Book Cover

To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.

Past Dan Brown reviews:

• Angels & Demons
• The Da Vinci Code

# Review

As with the two books, the story starts with a heinous crime surrounded by religious symbolism, this time taking place in the US and has to do with Masonic lore. The symbologist Robert Langdon is once again, called in to research and uncover the truth.

Unlike the first two books, the fictional background is more fantastical than historic; there is no longer the sense of fiction blending with reality. This book is clearly fiction as it deals with parapsychology (Noetic Science) and supposed mystical powers. I did find the conspiracy stories about secret societies and US history very entertaining but the addition of mysticism and apotheosis made the book much less immersive than the first two.

The story-telling is still excellent and the plot, while sometimes predictable, is still thrilling and features many twists and turns. While it was cool that the book describes many locations in Washington D.C. which I have visited in the past, the background of the main story felt weaker than the background of the first two novels.

# Conclusion

Good story-telling but unbelievable conspiracy.

# Overall rating: 6.8

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