The Lost Symbol

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Severed Hands

(Hey, kids, it's been awhile. I am going to be better about my blogging. Life has been crazy lately because I actually have a social life right now. Go figure. Enjoy this book review. Or don't. I don't care. haha!)

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 [a] mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged 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.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown's novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown's fans have been waiting for... his most thrilling novel yet. (courtesy of danbrown.com)

Before I say anything else, I have not read Dan Brown's other books. I've only seen the movies. I hear that those two are the better ones of the Langdon stories, but I find that I'm content with the movies which is rare for me. My friend, Kira, was raving about this book and she lent it to me, so I had to give it a try.

There were interesting factoids intermingled within the plot. I wanted to be able to get into it enough to want to look up what he was talking about just so I could have more of a frame of reference, but I wasn't that interested.

Noetics, the science in this book, is quite fascinating. It boasts the power of the human mind to change and alter our environment. That was my favorite part of the book.

As for Robert Langdon, he's so skeptical almost to a fault and it gets annoying. Just believe people sometimes, Rob! Geez. I understand he's a symbologist and a historian, so he's only interested in facts, but you'd think he'd have a little bit more of an imagination because of his profession. Just an observation. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a character flaw. If it was, kudos to Mr. Brown, but it was also something that made the story lag a little. Where I haven't read the others, I don't know if it was just more prominent in this book or if it is just Robert Langdon's character.

While we are discussing Langdon...Tom Hanks? Really? What were they thinking? Don't get me wrong; Tom Hanks is a great actor, but while I was reading this book I couldn't picture him as Robert Langdon. The jury is still out on who my personal casting choice would be.

Moving on. I found myself skimming. If this is a breathless thriller, then I must not be thrilled too easily because I felt like I had to speed things up. There was, however, a couple of twists at the end that I was not expecting so that was a nice payoff.

All in all, it's a decent read. I would like to go to DC and see all these places that were mentioned. I gave it 2.5 out of 5 Severed Hands.