All hell breaks loose when Jacques Sauniere, the elderly and revered curator of the Louvre, is murdered inside the museum. The crime scene and the body itself are laden with symbols and cryptic messages pointing to renowned Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon. He is invited to the crime scene by the wily Captain Bezu Fache, of the Central Directorate Judicial Police, the French equivalent of our Federal Bureau of Investigation, ostensibly to assist the police. Little does Langdon know that he is, in fact, the prime suspect.

When he meets police cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, they join forces. They are then led on a merry chase by a series of riddles and ciphers that are ground in a historical context. They are always just one step of the French police, who seem determined to charge Langdon with the murder of Jacques Sauniere. During their voyage of discovery, Langdon and Sophie come across a secret society, the Priory of Sion, that has a startling list of former members, which list includes Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as the late Jacques Sauniere. There is also some interesting historical detail about the ancient Knights Templar, as well as Opus Dei, a conservative religious organization currently in existence.

Langdon and Sophie peel back layers of historical clues that point to a secret of such magnitude that some would kill for it. As Langdon and Sophie surreptitiously travel from France to England and seem to be headed closer to the heart of the mystery that they are trying to unravel, an unknown nemesis is closer to them than they would dare imagine. This unknown adversary is marshaling resources in order to obtain the long hidden secret that Langdon and Sophie appear to be on the brink of discovering. It is one that has the potential to have earth shattering implications.

This is a fast-paced, plot driven, rather than character driven, thriller. It hurls itself into the reader's consciousness at break-neck speed, and before the reader realizes it, the book holds the reader in its thrall: hook, line, and sinker. For those readers who love historical detail and unusual facts and coincidences, this is definitely a fascinating book that will hold their interest. It is a page-turning thriller in which nearly every chapter leaves the reader on the brink of a precipice. The book is written in clear, effortless prose, which makes the most esoteric historical details surprisingly easy to understand. Simple in its presentation but intricate in its plotting, it is no surprise that this book has become a runaway, international bestseller. Bravo!

However, the rest of the book turns very pedestrian with the action not really moving anywhere, weak character development, and some obvious plot twists.

Overall, disappointing, especially as the book initially promised so much. If you want an "intelligent thriller" read Stel Pavlou's Decipher.