of mystery writing: You can't make up facts. You can create characters and situations to your hearts content, but you don't get to alter the laws of physics or the evidence of history to suit your story. Simply put, Brown creates characters who are supposed to be historians and scholars making factual claims no scholar would make. A single example must suffice: Langdon and Teabing, the scholars, explain to Sophie (who is always startled by these revelations), that the "biblical" name of God "YHWH" derives from the more ancient Jehovah. The reality is precisely the opposite. YHWHor JHVH, the unspoken name of God, is traditionally written in Hebrew with the vowels for Adonai (Lord) to give, in German consonants, JeHoVaH. Such details, if gotten right, would not have changed the story, but would have made it a lot easier to suspend disbelief. Brown, or at least his characters, are so eager to debunk orthodoxy they seem to have no understanding of church history or of the conflicts that gave rise to Catholic orthodoxy in the first place. Had Brown done his home work a bit more thoroughly, he would have found plenty of bizarre, macabre, and fascinating stuff to debunk. Instead, he invents histories of the papacy, the Gospels, and the Templars. An occasional nod to reality would have lent his story a great deal more force. My fear is that, because Brown seems to offer a touch of historical skepticism, readers will take his claims seriously. They shouldn't. Readers might do better to skip this one and read Eco, or, my personal favorite of the genera, Wilton Barnhardt's "Gospel." It is funny, mostly accurate, and every bit as exciting.
Rating:
Summary: He Cracked The Code
Review: Dan Brown has cracked the code on writing an exhiliarating thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Amazing detail and everything you want in a page turner! Also highly recommend THE GRAVEL DRIVE by Kirk Martin - another page turner that's less of a thriller than an emotional story about a father and son, but one you won't forget. Can't wait for Dan Brown's next one!
Rating: 
Summary: Faith meets Secrecy
Review: Dan Brown has crafted a good page turner. Though burdened a bit with loads of historical and cryptographic references, it is nonetheless a fairly brisk read. Dragging the reader through breathless chases around Paris and London, the author has obviously done his homework and keeps the reader engaged by cleverly switching through multiple intertwined story lines. I have to admit the identity of the main culprit was rather surprising, but the ending left me a little disappointed. Bringing closure to such a sensitive subject probably makes the chosen ending an obvious conclusion. The questions explored in the novel are not for the religiously narrow minded. Overall, a good work.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent Thriller
Review: Dan Brown has crafted an intelligent, well researched thriller that masterfully intertwines religion and art history into a rivetting page turner. How is this for a twist, a symbolist and cryptologist are on one night journey to crack the "Grail Code". It is a lot of fun and is intellectually stimulating. This is the first Dan Brown book I've read but will not be the last. A MUST READ!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun
Review: Dan Brown has created a true "can't-put-it-down" book. Every one of the book's short, 100+ chapters is carefully crafted to taunt you into reading just one more-until it's 3:00am and you reach the end.
The da Vinci Code's hero is a thinking person's Indiana Jones. Robert Langdon is an average guy we can all identify with whose special knowledge pulls him into situations out of his control. The book manages to avoid many of the clichés of most current thrillers. If you are as tired as I am of formulaic "thrillers" involving (pick one) ex-cop/Navy Seal/CIA assassin/disgraced MI6 operative, battling ruthless (pick one) terrorists/drug lords/Mafia/rouge government agency, over a (pick one) secret formula/nuclear bomb/doomsday weapon/etc, that will destroy the world, then this book will be refreshing! It's incredibly fast-paced while at the same time it keeps the reader reeling with amazing and true facts about history, art, and folklore.
My only criticism is that Brown doesn't trust his readers to keep up at times and spoils some of the fun by making sure we "get-it"-this is especially true at the book's end. On the other hand, the book's only lack of verisimilitude comes at several points when our brilliant heroes are stumped for an answer that is glaringly obvious to the untutored reader. But this one small criticism aside, if you are sick of macho, guns-and-ammo, anti-heroes and simplistic, graphically violent plots and long for the mystery and intrigue that has been lost from contemporary thrillers then you too won't be able to put this book down!
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant read
Review: Dan Brown has created a worthwhile thriller unlike any other mystery novel I've ever read. Though it contains the same characteristics as other novels; an adventure, a mystery to be solved; it is a novel that keeps you guessing to the end. However, the difference with this mystery is that the clues are woven into historical facts and art symbolism that has its origins from the time of Jesus through the Renaissance. The story is catapulted through the unexpected adventures of a symbology professor and his cryptographer partner who must uncover clues to discover the truth of the story of Jesus. Jacques Sauniere, a curator, and grandfather to Sophie Neveu is brutally murdered in the Louvre museum. After hearing of her grandfather's death Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer tries to uncover his codes, which lead her to partner up with Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology. Together, they go from clue to clue, uncovering Jacques Sauniere's secret past, and the truth to Sophie's family. A variety of characters are added in this plot; an acolyte, trying to keep the past a secret, a multi-millionaire, with a quest to find the key to history, and a stubborn police officer, determined to arrest the murderer of Jacques Sauniere. Being a non-religious person, oblivious to the history of Christianity, I have taken to this topic and gained a new perspective on religious belief. "The Da Vinci Code" has accurate historic facts that educate readers, like me, about the mysteries of the Christian church that most people aren't even aware of. I have looked at religion on a new level, and have learned that history can be written to fit the interpretation of the church or other institutions. The interpretation of the history of the time of Jesus has definitely affected our view of the roles of gender in society and many of the superstitions some believe today. This novel is remarkable in that it teaches new ways of viewing the past and at the same time entertains the reader, making this book a must-read for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Great story telling, BUT . . .
Review: Dan Brown has done a good job of story telling but it is a travesty to call it an "intellectual thriller." The believability depends heavily upon readers having a very limited knowledge of real history. This is much like the non-fiction(?) book HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL, though the authors of that book hope you'll believe what they propose. Readers should also consider IN HIS IMAGE by James Beauseigneur for the same flavor and story-telling ability but much greater believability (despite its unusual premise).
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