Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2584 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 605 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
With The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown masterfully concocts an intelligent and lucid thriller that marries the gusto of an international murder mystery with a collection of fascinating esoterica culled from 2,000 years of Western history. A murder in the silent after-hours halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle.

The duo become both suspects and detectives searching not only for Neveu's grandfather's murderer, but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England and history itself. Brown has created a page-turning thriller that also provides an amazing interpretation of Western history. Brown's hero and heroine embark on a lofty and intriguing exploration of some of Western culture's greatest mysteries--from the nature of the Mona Lisa's smile to the secret of the Holy Grail. Though some will quibble with the veracity of Brown's conjectures, therein lies the fun. The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling read that provides rich food for thought. --Jeremy Pugh, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor of symbology, receives an urgent late-night call while in Paris: the curator of the Louvre has been murdered. Alongside the body is a series of baffling ciphers. Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Da Vinci - and further. The curator, part of a secret society named the Priory of Sion, may have sacrificed his life to keep secret the location of a vastly important religious relic hidden for centuries. It appears that the clandestine Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect Opus Dei has now made its move. Unless Landon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret - and a stunning historical truth - will be lost forever.

Customer Reviews

I really enjoyed this
All the usual bestseller words apply here. Gripping. Un-putdownable. Page Turner.....

I loved this. I was totally immersed in the story and believed every word written. Reviewers are saying that Dan Brown could have done his homework a bit better, but from where I'm sitting I can't fault the book. I loved it so much and found it very entertaining from start to finish.

This was the first book by Brown that I read and upon finishing it I rushed out and bought all his others too. I think it's a close run thing to choose between this and Angels and Demons but A&D 'just' pips 'The Davinci Code' to the better book finish line.......but only just.

This is worth the read.

1 star only because no stars is not an option
Actually had the misfortune to read this back in 2004 but I can safely say I have not read anything anywhere near as bad since!

I am deeply embarrassed to confess that two of my old university friends (who I previously viewed as intelligent and well-educated) strongly recommended this book as it was 'a brilliant novel based on facts'!!!

Well safe to say I shalln't be following any of their recommendations for reading again ;-)

Shockingly bad - only reached the end because I always read to the end of any book!

Having to describe the Tuilleries as "Paris' version of Central Park" was a perfect example of the readers Dan Brown is writing for! I was sitting in the Tuilleries at the time, by chance, and physically shuddered at the extreme poor quality of the writing that produced this nonsense.

I really resent having spent those hours reading this excuse for a book and am very glad that neither of my friends asked me what I thought of it next time I saw them. I shall pretend the whole thing never happened!!

Gripping but writing style is not good.
After all the hype, I read this book expecting much more then I got. The subject matter is interesting and having read two Dan Brown books, its fair to say he has a way of gripping you to the pages and making you want to know what happens next. Almost every chapter ends on a cliffhanger and there is a great deal of fascination on the subject conjured up by the end of the book.
Immediately after reading the book, I thought it was better then it actually is. Now its been ages since I completed it, I realised that it was really only the suspense and subject that kept me going. The writing style itself is hurried and basic and if it wasn't for the cliffhangers, there wouldn't be enough creative description in the writing to enable me to visualise the places and absorb myself into the charachters.
Its a good enough book, its just not as good as it has been hyped up to be.