Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that clandestine material will only be available--after midnight--to those who have signed non-disclosure notices. The plot of the new Dan Brown novel? No, it’s actually how reviewers such as myself obtained our copies of the much-anticipated The Lost Symbol, the follow-up to the Da Vinci Code. And as we read it in (literally) the cold light of dawn, we wonder: is it likely to match the earlier book’s all-conquering, phenomenal success?

Firstly, it should be noted that The Lost Symbol has incorporated all the elements that so transfixed readers in The Da Vinci Code: a complex, mystifying plot (with the reader set quite as many challenges as the protagonist); breathless, helter-skelter pace (James Patterson's patented technique of keeping readers hooked by ending chapters with a tantalisingly unresolved situation is very much part of Dan Brown’s armoury). And, of course, the winning central character, resourceful symbologist Robert Langdon, is back, risking his life to crack a dangerous mystery involving the Freemasons (replacing the controversial trappings of the Catholic Church and homicidal monks of the last book). And while Dan Brown will never win any prizes for literary elegance, his prose is always succinctly at the service of delivering a thoroughly involving thriller narrative in vividly evoked locales (here, Washington DC, colourfully conjured).

Robert Langdon flies to Washington after an urgent invitation to speak in the Capitol building. The invitation appears to have come from a friend with copper-bottomed Masonic connections, Peter Solomon. But Langdon has been tricked: Solomon has, in fact, been kidnapped, and (echoing the grisly opening of the last book) a macabre mutilation plunges Langdon into a tortuous quest. His friend’s severed hand lies in the Capitol building, positioned to point to a George Washington portrait that shows the father of his country as a pagan deity. The ruthless criminal nemesis here is another terrifying figure in Brown’s gallery of grotesques: Mal’akh, a powerfully built eunuch with a body festooned with tattoos. Mal’akh is seeking a Masonic pyramid that possesses a formidable supernatural power, and a pulse-pounding hunt is afoot, with Langdon stalled rather than aided by the CIA.

Caveats are pointless here; Dan Brown, comfortably the world’s most successful author, is utterly review-proof. And there's no arguing with the fact that he has his finger on the pulse of the modern thriller reader, furnishing the mechanics of the blockbuster adventure with energy and invention. Like its predecessor, The Lost Symbol will unquestionably be--in fact, already is--a publishing phenomenon. --Barry Forshaw

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Sehr spannend, am Schluss etwas langatmig (02.06.2010)

Wiederum ein sehr spannendes Buch bin vielen Wendungen. Besonders gut gefallen hat mir die historische Reise durch Washington. Das Buch steht den beiden Vorgängern in Nichts nach, mit Ausnahme des Schlusses. Die letzten Passagen von The Lost Symbol sind eher langatmig und ich tat mich schwer, konzentriert zu bleiben.
Hauptdarsteller ist erneut Robert Langdon, der langsam die Geheimnisse und beschützten Symbole der Freimaurer lüftet.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (30.05.2010)

When I wanted to buy The Lost icon, I first read all the negative criticism and bought the book anyway and I do not regret it. I found the book thought provoking and intelligent to read. I do not Know why it was so negatively criticised. I can only assume that it did not appeal to those with lesser intelligence who were looking for a more rollicking adventure which could be understood by the herd!

I recommend this book to anyone who has an inquiring mind and who loves to discover new ways of thought.

The Da Vinci Code in Fortsetzung (31.05.2010)

Dan Brown ist bekannt, seine Bücher wohl auch. Das Buch schliesst sich an den "The Da Vinci Code" an und liest sich wie dieser etwas langatmig, aber doch spannend geschrieben.

The Lost Symbol

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