Washington from a different perspective

An action thriller involving secrets in art, architecture and history.

Book: The Lost Symbol

Author: Dan Brown

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Publisher: Doubleday

Excerpt:

Tonight, the Temple Room was lit by a series of precisely arranged candles. Their dim glow was aided only by a pale shaft of moonlight that filtered down through the expansive oculus in the ceiling and illuminated the room’s most startling feature — an enormous altar hewn from a solid block of polished Belgian black marble, situated dead center of the square chamber.

The secret is how to die, the initiate reminded himself.

“It is time,” a voice whispered

Not a freemason? No worries, you can still read Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’, which like his other novels ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ helps you revive forgotten history, solve puzzles and bring out logical meanings from paintings.

Brown this time takes Robert Langdon to Washington to unveil the secrets of Freemasonry. The 46-year-old Harvard symbologist is invited by his well-off friend, Peter Solomon to give a speech in the Capitol Building but it turns out to be a fake invitation by a madman who has placed Solomon’s detached hand marked with Masonic tattoos in Rotunda which Langdon identifies as “hand of mysteries” — a sacred invitation. The eunuch madman calls himself Mal’akh and is looking for a Masonic Pyramid that contains the power of transformation for which he brought Langdon to Washington D.C.

Brown’s relationship with magic and science is introduced through Katherine Solomon — a scientist and Solomon’s sister who, like her brother, is also under the charm of Mal’akh. However, she survives his hideous personality with help from Langdon with whom she solves the mystery hidden in Washington D.C. to save his brother. The character of the CIA director, Inoue Sato, believes that this situation is a matter of national security and together with the blind dean of Washington’s National Cathedral, he helps Langdon in decoding the message contained in the Masonic Pyramid.

The novel is based on a 12-hour timeframe in which hidden knowledge takes many shapes from the Alchemists and the Egyptians to rabbi sages. The book also reveals the US government’s diplomacy on the war on terror, the superstring theory and Katherine’s study of noetics, which she believes will bring great changes in the physical world.

What keeps you involved in the story is: Will Langdon be able to uncover Mal’akh’s cunning plan and ensure the survival of his friend. Also, solving puzzles on your own makes the reader turn pages and connect the dots as the story gets more intriguing.

Goose bumps and high pulses is what you’ll experience while reading The Lost Symbol. For fans and regular readers of Dan Brown, it will not be difficult at all to understand Brown’s motives throughout the novel.  All of this fit together to create a remarkable thriller and makes you look at Washington D.C. from an entirely new perspective.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2011.