It isn't the author's ability that is selling the books.

False! In part, at least. Dan Brown has written a novel which does all the right things to the right degrees and in the right places, and by "right" I mean the quality that makes his book incredibly desirable to the general American public.

It's a testament to the refinement of formula: enough thriller to interest those who don't normally read books, enough tested conventions that most people won't notice the horrible prose, and a conspiracy so directly relevant to one of the central issues (if not THE central issue) of American life.

And what's more popular these days than historical revisionism?

The man's incredibly rich, and he probably deserves it far more than many others who've achieved the same thing.

The book, of course, is one of the most apallingly mediocre bits of academic thievery ever seen, but observations like that can only aid the popularity of a book already so successful.

There's a greater principle at work here. Hearts and minds that have not been solidly fixed to the things of God are swayed by the mind and gut of Satan. The popularity of these books is bipartite:

(1) People (as people have done since the fall) find some titillation in the whispered confidences of those who share secrets, and they breathe deep the wonderful word "conspiracy." It is the upright longing for the kingdom of God applied to a foundation of ignorance. But this apetite doesn't necessarily manifest itself in a desire for this particular; they could easily attach to whatever they may find carried to them by any wind. Then why this book? Why these ideas? Because ...

(2) The unHoly Spirit plays on their hearts and minds. They, of their own will, clamber hungrily for whatever they can devour that may offer them the communion for which they ache. The enemy siezes upon this always, bringing sweet treats from all corners. In the past, he has brought this one before, and even by virtue of that alone, it is easier for them to catch and consume. He sets up each age, each time, each decade, each week, working towards his dastardly plan. Everyone chooses freely -- within the scope of his freedom. The believer is free to choose from among the good things of God, the unbeliever is free only to choose from the diabolical menu laid for them (it is all they can see! They can't see the wind blow, as we can who are blowers of the wind) ... but a choice it is.

So they choose the Da Vinci Code, or they choose something else. It is all treats cooked in the kitchen of the baker of lies. He's been working on this recipe for a long time, so he's gotten it much closer to "perfection" to the pallate of the dead.

The success of the book is not because Dan Brown is a good author, it is in spite of the fact that he is not. He's got a very, very good publicist.

The good news is that all his work is to win a war that has been lost already. Already, it is finished.

Interesting review of the movie from Roger Ebert...

Here is a little bit:

Let us begin, then, by agreeing that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. And that since everyone has read the novel, I need only give away one secret -- that the movie follows the book religiously. While the book is a potboiler written with little grace and style, it does supply an intriguing plot. Luckily, Ron Howard is a better filmmaker than Dan Brown is a novelist; he follows Brown's formula (exotic location, startling revelation, desperate chase scene, repeat as needed) and elevates it into a superior entertainment, with Tom Hanks as a theo-intellectual Indiana Jones.