THE LOST SYMBOL - Dan Brown

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Robert Langdon is back... And how! The Lost Symbol is the third adventure in the symbologist’s life (after Angels and Demons, and The Da Vinci Code) that involves art, architecture, history, science and religion.

This book is pretty similar to his previous books. It has a similar plot, structure, and theme; only this time it takes place in Washington D.C. and involves the Freemasons and quite a bit of Noetic Sciences. Langdon is called to Washington at a friend's request, only to find him missing, and spends the rest of the book chasing clues throughout the city trying to outwit a new villain who is seemingly as smart as he is.

I enjoy all Dan Brown books. While I'm not a huge fan, I do like the fantastical idea that there exists a huge conspiracy out there that only a few people know about. His writing could use some work, and he's not exactly crafting great literature, but his stories are pretty suspenseful and high on content, which do enough to cover up for his lack of writing expertise. Moreover, this book is pretty voluminous, and though that in itself is not a drawback, there are some chapters that are not related to the overall outcome of the story. I don’t agree with the idea of unnecessarily making a story long.

Anyhow, the best aspect of the book is that it makes you see a lot of things from a different perspective. I can’t vouch for all his explanations being true, but I do like the reasons he gives. However, the ancient secret he keeps protecting throughout the story, although an ‘eternal truth’, does not really turn out to be that profound.

If you’ve not read any Dan Brown yet, I’d recommend you start with Angels and Demons, or The Digital Fortress. This is not the best of Dan Brown thrillers, nevertheless it makes for a very entertaining read, and satiable enough to make me wait for his next one.

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