Rating: 
Summary: An Extraordinary Thriller!
Review: This book kept my eyes glued to it! The plot compiles one conflict on top of another and switches point-of-view frequently. In doing so, Brown keeps the reader in suspense. The symbology also give something to think about. CHRISTIANS BEWARE, I am a staunch believer in Jesus Christ, and at times in the novel some of the conversations made me cringe. It is not that the story presents Christianity in a bad light(excluding Opus Dei), it is that it makes no distinction between the fact and fiction. Either way, the book is a great read and was definitely worth my time.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This book kept you guessing and kept you asking questions about the things you have always believed to be true. Better than that, it was almost impossible to put the book down once you get started. The intricate fictional story line laced throughout endless shreds of mind numbing fact and exploits. It was a book that I will read again and probably a third time.
Rating: 
Summary: Historically Incorrect
Review: This book leads readers to believe that it has historical truth in it, for the most part it doesn't. The sad thing is that I have seen several reviews talking about how fascinating the history in the book is. Don't take this book as a historically correct novel, it isn't, if you want to research the events and people described, look up some credible resources. This book is pure fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, quick read!
Review: This book made me question some of the core aspects of Christianity. While it is a book of fiction, it does get you thinking. While I don't recommend that anyone read this book as fact, it is a good starting point to consider a different point of view. Dan Brown is a fantastic writer who combines suspense with historical fiction in a seamless manner. It's definitely a page-turner, with new surprises in every chapter. I read the book in 2 sittings, only because I had to leave the house to run errands!
Rating:
Summary: Page turner defined!
Review: This book masterfully combined all of my favorite themes - history, secret societies and ACTION! I tore through the pages more engrossed than I had ever thought possible. The obscure connections through history and geography fit together ingeniuosly. Very impressive.
Rating:
Summary: Thinking after the thrill
Review: This book mixes fast action and suspense with interesting spiritual, ethical and moral issues without becoming too much of a 'heavyweight' book. The concept that there are interested groups after secrets suppressed for centuries, secrets that can bring down modern-day Christianity with all the possible repercussions forms a solid plot for the action. Once one has read a conventional thriller and knows 'whodunnit' the book is passé. But when it makes you think of other issues and pick up other books to explore some of the concepts raised, the book becomes more than a run-of-the-mill thriller - and this book falls in that category. Another book of fiction of note is Gore Vidal's 'Julian' (about the nephew of Constantine the Great who wanted to revert to the old pagan religions from the newly established Christianity). After finishing "The Da Vinci Code," the question that lingers on is: how much is fact and how much is fiction? For those who are interested in pursuing this, some good books to start with are Bart Ehrman's "Lost Christianities," John Shelby Spong's "Born of A Woman" and "This Hebrew Lord," and Marcus Borg's "The Heart of Christianity."
Rating:
Summary: A work of genius. Important and entertaining,
Review: This book on it's very surface is an entertaining thriller, well thought out, and with complex characters. On top of all that there is a serious bit of history lurking about. The kind of history that you don't get to read about much, and the Catholic church wishes nobody knew about.Presented as a mystery - the book may seem uncontroversial but it speaks of history, people and organizations that actually existed. It is also richly filled with symbolism. Hidden amongst it's pages are tons of fun little secrets as well. There is a coded message on the front and back flap of the dustjackets. I won't reveal it - but here's a hint: look for letters that are slightly bolder. There are hidden anagrams (notably a character whose last name is an anagram of Baigent and who's first name is Leigh - referrings to the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail). The fictitions publishing company of the main character is called Doubleknight - a reference to an old Knights templar crest. Fun stuff to discover. I had loads of fun reading this book and couldn't put it down. Important lessons are imparted through the allegory of teh story that require some deeper inderstandings of the "great mystery" to work out - but please get this book and read it.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring! The Da Vinci Code can make you rich!
Review: This book proves that anyone with low-level writing skills can write a best-seller. Just make sure that you name-drop as much as possible, and that your main character is on the edge of disaster the entire novel. The book does have some interesting trivia, but the author could easily have listed the trivia in 2-3 pages, and spared me the other 250.
Rating: 
Summary: "Bestseller" does not equal "great"
Review: This book proves why the term "bestseller" should not be equated with the term "greatness." Bestseller just means that many people have heard about a book and decided to go take the chance and buy it. If you take this book at pure fictional value, then it is a decent suspense. But, it hardly deserves the accolades and the attention it is getting. Controversial? Yes.
A masterfully crafted work of art? No. There are many "movie" type action sequences and convenient escapes by our protagonists; it becomes a bit cliched to the reader after a certain point. This, for the most part, was a slow read that was tough to get through because of its lack of depth. The only deep part of the book is the seemingly endless "facts" that are discussed about Da Vinci, the church, the Holy Grail and this amazing code that has seemingly no end to it. The characters are constantly trying to solve the code, but the process of bringing these facts to play is absurd. And these "facts" are really not real facts (only facts for the sake of the book). Much of the dialogue, combined with stereotyped good guy/ bad guy situations, make for a mediocre story. The protagonists manage to just get by the bumbling police, who manage to blow several key opportunities to get them. It would not have been surprising to hear the police captain scream "Don't blow this case" to a lowly, but eager rookie officer who wanted in on the chance to nab our heroes. The characters are either evil and corrupt, or good and benevolent; it is as simple as black and white. If there is an aspect that should be applauded it is Brown's ability to take many aspects of history (as factious as they are) and attempt to intertwine them into the plot of a story. But, these attempts fail because they beg too many convenient coincidences, and the authenticity of the characters is seriously lacking as a result. This book will probably end up being some major motion picture in a few years, with big stars and a big budget. As far as being a unique work of fiction, this fails.
Rating:
Summary: Ya gotta pay attention!
Review: This book reaches out, grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. The author dug deep and did his homework. He even tells you in the Prolouge what FACTS are contained in his fictional work. One reviewer on Amazon says the anti religuos people will like it. I don't now how he got there. This isn't a historical account it's a great fictional story. The details are superb and the author writes in a style that allows the reader to instantly visualize the characters and the settings. You do have to pay attention the details are many but never cumbersome. This is a great book for the beach or a quiet room where you can start and stay with it for several chapters at a time. I've never ead Dan Brown before but I will again!
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