Brown, Dan

(US, 1964– )

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (2003) is a blockbusting international best-seller which has spawned a host of eager imitations and follow-ons. Elements of crime/thriller are mixed with art history and impenetrable codes-to-be-cracked, as Harvard professor Rob Langdon attempts to unravel the murder of the curator of the Louvre, and the secret of the ancient society he died trying to protect. Digital Fortress (1998) again deals with cryptology, this time a code capable (if released) of crippling US intelligence. As the Chicago Tribune says, ‘Brain candy of the highest quality’.

  Robert Ludlum, Umberto Eco  JR