Anyone looking at the Dan Brown books on my bookshelf would say I am a fan but I'd be hard-pushed to admit it. The truth is they're usually handed down from my girlfriend and I'll read them for a cheap thrill/light read. And although the reputation surrounding Mr Brown and his work (or 'arse gravy' as Stephen Fry puts it) is less than praiseworthy, I admit that his last books have been engaging enough for me to reach the last page. Not with The Lost Symbol. I found it an intensely frustrating ride potholed with enough cringingly clichéd narrative, smugly expounded pseudoscience and sickeningly sycophantic evangelism to make me slam my forehead onto the pages and groan more than once.

I could go to town shooting down the flaws in this book but I think that'd be too easy - you can't go far on the internet without tripping up over eager critics salivating over their vicious reviews of this book - so maybe I'll indicate the good points. It was only £5.

Yep that's about it. Even if you're a fan of Dan Brown, and I mean a seriously die-hard fan, it'll be hard to forgive this meek effort. It feels like it's been dashed out in a week, has no consistency in pace and fails to convincingly draw you in, like his last books might have. I couldn't recommend this but then maybe you'll have better luck enjoying this than I had, you extraordinarily forgiving person!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Gave this to a friend (my academic step mother!) who wanted to read the book. I hope she reviews this more flatteringly than I did!