VDT VIEW

By Dean Poling 
The Valdosta Daily Times

As viewers prepare to watch the latest Dan Brown adaptation with the Ron Howard-directed movie “Angels & Demons,” readers can prepare for the latest book in the series that includes the mega-best-seller “The Da Vinci Code.”
Books-A-Million, WaldenBooks and other book stores recently announced the Sept. 15 release of “The Lost Symbol,” Dan Brown’s follow-up to “The Da Vinci Code,” the latest novel to feature symboligist Robert Langdon. This book was expected originally a few years ago, but has been delayed. People can pay for the book in advance, securing a copy on the release date.
The announcement came a few weeks ago, which played in well for the second Tom Hanks movie, which debuts for viewers much as the “Angels & Demons” book did.
The world took note of “The Da Vinci Code,” but it was not Dan Brown’s first Robert Langdon novel. “Angels & Demons” was first. Most readers read “Angels & Demons,” however, after reading “The Da Vinci Code.” Many readers have claimed to enjoy “Angels & Demons” better than the more famous “Code” novel.
In “Angels & Demons,” Langdon is called to a Swiss scientific facility where his help is needed in analyzing a bizarre symbol branded onto the chest of a murder victim. Langdon recognizes the symbol as belonging to the Illuminati, a legendary, scientific sect founded by Galileo - a sect believed to be extinct.
Through the murder victim’s daughter, Langdon learns that a small amount of antimatter has been stolen from the research facility. This globule of antimatter could destroy everything within a few city blocks. The antimatter has been hidden in the Vatican as the world’s cardinals prepare to meet in Conclave to elect a new pope.
Langdon finds himself in a race to save four kidnapped cardinals and the Vatican from destruction as he re-traces the steps of the Illuminati’s secret and ancient path to membership.
Brown wrote “Angels & Demons” several years ago and it did OK on bestseller lists. But the runaway success of The Da Vinci Code” made the earlier “Angels & Demons” a chart-topping best-seller.
What’s surprising about “Angels & Demons” is the realization that Brown is apparently following a pattern with the Langdon series. There are many similarities between the two books. In both books, a middle-of-the-night phone call awakens Langdon and sets him on an adventure; his expertise in religious symbols is needed in regards to a murder; he is partnered with the murder victims’ daughters, who were both singly raised by a father figure; all of the action takes place within a whirlwind of hours; in each, they face a sadistic flunky serving a big-wig antagonist; and Langdon must solve puzzles from antiquity, while treading into matters of Christian-based controversy.
That said, both books are easily readable. And “Angels & Demons,” in many ways, is more in tune with the pacing of a thriller than “The Da Vinci Code,” though not as controversial or as intellectually stimulating as the second book.
It will be interesting to see if Dan Brown will continue the formula of the first two books with “The Lost Symbol.”