Although I purchased The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown almost two months ago, I just got around to reading it last week. I would have liked to have read it sooner, but unfortunately I had "prior commitments" ranging from work-related projects to Harry Potter.  
 
I became interested in the book after reading the book flap which made the plot seem like it was about the exploits of this secret club made up of the intellectual heavyweights from the last five hundred years. While my initial assessment was not totally off, I was both surprised and pleased to find out what the book was actually about.  
 
The book contained so many plot twists and spoilers, but I will try my best not to ruin anything. The plot centers around Robert Langdon, a professor of symbology at Harvard who is in Paris to deliver a lecture. As the story begins, Langdon is summoned to the Louvre during the dead of night to see a rather peculiar sight. One of the curators, Jacques Saunire, has been found murdered; not only has he been found dead, but the manner in which he was found is also peculiar. Immediately, Langdon must evaluate his role in the murder because it quickly becomes apparent that Saunire left behind clues to help Langdon. Langdon is aided in his quest by Sophie Neveu, a young cryptologist who has an interesting connection to the case. You might be wondering what this "quest" entails and you might be surprised to find that Langdon and Neveu are not out to find  
Saunire's murderer. As it turns out, that is the least of their problems. Instead, Langdon and Neveu must follow the clues that Saunire left before he died and embark on what can be best described as a scavenger hunt. Their work is complicated by the fact that they have the police chasing them and they are racing against Saunire's murderer, an albino monk named Silas, a member of Opus Dei (which is a prelature of the Catholic Church) who has been sent to recover the same thing that Saunire was trying to protect. It seems that Saunire was a member of the Priory of Sion and it is up to Langdon and Neveu to find whatever it is the Priory is hiding before Silas does. They will have to use their skills to follow the clues that have been left for them and look for help from the few they can trust in a crazy race against a mad monk.  
 
If the plot sounds complicated, I can assure you that it is. However, one must keep in mind that I just summarized a 450 page book in one paragraph. The reader starts out not knowing anything and slowly, over the course of the book, more and more is revealed. As the story progresses, it forks off into three distinct storylines. The first follows the perspective Langdon and Neveu on their quest, the second follows Silas the albino monk and the third follows Bishop Aringarosa, an Opus Dei bishop who is traveling to the Vatican and seems to be giving Silas his orders. I found it a little frustrating to have these three storylines- every time something good was about to happen with one storyline, the chapter would end and the perspective would switch. This didn't make me like the story any less nor did I find it hard to follow- the frustration I felt stemmed from wanting to know what came next! Although it seems that nothing makes sense, things slowly begin to come together.  
 
In addition to providing a first-rate action-adventure/mystery, Brown also introduces a series of fascinating theories about everything from art to history to religion and how all three are related. While I must point out that very few (if any) of these theories are original, their appearance in the book serves as really great plot twists and Brown has woven a fascinating story. Because many of these theories are treated as plot twists, I don't want to give too much away. I know that I personally was shocked and fascinated by many of these theories and if I had known about them in advance, I don't think they would have had the same effect. Of course, I would also like to pique your interest, so here goes: before the patriarchic religions appeared, goddess worship played a large role in religion but this dissipated over the years. Or did it? What if the Priory of Sion was devoted to goddess worship and had control over the secret of the most powerful relic in the history of Christianityand that's just the beginning. Frankly, the book flap doesn't do the book justice. This is much more than just a book; it is an experience.  
 
If you are a fan of art history or history or conspiracy theories or fictional mysteries, then Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is for you. This book is very hard to put down but it is well worth reading. You will not be disappointed. I have recently discovered that Brown has written another book that features Robert Langdon. You can bet your bottom dollar that that book is at the top of my reading pile.  
 
I highly recommend The Da Vinci Code.  
