Dan Brown
For generations, Peter Solomon, a 33 degree Mason, and his male ancestors—all of whom were Masons of the highest degree—have been entrusted with a secret that could literally change the world. Some years ago when this secret was threatened, he gave his friend and mentee Robert Langdon, the famous Harvard symbologist of past Dan Brown novels, a package for safekeeping. Now, Langdon has been tricked into bringing this package into the open.
In Dan Brown’s latest thriller, The Lost Symbol, a consummate villain, known only as Mal’akh, has gone to great lengths throughout these years, in preparation for this moment in which he will seek revenge for what he deems to be past ills. Upon becoming a 33 degree Mason, he was expecting to be told the secret alluded to in the inscription: “All will be revealed at the 33rd degree.” When no secret is forthcoming, he embarks upon his deadly plan of revenge. Buried somewhere in Washington, D. C., symbols exist that are supposed to lead to the decoding of this secret.
Great writing! I loved it. I didn’t think Dan Brown could top The Da Vinci Code, but he has done just that with his newest novel, The Lost Symbol. Unfortunately, it seems that as with The Da Vinci Code, some people are missing the point. This is fiction layered onto fact! And what a wonderful job Dan Brown has done. The architecture of Washington, D. C., the art work, the basic premises of the Masons . . . have all been so well researched that everything he has created here is plausible, even though it’s fiction. Readers need to remember this. As he did with The Da Vinci Code, he tells us at the beginning what is fact, expecting us to know that out of fact he has created fiction. I suspect that many people did as I did while reading. So caught up with our capital and all of the twists and turns, I found myself many times going to Google to check the facts, which I always found to be there as described.
From the first page to the last I loved it. Even after the great chase, I was still in thrall, right down to the last word. I am already anticipating Brown’s next novel.
Reviewed by Lee L. Peoples
