The Lost Symbol is Dan Brown's latest installment in novels of action, thrills, chases, controversies and mysteries surrounding religion and history. While they could hardly be called a series, it seems as though it has come to that with the reoccurrence of the same hero Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of Symbology, who just seems to find himself in one tricky situation after another, doesn't he?
These tricky situations should be giving our professor a strange feeling of Déjà vu by now. The book’s action is fast-paced and one event leads up to another. Every new piece to the puzzle creates a connection; however, there is one drawback takes the book away from the splendor and excitement. This is a vague summary that actually could appeal to any of the three books: Angels and Demons, The DaVinci Code, and The Lost Symbol.
One might argue that the story is predictable because the situations, characters and turn of events are all relatively the same. Dan Brown seems to take this character and follow the same exact plot formula from the previous two books in the "series."
With no spoiler given, Robert Langdon receives a mysterious phone call for him to come immediately to a remote location because something has happened. He is not directly involved in anything and instead has become an innocent victim of someone who is after his knowledge to get what they want, in terms of some big powerful secret, making Robert the blindfolded pawn to follow the instructions of the unknown source to save the world. Professor Langdon is caught up in a series of thrilling and stressful events that have to do with an older man of genius and power who has been killed or injured or both. He then teams up with a female relative of the man, who happens to be of genius and power herself, and the two race against the clock to beat the antagonist to uncover a secret, all taking place within a single night.
As previously mentioned, it is a wonder why Robert Langdon does not recognize this Déjà vu, but The Lost Symbol does one thing in this scenario that stands out from the previous two novels: He remembers and references the previous two books, at some tidbits he will comment or think back to when he was involved in something similar.
True Dan Brown does follow the same plot formula of his next adventure, but it is still a different story altogether—with different secrets and mysteries of our history that do nothing but intrigue, confuse, and start controversies like they should. The background in this novel, set in the United States, opens doors to different ideas that are not commonly taught in Social Studies class.
This time Professor Langdon finds himself in Washington D.C and is on the chase for a new villain who has kidnapped a dear old friend of Robert's- Peter Solomon- who happens to be a high-ranking Mason. This villain is out to get the Mason organization's most cherished secrets and knowledge and will stop at nothing to get them--using torture and murder to get what he wants with the story's main characters at his mercy. This villain differs from Brown's previous villains in that he is stronger and more intelligent—and holding a secret of his own. Once the main characters find out who exactly he is the course of events takes an unexpected turn.
The Lost Symbol is a fast-paced thriller that will keep fans waiting for more. The question is, what will Robert Langdon get himself into next?
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