Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol

This is an old book of my brother's that has been lying around in our bookshelf for quite some time now.  Since I find myself with loads of free time on my hands, it was only natural that I would eventually come around to reading this.

Dan Brown can be considered one of the best fiction writers of our time.  With his flair for the occult and mysticism, plus a fascination with popular conspiracy theories, his books have been one intriguing read after the other.  And it was with such high hopes that I settled down and read his latest offering -- The Lost Symbol.

In The Lost Symbol, we find Robert Langdon, whom we first encountered in Angels and Demons, faced once again in a new adventure where Masons and their rituals are not what they seem.  Filled with the usual thrills, this book takes the reader on another exciting adventure with Langdon as he tries to save his friend and the Masonic organization from an extremely fanatical lunatic.  Read the full summary here at Amazon.com.

To be quite honest, I was not as impressed with this offering as I was with his other books.  First and foremost would be because I do not have much interest in the Masons, and the beliefs and myths surrounding their organization.  And I am a firm believer that in reading a Dan Brown novel, one has to at least be familar with popular theories surrounding the subject matter.  Same goes with at least a wee bit of knowledge about the famous Washington landmarks mentioned in the novel.  I, unfortunately, am not familar with both, which unfortunately made this book a dragging read for me.

I've also never noticed how much Dan Brown relied on a lot of POVs from different characters regardless of how insignificant their roles were or will be in the course of the novel.  For the life of me, I just could not remember being this annoyed as when I read his other Robert Langdon-starrers.

All in all, I'd say the book is not as intriguing as his former works.  I would recommend buying the Special Illustrated Edition to give you a more detailed background and an idea of landmarks and the like for those totally unfamiliar with Masons and Washington D.C. area in general.

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.