While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.
In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.
THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller…utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.
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Top Member Reviews
Sue P. (loves2bake) from OAKMONT, PA wrote on 5/1/2007...
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Ignore the hype - this is FICTION after all...very interesting and action-packed story. Loved it!!!
Rachel C. (karma) from CLEVELAND HTS, OH wrote on 4/29/2007...
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Pure smut, but good, exciting, well-paced smut. It's gotten a bad rap from all the hype it's gotten and arguably the bad transition to movie, but let's remember that this is not supposed to be high literature in any form, nor is it to be a true account. That said, his books are very formulaic, but this is his best one I believe.
Janis K. (scrapbooklady) from PLYMOUTH, MI wrote on 7/17/2007...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Not my favorite book. However, there are some good points. The entire story in the 100 plus chapters of the book take place in about 24 hours. This is a fast paced, easy to read, page turner that will leave the reader feeling as exhausted as if he had stayed up for the last 24 hours with the characters going through their adventures. It's very hard to put down once begun. That said, the entire premise is based on either very far fetched speculation about historical unknowns, or outright distortions of known historical facts. If the reader is not up-to-date on history, he might not catch these errors because they are so smoothly woven into the fabric of the story. Worse yet, the entire premise makes no sense.
The premise is that Jesus was not God, but the rightful king of Israel. He fathered a daughter who became royalty in the Merovingian Dynasty of France and therefore her descendants are the rightful heirs to the French Throne, but a huge Catholic conspiracy is working to silence this fact. Why?
Does anyone actually believe that the French president or Israeli prime minister or anyone else really cares who is the rightful heir of the French and/or Judean thrones? Unless Jesus is really divine, in which case Brown's premise requires that the Catholic Church is trying to suppress the idea that he isn't. If that premise is correct, so what?
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) from BOONTON, NJ wrote on 2/20/2007...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Pretty good the first time around, but then I think that all his books are one-time reads... at least for me. Still, it was very suspenseful, interesting, and kept me up on a 20-hour flight halfway around the globe :)
Andy R. (mazeface) from LOUISVILLE, KY wrote on 9/28/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
A great read, but if you are an evangelical Christian, you will probably be highly offended. A few times as I read this book, I was afraid was going to get struck by lightning. Zap! As a writer, Brown knows how to keep the reader's attention, but, woah!, he sure isn't afraid of the moral majority!
Michelle L. (blazesmum) from BRENT, AL wrote on 11/12/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Repeat after me, "IT'S FICTION". This is a great, well written dramatic book. Don't take the "facts" as true facts, without doing your own research. Just sit back, instead, hold onto your book really tight, and enjoy the fast-paced read.
Jennifer P. (favoritern) from RICHARDSON, TX wrote on 6/15/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Loved this book. I read this book in one day. Now my husband is reading it. Much better than the movie!
Jessica T. (jessicatok) from LINCOLN, NE wrote on 5/7/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Gripping and thoughtful, this novel is full of psychological and physical twists and turns. I must admit that I liked it, though my tastes usually run on the "modern literature" side. The tale of Robert and Sophie was surprisingly smart and believable, and despite the uproar, it is a remarkably good read.
Genny S. from JACKSONVILLE, FL wrote on 5/4/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
The mystery surrounding the death and resurrection of Christ which poses the question of whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and how a mysterious group has tried to block this information through the centuries.
Seamus C. (Bibliophage) from PORTAGE, MI wrote on 11/28/2005...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I persisted for about half its length but finally gave up. I didn't mind the pasteboard characterizations, and admittedly the plot twists were ingenious, but the constant stopping for mini-lectures was a pain. That and the continuous distortions of Catholic doctrine finally proved more than I could stand and still get any pleasure from the book.
Rate These Member Reviews
Rachele D. (hottmamashell) from EAST CARBON, UT wrote on 7/24/2008...
Great new ideas of what could have been. I like the idea of not everything being cut and dried as people would like us to think. Great book IF you have an open mind.
Daniel B. (fouroftwo42) from MADISON, WI wrote on 3/30/2008...
This is the controversial Dan Brown book. Not a bad storyline, but written like a movie script. Character development is absent, but it is definitely a page-turner.
Just as good as all of the hype, 10000 times better than the movie! An intense work of fiction integrated with intimate knowledge of symbolism, Christianity, and European history. A suspenseful read that will have you thinking.
Jessica A. (mrstyler) from OSHKOSH, WI wrote on 10/12/2007...
An engaging read.
Nancy T. from TAMPA, FL wrote on 10/4/2007...
Awesome story.
Barbara M. (LadyExplicate) from NEW YORK, NY wrote on 4/29/2007...
The hot bestseller in a fresh hardcover. There must be someone who hasn't read it yet. Isn't there?
Emma M. from MARSHALL, MI wrote on 4/26/2007...
the da vinci code...nuff said
Rhonda S. (RhondaS) from WYTHEVILLE, VA wrote on 3/22/2007...
Everyone knows what this one is by now :).
Jennifer H. (tidblgr00) from BATAVIA, IL wrote on 1/20/2007...
Better than the movie, much more detailed.
Anne H. (QuiltsRme) from WALLKILL, NY wrote on 1/15/2007...