THE LOST SYMBOL - A Review

HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER.

Let's see:
Your previous novel sold more copies than Wilt Chamberlain had sexual partners. What do you do for an encore?

• Replace the Catholic church with the Freemasons. Check!
• Replace DaVinci's painting "The Last Supper" with the architecture of Washington, DC. Check!
• Keep the hero from your previous books, Robert Langdon. Check!
• Replace Silas (from The Da Vinci Code), who practiced corporal mortification, with Mal'akh, a tattooed, self-castrated and brilliant villain who is in search of an ancient source of power. Check!
  
• Toss in another brilliant (and gorgeous, of course) female character named Dr. Katherine Solomon. Check!
• Make sure the characters get to visit most of the major buildings in DC. Check!
• 5 million copies for a first run printing. Check!
• Start thinking about the next project ... hmmm, the Boy Scouts have some shady things in their past, don't they? Check!

Final thoughts: The Lost Symbol is bad, but not as bad as Pat Conroy's South of Broad. No one expects Dan Brown to deliver good writing ... Conroy however, we do.

BIBLIO SAYS: Beyond bad, beyond comprehension. Recommended if you're into agony.

Companion Read: The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell.