Inferno

After his last book The Lost Symbol in 2009, acclaimed author Dan Brown published his latest work titled Inferno last month. Like his previous novels, Dan Brown's Inferno centers around Robert Langdon a symbologist professor from Harvard with a penchant for unexpected adventure. Langdon woke up one day in a hospital in Florence with no memories of his past few days and a mysterious cylinder in his jacket. Before long, Langdon was chased by a female assassin and along with newly met doctor Sienna Broke they ran around Florence trying to escape the killer and also a bunch of police who were all after him for some reason.

Inferno brings us sightseeing across Florence, Venice and Istanbul where the story climaxes and not without a twist or two of course. This time Langdon's adventure centers around Botticelli's Map of Hell and prominent Italian poet, Dante Alighieri. Langdon along with Brooks tries to decipher the message from cylinder which turns out to be a high-tech projector that displays Botticelli's Map of Hell using kinetic energy (shaking motion). As I said this story offers a few interesting twist and turns and several surprises that should keep you engrossed to the end.

The recurring theme for Inferno and all of Dan Brown's previous novels are ancient symbols, renowned medieval philosophers, secret organizations and also conspiracy theories which featured prominently throughout his works. After the initial success of The Da Vinci Code however, one could easily become tired of the same recurring theme that Brown seems to favor for all his novels. After reading Inferno, I would assume that his next novel will involve a famous medieval or renaissance figure, a secret codex and some secret organization bent on capturing Langdon and his attractive partner/damsel in distress. It would be stereotypical Dan Brown. Nevertheless, I would expect a noticeable increase in tourist number for places of attractions and historic buildings mentioned throughout Inferno, a typical effect of most Dan Brown's novel  which should be good for the economy. Not that people haven't been flocking to those places before.

Overall I think Inferno is a mildly entertaining book for you to finish over the weekend. If you're a fan of Dan Brown, you would naturally want to see what the best-selling author has in store for you in his latest novel.

Verdict: ★★★