Flipbook

Flipbook in 21st Century

Dan Brown

Dan Brown Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best- selling novels of all time and the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown’s novels are published in 56 languages around the world with over 200 million copies in print.

Dan Brown In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, whose editors credited him with “keeping the publishing industry afloat; renewed interest in Leonardo da Vinci and early Christian history; spiking tourism to Paris and Rome; a growing membership in secret societies; the ire of Cardinals in Rome; eight books denying the claims of the novel and seven guides to read along with it; a flood of historical thrillers; and a major motion picture franchise.”

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol is best-selling author Dan Brown's third thriller novel following the life of symbologist Robert Langdon as he works to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of his mentor, Peter Solomon, whose severed hand is found in the Capitol Building in Washington DC during a Smithsonian fundraiser. Published in 2009, The Lost Symbol is the third book featuring Robert Langdon as the main character and was preceded by Angels and Demons (2000) and The DaVinci Code (2003). The book was followed by Inferno, which was published in 2013. Of the four books in the Robert Langdon series, The Lost Symbol is the only one that has not yet been adapted into a feature film.

The novel begins when Robert Langdon is summoned to a Smithsonian fundraiser in Washington DC by his mentor, Peter Solomon, who he is told will be speaking at the event. Robert is told by Peter to bring a small sealed box that he entrusted to Robert years before. Robert arrives at the fundraiser but Peter is not in attendance – after calling Peter's assistant, Robert discovers that the call was a hoax to lure him to the museum by Peter's kidnapper, Mal'akh. Moments later, Robert hears a scream and discovers Peter's severed hand in the Capitol Rotunda. The hand has a Freemason's ring on one finger and is tattooed with mysterious symbols on the fingers and the palm.

Robert then meets officers Anderson and Sato, who enlists him to help them interpret the symbols on Peter's hand. The three soon find themselves at a Masonic altar in the Capitol's basement, where they find an inscribed pyramid without its capstone. Anderson and Sato attempt to take Robert into custody because x- ray records show that he was carrying a pyramid-shaped object into the Capitol earlier that evening – this pyramid was in the sealed package that Peter requested Robert bring. But before he can be arrested, the Capitol's architect William Bellamy is added into the mix, and in the confusion William and Robert flee together. Later, William tells Robert that he wants his assistance in rescuing Peter.

At this point, Brown reveals that Mal'akh is a heavily tattooed Freemason, and many chapters are dedicated to telling the backstory between Peter Solomon and Mal'akh. Mal'akh, formerly known as Andros Dareios, was the cellmate of Peter's rebellious son Zachary during his brief imprisonment in Turkey, where Zachary was caught smuggling drugs. Zachary was murdered in prison, and Dareios steals Zachary's large inheritance and flees to Greece. Andros becomes obsessed with the Freemasons from stories Zachary told him in prison, and breaks into Peter's house to find the pyramid hidden there.

During the break-in, Andros accidentally kills Peter's mother and is then shot by Peter and left to die. He nurses himself back to health, takes the name Mal'akh, and makes it his mission to uncover the secrets of the Freemasons. For many chapters, there is confusion around the identity of Mal'akh, and William accuses Agent Sato of working with Mal'akh, though she is not. The group is joined by Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, who runs a noetic science lab at the Smithsonian. Mal'akh destroys her lab and nearly captures her, but she escapes and continues with Robert, William, and Sato in the search to find Peter.

Eventually, the group is captured by Mal'akh, and Robert is nearly drowned in a sensory deprivation tank that Mal'akh uses as a tool to interrogate him about the encoded inscription on the bottom of the pyramid capstone. Mal'akh also nearly kills Katherine with a hypodermic needle, and Peter Solomon is discovered alive but weak and bound to a wheelchair. Mal'akh flees with Peter to the Temple Room of the Scottish Rites House of the Temple, and in a shocking reveal the group discovers, at the moment just before Peter kills Mal'akh, that Mal'akh is in fact, Zachary.

Rather than being murdered in prison, Zachary had killed another man and disfigured him beyond recognition, and then assumed another identity to escape. Peter tries to kill Zachary, but can't bring himself to do it. At that moment, Sato arrives by helicopter at the Temple and breaks the glass ceiling – the shards of glass fall, and one fatally impales Zachary. At the end of the novel, Peter shows Robert the true secrets of the Freemasons – a Bible, which the Masons believe holds the key to the enlightenment of the human spirit. It is also revealed that Katherine's research has been backed up externally, and as such she can continue her research.

Like many of his novels, most notably The DaVinci Code, Brown plays with ideas about Christian faith, codes, symbols, and ancient history. He has been criticized for his anti-Christian sentiments, but in an interview stated that he doesn't think of his books as anti-religious, but rather as adventure stories that allow for serious “discussion and debate” about spirituality.