Best-selling author Dan Brown and his well-known protagonist Robert Langdon return

in Brown's long-awaited novel, The Lost Symbol, released in the fall of 2009.

Having returned from Europe and his adventures in Angels and Demons and The Da
Vinci Code, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to Washington, D.C., by
his mentor, Peter Solomon, to speak at a prestigious Smithsonian fundraiser. However,
when Langdon arrives, Solomon is nowhere to be found. After calling Solomon's
assistant, Langdon learns that his scheduled speech was only a trick to bring him to the
Capitol.

Moments later, screams are heard and a severed hand—Solomon's—is found in an

adjacent room in the Capitol Building. One of the fingers wears a ring that bears the
mark of the Freemasons' highest honor. Each of the fingers is tattooed, as is the palm
of the hand, with symbols that only Langdon comprehends. Langdon realizes that the
tattoos are an invitation to unlock mysteries of the ancients. Soon, a number of high-
ranking national security officials demand that Langdon help them as he is the only one
able to decipher the mysterious invitation. Langdon, the chief of Capitol security Trent
Anderson, and CIA official Sato find themselves in a sub-basement room of the United
States Capitol Building; the room is set up in a scene familiar only to Langdon and
Masons the world over.

Meanwhile, Solomon's sister, Katherine, goes to work in a secret lab constructed by

her brother in an empty pod deep within the Smithsonian's storage facility. Katherine,
trying to advance the science of noetics, finds it strange that Peter is not answering his
phone. Summoned by a mysterious Dr. Abbadon, who claims to have been working
with Peter to deal with psychological distress, Katherine learns that her brother has
shared some of her secret research with the doctor, which shocks her.

Katherine and Robert are eventually brought together in a desperate attempt to save
Peter Solomon—and the nation—from a single madman determined to reveal
information that could change life as we know it.

The Lost Symbol is a fast-moving, action-packed thriller told in Dan Brown's riveting
style that will keep readers turning page after page.
In 1997, Dan Brown came out with his first thriller, Digital Fortress. He went on to write Angels
and Demons and Deception Point. His masterpiece, The Da Vinci Code was published in March
2003 and sold nearly 6000 copies on its very first day and reached the New York Times’ Best
Seller List in its very first week.

1) Dan Brown who is renowned all over the world for his best selling novel, The Da
Vinci Code was born on 22nd June, 1964.

He was the eldest of three children in Exeter, New Hampshire. He did his schooling
from Phillips Exeter Academy, which was considered to be a highly exclusive school.
His father was a mathematics instructor in the same school. His mother on the other
hand was a music professor; chiefly involved in practicing very revered music. Even
though Dan Brown attended open-enrollment schools, till he entered 9th grade, he
nevertheless lived with his family and also pro-actively took part in college related
activities, which were also influenced greatly by Christian norms and traditions; such as
singing carols in the Church and going to College Camp.

2-Born: 22 June 1964

Birthplace: Exeter, New Hampshire

Best known as: Author of The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown wrote the The Da Vinci Code, a runaway bestseller and one of the most-talked-
about novels of 2003. The book follows the dashing Harvard "symbologist" Robert Langdon as
he investigates a murder at the Louvre Museum in Paris and delves into a confounding world
of religious secrets and ancient mysteries; the title alludes to hidden messages allegedly
concealed in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Brown grew up in Exeter, New Hampshire and
graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1982. After graduating from Amherst College,
Brown tried his hand at songwriting before becoming an English teacher at Phillips Exeter. In
1996 he turned to writing fiction full-time, and in 1998 his first novel, Digital Fortress was
published. The book became a bestseller and was followed by Angels and Demons (2000, with
the first appearance of the Langdon character), Deception Point (2001) and The Da Vinci Code.
Most of his books share Brown's signature mix of secret societies, international intrigue,
scholarly puzzles and fast-paced action. A feature film version of The Da Vinci Code was
released in 2006, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. A film of
Angels and Demons followed in 2009, with Howard and Hanks reprising their roles, and a third
Landgon book, The Lost Symbol was released later that year.

Extra credit:

Brown wrote the funny 1995 advice book 187 Men to Avoid: A Survival Guide for the
Romantically Frustrated Woman under the pseudonym of Danielle Brown.
After his third novel, Deception Point (2001), Brown returned to Langdon with The Da Vinci
Code, a thriller that centres on art history, Christianity’s origins, and arcane theories.
Attempting to solve the murder of the Louvre’s curator, Langdon encounters mysterious
organizations (Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion),

discusses the hidden messages in Leonardo da Vinci’s art, raises the possibility that Jesus
married Mary Magdalene and fathered a child, and discovers the Holy Grail. The Da Vinci Code
proved controversial, and many theologians and art scholars dismissed Brown’s notions. The
novel, however, proved immensely popular with readers.

By 2009 more than 80 million copies had been sold, and editions were available in some 40
languages. Intense interest in the novel resulted in a spate of Code-related books and sparked
sales of Brown’s earlier works; in 2004 all four of his novels appeared simultaneously on The
New York Times best-seller lists. The film adaptations of The Da Vinci Code and Angels &
Demons were released in 2006 and 2009, respectively, with Tom Hanks starring as Langdon.

Brown continued the adventures of his tweedy protagonist in The Lost Symbol (2009), which
centres on Freemasons, and Inferno (2013), which saw Langdon following clues related to
Dante’s poem The Divine Comedy in an effort to stop the release of a plague. The latter book
was also adapted for the big screen, in 2016, with Hanks again portraying Langdon.