HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL

Okay, DA VINCI CODE fans, here's a compelling, scholarly work that tells you more than you want to know about the Christ cover-up. However, it does not work well in audio. It's not the fault of narrator Simon Prebble, who does a fine job; it's the nature of the incredibly complicated work. It's impossible to keep track of the hundreds of names, places, and dates that concern the Knights Templar, the Catholic Church, the Freemasons, the Spanish Inquisition, and dozens of secret sects. Furthermore, many of the names are pronounced with heavy French accents, making them hard to understand. It all becomes a blur, and listeners will wish they had the book in hand so they could re-read key passages. M.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]