The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest novel in the Robert Langdon series, has all but cemented his spot as one of popular culture’s best-selling authors. This fast-paced adventure, like the previous two installments, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, sees Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon deciphering ancient texts, and embarking on dangerous chases to save the day.
The novel opens as Mal’akh, a delusional madman, lures Langdon to the United States’ Capitol building to help him crack codes and gain access to a hidden secret. In exchange, Mal’akh agrees to spare the life of his hostage, Peter Solomon, Langdon’s dear friend and mentor. Through a series of twists and turns and a treasure hunt through Washington D.C. Langdon saved the day, as we all knew he would. Predictable? Yes. Boring? No.
How has Brown managed to take what is essentially the same plot and draw us all in once again? This feat was accomplished mostly though the charming development of his characters. In The Lost Symbol, we meet two new characters, Katherine Solomon, who is a leading scientist and Mal’akh, a tattooed, muscled, self-castrated madman.
Even with the predictable plot, I enjoyed reading the novel. Maybe it was the new characters, or maybe this was because I went into reading the novel expecting to reread the The Da Vinci Code, but the thriller pleasantly surprised me. In the end, these attributes mean nothing because the book was utterly pointless. It was in no way innovative or original and added nothing to reinvent the genre. Even further, the book was in not better than its predecessors, it was merely up to par; there was no improvement from one book to the next. Overall, the best seller accomplished what it set out to do—entertain. While it won’t go down in history with the classics, the book sure has changed the way I look, or overlook at the secrets hidden within the back of a dollar bill.
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