Book: The Lost Symbol

Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist,  is invited to Washington DC to deliver a lecture by his mentor and friend, Peter Solomon. As Langdon is a last minute fill-in for another speaker, he is rushed to capital city on a private jet.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man named, Mal’akh walks into the US Capitol Building in a disguise. His body is covered with tattoos. But he has cleverly camouflaged the tattoos under makeup.

Katherine Solomon, Peter’s sister, visits her lab buried under the Smithsonian Museum and waits for the arrival of her brother. But, there is no sign of Peter!

Before long, Langdon chases a treasure that has been hidden for centuries. In order to save the lives of his friends, he has to unravel the coded messages and secrets buried by Freemasons.

Dan Brown, the author, traverses familiar territory of hidden messages and secret societies in this book. The mystery rhymes with his previous writings wherein Langdon is thrown into an unfamiliar environment,confronted by hostile characters. Langdon is not sure if these are friends or foes. But he always get help from unexpected quarters. Towards the end of the mystery, there is dialogue that questions your belief.

In spite of using the same pattern of story telling, Dan Brown successfully captures the reader’s attention. This is primarily because the reader wants to know the identity of the villain and the importance of the secret. As most of the readers are familiar with his previous works, they also know Dan reserves the crucial discussion (on belief) towards the end of the book.

The story unfolds at more than one place. So, Dan Brown devotes a chapter on the happening at one location. He shifts location when the story reaches a crucial point generating suspense and leaving the reader in a limbo. Most of the time, it works for the novel. But at some points, these chapters are so short that it irritates the reader.

Still, the Lost Symbol is a compulsive read.

Picture Courtesy: www.amazon.com

Tags: Books,Robert Langdon,Dan Brown