Sven says:

Is Dan Brown a great writer? Some say vehemently no, and others admire him. But if you ask “is Dan Brown humorous” all answer no, I believe. It seems he writes like an earnest teacher who takes much effort in convincing his pupils.
Consider however this passage in Deception Point, chapter 100, where the heroine Rachel says she is afraid when flying with the Coast Guard over a sea full of sharks:

[Mike Tolland:]‘Hey, how long has it been since you guys saved anyone from an attack by a hammerhead?’
The pilot shrugged. ‘Gosh. We haven’t saved anyone from a hammerhead in decades.’
Tolland turned to Rachel. ‘See. Decades. No worries.’
‘Just last month’, the pilot added, ‘we had an attack where some idiot skin diver was chumming -’
‘Hold on!’ Rachel said. ‘You said you hadn’t saved anyone in decades!’
‘Yeah,’ the pilot replied. ‘Saved anyone. ‘Usually, we’re too late. Those bastards kill in a hurry.’

Smashing, isn’t it?

One quality that all three novels about Robert Langdon share: the story proceeds uninterruptedly. There are retrospects within the plots, but no time gaps, and they all develop over remarkably short time, compared to most other novels. So, knowing from a summary that the time span of The Lost Symbol is twelve hours, I had great expectations when I decided to read it in one sitting. It took nine hours, and I was not disappointed. I should have tried that with Angels and Demons too!

They say Dan Brown is a bad writer. I disagree. His style is simple, yes, but that is not the same thing. He writes like a teacher, outright and steadfast. A teacher he was once, certainly. As for the inaccuracies of contents, well, fiction is fiction. If you use knowledge as stuff for a tale it is not forbidden to have some fun with it. Even Walter Scott tampered with history, and yet he has been honoured for “having invented the modern historical novel”, as Wikipedia has it.
I also observe that if there is any excellence in Brown’s style, it occurs in the dialogue. For example the conversation in A & D chapter 31 between Robert and Vittoria on the plane to Rome is brilliantly written. The acting characters are allowed to shine brightly while the storyteller stays in a humble position.

When I get back to Scotland, don’t know when but I certainly will, I wish to spend sensible time in Edinburgh, which I failed to do two years ago, because I had too much trouble getting to Rosslyn. I knew there were buses, but I didn’t know there were three bus companies running at the same poles, that was confusing! The Walter Scott Monument is fascinating though, even from behind. Inside the Rosslyn Chapel photographing is now prohibited, which it was not in 2007.

Dan Brown is a liar, but a very entertaining one. I like both the book and the film a lot.