The book starts with a call to Robert Langdon, a symbologist, getting a call from his mentor, Peter Solomon. What follows is the beginning of his journey to find the Ancient Mysteries, which are to be kept out of the reach of wrong hands. The plot reminds us of The Da Vinci Code, which had characters that were almost identical to the ones in The Lost Symbol. The plot gets a little predictable, especially when somebody has read the previous novels by Brown.
The chase by the CIA is very much predictable. Officer Sato, however, brings a wave of freshness when first introduced. Brown again makes use of paintings and hidden puzzles. The story is set in Washington D.C. and its past and revolves around the Freemasons. It does create suspense and thrill and makes us turn the pages in a hurry.
Brown attempts to make the narration enlightening, but ends up dragging it on and on. The climax would have been much better, had the Ancient Mysteries been something else than the obvious Holy Bible. A cellar full of texts aging beyond the Bible would have been nice.
The book does show Brown’s vast knowledge about arcane history, philology, symbolism, art and architecture, and his talent to weave this knowledge into the plot. Like the other two books, it certainly is well-researched and the story is well-told. It is commendable work but needed a little more freshness and variation to make it stand out.
Shreya Mudgil
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