July 28, 2017

The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon #3) by Dan Brown 3.5/5 stars

Hey, guys! After reading Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, I was ready for the next Robert Langdon mystery. They both blew me away. I could talk about The Da Vinci Code all day; I could talk about Angels & Demons all day (and all night); but, I could talk about The Lost Symbol for maybe 15 minutes before I got bored.

The Cover:
The Cover:
It shows a Masonic seal holding together a torn coded page, above the city of Washington D.C.. The cover fits well with what the book is theoretically about. Or, at least, it fits the good parts of the story, what I expected the book to contain. A- cover. 


Official Description:
WHAT IS LOST...
WILL BE FOUND
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, DC., 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 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.


My Review:
I was disappointed in The Lost Symbol. It's focus was much less on decoding and solving a mystery while explaining a secret organization (in this case, the Masons) than the previous books. While the decoding was still an element, the book centered more on how crazy the bad guy was. The majority of the book was from the villain's point-of-view to try and prove how crazy he was. 

Large chunks of narration from a villain's point-of-view is one of my writing pet-peeves. It makes the main characters look dumb, while making the book uncomfortable to read and boring. This style made The Lost Symbol feel less like a Dan Brown book, and more like a Silence of the Lambs book. Specifically, it felt about 80% similar to Red Dragon.  

The Lost Symbol is much the same as the earlier amazing books by Dan Brown, but it replaced some of the unique code-breaking and conspiracy-style history with thoughts from a madman. It really wasn't my style, and I'm disappointed to say the least. This book has taken me three weeks to read, and honestly, wasn't worth my time. It just didn't hook me like the other ones did. 

I think I'll still try book four, Inferno, but I know I'm going to wait awhile and catch up on other books first.

Phrase:
Tattoos

If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
The Da Vinci Code

Angels & Demons
Silence of the Lambs

If you're looking for a good book, check out my Suggestions Page!

Happy Reading!

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