The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown, 2009)

[sandeep]

Six years in the writing, The Lost Symbol is Dan Brown's extraordinary sequel to his internationally bestselling Robert Langdon thrillers, Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code.

Nothing is ever what it first appears in a Dan Brown novel. Set over a breathtaking 12 hour time span, the book's narrative takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through a masterful and unexpected landscape as Professor of Symbology, Robert Langdon, is once again called into action.

Expertly researched and written with breakneck pace, The Lost Symbol once again demonstrates why Dan Brown is the world's bestselling thriller writer.

[sandeep]

For those who enjoyed Dan Brown books, especially the ones with big plot revelations like The Da Vinci Code and Deception Point, or the page turner Angels & Demons, The Lost Symbol does not offer either.

It is a page turner, but does not compel you to devour the content. Also, there are small revelations, but none to match the earlier works of Dan Brown. Now it would be unfair to expect the writer to come up with similar effects every time, but we are fans for a reason!

His style of writing is similar, building up parallel stories, introducing new technologies, new ideas and building a convincing plot. More than 5 years of research and writing went into this book, and it shows. One of his key strengths is his content, which has solid research to back it up. His fact page at the beginning of the book creates suspense.

The book suffers largely due to recall, as there is very little of it left once you are done reading it. The others have had an impact which remains to this day, while this one didn’t last till the next day!

This is not to say the book didn’t make enjoyable reading, (and learning!) filled with trivia and history, it’s not a ‘need to have’ but a ‘nice to have’.

3/5

[theoddball]

Brown, like Grisham before him, has proved to be a one trick pony.

[ayaa1977]

Brown, like Grisham before him, has proved to be a one trick pony.

How dare you sir desecrate the good name of Mr. Grisham, how dare you!!

[sandeep]

And I wouldnt call Dan Brown a one trick pony. 2 of his books were really good and sold millions of copies, while the other 2 were ok. Anyhoo, this book will also be made into a film and has record sales, so its not an unsuccessful attempt.

[theoddball]

I used to be a Grisham fan, until I realized that he's basically recycling the same courtroom/law-related elements and just changing the settings and the scale. It really boils down to that. His debut novel, A Time to Kill, which was virtually unknown at first, but turned into a bestseller on the strength of the success of his follow up The Firm, is in my opinion still his best work. It's raw and it rambles at times, but it's devastating in its honesty and the structure of its narrative. It is still the only novel that I finished in one sitting over a night and the entire following morning, missing dinner and breakfast.

As for Brown, yes, he is a one trick pony. Don't let the sales figures fool you, he knows his audience (the pulp fiction crowd) and in America alone, where conspiracy theories are rampant, that's a sound business investment. But he offers nothing new and so far he's been feeding off the same ideas of his first three novels. It's starting to grate.

[sandeep]

I dont know about sales figures, but I enjoyed his books, and his writing style. Thats probably because I like conspiracy theories, but if someone's book is called 'The best selling adult fiction novel of all time', and stays on New York's Best Seller list for 2 years, and 4 his books make it to the list, and blah blah blah, 80 million plus copies of his books in print, it means something.

It also means that a writer cannot replicate such huge success and connection with an audience with EVERY book of his, and to the people who like his work, the ideas and writing in his new book definitely do not 'grate'

[ayaa1977]

Grisham's novels as you said usually a courtroom thrillers/drama, but they are gripping nonetheless. There is a novel of his that felt more personal; A Painted House. A book that tell a story of a poor cotton farmers from the prospective of the 7 years old youngest son. I really loved that book.

I also dig his novel The Brethren about three corrupt incarcerated judges who are ruling the prison. There they stumble upon a scheme to blackmail a high profile person involved in a sexual scandal. This one was not made into a film but it was a great read.

I must say that all the film adaptations of his legal thrillers are films I like a lot except Runaway Jury which was rather a disappointing movie. But my favorite would probably be A Time To Kill.