While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller…utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.

From the Hardcover edition.

丹·布朗（Dan Brown, 1964- ），美国畅销作家。毕业于阿默斯特学院，曾是一名英语教师。1996年开始写作，先后推出了《数字城堡》、《骗局》和《天使与魔鬼》3部小说，均取得了不错的销售成绩，其中以《天使与魔鬼》最为成功，奠定了他在小说界的地位。《达·芬奇密码》是他的第4部作品，出版后成为有史以来最为畅销的小说之一。布朗的作品已被翻译成多种文字，在世界范围内广为流传。