The Lost Symbol' greets an adoring public

the_lost_symbol_311306504.jpg15 September – (Relaxnews)

The Lost Symbol, the long-awaited sequel to the 2003 international bestseller The Da Vinci Code, went on sale at midnight in bookstores around the world on September 15.

The book has already been at or near the top of Amazon’s bestseller list for nearly five months thanks to pre-orders.

Doubleday, the book’s publisher, is shipping 5 million copies for the US market, an additional 1.5 million copies for the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and has translations for other markets in the works.

The book has a hardcover price of $29.95 from the publisher but is available for $16.17 at many other book sellers, such as Amazon. The e-book price is $9.99 at the online sites of Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

On September 13 The New York Times newspaper was the first to publish a review of the book.

“‘The Lost Symbol’ manages to take a twisting, turning route through many such aspects of the occult even as it heads for a final secret that is surprising for a strange reason: It’s unsurprising,” said The New York Times. “In the end it is Mr. Brown’s sweet optimism, even more than Langdon’s sleuthing and explicating, that may amaze his readers most.”

The book features Harvard professor Robert Langdon, who hunts a legendary Masonic treasure in Washington DC.

As the Harry Potter series did for young adults, Brown has restored the vitality of the historical thriller market and launched copycat books as well as copycat movies, such as National Treasure.

The Lost Symbol will be the third of Brown’s historical thrillers to become a movie, according to The Los Angeles Times on September 14. The Da Vinci Code movie sold more than $750 million in tickets worldwide, with Angels & Demons, another story about Professor Langdon, grossing nearly $500 million worldwide this year.

Even though The Da Vinci Code was critically panned, it sold 81 million copies worldwide, spawned a tourism boon in Paris, Rome and other locales in the book and even launched college courses on the meaning of the ancient Knights Templar.

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