If that's so, you might ask, why did I pick up his newest book? Well, good reader, I can't resist a good deal. This one came through on Christmas as the NOOK deal of the day and I decided that $2 wasn't a bad price for something that should at least be mildly entertaining.
And I guess I got what I thought I would out of this. Since his earlier novels hit it big, Brown has written with a style that reminds me of a Michael Bay movie. There's a ton of action, little downtime, and more chapters than you can shake a stick at. While the writing isn't exactly BAD, it's not very fulfilling either.
This book centers around Robert Langdon, the professor of religious iconography who headlines most of Brown's books. Much like the three previous novels starring Langdon, he must use his knowledge of the ancient world to save the modern one. He wakes up in a hospital room in Florence and winds up traveling to other parts of Italy and beyond trying to stop the machinations of a man that committed suicide a few days prior. But there's a twist: he's lost his memory.
It's been a while since I read the first two novels starring Langdon, so I shouldn't make this comparison freely, but the books have really gone downhill since those two. I feel like the novels all have at least one plot twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan envious, sometimes more than one. Which would be fine, but most of the time you can see it coming. There were at least three in this one, and each one produced less surprised than the first.
I don't want to go too much farther into the book in case you would like to read it, but I finished the book feeling as if I had just sat through a history class that held no interest for me. The book felt spastic and thin in spots, and overly slow and filled with history in others.
All in all I think I've finally given Dan Brown his last chance with me. You know, until the next sale.
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