Dan Brown's THE LOST SYMBOL

It's the summer of 2004. . .

It hasn't been a good year for me so far. Two deaths in the family and a shitload of crap forced me to make a decision. I needed to get away and be far from everything and everyone I knew. I boarded a BA flight that fateful day in June with only the stuff that fitted into my bags and a desire to get the hell out of Montréal.

Didn't exactly know at the time that I would spend nearly 4 months in Europe. Nor did I expect to make my way through 14 different countries. No, it wasn't my first time in Europe. Actually, it was the fifth year in a row I was crossing the pond to visit some place new.

Dan Brown was already big at that time, but it hadn't reached the crazy point where his books somewhat became larger than life. The dumbass fuckwits from around the Bible Belt had yet to create the uproar that would come, people were not reading The Da Vinci Code like a textbook, and the Vatican remained silent on the issue. Back in those days, you read Dan Brown because the guy wrote exciting thrillers.

And no matter where I went, it seemed that every single backpacker who knew how to read was reading a Dan Brown novel. I hadn't brought any books with me, what with me not wanting to deal with dead weight in my packs. But it reached a point where I had to give this author a shot. I mean, everybody was reading his books!

I bought Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code at the WH Smith in Paris following the most boring train ride between Luxembourg City and Paris. I came close to opening my veins, so I knew I needed some reading material. Robert Langdon became a trusted companion for many train rides afterward. I bought Deception Point in Zurich, and The Digital Fortress in Budapest later on.

They were all page-turning, fantastic reads. What thrillers are supposed to be, in my opinion. In the end, they became such a big part of my trip that I brought all four books back home with me. They were dead weight for a few months, but I just couldn't bear to see them go.

So this morning I placed my order for Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Canada, USA, Europe). At 50% off, I can't go wrong! And I can't wait to read it, no matter what people say about the author. No, he's not the best writer to ever see the light. But the man certainly knows how to keep you turning those pages.

It will feel mighty weird not to be discovering what Robert Langdon is up to while the countryside of various European countries is passing me by on the other side of the window while the train is taking me to my next destination. . .