Farriel:

Just to drop a line concerning The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown.

@Z4M4Eva, it's surprising that you hold such views about Dan Brown's books. I'm sure that people understand that The Da Vinci Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction, but it leaves me bemused when they attack it so fiercely and make scathing remarks that undermine the quality of such a stunning work of fiction.

It is important to remember that a reader does not have to agree with every word in the novel. Just the same way you watch a highly emotional true life story played out nicely on TV, you accept most parts of the story but surely not everything. All the movie serves to do is provoke your senses and leaves you debating what's fictional from what's factual. I think you should view The Da Vinci Code in such ways and let others judge the book for themselves.

Having said a lot, my favourite authors are endless - since I read a lot, but to mention a few, I think Henri Charriere, Michael Prescott, Dan Brown, Tami Hoag, James Patterson, Jeffrey Deaver, Patricia Cornwell, Michael Crichton, Richard Preston, Scot Turow, John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Wilbur Smith, James Hadley Chase, Ed McBain, Ken Follet, Stephen King, H.G. Wells, Mario Puzo, Phillip Kerr, Gerald Seymour, Nelson Demille, etc, and to many more whom I can't remember their names now, are amongst my all time favourite authors.

God bless them all for writing books that have had significant influence on my choices.