The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (2009)

Reader's Annotation

Symbologist Robert Langdon must decipher the location of the legendary Masonic Pyramid to save the life of his friend.

Summary

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon has long believed the Masonic Pyramid, supposedly hidden somewhere in Washington DC, to be a myth of Freemasonry but, when a madman calling himself Mal'akh kidnaps Langdon's friend and mentor Peter Solomon, Langdon must decipher its location or Peter will die. In the end, Mal'akh is disappointed. The Lost Word of the Masonic Pyramid is not a magical symbol. The Masonic Pyramid is the Washington Monument's aluminum capstone, and the Lost Word is a common Christian Bible buried in the Monument's cornerstone.

Evaluation

I enjoyed Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and had hoped to like The Lost Symbol more. As I struggled to write a summary of this novel, I realized how poorly structured it really is. Langdon plays a very passive role in the novel, which is something that no amount of lecturing on symbology or running about Washington DC can hide. The entire subplot on Noetic Science has no relationship to the story other than perhaps a thematic one. I did enjoy the history of Freemasonry in our nation's capital and the descriptions of interesting locations there, but I'd have enjoyed them more in a nicely illustrated work of nonfiction. I think that, for someone who enjoyed The Lost Symbol, I would recommend nonfiction books on Freemasonry and our nation's capital—An Illustrated Guide to The Lost Symbol by John Weber, for example.

Genres: Thriller
Subgenres: Conspiracy

The Perfect Husband

The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner (1998)

Reader's Annotation

What if the perfect man you married turned out to be a human monster?

Summary

Tess thought police officer Jim Beckett was the perfect white knight who would save her from her abusive father, but after two years of marriage, she knew that he was something far worse. After Tess provided enough evidence to put him away for brutally murdering ten women, Beckett hunted her down and nearly killed her. 

Now he's escaped from prison, and Tess fears the police won't be able to protect her any better than they did the last time. She turns to alcoholic, ex-mercenary J.T. Dillon for help. He helps her learn to protect herself while she helps him come to terms with his failure to protect his sister from their own abusive father. Together they deal with the seemingly unstoppable Jim Beckett.

Evaluation

This was a suspenseful and involving horror story of a human monster and at the same time a romance between two people who were damaged in very similar ways. Serial killer Jim Beckett served as the perfect cathartic stand-in for their respective fathers. The writing had its flaws but the story kept me interested to the very end. This is one of Gardner's earlier efforts; from the reviews on Amazon, I suspect that her writing has improved since. I would certainly try another in her FBI Profiler series. If you are bothered by graphic violence and explicit sex, you should avoid this novel.

Those who enjoy this novel should try the suspense novels of Thomas Harris, which include Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Romance
Subgenres: Human Monster, Serial Killer, Romantic Suspense

Under the Dome

Under the Dome by Stephen King (2009)

Reader's Annotation

When an invisible force field seals Chester's Mill off from the world, the good people  pull together, but to "Big Jim" Rennie it's an opportunity to grab power.

Summary

When the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine is mysteriously sealed off by an invisible and completely impenetrable force field, the results are like nothing anyone could have imagined. Planes and cars crash into the invisible barrier. Family members are stranded on opposite sides. Even worse, as long as the Dome is up, no new resources will be coming in from outside: no food, no gasoline, no propane, no medicines. "Big Jim" Rennie, used car dealer and town selectman, sees this situation as the perfect opportunity to grab power. As Rennie expands the police force into his own private band of thugs, he is opposed by Iraq War hero Dale Barbara and a few of the town's more sensible citizens. When opposition becomes open conflict, destructive fires poison the Dome's limited atmosphere. Dale Barbara and his friends must race to discover the secret of the mysterious Dome before it's rendered completely uninhabitable.

Evaluation

I can only compare this recent novel to King's earlier novel The Stand. Like that novel, Under the Dome is a big sprawling book with a huge cast of characters. And like The Stand, it is an allegory of our society in microcosm. Few writers could pull off a novel with this many characters and keep them interesting and worthy of our attention. The only other writer I've read recently who can do this is George R.R. Martin, whose epic fantasy Game of Thrones has a similarly large cast of interesting characters.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Subgenres: Disaster, Human Monster