Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9420 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-18
• Released on: 2003-03-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 454 pages

Amazon.com
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 esoteria culled from 2,000 years of Western history.

A murder in the silent after-hour 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 for not only 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 (Angels and Demons) 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

From Publishers Weekly
Brown's latest thriller (after Angels and Demons)is an exhaustively researched page-turner about secret religious societies, ancient coverups and savage vengeance. The action kicks off in modern-day Paris with the murder of the Louvre's chief curator, whose body is found laid out in symbolic repose at the foot of the Mona Lisa. Seizing control of the case are Sophie Neveu, a lovely French police cryptologist, and Harvard symbol expert Robert Langdon, reprising his role from Brown's last book. The two find several puzzling codes at the murder scene, all of which form a treasure map to the fabled Holy Grail. As their search moves from France to England, Neveu and Langdon are confounded by two mysterious groups-the legendary Priory of Sion, a nearly 1,000-year-old secret society whose members have included Botticelli and Isaac Newton, and the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Both have their own reasons for wanting to ensure that the Grail isn't found. Brown sometimes ladles out too much religious history at the expense of pacing, and Langdon is a hero in desperate need of more chutzpah. Still, Brown has assembled a whopper of a plot that will please both conspiracy buffs and thriller addicts.

From Library Journal
When Brown regular Robert Langdon is called in to investigate the murder of a curator at the Louvre, he discovers that the body is surrounded by strange ciphers evidently linked to the paintings of Da Vinci-and a powerful relic protected by the Priory, a secret society to which the artist belonged.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Lies and hate slurs aginst history & religion

I found this book to be acomplete waste of time,money and it was wrote in such a way to let people think it was true by saying that all art work ,architect, religous acts are fact when not one is and Every thing that stated fact in the book by Dan Brown and the characters is a completely fictional.
And it was wrote mainly to attack christianity !

What was the fuss about?
A fast-paced suspense (more than pure mystery) novel about the Holy Grail and the secret societies (apparently a veritable Yellow Pages worth) whose goal is either to protect or expose it.

Good fun, although its statements about the verity of the Bible, the orthodox canon, and other apocryphal works are disturbing. In fact, my distaste for this part of the book, plus its fast-food-like lack of weightiness knocks it down a peg from the "Worth my Time" level.

Poor translation?
Ok, I have neither bought nor read this 'book', and never will, but I read the excerpt.
If English is Dan Brown's first language, then he has major problems, unless he is a 10 year old slow learner. Ok, he has made a lot of money from this piece of rubbish, but why not take a quick course in creative writing beforehand to learn the basics of style.
The Hardy Boys books are advanced literature in comparison!