I often debate with each new read, if I should tackle a fictional or a factual book. This week, I think I did both.

Dan Brown's latest suspense thriller "The Da Vinci Code" surrounds the mystery of the Holy Grail and secret societies within Christianity and history who have set out to prove the Bible as merely a good story.

I won't go into more details than that as this is what kept me turning the pages. Every night I plowed through more of the book than I had planned as I was intrigued at what turn the conspiracy theories would take next.

Is any of it true? Possibly... nothing is definite but there is enough historical information and art studies in this novel to keep you intrigued.

The fictional plotline? Not so much. The characters never really get developed to the point that you care and the amateurish puzzles thrown about serve only as bridges to the next bit of information you really want to uncover.

Grant it, I read the whole thing in mere hours, but if I had my druthers, a nice, medium-sized factual discourse on the Grail and the Church might have made me happier.

*also reviewed at brianlewandowski.com