Book Review: “The Lost Symbol”

October 27, 2009 • Ramsey Statz  
Filed under Book Review, Feature

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s third novel to feature Harvard professor Robert Langdon as the main character, a smart, engaging read that will take the reader on an addicting adventure.

Set over a twelve hour period in present day Washington, D.C., the novel’s plot bases around Langdon’s search for his captured colleague, Peter Solomon.  The resulting journey takes the reader on an epic thrill-ride through some of the most famous locations in Washington.

The Lost Symbol is one of those books that one cannot put down once one has begun to read. There is interesting plot twist after interesting plot twist that will leave you losing sleep but gaining adventure and thrills.

Brown does an excellent job of developing characters in the book, but they do not feel overdeveloped.  The background of the main villain, Mal’akh, is explained well, with the end result of a brilliantly described character jumping off the page.

He does not devote too much time to the main character, Robert Langdon, who has already been developed in the two previous books in this series,

The weak points of the book outweigh the strong points.  After you catch your breathe from the incredible story you have just been told, it starts to sink in that The Lost Symbol is a carbon copy of the other two books in the series.

From the unexpected call to action in the early morning to the mysterious and creepy bad guy, almost every main plot point can be found in a different form in the previous two books.

Another weak point of the book is that some of the plot points are simply too unbelievable to accept.  It seems as though everything just happens to fall into place for RobertLangdon along his journey.

The Lost Symbol is definitely a worthwhile and interesting read.  However, if you are a hardcore Dan Brown fan, don’t expect it to live up to The Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons.

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