The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

I would like to preface this review with simply: I love Dan Brown. I know there has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding his The DaVinci Code, but all religious unrest put aside, I find his novels to be a bit like the National Treasure movies: puzzling and thrilling. If you are not a fan of Dan Brown, I suggest you skip this review because nothing I can say will make you like him.

I made the mistake of starting this novel with Husband on our way to California for a business trip. We always read on road trips. Not only does it pass the time, it gives us a chance to discuss the book(s) and learn more about each other (awe! We’re so cute!) Well, and it saves the arguments over my iPod, Octavian, versus his iPod, Vincent, and which of the two hold the better music (Octavian does, of course) and it keeps my eyes down on the page instead of on the billboards. Husband likes this because when I see a billboard for, oh, let’s say the world’s largest vacuum museum, I want to stop and we argue about the importance of roadside Americana for an hour before I turn on Octavian and fall asleep. Reading is much better for our relationship, I’d say. Anyway, I say it was a mistake to read on our road trip to California because we were unable to finish the book on that trip, which meant I had to wait until we took another road trip (Indiana, two weeks ago) to finish the novel. It was agony.

The Lost Symbol is a continuation of Robert Langdon’s story. He still swims daily, still wears his Mickey Mouse watch, and, as terribly highlighted in Angels and Demons, he is still very claustrophobic. In this event (which takes place in one night, as do Langdon’s other mishaps) Langdon is called to Washington, D.C. to give an impromptu lecture by a very dear friend of his, Peter Solomon. It is not until Langdon arrives that he discovers there is no lecture and his friend is in grave danger. Compelled to begin a journey to uncover what has become of Peter, Langdon finds he is in possession of one of the Freemason’s greatest secrets, a secret that must be kept, regardless of the dark people pursuing the historian. Not knowing who to trust or where to turn, Langdon teams up with Solomon’s sister, Katherine to try to discover the terrible fate that has befallen Peter all while running from the man who orchestrated the entire evening, including the arrival of Robert Langdon. In a story that solidifies “things are not always as they seem”, Brown has again made a nerdy symbologist into a national hero. Thank you Indiana Jones, I mean, Robert Langdon.

This book was completely worth the wait, although, ideally, I would recommend that you read the book all at once and not with a month long gap between chapters. I hate that it has been out for so long and I have just read it. I was early in line to pick it up the DAY it came out, but then I lent it out to one person, then another, and so on and so forth. This is a good, superficial beach/cabin read.

Note to Dan Brown: Please, I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks, and I appreciated another chance to ogle Ewan McGregor, but do not ruin this story with another movie. Thanks.

-Harper