I like Dan Brown. I know this is an unpopular sentiment, but I think the man writes a good thriller. (Besides Digital Fortress, but I believe that was his first, so he deserves some leeway.) This was the only one I hadn't read, so I thought I'd finish up the oeuvre while notching a quickie.
Now, in some ways, it was a little too James Bond for me (or, as it would happen, Tomb Raider, which I watched at some point during my reading). There were a couple of sequences that I just couldn't buy...like when they're sitting on a calving glacier and manage to not only live, but get an SOS out. Please. I've been to Alaska, I've seen those things fall, and it ain't pretty. No one's surfing off one of those chunks of ice and living to tell the tale. Not protagonists Rachel Sexton and Michael Tolland and not 007 and Lara Croft.
But overall it was enjoyable, and I totally thought I had the bad guy figured out...only to be completely wrong. My favorite Dan Brown book remains Angels and Demons but that's okay, it's a tough one to beat. The only outstanding point remaining: When is The Solomon Key coming out?!? I've read that he has writer's block, and as a sufferer myself, I can't really blame him.
Next up: I tried to read two more erudite books, Abigail Thomas' Three-Dog Life and Anthony Doerr's Four Seasons in Rome, but couldn't get into either of them. I haven't given up entirely but since I've had jury duty this week, I've opted for a book that's easy to pick up and put down: Sue Grafton's R is for Ricochet. I think I've only read two of the others in the series; I find them enjoyable, but generally let the books find me. This one comes courtesy of my father.
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