Here he goes again! Dan Brown is back with a new page-turner - and more, such as plot twists that are not so much twists as a road straight ahead and a plot that feels oddly similar to every other Dan Brown book. There's Langdon, on a run, with a female sidekick, a mysterious organisation (or many of those) with conservative& elderly, male leaders. People are again doing bad things in the name of religion - and I feel like I'm rereading the Da Vinci Code, except now we're in Spain.
So why, oh why, do I like this book? At least enough to actually give it a good rating?
Well, I am not a critic, I'm a consumer - an avid book consumer, and there are things that really speak for Brown. Firstly, I buy a Dan Brown book and I know what I'm going to get: a fast-paced thriller, filled with intriguing symbols, hidden meanings and "deeper" questions. It's close enough to truth that I can entertain the idea "what if this were true" without loosing the illusion. There's plenty to learn from the characters knowledge, locations, central artwork... things that I know are based on real things. My Trivial Pursuit skills get enhanced, and I'm having fun reading. What's there not to like?
I do wish Brown would somehow flip the script and surprise me with something I haven't seen before in terms of _plot_, because the setting is changing every time while still being engaging. That's where Brown's true talent lies as a writer.
WHERE DO WE COME FROM?
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The stunningly inventive new novel from the world’s most popular thriller writer
Bilbao, Spain
Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a major announcement — the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s ... (more)