I am a slow reader, but compared to my husband, I'm a veritable Speedy Gonazalez. He starts a book and, if he's really interested, he finishes it three weeks later. So when he finished reading The Da Vinci code in three days, I was impressed.  
 
"I couldn't help it!" my husband said. "It just sucks you in. I started and before I knew it, I was halfway done. You should read it!"  
 
I was surprised. While my husband is fully supportive of my book habit, he rarely goes down the "you should read it" path when it comes to his books that he likes. His attempt to get me to appreciate Tom Clancy ended in loud snores on my part. The covers of his many sci fi books all seem pretty much the same to me. And I am rarely tempted to snatch one of the books off his "to read" pile and sneak it into my own. In fact, with the exception of some classics from Tolkein and C. S. Lewis and a few others, we very rarely swap books. I know him and his tastes (and he mine) well enough to know that he wouldn't insist that I read the book unless he really believed I would like it.  
 
Got to hand it to the man. Thirteen years of marriage haven't been lost on him. He was right!  
 
The Da Vinci Code starts off with a bang. Jacques Sauniere, curator of the Louvre Museum, is trying desperately to escape his attacker. Grabbing a painting off the wall, Sauniere trips the security gates, which close behind him. Still, his attacker catches him anyway and shoots him through the gaps in the gate. Sauniere knows that he is dying, and he knows that he alone holds an important secret that has been passed down through generations. So in what he knows are his last minutes of life, he finds a way to leave clues to the secret for the one person that he knows can be trusted with it.  
 
The chief suspect in Sauniere's murder is American symbologist Robert Langdon, who is in Paris to give some lectures at the American University in Paris and who was scheduled to meet Sauniere that evening. Agent Sophie Nevue, a cryptologist for the Paris police, is unconvinced of his guilt. Together, they flee from the police interrogation and start to decipher the clues to discover why Sauniere was killed and to figure out Sauniere's secret. They are pursued by an overzealous police captain, the albino monk, a scheming bishop, and a mysterious man known only as "the Teacher".  
 
As my husband pointed out, the story moves along at a fast pace. The chapters are short (sometimes less than a page). Author Dan Brown rarely deviates from the mystery. There is no flowery dialog, and time isn't wasted trying to establish a hot relationship between the two lead characters. Since the storyline covers a period of less than 24 hours, there really isn't much time for that romantic schlock. But that's OK. It's far more believable without it!  
 
The Da Vinci Code is what my husband calls "a geek book" or, to be more exact, "a geek mystery." Rather than relying on conventional clues (like footprints in the flowerbed, lipstick on the collar, and fingerprints on the wine glass), the mystery follows a trail of riddles and symbols. Many of these riddles are based in history and are encrypted using a variety of techniques. Mathematicians are sure to love this book! I enjoyed it because many of the clues involved two of my favorite subjects: art history and theology.  
 
According to a one-page intro, The Da Vinci Code involves actual groups and historical events. The Catholic Church, which has enough public embarrassments to make it a viable topic for any mystery novel, and Opus Dei, which received much attention due to FBI spy Robert Hanssen, figure prominently into the plot. Toss in lots of talk about the Priory of Sion and Leonardo da Vinci's use of symbolism in his art, and you have a conspiracy theorist's wet dream.  
 
This leads to my one caution about this book. The Da Vinci Code presents some alternative interpretations of religious history and involves paganism. Ultra-conservative Christians (or those who aren't secure in what they believe) may want to steer clear of this one.  
 
Since I finished The Da Vinci Code, I've discovered that this isn't the first Dan Brown novel in which Robert Langdon has appeared, nor will it be the last. Langdon first appeared in Angels and Demons (2001), and Brown plans to write more books with Langdon in them. Lucky for us geeks!  
 
The Da Vinci Code really is a terrific book. While I figured out some of the clues before the characters in the book did, I was still surprised and fascinated throughout the book. Take my advice. Heck, take my husband's! Read it!.  
 
