Books by author: Dan Brown

One of my favorite things about the year-end holiday break is the opportunity to relax and read for extended periods of time. I love to grab a page-turner and ignore the outside world. It's harder these days, with a two-year-old in the house and all, but given the right book, it's still possible.

Angels & Demons is a prequel to The Da Vinci Code. It follows the same formula as the current bestseller: a centuries old secret turns into a modern-day thriller. In this case, it centers on the Illuminati, who have hatched a plan to destroy the core of the Catholic Church — the Vatican itself. There's a time bomb ticking somewhere in Vatican City, and Cardinals are being murdered in a giant publicity stunt by an organization thought to be long defunct. Robert Langdon, Brown's dashing "symbologist", is caught in the middle, and he races to unravel the mystery that will lead him to the heart of the Illuminati in time to save the day.

Brown does a great job of creating page-turning suspense, and much of the chase is fascinating. The details of Roman architecture are interesting, and the pace is breathtaking. In the last 100 pages, however, my suspended disbelief came crashing down, as things became too implausible too quickly. The ending is an incredible stretch, but it's enjoyable even in its insanity.

Imagine if John Grisham had written Foucault's Pendulum from Umberto Eco's notes. What you'd have is eerily similar to The Da Vinci Code. On the Grisham side, it's a potboiler, full of plot twists and uncertain loyalties, as well as tremendously stilted dialogue and wooden descriptions. On the Eco side, you have a conspiracy that spans millenia, filled with mystical and religious symbolism. Together, what you have are two great tastes that taste great together: a ripping yarn with a fascinating backstory.

I was completely caught up in the historical mystery, though I was continually frustrated by Brown's writing craft. Several of the characters are cartoonish, and a few of the plot twists border on absurd. The whole thing reads like a screenplay (it would make a great movie, by the way).

I'm amused by the anger this novel has raised in many Catholics. Unless you buy into the conspiracy theory completely, the book can hardly be considered a criticism of the Catholic church. I'd love to say more, but I don't want to spoil the story for anyone.

The Da Vinci Code is trash, but it's very enjoyable trash.

If you've ever read anything by Dan Brown, you know exactly what to expect: paper-thin characters, a ridiculous villain, and a plot that jumps out of the gate at 60 m.p.h., holding the cruise control there right through to the last page. But you also get just enough stimulation to keep you turning pages. Yeah, the puzzles are trivial. Yeah, the plotting is absurd. Yeah, it's not great writing.

I enjoy a Dan Brown book in the same way I enjoy a bag of potato chips: it's totally empty calories and I hate myself a little for consuming it, but I do enjoy one now and then.