The Lost Symbol

I picked up a copy of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol at a garage sale earlier this month. I couldn't decide what book on my list I wanted to read on my most recent business trip, so I took this along instead. What a great summer read! Just like the first two Robert Langdon novels, it was full of action and sophisticated intrigue. A thriller at heart, Brown weaves in so much history, symbology, science, and conspiracy theory, one can't help but feel smart reading it. (Especially when I figured out the biggest symbolic mystery close to the beginning!)

Abandoning the Catholic church, Brown centers this novel around the Masons. Theories about the Mason's involvement in the founding of America are not new--I caught a History Channel show about the subject on the same business trip. Many of the founding fathers were confirmed members, several prominent buildings in DC--including the Capitol and Washington Monument--commenced with traditional Masonic cornerstone ceremonies, and if you trace a 6-pointed star over the pyramid seal on the back of a dollar bill, the points will hit letters that spell out Mason.

When the highest Masonic leader in the country calls Robert Langdon to give a talk on symbology at the Capitol building, the action begins. He arrives to find the severed hand of this leader, who is also a close friend, sitting in the middle of the Rotunda room, newly tattooed with symbols of the Ancient Mysteries. And the action is nonstop from there. A madman is desperate to find a mythical portal, supposedly located in DC, that leads to the Ancient Mysteries--a new level of wisdom and knowledge for humankind.

This was a fun read, especially for summer. Of course, when my plane hit terrifying turbulence, reading about a woman running for her life didn't really keep my mind off the bumpy ride. But other than that, it was hard to put down, and I'd highly recommend it for a light read!