So, I just finished reading The Da Vinci Code.

I'm usually very sceptical of these hugely popular novels (i.e. anything written by Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, etc), because they're never any good. But, a co-worker had just finished reading it and was gushing about it. He insisted that I borrow it, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

The Da Vinci Code is an interesting novel, in that the narrative is often completely interrupted by long passages of historical information. Half way through the book, though, you realize why this is the case. The historical data is interesting, the actual story is not.

There are creative and there are lazy methods of building suspense. Dan Brown seems to be a fan of the latter approach, and makes no attempts to hide it. After the halfway point of the novel, with most of the historical information covered and hence less to distract from the narrative, you realize the story isn't all that different from any generic murder mystery of the past 30 years. The protagonists and antagonists are hollow, and the supporting characters all seem to blend into one by the end of the book.

OK, so I need something good to read next. Any suggestions?