Among the plethora of genres and subgen-res in contemporary literature the so-called tech-no-scientific-crime-mystery-thriller seems to have a unique craze of its own for its edge-of-the-seat reading experience. One of the brightest names to have carved a niche for himself in this very challengingly popular category with his literary oeuvre of crime and mystery with a heavy dose of techno-scientific inputs is Dan Brown. Born on June 22, 1964 at Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, Dan Brown is the eldest of three siblings. His mother Constance was a professional musician, playing organ at church. His father Richard G Brown was a mathematics teacher. Dan Brown’s early education was at the local Phillips Exeter Academy under his father’s watchful tutelage. He then went on to study at Amherst College, Massachusetts from where he graduated with a double major in Spanish and English. At Amherst, he was a writing student of visiting American novelist, Professor Alan Lelchuk. In 1985, he also enrolled himself in an art history course at the University of Seville, Spain. He married Blythe Newlon, a woman 12 years his senior, who was Director of Artistic Development, National Academy of Songwriters, when, as a struggling lyricist, he also happened to join the Academy to pursue a career as singer-songwriter and pianist in 1991.

Dan Brown is best known for the 2003 bestseller The Da Vinci Code, his fourth novel. His earlier three novels — Digital Fortress (1998), Angels & Demons (2000) and Deception Point (2001) — had little success; however, The Da Vinci Code topped the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of release in 2003. It is now credited with being one of the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold worldwide as of 2009. His novels feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories and have been translated into over 40 languages. In 2006, The Da Vinci Code was released as a film by Columbia Pictures, with director Ron Howard; the film starred Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, a fictional professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard University, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing. The next film, Angels & Demons, was released on May 15, 2009, with both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks returning.

Dan Brown’s eagerly waited fifth novel, The Lost Symbol, was finally released worldwide by its publisher Random House, on September 15, 2006. The Lost Symbol, formerly known as the working title, The Solomon Key, is the third book to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, after Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. On its first day, the book sold one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the US, the UK and Canada.

The book’s story takes place over a period of 12 hours in Washington DC, with a focus on Freemasonry. Langdon is summoned to Washington to give a lecture, apparently by his mentor; a 33rd degree Mason named Peter Solomon. However, instead of an audience for his lecture, he finds the severed right hand of Solomon tattooed and pointing in a peculiar way. Langdon begins a rapid chase through the basement of the Capitol building, solving a series of cryptic-clues. He joins forces with Solomon’s sister, Noetic scientist Dr Katherine Solomon, while matching wits with Mal’akh, a tattooed, self-castrated and brilliant villain who is in search of an ancient source of power. The climax takes place in a Masonic Lodge. Mal’akh believes he has the ‘lost symbol’. His death minutes later, has a description of his soul being received by devils. The final chapters reveal more about the ‘lost symbol’, and the book ends with the word ‘Hope’.

Saikh Md Sabah Al-Ahmed