Synopsis
In Dan Brown's long-awaited follow-up to THE DA VINCI CODE, symbologist Robert Langdon is again forced to try to crack a series of centuries-old codes in a matter of hours in order to avoid a national catastrophe. Though specific details of the plot are a closely guarded secret, a series of clues concealed on the dust jacket of THE DA VINCI CODE and on Dan Brown's website has fans buzzing about possible topics. How will the Freemasons be involved? Will Langdon solve the mystery of the Kryptos scroll, an as-yet-undecoded sculpture at the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia? And lastly, is there no help for the widow's son?
Thanks to the massive success of THE DA VINCI CODE, which sold around 80 million copies worldwide, Dan Brown was burdened with a puzzling predicament every bit as fiendish as those routinely faced by his hero, the swashbuckling symbologist Robert Langdon--how to follow up one of the most popular books of all time. But Brown has risen to the challenge magnificently, with a big assist from one of the most code-crazed and symbol-ridden societies in history, the Freemasons. Langdon has been summoned to Washington D.C. by his old friend Peter Solomon, but when he arrives at the Capitol building to meet Solomon, Langdon instead finds friend's severed hand, which has been tattooed and strategically placed beneath a portrait of an ascendant George Washington. And the chase is on, as Langdon and Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, must avert a national disaster by deciphering a series of cryptic clues hidden in the architecture of America's capital. Waiting at the end of the trail is a nefarious monk named Mal'akh, whose masochistic tendencies include tattoos and self-castration. Langdon and Solomon's riddle-fueled pursuit will eventually entail the Library of Congress, the headquarters of the CIA, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and several other notable sites. And while THE LOST SYMBOL might lack the incendiary subject matter of its predecessor, conspiracy junkies and proponents of mythic sea creatures will be likely titillated by Brown's controversial contention that there is tank of giant squids hidden in the archives of the Smithsonian.
Thanks to the massive success of THE DA VINCI CODE, which sold around 80 million copies worldwide, Dan Brown was burdened with a puzzling predicament every bit as fiendish as those routinely faced by his hero, the swashbuckling symbologist Robert Langdon--how to follow up one of the most popular books of all time. But Brown has risen to the challenge magnificently, with a big assist from one of the most code-crazed and symbol-ridden societies in history, the Freemasons. Langdon has been summoned to Washington D.C. by his old friend Peter Solomon, but when he arrives at the Capitol building to meet Solomon, Langdon instead finds his friend's severed hand, which has been tattooed and strategically placed beneath a portrait of an ascendant George Washington. And the chase is on, as Langdon and Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, must avert a national disaster by deciphering a series of cryptic clues hidden in the architecture of America's capital. Waiting at the end of the trail is a nefarious monk named Mal'akh, whose masochistic tendencies include tattoos and self-castration. Langdon and Solomon's riddle-fueled pursuit will eventually entail the Library of Congress, the headquarters of the CIA, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and several other notable sites. And while THE LOST SYMBOL might lack the incendiary subject matter of its predecessor, conspiracy junkies and proponents of mythic sea creatures will be likely titillated by Brown's controversial contention that there is tank of giant squids hidden in the archives of the Smithsonian.
| Key Details | | Author: | Dan Brown | | Language: | English | | Publisher: | Random House | | Format: | Audio | | ISBN-10: | 0739319175 | | ISBN-13: | 9780739319178 |
| Additional Details | | Narrated by: | Paul Michael | | Edition Description: | Unabridged |
| Size | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 13.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
Dan Brown’s new novel, the eagerly awaited follow-up to his #1 international phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code, which was the bestselling hardcover adult novel of all time with 81 million copies in print worldwide, will be published in the U.S. and Canada by Doubleday on September 15, 2009.
THE LOST SYMBOL will have a first printing of 5 million copies, and it will once again feature Dan Brown’s unforgettable protagonist, Robert Langdon. Brown’s longtime editor, Jason Kaufman, Vice President and Executive Editor at Doubleday said, "Nothing ever is as it first appears in a Dan Brown novel. This book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. THE LOST SYMBOL is full of surprises."
Dan Brown’s popularity continues to grow. The film of The Da Vinci Code was a #1 box office smash when it was released by Columbia Pictures in May 2006 with Ron Howard directing and Tom Hanks starring as Robert Langdon. Box office receipts were $758 million. The same team will release Angels and Demons theatrically worldwide on May 15, 2009.
From the Hardcover edition.
The discovery of a mysterious object in the U.S. Capitol building and a subsequent kidnapping lead Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon into a web of mysterious codes, secret locations, and hidden knowledge.
The eagerly awaited follow-up to the best-selling The Da Vinci Code once again features Robert Langdon and weaves five years of the author's research into the story's twelve-hour timeframe, in an exhilarating thriller that is full of surprises. Simultaneous.
The new novel by Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code.
Industry Reviews
"Too many popular authors have followed huge hits with terrible embarrassments. Mr. Brown hasn't done that. Instead, he's bringing sexy back to a genre that had been left for dead....Mr. Brown's splendid ability to concoct 64-square grids outweighs what might otherwise be authorial shortcomings. Within this book's hermetically sealed universe, characters' motivations don't really have to make sense; they just have to generate the nonstop momentum that makes THE LOST SYMBOL impossible to put down."
(09/14/2009)
"Brown's narrative moves rapidly, except for those clunky moments when people sound like encyclopedias....But no one reads Brown for style, right? The reason we read Dan Brown is to see what happens to Langdon: We want to know if he will overcome slim odds to uncover Mal'akh's motives and a cunning plan that, while not involving a vial of antimatter, is a major threat to national security....THE LOST SYMBOL is...like the experience on any roller coaster -- thrilling, entertaining and then it's over."
(09/14/2009)
"[P]ure, cheesy fun....Brown's plot is like a set of Russian nested dolls, with one revelation hiding another. He takes this mystical quest stuff quite seriously, and his unabashed enthusiasm for mystical topics such as pyramids, ancient wisdom, and Masonic initiation rites has an infectious quality that doubtless fuels his popularity....Perhaps the most notable quality of THE LOST SYMBOL is the breezy manner in which Brown's characters and his narrative examine truth, God, and other grand topics."
(09/18/2009)
"As [a] District of Columbia resident, I must say that Mr. Brown does a first-rate job of delivering a Cook's tour with duly sinister overtones of Washington's famous sites....He also masterfully teases out the hidden Masonic threads in America's founding, evident in such disparate phenomena as the Masonic affiliations of at least half the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, and the design of the dollar bill, with its prominent pyramid on the back."
(09/16/2009)
"Writers envious of Brown's sales...have devoted much ink to his deficiencies as a stylist. These are still in place....So is Brown's habit of turning characters into docents. But so, too, is his knack for packing huge amounts of information (spurious or no) into an ever-accelerating narrative. Call it Brownian motion: a comet-tail ride of short paragraphs, short chapters, beautifully spaced reveals and, in the case of THE LOST SYMBOL, a socko unveiling of the killer's true identity."
(09/15/2009)
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