Gives a neutral perspective on the mystery and conspiracy in the Da vinci code. ( )

Reads more like a chapter sampler - some good articles but hard going cover-to-cover. Useful as a guide for further reading. ( )

Purchased on the 4th of July at Borders Book, Tucson. [abt/2006@Borders,Tucson]

This is not one of those books where you sit down & take it all in at once. It presents several questions related to the "facts" or "fantasy" of the points made by Dan Brown in the DaVinci Code. Myself, I look at the DaVinci Code & see a fun work of fiction that the author probably based on Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Baigent et al.

What is interesting about this book is that the author never claims to go either way re the Mary Magdalene as holy vessel of the offspring of Christ but presents different articles, excerpts from texts etc that present both points of view. I mean, he is a venture capitalist, admittedly riding the coattails of the success of Brown's work; at least he's honest & up front about why he's doing this book.

Sadly, after reading this, I had to order 3 of the books listed in his book (just out of historical interest) so this book turned out to be more expensive than I thought.

Don't look for answers if you're one of the people who got hyped up on the DaVinci Code & believe it all; the book actually raises more questions than it could possibly answer. ( )