From the author of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. Buy Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol now you save up to 40%.

The Lost Symbol (Hardcover)

By Dan Brown (Author)

Book Details
* Hardcover: 528 pages
* Publisher: Doubleday Books; 1st edition (September 15, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0385504225
* ISBN-13: 978-0385504225
* Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 2.1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds

Book Description
In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world’s most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling–a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object–artfully encoded with five symbols–is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon–a prominent Mason and philanthropist–is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations–all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown’s novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown’s fans have been waiting for . . . his most thrilling novel yet.

The Lost Symbol Review
The main plot of the story is standard Dan Brown stuff and you can buy it or reject it as you’d like. It certainly makes for riveting reading as you follow the twists and turns of the story. However, it’s surprising that nobody has mentioned the major subplot of the novel: the involvement of the CIA. I won’t spoil it for anybody, but it is rather ridiculous. A matter of national security? That much suspension of disbelief is pretty hard to accomplish!

I loved Angels & Demons and DaVinci Code and was really excited to read The Lost Symbol, particularly as a DC resident and granddaughter of a Mason. This was a disappointing experience for me and stretched credulity over the top. The Japanese CIA lady, the one-handed friend/father of a lunatic madman, brother of a secret lab scientist weighing the soul, the “drowning death” of Langdon, the trip to the top of the Monument then the Rotunda? What? All to end at the Bible? I didn’t get it and it was just too weird.

I have liked all the Dan Brown books I’ve read, but this one was HUGE disappointment. I’m interested in history, art and architecture, and that is why I liked the Davinci Code and Angels and Demons so much. This book however has very little interesting history and an enormous “so what” factor. The story builds and builds and then fizzles into a boring anthropology/philosophy lecture. I’m so mad I spent money on this book. Don’t waste your time with this one.

Same plot, same characters (the book’s villain and Langdon’s mentor/friend are copied straight out of Da Vinci Code, although their names have been updated because they’re supposedly ‘different’ characters), VERY formulaic; essentially a 70% cut-and-paste of Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, with different symbols and setting. Frankly, I love the mystery and intrigue of a new secret society and set of symbols/clues but can’t believe Dan Brown is getting away with selling us the same book over and over. I think I’ll skip Langdon’s next adventure.

Frequently Bought Together
The Da Vinci Code (Mass Market Paperback)
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Angels & Demons: A Novel (Robert Langdon) (Paperback)
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Deception Point (Paperback)

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