the lost symbol - i

I'm about half way through Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol. I read The DaVinci Code when it was all the rage, and I later read Angels and Demons. I came out of the two earlier books feeling like a lot of other folks I've spoken to about it: Angels and Demons was a better book, but I can see the popular allure of The DaVinci Code.

Both earlier books include a romp through Europe's history, art and architecture, with a conspiracy theorist's eye on the secret societies that helped to make Europe what it is today, unbeknownst to us. They both followed much the same same story arc
that many mysteries involving recurring characters like Professor Robert Langdon: the protagonist doesn't just step, unwittingly, into ancient mystery and international intrigue once, it's more like an OCD manifestation. It happens to our guy constantly. And there's always a fortish, attractive, smart gal to show up and share his pain, and maybe even his bed, but innuendo is as far as that will go. We are left to imagine the culmination of our modern day Conan's, and his academic Red Sonia's, new found amore. These aren't romance novels after all, this is serious, save-the-worldmanship we've got going on here.

So Langdon is at it again, roped into another bizarre mystery involving ancient clues, both hidden and in plain view, which he must rush to decode in order to prevent catastrophe. Seems like the same story arc to me. The attractive, potential love interest just showed up, so it's looking good for our guy at this point.

The writing seems fine. Other than the first sentence, which kind of made me groan, I find myself carried along through this story quickly. I know basically how it will end, but I don't know how we'll get there, so I keep reading.

I'll let you know how it goes.