Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol
The Lost Symbol
Buch
- A Novel
- DOUBLEDAY & CO, 09/2009
- Einband: Gebunden
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-13: 9780385504225
- Bestellnummer: 8784808
- Umfang: 528 Seiten
- Copyright-Jahr: 2009
- Gewicht: 765 g
- Maße: 246 x 167 mm
- Stärke: 44 mm
- Erscheinungstermin: 15.9.2009
- Serie: Robert Langdon
Achtung: Artikel ist nicht in deutscher Sprache!
Weitere Ausgaben von The Lost Symbol
Kurzbeschreibung
Washington, D. C.: In der amerikanischen Hauptstadt liegt ein sorgsam gehütetes Geheimnis verborgen, und ein Mann ist bereit, dafür zu töten. Doch dazu benötigt er die Unterstützung eines Menschen, der ihm freiwillig niemals helfen würde: Robert Langdon, Harvard-Professor und Experte für die Entschlüsselung und Deutung mysteriöser Symbole.Nur ein finsterer Plan ermöglicht es, Robert Langdon in die Geschichte hineinzuziehen. Fortan jagt der Professor über die berühmten Schauplätze der Hauptstadt, doch die wahren Geheimnisse sind in dunklen Kammern, Tempeln und Tunneln verborgen. Orte, die vor ihm kaum jemand betreten hat. Und er jagt nicht nur - er wird selbst zum Gejagten. Denn das Rätsel, das nur er zu lösen vermag, ist für viele Kreise von größter Bedeutung - im Guten wie im Bösen.
Zwölf Stunden bleiben Robert Langdon, um seine Aufgabe zu erfüllen. Danach wird die Welt, die wir kennen, eine andere sein.
Rezension
"Dan Brown brings sexy back to a genre that had been left for dead...His code and clue-filled book is dense with exotica...amazing imagery...and the nonstop momentum that makes The Lost Symbol impossible to put down. SPLENDID...ANOTHER MIND-BLOWING ROBERT LANGDON STORY." - Janet Maslin, New York Times"THRILLING IN THE EXTREME, A DEFINITE PAGE-FLIPPER." - Daily News (New York)
"Call it Brownian motion: A COMET TAIL-RIDE of beautifully spaced reveals and a socko unveiling of the killer's true identity." - Washington Post
"The wait is over. The Lost Symbol is here--and you don't have to be a Freemason to enjoy it....THRILLING AND ENTERTAINING, LIKE THE EXPERIENCE ON A ROLLER COASTER." - Los Angeles Times
"ROBERT LANGDON REMAINS A TERRIFIC HERO, a bookish intellectual who's cool in a crisis and quick on his feet.... The codes are intriguing, the settings present often-seen locales in a fresh light, and Brown keeps the pages turning." - Entertainment Weekly
Klappentext
In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world's most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling-a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown's most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D. C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U. S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object -artfully encoded with five symbols-is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.
When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon-a prominent Mason and philanthropist -is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations-all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown's novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown's fans have been waiting for . . . his most thrilling novel yet.
Auszüge aus dem Buch
PrologueHouse of the Temple8: 33 P. M. The secret is how to die.Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die.
The thirty-four-year-old initiate gazed down at the human skull cradled in his palms. The skull was hollow, like a bowl, filled with bloodred wine. Drink it, he told himself. You have nothing to fear. As was tradition, he had begun this journey adorned in the ritualistic garb of a medieval heretic being led to the gallows, his loose-fitting shirt gaping open to reveal his pale chest, his left pant leg rolled up to the knee, and his right sleeve rolled up to the elbow. Around his neck hung a heavy rope noose - a "cable-tow" as the brethren called it. Tonight, however, like the brethren bearing witness, he was dressed as a master. The assembly of brothers encircling him all were adorned in their full regalia of lambskin aprons, sashes, and white gloves. Around their necks hung ceremonial jewels that glistened like ghostly eyes in the muted light. Many of these men held powerful stations in life, and yet the initiate knew their worldly ranks meant nothing within these walls. Here all men were equals, sworn brothers sharing a mystical bond. As he surveyed the daunting assembly, the initiate wondered who on the outside would ever believe that this collection of men would assemble in one place . . . much less this place. The room looked like a holy sanctuary from the ancient world. The truth, however, was stranger still. I am just blocks away from the White House. This colossal edifice, located at 1733 Sixteenth Street NW in Washington, D. C., was a replica of a pre-Christian temple - the temple of King Mausolus, the original mausoleum . . . a place to be taken after death. Outside the main entrance, two seventeen-ton sphinxes guarded the bronze doors. The interior was an ornate labyrinth of ritualistic chambers, halls, sealed vaults, libraries, and even a hollow wall that held the remains of two human bodies. The initiate had been told every room in this building held a secret, and yet he knew no room held deeper secrets than the gigantic chamber in which he was currently kneeling with a skull cradled in his palms. The Temple Room. This room was a perfect square. And cavernous. The ceiling soared an astonishing one hundred feet overhead, supported by monolithic columns of green granite. A tiered gallery of dark Russian walnut seats with hand-tooled pigskin encircled the room. A thirty-three-foot-tall throne dominated the western wall, with a concealed pipe organ opposite it. The walls were a kaleidoscope of ancient symbols . . . Egyptian, Hebraic, astronomical, alchemical, and others yet unknown. Tonight, the Temple Room was lit by a series of precisely arranged candles. Their dim glow was aided only by a pale shaft of moonlight that filtered down through the expansive oculus in the ceiling and illuminated the room's most startling feature - an enormous altar hewn from a solid block of polished Belgian black marble, situated dead center of the square chamber. The secret is how to die, the initiate reminded himself."It is time," a voice whispered. The initiate let his gaze climb the distinguished white-robed figure standing before him. The Supreme Worshipful Master. The man, in his late fifties, was an American icon, well loved, robust, and incalculably wealthy. His once-dark hair was turning silver, and his famous visage reflected a lifetime of power and a vigorous intellect."Take the oath," the Worshipful Master said, his voice soft like falling snow. "Complete your journey."The initiate's journey, like all such journeys, had begun at the first degree. On that night, in a ritual similar to this one, the Worshipful Master had blindfolded him with a velvet hoodwink and pressed a ceremonial dagger to his bare chest, demanding: "Do you seriously declare on your honor, uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motiv