This? Again?

Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (2025) – Robert Langdon stumbles into a secret project that explores the border between science and mysticism. He will race through Prague, followed by a mysterious being who calls themselves the “Golem”, as he attempts to solve a murder and save the woman he loves.

Why I Liked It – It’s another solid thriller from Brown.

Let me get this off my chest-All the Dan Brown books are the same. The swimming symbologist, Robert Langdon, gets involved in a strange situation involving a borderline branch of science/history/theology with a beautiful woman at his side. It features a strange person doing strange things and will resist all attempts to solve the problem until a switch is thrown in Langdon’s brain that suddenly makes everything clear. The police will question his involvement in the whole thing, only to be proven wrong in the end.

All of them. Every last one. I admit that I’m a bit bored with that storyline. Dan Brown takes a lot of criticism for the quality of his writing. For me, that’s been a bit overboard. He’s a solid writer, but a better storyteller. His history and theology usually leave me shaking my head, but this is serious historical or theological writing. It’s a thriller. It’s fiction. It‘s fun.

And it usually is. I have a soft spot for the Langdon character, with his Mickey Mouse watch and his fear of heights. We’re supposed to think of him as a smart “everyman” character, although more recent books seem to push him more towards the “silver fox” swooney kind of leading man.

I’m just tired of the same story over and over.

This time we’re in Prague, a legendary city filled with history. Langdon is with the same beautiful woman for a change (he meets Katherine Solomon in “The Lost Symbol”) for a change. Her specialty is noetic science, which explores the nature of consciousness, and related abilities like telepathy and mind/matter interactions. Like so many of the books, that’s right at the intersection of science and spirituality. While in Prague for a lecture, the two become involved in some strange events that include a murder. Katherine disappears, but a strange hooded figure lurks in the shadows. Calling itself the “Golem”, it draws on ancient Jewish folklore, the Golem is a mystical creature brought to life to protect a person or community. The further they dig, the more dangerous it becomes. There is a secret facility buried beneath the city with connections to the CIA. Only Langdon’s arcane knowledge base will unravel the threads of the mystery.

See what I mean? We’ve read this story before. That thought kept surfacing for me throughout the book. And that’s not the thing you want interfering with your reading pleasure. Especially when you were on a waitlist for 12 weeks to get a copy.

The storytelling is good enough, meaning the tempo of the book was brisk, there were enough surprises and twists along the way to push me through the deep sighs of “Oh, not again!” along the way.

But, Dan? You need to mix this up a bit. Or maybe not. This makes, what, nine straight #1 bestsellers? My advice is to do better. Advice that’s worth every penny you paid for it.

On the whole, it was a fun, if predictable, read.

Rating – *** Worth A Look