The Lost Symbol

By: Dan Brown

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER • An intelligent, lightning-paced thriller set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., with surprises at every turn.

“Impossible to put down.... Another mind-blowing Robert Langdon story.” —The New York Times

Famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon answers an unexpected summons to appear at the U.S. Capitol Building. His plans are interrupted when a disturbing object—artfully encoded with five symbols—is discovered in the building. Langdon recognizes in the find an ancient invitation into a lost world of esoteric, potentially dangerous wisdom.

When his mentor Peter Solomon—a long-standing Mason and beloved philanthropist—is kidnapped, Langdon realizes that the only way to save Solomon is to accept the mystical invitation and plunge headlong into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and one inconceivable truth... all under the watchful eye of Dan Brown's most terrifying villain to date.

©2009 Dan Brown (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[I]mpossible to put down....Mr. Brown was writing sensational visual scenarios long before his books became movie material. This time he again enlivens his story with amazing imagery....Thanks to him, picture postcards of the capital's most famous monuments will never be the same....In the end it is Mr. Brown's sweet optimism, even more than Langdon's sleuthing and explicating, that may amaze his readers most." ( The New York Times)
"Thrilling, entertaining....Robert Langdon goes for another roller-coaster ride - this time in a hunt for a Masonic treasure in Washington, D.C." ( Los Angeles Times)

Well worth my time...entertaining.

Having read all of the previous reviews, I wonder what some of them were expecting from this book. With looking at the description and some of the critical reviews, along with knowing Mr. Brown's previous works, I found it engaging and entertaining. Just as I had hoped. As someone who has seen a lot of the world, retired military, and 'common' American, I found this book to be more enjoyable than 'code', although it will not be for everyone. Before you buy, check out the description, maybe the book's website and decide for yourself. I did not give it a 5 star simply because it is not without flaw. Definitely fulfilled my need for mental escape.

The Lost Symbol Was an Average Book

The book was good at parts, especially towards the middle, but honestly the end was rather verbose and uneventful - not the best fom Dan Brown, but he did set the bar pretty high with the first two in this series.

formulaic

The classic Dan Brown formula. Langdon is called on to help some shadow entity and is assisted by female scientist. Creepy bad guy in the shadows. An exiting and entertaining thriller if you don't over think it.

Pretty Good

I liked this book until the end when it got a bit hard to believe and a bit preachy but all in all it was fun to listen and the narrator was good. Lots of fun facts about the capitol and the Masons too.

Solid performance

The intrigue of Dan Brown's books goes without saying...5 stars all the way through.
The reading deserves 5 stars too...kept me involved the entire way through...nice job!

-Fellow audio book narrator

Snoozer

Has it's moments, but must say, rather dull. The narrator is horrible for this book.

He is just sooo smart

Dan Brown always delights me with his intellect. His books always open you up to concepts, ideas, a bit of science that you might not typically run into in your life. He makes you think about things you take for granted... or about things you already know... but presents in a new way. He is definitely an author of the thinking woman's fiction. Bravo

Excellent

As always, Dan Brown comes through with another great book. Is it as good as Angels and Demons? Judge for yourself. I thought it was excellent and well worth reading. His story lines are extensively researched and well thought out which keep the readers attention throughout the whole book. Some of the important points of the book are over-emphasized and restated again and again but it is not too annoying. If he had stopped the book when the story line ends it would have been a 5 star rating for me. But he chose to write a few more chapters of preaching about his ideals on religion and concepts that may be found offensive by some. The preaching did not really tie into the great story line and was more of an ambiguous tag on the end of what could have been an excellent book that a successful author like Brown is sadly afforded by the powers that be. Nonetheless, it is still worth reading and I do recommend it if you like Brown.

Good Story, Average Performance

Dan Brown enjoys writing along religious themes, turning conventional and accepted notions on their collective ear. While I may disagree with these twists, I accept them as fictional entertainment and enjoy the premise and thought behind them. This is another fine addition to the Robert Langdon collection, and one that could be film-worthy (in the right hands). Perhaps Netflix will pick it up as a limited series. I digress.

While I do enjoy Paul Michael's voice-work on this novel, it could use improvement. Whether the issue is performance, direction, or sound editing, my chief complaint is the extremes in volume between male and female characters. I found myself turning up the volume to clearly hear one (of more) of his female characters, only to have my ears blasted by the male characters voices. This issue makes listening far more hands-on that I would have liked, constantly adjusting volume to try to find that sweet spot where female characters' voices could be heard, and male characters' voices tolerated.

Another great body of work

I loved Dan Brown novels!! This is a must have if you loved his other books. I felt like this should have been a movie instead of inferno.