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Epicurus UK Shoppes - The Lost Symbol: a novel

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List Price: £19.88
Our Price: £26.99
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Doubleday Books
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Average Customer Rating:     

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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780385504225 ISBN: 0385504225 Label: Doubleday Books Manufacturer: Doubleday Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 528 Publication Date: 2009-09-15 Publisher: Doubleday Books Studio: Doubleday Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that clandestine material will only be available--after midnight--to those who have signed non-disclosure notices. The plot of the new Dan Brown novel? No, it’s actually how reviewers such as myself obtained our copies of the much-anticipated The Lost Symbol, the follow-up to the Da Vinci Code. And as we read it in (literally) the cold light of dawn, we wonder: is it likely to match the earlier book’s all-conquering, phenomenal success? Firstly, it should be noted that The Lost Symbol has incorporated all the elements that so transfixed readers in The Da Vinci Code: a complex, mystifying plot (with the reader set quite as many challenges as the protagonist); breathless, helter-skelter pace (James Patterson's patented technique of keeping readers hooked by ending chapters with a tantalisingly unresolved situation is very much part of Dan Brown’s armoury). And, of course, the winning central character, resourceful symbologist Robert Langdon, is back, risking his life to crack a dangerous mystery involving the Freemasons (replacing the controversial trappings of the Catholic Church and homicidal monks of the last book). And while Dan Brown will never win any prizes for literary elegance, his prose is always succinctly at the service of delivering a thoroughly involving thriller narrative in vividly evoked locales (here, Washington DC, colourfully conjured). Robert Langdon flies to Washington after an urgent invitation to speak in the Capitol building. The invitation appears to have come from a friend with copper-bottomed Masonic connections, Peter Solomon. But Langdon has been tricked: Solomon has, in fact, been kidnapped, and (echoing the grisly opening of the last book) a macabre mutilation plunges Langdon into a tortuous quest. His friend’s severed hand lies in the Capitol building, positioned to point to a George Washington portrait that shows the father of his country as a pagan deity. The ruthless criminal nemesis here is another terrifying figure in Brown’s gallery of grotesques: Mal’akh, a powerfully built eunuch with a body festooned with tattoos. Mal’akh is seeking a Masonic pyramid that possesses a formidable supernatural power, and a pulse-pounding hunt is afoot, with Langdon stalled rather than aided by the CIA. Caveats are pointless here; Dan Brown, comfortably the world’s most successful author, is utterly review-proof. And there's no arguing with the fact that he has his finger on the pulse of the modern thriller reader, furnishing the mechanics of the blockbuster adventure with energy and invention. Like its predecessor, The Lost Symbol will unquestionably be--in fact, already is--a publishing phenomenon. --Barry Forshaw
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:      Summary: Extremely predictable Comment: Whether you see Dan Brown as a good or bad writer, I've found his books to be typical page turners. The Lost Symbol is not. I used a lost more time to read this book that what I normally would. It just got boring.
Biggest issue: Predictable. The second the idea of where the lost word (symbol) was presented, I knew exactly where it was, within no time I knew the twist regarding the bad guy, and as you understand the idea behind the Ancient Mysteries in the book, you also understand right away that the ending is going to be a let down. I believe most people reading The Lost Symbol will feel the same way. I'm glad I borrowed this book and saved my money.
Customer Rating:      Summary: So dull Comment: I quite enjoyed 'The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", so I was quite excited to read the third book in the series.
However, it was extremely dull and became quite a chore to finish.
You do not sympathise with any of the characters whatsoever. In fact you are more likely to wish that the villan would come out on top, at least that would make things interesting.
Dan Browne has concentrated far too much on facts and figures, that end up becoming awfully tedious, and you end up feeling that you would have been better off reading an encyclopedia.
I suspect that, as can sometimes happen after an author becomes succesful, that Dan Browne has been a little lazy with this Novel.
I hate to be so negatvie, as I really do enjoy most books I read, but this book was really bad.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Sorry Dan, your worst effort to date Comment: I have to admit, that I used to be a Dan Brown fan.... started with the Da Vinci code, then to Angels and Demons and the rest from there. I never used to understand the prejudice behind his books, especially from the critics, and felt them easy page turner thrillers. I think in this case however, I am beginning to see why.
Firstly, this book is a variation on the same theme... mystical treasure, kidnap, death, run around town like a headless chicken.... beautiful lady and a twist at the end. So lets just say far from original
Secondly, he keeps telling us what their character is thinking, almost treating the reader as slow witted, as 90% of the time you know what they are supposed to think
Thirdly - Freak of nature/weirdo chasing the hero....
Finally - and really specific to this book, is the quest is just boring, the twist is even more boring! In the previous books something was at stake, and you just had to know what the outcome was... in this book I just really didn't care. If Langdon, the Masons and his girlfriend spontaneously combusted I would not have cared, in fact probably would have found it more interesting!
Sorry..... Dan Brown, you are no longer on my must read list
Customer Rating:      Summary: Good simple fun Comment: Yes, the prose is awkward, yes the style is irritating at times ... But the plot keeps the pages turning. It's no literary masterpiece, but it's a good, simple read.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Not as good as previous Dan Brown books... Comment: I loved the previous Dan Brown books, so I was waiting anxiously for the new book to come out. Unfortunatelt it did not meet the high standards of previous books.
The story moves at a fast pace as usual, but it just did not get me hooked as the previous books. Also, the drawn out end was a big dissapointment and took me about a week to finish...
The entire background story seems too far fetched and the involvement of the various government agencies overdone.
Sorry, but only three stars for this one.
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