by Joyce D. Sinclair

Created on: January 27, 2008   Last Updated: September 13, 2010

Thought to be one of the most controversial books of the century thus far, and pushing it to best-selling status, The Da Vinci Code has sparked many conversations and debates around the world. I'm not sure if this was what author Dan Brown expected when he wrote this book, but it certainly has made a place for itself in literary history.

Brown brings back his protagonist Robert Langdon (from his earlier work Angels & Demons, another highly-recommended book) for another thriller angled around ancient symbology and history. Langdon is called in the middle of the night to help solve the murder of Jacques Sauniere, a curator from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Along with Sophie Neveu, chief cryptologist and granddaughter of Sauniere, they uncover the clues which are written in code. Her grandfather was one of the last remaining members of the Priory of Sion, or keepers of the Holy Grail. As they go through their adventures (and misadventures) solving the clues to the location of the Holy Grail as they uncover them, they soon realize where the it is and learn that Sophie is the last remaining bloodline to Jesus Christ.

The book has been criticized immensely by the Catholic Church and other fundamental Christians for its depiction of Jesus being married to Mary Madgalene and that they had a child together. Brown claims that the long-standing misconception of Mary Madgalene being a prostitute was simply centuries-old slander spread by the Church in order to undermine the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Claims about the true existence of the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar (who were organized to keep the secret of the Jesus' bloodline when Crusaders found documents after they conquered Jerusalem in 1099) were also questioned. The Da Vinci Code also led to an awareness of the uber-conservative Catholic movement called Opus Dei (which means "Work of God" in Latin), to which the character Silas belonged to. Today, Opus Dei has about 87,000 members spread over 80 countries worldwide.

Whether you agree with Brown's version of the Holy Grail story or not, The Da Vinci Code is a well-researched thriller that left me yearning for the next page. I liked how he played with the idea of how long a chapter should be. Most chapters were between 3-5 pages, but some were only a half page long. I loved the immense historical detail to the symbols that we see and use and refer to everyday. The book comes highly recommended for anyone who has an open mind and is

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