The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown released The Da Vinci Code in April 2003, launching a 519-page mystery thriller that quickly became one of the best-selling American novels ever. This story features symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after they discover a murder inside the Louvre Museum in Paris. Their investigation pulls them into a centuries-old conflict between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei regarding a secret about Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. Brown built this narrative on historical theories suggesting the Merovingian kings were descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, drawing inspiration from works like Holy Blood, Holy Grail and Clive Prince's The Templar Revelation. The book sparked intense debate by presenting an alternative religious history that many Christian denominations rejected as an attack on the Catholic Church. Scholars also criticized the fantastical nature of its claims while readers embraced the speculation surrounding the Holy Grail legend. By 2009, the novel had sold 80 million copies worldwide and appeared in 44 languages. Random House issued a Special Illustrated Edition with 160 images in November 2004, and Columbia Pictures adapted the story into a major film in 2006.[edit]