This May, mega-bestselling author Dan Brown’s new Dr. Robert Langdon novel, Inferno, will be released. Fortunately for all of us Kindle and Kindle Fire owners, it’s being released in hardcover and Kindle editions simultaneously. The scheduled release date is May 14, and the book is already available for pre-order at a price of $14.99 for the Kindle edition. If you pre-order, the book will automatically be added to your Kindle library on 5/14/13. From Amazon:
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In his international blockbusters The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.
In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces…Dante’s Inferno.
Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust…before the world is irrevocably altered.
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Brown’s previous novels featuring Dr. Robert Langdon are Angels and Demons, The DaVinci Code and The Lost Symbol. In case you somehow managed to miss them when they were initially released, or if you’d just like a refresher course, here’s a little more information about those books.
Angels and Demons (4/5 stars, currently priced at $7.99) – Brown actually wrote this book before The DaVinci Code, but it never took off until after the juggernaut success of that latter book. For this reason, the film adaptation is described as a ‘follow up’ to The DaVinci Code and many readers/viewers have always believed this was actually the second book by Brown to feature Dr. Robert Langdon. From Amazon:
An ancient secret brotherhood.
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol — seared into the chest of a murdered physicist — he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati…the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy — the Catholic Church.
Langdon’s worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican’s holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair…a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.
An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.
Angels and Demons is also available as an Amazon Instant Video (PG-13, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $9.99 to buy, not currently available for rent), and stars Tom Hanks as Langdon.
The DaVinci Code (3.5/5 stars, Whispersync for Voice enabled, currently priced at $9.99)
An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci.
A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe.
An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.
The DaVinci Code is also available as an Amazon Instant Video (PG-13, 3.5/5 stars, currently priced at $5.99 to buy, not currently available for rent), and also stars Tom Hanks as Langdon.
The Lost Symbol (3/5 stars, Whispersync for Voice enabled, currently priced at $9.99)
One Amazon reviewer says:
The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. To tell too much would ruin the fun of reading this delicious thriller, so you will find no spoilers here. Suffice it to say that as with many series featuring a recurring character, there is a bit of a formula at work (one that fans will love).
Again, brilliant Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day.
The setting, unlike other Robert Langdon novels, is stateside, and in Brown’s hands Washington D.C. is as fascinating as Paris or Vatican City (note to the D.C. tourism board: get your “Lost Symbol” tour in order).
And, as with other Dan Brown books, the pace is relentless, the revelations many, and there is an endless parade of intriguing factoids that will make you feel like you are spending the afternoon with Robert Langdon and the guys from Mythbusters.