Rating: 
Summary: Popcorn poppycock.
Review: The premise of Da Vinci Code is fetching: a series of murders, a secret set to shake the foundations of Christendom, and a series of (sometimes too easy) puzzles -- a "Whereisit" grafted onto a "Whodonit" connected to a "Whatreallyhappened." While Brown has no styllistic or descriptive talent whatsoever (you'd never want to read this book twice, that's the test), it did keep the juices flowing for me one time through. (So long as I pushed the "suspension of disbelief"meter up to its highest setting.)
The books many inanities and historical blunders are hard to overlook, however. Brown doesn't know (what one embarrassed pagan historian pointed out) that fear of witches was a traditional part of European paganism, that this fear was squelched by the Church during the "Dark Ages" and then revived during the Renaissance; that tens of thousands, not "three million" witches were killed; or that these crimes occurred mostly in small towns on the margins of State and Church power, not in the shadow of the Vatican. Ironically, Brown himself exploits the psychological mechanism that launches witch hunts in his choice of villains. I myself am neither Catholic, albino, nor physically handicapped; but I find Brown's inability to rise above such pernicious type-casting rather unfortunate. And his attempt to get inside the minds of his characters is marvelously shallow. One half expects them to say, "Hang on! If I were this stupid, how did I get to be a Harvard professor / Catholic bishop / successful criminal?"
As for Brown's chatter about early Christian history, lost Gospels, Church conspiracies, and the coverup of Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdelene, which he and some rather breathless reviewers manage to take seriously, I admit I found the premise mildly entertaining. For the record, though, the Dead Sea scrolls do NOT contain any Gospels (one scholar claims to have found a few words from the Gospel of Mark in one cave, but that is disputed). As for the so-called "Gnostic Gospels," Philip Jenkin's Hidden Gospels is a good place to start. Discovery of the Nag Hammadi documents rather proved the wisdom of the early Christians in dumping the bogus 2nd and 3rd Century writings to which people like Brown feel such an attraction: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John show every sign of historicity (as well as socially constructive thinking), and they do not. Still, in a particularly mindless mood, it is possible to enjoy this book. Author, Jesus and the Religions of Man
Rating: 
Summary: Stellar!
Review: Wow this book is stellar!
From the day I bought Dan Browns newest novel The Davinci Code I have had a new out look on novels. I used to read books only for assignments in school, but never for enjoyment. After the first chapter this riveting novel grabbed a hold of me and I could not put it down! It starts off with a murder; Professor Robert Langdon (who is in Paris for a lecture) is called to help investigate this murder which leads to suspense and suprises beyond your imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!!!
Review: This was my first Dan Brown book, and I'm already hooked. The connections that are made in this amazing book were breath-taking. The suspense of the book would not allow you to put it down. You will learn things that you have never heard of before, BOGGLING YOUR MIND! Once you think you have everything figured out, Brown throws another twist in, making your assumptions false. This intense book is by far the best I have ever read. A MUST READ for anyone who likes to challenge their opinions.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst books I've read
Review: This book just goes to show that my theory about famous authors being on the bestseller list is true. They can write any boring, ridiculous pap and still be there 10 weeks later anyway. After being told by my son - who NEVER reads fiction - that he could not put this book down I decided to read it even though the subject matter held absolutely NO INTEREST to me. I got to about page 150 and I had to give up my endless suffering and boredom since I was doing EVERYTHING else but reading this book. After my husband read it (he never reads fiction either) I made it my mission to complete this to see if I was in fact missing something. Well, life is too short for me to ever go past 150 pages of a book ever again if I didn't like it to begin with. This so called "page turning suspense" is ludicrous since the "suspense" ends a mere page later and all I could think of was the one dimensional cardboard characters running all over on a wild goose chase that I didn't care about in the first place.
Give me a break! I should never listen to people who don't read fiction and I will continue to go by my rule that being on the best seller list doesn't mean ANYTHING about the QUALITY of a book. WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME! I would have enjoyed root canal more.
Rating:
Summary: The Da Vinci Code
Review: The Da Vinci Code is like no other book I have read. Its been beautifully crafted by an amazing author name Dan Brown. Dan Brown really grabbed my attention by showing how well researched his book is. He has stunned me by showing how well he can develop characters, so many twists, and so much action in the course of a day. The Da Vinci Code boldly marches into the grounds of religious symbology, secret brotherhoods, and science only to mesmerize the reader with information and mind-blowing code.
Rating:
Summary: The Da Vinci Code
Review: I give this book five stars. I have never read a book that could maintain my interest from the first page. I think this book is genius. Not only does it have a suspenseful story plot. it also has information that will blow your mind. So if your into suspense thrillers or books on science, art, or religion, I suggest you check out this book.
Rating: 
Summary: No Focault's Pendulum
Review: I found this book to be mildly entertaining. My expectations were low as I had just finshed reading Focault's Pendulum, a highly involved similar story by Umberto Eco about secret societies and the like. Eco's book, while at times too complicated, was more suspenseful and better written. I needed an encyclopedia handy at all times. Brown's attempt at the subject was much tamer. I would recommend this book to folks who enjoy a thriller in an easy read. If you want a historical fiction that will make your brain hurt, read Focault's Pendulum.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Subject
Review: I really enjoyed this book because it honestly put my mind at work.
The book is about a different religion other than Christianity. The plot is ok, but the main purpose of this book is to give people, everyday common folk such as me a view of other religions that have been in existence for many years and that were thought to be banished once Christianity become the official religion.
Since reading this book I have been reading numerous books on religion and how Christianity become the powerhouse it is today.
Fundamentalists will have a problem with this book as they take the bible literally and cannot picture any other God besides the one that is written in the bible (or some who think God actually wrote the bible).
If you have an open mind and a hunger to learn you will enjoy what this book is all about.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious, preachy, and boring.
Review: I did not like this book. The characters were one dimensional, the writing was way to preachy. Tebing would explain something for 2 pages, and then Sophie would exclaim "Are you saying blah blah blah??!!!" I could barely get through this book. It did a good job of Catholic bashing also. I had to read it to see what all the talk was about, but it was a total waste of time. There are mistakes throughout the book. There is NO action what so ever. They stand around and talk through half the book. Just dull, dull and more dull. I want my money back!!
Rating:
Summary: thrilling use of junk history
Review: Brown has admittedly written a suspense filled thriller that will keep you turning pages well into the wee hours of the night. He has a gift for making the unbelievable credible and for placing us in the exotic confines of the galleries of the Louvre, the streets of Paris, the London's Temple Church and Scotland's Rossalyn Chapel. Unfortunately, the conspiracy theories of history that undergird the novel are bogus. Brown's novel is filled with unhistorical material passed off as certain truth in the mouth Robert Langdon, whose area of academic expertise is something called "symbology". If this is historical fiction, the emphasis is on the fiction. We are told that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child whose descendants founded the Merovingian dynasty and whose family survived to this day. We are told other fake facts along the way, e.g., that the New Testament Gospels were written during the reign of Emperor Constantine and that London's Temple Church was designed to be round to reflect the Knight's Templar worship of the goddess (rather that being modeled after Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepluchre). Apparently Brown did not trouble himself to find out that the Western legends about Mary Magdalene are more products of the Middle Ages that the early Christian Church.
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