In this explosively original thriller. a world-renowned expert in cracking ancient codes and riddles deciphers a mind-bending series of clues embedded in works of Leonardo da Vinci, and uncovers a secret that changes history. Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been found murdered inside the museum, his body surrounded by a series of bizarre ciphers scribbled in invisible ink. As Langdon and a gifted young French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, attempt to get a sense of the chilling clues left around the body, they are stunned to realize the riddles are connected to the works of Da Vinci and may be linked to a mystery that stretches deep into the history of the Catholic Church. Langdon learns the late curator was the gatekeeper of the Priory of Sion--an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci--and has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred **: the location of a vastly important religious ** hidden for centuries. It appears that Opus Dei, ***clandestine, malevolent, Vatican-sanctioned religious sect that has long plotted to seize the Priory's secret, has now made its move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can crack the Da Vinci code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret--and a stunning historical truth--will be lost forever. In an exhilarating blend of scholarly intelligence, relentless adventure, and cutting wit, Robert Langdon (first introduced in Dan Brown's Angels & Demons) is the most original detective to appear in years. Combining the punch of Robert Ludlum, the intriguing historical touch of UmbertoEco, and the nonstop suspense of Michael Crichton, THE DA VINCI CODE is a rocket ride of an intelligent thriller.