The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

Dedication: "For Blythe"

First paragraph: "The secret is how to die. Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die. The thirty-four-year-old initiate gazed down a the human skull cradled in his palms. The skull was hollow, like a bowl, filled with bloodred wine. Drink it, he told himself. You have nothing to fear."

Review: Robert Langdon is summoned to Washington, D.C. at the last minute in order to help out an old friend. He arrives just in time to be sucked in to a night of chaos, secrets, mystery, and action. This book is another in the series featuring Robert Langdon and it takes place some time after Angles and Demons, and The Da Vinci Code.

I had a hard time getting into the story. It may have been because the story wasn't awesome, or it may have been because I wasn't feeling to awesome and I felt like sleeping more than reading. Either way, the beginning of the book wasn't the greatest. But once it really gets the ball rolling the story is filled with action, intensity, and lots of mystery.

Brown throws in his usual curve ball which leaves everyone thinking, "Hmm ... didn't see that coming." Only this time, I think it was easier to see it coming. There was a lot of intense moments and there were twists that you really didn't see coming but it seemed like the book ended up righting itself back on the exact course you predicted.

As far as the characters, it was hard to really get into their stories because every time you are starting to get attached it switches to another character's situation. I think this writing style is used to keep you reading until you get back to whatever Langdon was doing but at the same time, it kept me from ever REALLY getting into the story.

So, final opinion = middle of the book is great. Beginning of the book is kind of boring and the last 50 pages of the book was completely dragged out. I couldn't wait for it to end. (That's a bad sign). Anyway, the book was entertaining for the most part and if you read it, you won't feel like it was a waste of time but it is a little less action and a little more talk than any of Dan Brown's other books I've read.

Click Here for Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol Website.