The Lost Symbol

Having penned the definitive best-seller of the modern era in The Da Vinci Code -- which has sold over 81 million copies worldwide -- author Dan Brown had a surefire hit waiting before he even began writing the follow-up. Anticipation for The Lost Symbol exceeded anything that the adult fiction world had ever seen, with first-day sales of over a million books.

The Lost Symbol continues the thrilling exploits of brilliant symbologist Robert Langdon in his first stateside adventure. Set amidst the mystery and grandeur of the architecture of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol is an exciting mystery wrapped up in the fascinating history of the United States.

The Lost Symbol is to Washington D.C. as The Da Vinci Code was to Paris and Angels & Demons was to Rome, filled with references to design and architecture and setting its fast-paced mystery in its intriguing environs. Dan Brown brings Harvard professor Robert Langdon to the Capitol building to deliver a lecture at the invitation of his friend Peter Solomon, Langdon's mentor and head of the Smithsonian Institute. More importantly, Solomon is also a 33rd degree Freemason, a fact which becomes central to a nefarious scheme set in motion when Langdon reaches the Capitol and finds his friend's severed and tattooed hand gruesomely posed to point up at the fresco on the Capitol dome.

Thus begins the thrilling action of The Lost Symbol, which dives deep into the involvement of the secretive Freemasons in the founding of the United States. Dan Brown sets Langdon against a mysterious villain named Mal'akh, a tattooed, steroid-enhanced madman who has captured Solomon and will kill him unless Langdon helps him reveal the so-called Ancient Mysteries. Mal'akh believes that unlocking their secrets will grant him the power to become a god-like being that can rule the world.

Dan Brown infuses The Lost Symbol with the trademark code-breaking he employed in The Da Vinci Code, mostly centered around Langdon's use of a small pyramid given to him by Solomon. Langdon uses the pyramid to suss out clues from various locations around Washington, D.C., including the Washington Memorial, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Botanical Garden, and the National Cathedral. Dan Brown teams his hero with Peter's sister, the beautiful and brilliant scientist Katherine Solomon, whose expertise in noetics contributes to Langdon's quest. The Lost Symbol follows Langdon and Solomon as they desperately dash from clue to clue through Washington, with the murderous Mal'akh in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, Langdon is also under pressure from the CIA to stop Mal'akh from releasing a video which will compromise members of the U.S. government for their involvement in secret Masonic rituals. Dan Brown again dangles a realistic conspiracy theory with present implications that stretches back several centuries. While perhaps not as controversial as his insinuations in The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol certainly presents some intriguing mysteries at the heart of the American government.

Dan Brown has scored another riveting page-turner in The Lost Symbol, filled with history, intrigue, conspiracy and real-world references that will not only have readers unable to tear themselves away, but perhaps might launch an entire tourist industry in our nation's capital.