18. 'The Lost Symbol' - Dan Brown

Oh Dan, you've done it again. Admittedly, I wasn't overly impressed with The Da Vinci Code as a follow-up to Angels & Demons, which I loved immediately, but such is life. The Lost Symbol more or less makes up for that, though. Mind you, that doesn't mean that it was perfect. It's so rare that I find a book that I could ever stick with that classification, but our man here has made one that certainly can hold it's own against any potential literary scrutiny. Maybe it doesn't hurt that I'm more or less in love with Robert Langdon and his nerdy charm (though in my world he looks decidedly less like Tom Hanks and more like Eric Bana, but that's beside the point, really). I'm a sucker for reading books about people far smarter than I could ever be.

At any rate, I sometimes have no problem going off on tangents about the plot that the novels I read follow, but in this case I'm going to abstain. The truth is that his books aren't ones that I'd like to ruin for anyone that might stumble upon this as they're far more popular than the fare I typical devour and review on here. I will say that there was one very glaring plot point that was far more predictable than I like (see the Deliverance Dane review for more rants on that subject), but Brown made up for it with richly developed characters and interesting insight into some of our nation's capitol's most beloved landmarks. I've got to give him credit. I was thinking of where to go on my next little mini-vacation and good old Dan made it very easy for me. After reading about all the fantastic things to see in Washington D.C., I've opted to go there again in the very near future... as in next weekend. I almost feel as if I should have read the book there... it could have served almost as a walking tour of the city.

So yeah, Brown writes another winner. Langdon is still awesome enough to be a gripping central character even if he is getting old and the new arrivals to the scene are intriguing enough to not leave you bored and wishing for a few more returning cast members. I can guarantee I'll be thinking of my version of him (click here if you need a visual aid) as I wander by the Washington Monument next Monday. Sorry to disappoint when it comes to this review, but this is a book I think you'd be better off reading for yourself.

P.S. There's no need to read the prior two Langdon adventures to understand this one. They're both barely referenced and point to nothing that cannot be easily Googled if desired.

Rating: 4/5