Oh dear. I have casually enjoyed Dan Brown's other tomes; however, The Lost Symbol didn't even have that brain candy charm. Tense scenes were frequently interrupted by several page long asides of dubious relevance. The so-called science was hilariously awful and the end of the book suspense revolved in part around the fear that someone would exsanguinate through a "medical needle" placed in a vein in the antecubital fossa (i.e. venipuncture.) Luckily, that part was so ill-paced that the character was saved before I had to waste too much time screaming about how infeasible it was to be killed by an IV.

The core plot -- many important men in Washington are Free Masons, a group that has left hidden symbols all over Washington DC and celebrates human life -- was far less intriguing than Brown's other books.

Overall -- this was in SORE need of an editor and a fact checker.