I was recently given a copy of the Da Vinci code as a present and, having heard lots of enthusiastic comments about it, was rather looking forward to reading it. What a disappointment, then, to find this novel to be predictable in its plotting and with characterisations that would be scarcely credible on the set of Eastenders. No doubt the author is not complaining, having sold millions of copies already but the whole book reeked of an effort cynically churned out for the inevitable Hollywood adaptation. Fortunately, it was so laughably simplistic I got through it in a couple of days!