the new dan brown

I consider Dan Brown's books to be interesting brain candy - interesting mostly due to historical facts and clue solving and brain candy because, come on, his stories are a bit ridiculous. I'm still unsure as to why The Da Vinci Code got the most praise because I really thought that its predecessor, Angels and Demons, was much better. I've read Deception Point as well but I hardly remember what it was about so, clearly, it didn't make much of an impression.

I recently finished his newest book, The Lost Symbol. I wasn't about to spend any money on it but my cousin bought it so I borrowed it after my dad got through with it (it's making the rounds through the family).

The book really held my interest even if it annoyed me at certain specific points. Robert Langdon is again the main character as is his knack for solving cryptic puzzles. These are the parts that I found most interesting. I found it helpful to be in front of a computer while reading so that I could pull up images of the iconic paintings, statues and buildings that he is "deciphering." Because this one is set in Washington, DC, the icons tended to be things that I've seen before or even see on a daily basis which made it all the more interesting.

Of course, living in DC has its drawbacks when reading this book too. His most glaring and easily verifiable mistake was putting King Street Metro Station and its neighboring Amtrak station underground. Really? They're both aboveground (and separated by railroad tracks) and that's something that you can see on Google maps. It makes me wonder if he actually visited the George Washington Masonic Memorial at all when researching the book - all he had to do was look down the hill.

It has none of the controversial somewhat anti-Catholic flavor that The Da Vinci Code had even if it is somewhat anti-organized religion at points. It definitely has some interesting ideas about God and/or a Higher Power. His discussions on noetics (apparently a tiny burgeoning new science field) and the effects that thoughts can have on the physical world were kind of intriguing. The idea that thoughts have weight and can be trained and focused toward a specific goal (healing, moving objects, what have you) would be quite fascinating if it could be proven.

The book does, however, have Mr. Brown's usual plot ridiculousness. This one made a bit worse by the fact that the entire book spans about 12 hours in real time. I'm not so great at "reading for comprehension" (sometimes I just flat out read too fast) so there were definitely some "twists" that I should have seen coming that were a bit groan-worthy.

All in all a decent read. Worth the time. Not worth buying - especially in hardback.