The Lost Symbol

I've read the daVinci Code and listened to Angels & Demons by Dan Brown so had a good idea what style of book this would be. As with the earlier books the story is full of complex explanations of symbols and historical references, this time for Masonic Orders coupled with a fast moving thriller. Much of the detail was interesting. The section about weighting the human soul was scientific bunk. As with Angles & Demons the book is marred by a boring finale of nearly an hour: in this book it's turgid religious references. It made the end of the book a damp squib.

I cannot believe I wasted so many hours of my life listening to this book!! Luckily I was walking the dogs at the time so not a total waste. What started as quite an exciting story was rapidly bogged down in way too much detail. It felt as if Dan Brown was including every piece of research he had ever done, rather than applying any filter as to what was interesting or necessary to the plot. The last 3 hours was a complete waste of time, some parts didn't even make sense. Do not buy this however much you may have enjoyed his previous books.

Quite liked his previous books. This one is dull, slow and tedious. Was glad when it was over.

This is a very disappointing book.

While well read and dramatised - that is the end of the positives.

The book is really no more than a short story spun out with a lot of tedious detail, trading on the author's reputation.

It is slow, dull and unexciting compared to his previous work.

Definitely the worst book I have had from Audible

After all the excitement it took two goes at listening to the ending to realise my player hadn't switched off - it had just run out of story. Pity.

Really enjoyed it. Lost a star because of points below (no spoilers)...

1. If your female companion declares she has decyphered an element of the puzzle, you must ask 'You understand??' incredulously as though you had always assumed her an idiot.

2. The nervous wreck Langdon will meet any mild revelation during the proceedings with such actions as staggering, knees giving way, jumping backwards or being utterly shocked.

3. There are two ways you can learn the secrets of the ages. You can either graft your way up the 33 degrees of the Masonic order over a lifetime or, alternatively, you can hand it on a platter to your brattish, spoilt, greedy and indiscreet son.

4. After you have finished your story, reserve an extra 2 hours at the end of the book to preach at the listener.

5. Make your puzzles decypherable only to the sagely initated, oh, and everyone else who has basic knowledge of art, history and architecture.

I really liked this book. Not as unrealistic as the others I have listened too and with some good links to real life and ideas.
Liked the end but found it carried on a little too much after the climatic end. This just knocks it off the five stars for me.

Here we go again .... In traditional Dan Brown style we are returned to the mystical world of Professor Robert Langdon and yet again he has a sexy, intelligent, companion throughout this epic adventure.
Basically, if you enjoy the Dan Brown style then you will drop lightly into the characters in this tale of the New World. The usual sysbologist aproach to the solving of a mystery, add in the usual secret societies and a touch of drama and awaay you go. Throughly enjoyable.
You will always be left with food for thought and a desire for more if you enjoyed The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons then here is the next step on the staircase.

The da vinci code was a bit daft but basically a fun adventure that kept my interest throughout. This book charts new heights of the ridiculous without the redeeming feature of being a good yarn.

I was pleased to get to the end.

I found this audiobook painful to listen to, though I have a feeling I think I would have found the book painful to read. I've enjoyed previous Dan Brown books even though I've known that they weren't great works of fiction, this one I couldn't enjoy as I was aware almost from the first chapter that it was badly written wtih repeated use of the same descriptions among other things. I did make it to the end, though more through perseverence than enjoyment.