I finally got around to finishing Dan Brown's newest book The Lost Symbol. The book was long and interesting like all of Dan Brown's book, but this one is probably at the bottom of my likability scale, which is tough for me to say. I have read all of Brown's book, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed and reread every single one of them. But, this book, was definitely not one I would read again.

The book follows Brown's most popular character Robert Langdon, the esteemed symbologist from Harvard who has been used in matters of religious background. Langdon has had an interesting life, first being used by the Vatican to help unearth a plot to destroy the Catholic headquarters and second being caught in an mad man's attempt to uncover the Church's biggest secret. In this book, another mad man seeks to use Langdon to uncover the long hidden secret the Freemasons have long protected until the world of was to receive it.

My first problem with the book is the recycled plot line Brown has seemed to have suck himself in. It was a good idea for the first to books, but it seems like a person whose only real skill is deciphering is ancient, religious symbols is finding that his specialty has few customers and even fewer exciting uses for his talent. Or maybe Brown is not using his talents creatively. There is a lot of potential for a character like Langdon. Why not have him uncover some lost civilization? Solve some ancient, cross racial/religious grudge? Who knows? Brown needs to branch out from Christianity.

My second problem is the length and pace of the book. It didn't have the thriller feel that Brown had in all his other books. The chapters were short as you might expect from a thriller, but their pace was drawn out. And there seemed to be a lot of information that wasn't required for the book to progress. All this caused me to take at least a week to read the book rather than the average day or two Brown's other books take me to read.

What I like about the book was Brown's approach to religion that Brown has become known for. Brown seems to want his readers to see the problems of fundamentalism in religion. This, as everyone knows, created a lot of negative publicity--which might be why his book became so popular--around his book, The DaVinci Code.

Overall, the book was okay. But not what I expected from a suspense writer from like Dan Brown. If there was a star system, I'd say 6 out of 10 stars.

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