"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code is the 2003 novel written by Dan Brown. It follows Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon and the gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris' Louvre Museum. They are stunned to discover bizarre riddles that lead them to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, seemingly left by the museum's late curator, Jacques Saunière minutes before his death. Their race to discover the closely guarded secret held by Saunière uncovers a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene.

The Da Vinci Code is, in a manner of speaking, two books in one. The first is a very good suspense thriller. Author Dan Brown must either play or at least be aware of computer games; the plot has a computer game feel to it. The protagonists are dropped almost immediately into a situation of peril and must extricate themselves by solving a series of puzzles, with one puzzle's solution granting the privilege of looking at another puzzle, which also requires a solution.

Harvard religious symbology professor Robert Langdon is in Paris for a speaking engagement when he is summoned to the Louvre after-hours. The museum’s curator has been brutally murdered, and mysterious circumstances make Langdon a suspect in the eyes of the police and a clue in the eyes of the curator’s estranged granddaughter, cryptologist Sophie Neveu. Sophie and Robert escape the French police and follow clues left behind that lead through history and secret societies and to a stunning secret that threatens to destroy the Catholic Church and change the world forever. The thriller that was ubiquitous in the early 2000s has been out of the spotlight just long enough to feel fresh to this adaptation’s intended audience, but there isn’t much difference between this book and the original. The sexy bits have been cut out, which is odd. It would seem the publisher feels that America’s young people can’t handle an orgy, but it can handle a destabilization of belief systems that have governed human relations for a couple thousand years. At least there’s no attempt to “young up” Robert and Sophie and cast them as teenage prodigies. Regardless, Brown’s tale remains engrossing, prompting quick turns of the page and readings in one sitting. The exposition can be clunky at times, and the tertiary characters are expendable, but the big reveal is a blast, a pulpy solution that perfectly dovetails with the Indiana Jones–meets–Sherlock Holmes vibe the novel is constantly striving for. Bring on Angels and Demons.