Xepherus Reads

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,          There is a special feeling a book reader experiences when their favorite author releases a new novel. We cancel plans, stop TBRs, and are whisked away on a new adventure. In the case of Dan Brown's books, I have book hangovers that last several weeks (or years). This recent release is no different.        The Secret of Secrets is the latest Robert Langdon thriller by Dan Brown. It is published by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.   In it, we travel to Prague as Robert Langdon accompanies his long-time friend, Katherine Solomon (from  The Lost Symbol) , when she is set to speak on Noetics, as a guest of the prominent scientist, Dr. Brigita Gessner. The event passes, and Langdon and Solomon return to their hotel room (Katherine plans to meet with Gessner the next day). But on the other side of Prague, in her secret lab, Gessner is tortured and murdered by ...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,            Origin is Dan Brown's fifth novel in the Robert Langdon series. It is published by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Publishing.    In it, we arrive at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, with Professor Robert Langdon. He is there to see his former student, billionaire Edmond Kirsch, speak. Kirsch is set to deliver the presentation of his life that promises an astounding discovery. Simulcast around the world from the museum, this closed event is filled with hundreds of vetted guests approved by the museum and its director, Ambra Vidal.    The night is a success until chaos overcomes the event, leaving Edmond Kirsch dead. With suspicion fueling their actions, Langdon and Vidal escape the museum with the a...

    Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,              Inferno is written by Dan Brown and is the fourth book in his best-selling Robert Langdon series. It is published by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.  In it, we are reunited with Professor Robert Langdon as he awakens in a hospital in Florence, Italy. Langdon has no idea how he got there. From what he is being told, he was grazed in the head by a bullet and is now suffering amnesia. His only link to the events prior is what Dr. Sienna Brooks and her colleague are telling him. Nothing feels right, and he is suffering terrible visions of death. After being calmed down, he settles into his medication. Through the haze of painkillers, Robert watches an assassin enter the hospital, gun down a doctor, and head for his room. Someone is trying to kill Robert, and he needs to leave the hospital immediately.  ...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,                 The Lost Symbol is the third book in the best-selling adventure series by Dan Brown. The edition I read was published by Double Day Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. In this thriller, we find Professor Robert Langdon has been summoned to Washington, D.C. by his old friend and mentor, Peter Solomon. Solomon is holding an event at the U.S. Capitol Building and wishes Robert to address the crowd. But when Robert arrives, he discovers in the center of one of the rooms in the Capitol Building a grisly token taken by Peter's apparent kidnapper. A dangerous man has Solomon, and he will kill him unless Robert helps him find a relic of the Masonic Order.    Across town at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Katherine Solomon worries about her brother, since he has yet to ...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,                The Da Vinci Code is written by Dan Brown, with this illustrated edition was published by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The  Da Vinci  Code catches up with Harvard Professor Robert Langdon one year after the Earth-shattering events of  Angels and Demons. Langdon remains in the spotlight following his involvement in the prior year's Vatican City crisis. In France, for a well-publicized lecture event, Robert is visited by the police. Bezu Fache, a French police captain, wishes for Langdon's presence at the Louvre museum. Robert has a meeting planned with a famous curator at the museum, Jaques Sauniere. But when Langdon and Fache arrive at the Louvre, they discover  Sauniere  has been murdered. On the floor around his body are sentences that unravel a mysterious message. That message ends with PS: find Robert Lang...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,   Secret of Secrets had its official release last Tuesday. To celebrate, let's visit books one through five.      Angels and Demons is the first novel chronologically in the Robert Langdon series of adventure novels written by Dan Brown. The edition that I read was published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In it, we are introduced to Professor Robert Langdon. A  famous symbologist, his work researching the Illuminati in the past drew him into the academic spotlight. Comfortable in his position as a Harvard professor, Langdon has led a quiet life; t his changes when Langdon travels to Geneva, Switzerland. There, he meets with  Maximillian  Kohler at his CERN research facility.  A fellow scientist named Leonardo Vetra has been murdered. On the dead man's chest is branded the name Illuminati.    Upon in...