(no spoilers)

As a sequel to the 2003 bestseller The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown has given us The Lost Symbol, which is a thriller about the secret brotherhood called The Freemasons, interspersed with a family drama.

Set in Washington DC (again!), the book explores the one-night-wild-goose-chase of Robert Langdon (again!) against a dreadful lunatic (again!) and a highly powerful government agency (again!), protecting a secret that has the potency to change the world (again!), making profound discoveries by carefully observing well known pieces of art, literature and bible (again!), while trying to save all those murders that happen along the way (again!). You get the drift.

The novel is repetitive, to say the least. If you have read his earlier books, say Deception Point, Angels and Demons, and The Da Vinci Code, you will find the latest one utterly boring and monotonous. I mean, Dan Brown should move over to some new theme, rather than reusing this art-science-religion crap over and over again. We know that there are secrets in the world out there waiting to be discovered, but we would like to read something refreshing, thank you very much.

If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code carefully, you will find so many parallels with it in The Lost Symbol that the plot will become almost believable. Trust me, if you are paying attention while reading, you will be able to predict the final outcome some halfway through the book. Yes, it is that predictable -  more predictable than a B-grade bollywood flick! 

And please, don’t talk about the finale. It is as excruciating as anything to read! A literal pain in the a**!! Even after everything is over, after the supposed National Security Crisis is averted, and the lunatic’s identity revealed, the author brags on and on about the symbol that was lost. Peter Solomon manages to extract another meaning from the Pyramid, which is bland. At this point, all the reader wishes is that the book should end, which doesn’t happen. 

However, if I keep the monotonous plot aside, I must confess that Brown has really evolved as a writer. The grammatical errors in the book have greatly reduced [ ], the number of shorter sentences has considerably decreased [ ], and some of the chapters aren’t too bad. Especially Chapter #77, in which the antagonist relives his past. Pure genius!

Dan Brown also seems to have grown technologically [ ], for you find references to iPhone, Google, Wikipedia and Twitter (yes!) strewn all over the book.

What’s the verdict then? The Lost Symbol is sapless, run-of-the-mill, unimaginative, and wearisome. You can add more adjectives if you want, in the comments.

P.S.: If you want some adventure, you can try the SymbolQuest at the book’s website. Quite an interesting game. Here’s a screenshot: