|
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.
Book review
Once I began this extraordinary book, I could not put
it down. "The Da Vinci Code" is so much more than a gripping suspense
thriller. Dan Brown takes us beyond the main plot and leads us on a quest
for the Holy Grail - a Grail totally unlike anything we have been taught
to believe. With his impeccable research, Mr. Brown introduces us to
aspects and interpretations of Western history and Christianity that I,
for one, had never known existed...or even thought about. I found myself,
unwillingly, leaving the novel, and time and time again, going online to
research Brown's research - only to find a new world of historic
possibilities opening up for me. And my quest for knowledge and the
answers to questions that the book poses, paralleled, in a sense, the
quest of the book's main characters. What a trip! What a read!
A
violent murder is committed in the Louvre Museum. The museum's chief
curator, who is also the head of a remarkable secret society that has
existed since the death of Christ, is found dead and gruesomely positioned
on the floor near The Mona Lisa. In the minutes before he died, this very
complex man was able to leave clues for his daughter to follow. The
daughter, a brilliant cryptographer, along with a famed US symbologist,
follow her father's codes and leads, hoping that he will, through his
death, finally tell her what he wanted to confide in her while he lived.
The secret society included members such as: Leonardo
Da Vinci, Boticelli, Gallileo, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, Jean Cocteau, etc. These
folks really Did belong to this society, which Really existed! This is
when I first began my online search.
The mystery, or mysteries, take us through England, France and far back
in time. We learn about the secret of the Knights Templar, and the
symbolism in many of the world's most treasured paintings, as well as
architectural symbolism in some of history's most sacred churches. Of
course, we also learn who committed the murder and why - although this is
almost secondary next to the real epic mystery the novel uncovers.
Don't take the book too seriously. Just read it and enjoy!
Author
introduction
Dan Brown is the author of numerous bestselling
novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Da Vinci Code --
one of the best selling novels of all time. In early 2004, all four of Dan
Brown's novels held spots on the New York Times bestseller list during the
same week.
Recently named one of the World's 100 Most Influential People by
TIME Magazine, Dan Brown has made appearances on CNN, The Today Show,
National Public Radio, Voice of America, as well as in the pages of
Newsweek, Forbes, People, GQ, The New Yorker, and others. His novels have
been translated and published in more than 40 languages around the world.
Dan is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where
he spent time as an English teacher before turning his efforts fully to
writing. In 1996, his interest in code-breaking and covert government
agencies led him to write his first novel, Digital Fortress, which quickly
became a #1 national bestselling eBook. Set within the clandestine
National Security Agency, the novel explores the fine line between
civilian privacy and national security. Brown’s follow-up techno-thriller,
Deception Point, centered on similar issues of morality in politics,
national security, and classified technology.
The son of a Presidential Award winning math professor and of a
professional sacred musician, Dan grew up surrounded by the paradoxical
philosophies of science and religion. These complementary perspectives
served as inspiration for his acclaimed novel Angels & Demons—a
science vs. religion thriller set within a Swiss physics lab and Vatican
City. Recently, he has begun work on a series of symbology thrillers
featuring his popular protagonist Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of
iconography and religious art. The upcoming series will include books set
in Paris, London, and Washington D.C.
Dan’s wife Blythe—an art history buff and painter—collaborates on his
research and accompanies him on his frequent research trips, their latest
to Paris, where they spent time in the Louvre for his thriller, The Da
Vinci Code.
The Da Vinci Code has sold some 50 million copies worldwide and is now
being adapted for film by Columbia Pictures.
|
