• Publishers Weekly, Monday, March 27, 2006 11:18 AM

Despite assertions on both sides that we're talking about happenstance, the mass-market paperback edition of Dan Brown's TheDa Vinci Code will finally hit retail shelves tomorrow--on the very same date that The Jesus Papers is published.  That’s significant because the author of The Jesus Papers is Dan Baigent, who has been alleging in court that Brown's Da Vinci Code, a publishing phenomenon, is based on Baigent's earlier novel, Holy Blood, Holy Grail.  Publishers Weekly:  "Although Baigent’s publisher, Harper San Francisco, insists the shared laydown date is a coincidence, you couldn’t pray for a better publicity hook. ‘We’re really just anticipating an explosion,’ said Harper SF associate publisher Claudia Boutote. Already the house has lined up a ‘Today’ show appearance for Baigent, a USA Today story on the book, and an April 2 ‘Dateline NBC’ hour-long special based on the book."  The court's decision on whether Holy Blood influenced The Da Vinci Code is expected within the next couple of months.  The film version of the Dan Brown book will be released nationwide in May.

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