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Title: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
Series: Robert Langdon #5
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Audience: Adult
Format: E-book
Overdrive Synopsis:
Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist, and one of Langdon’s first students.
But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced to flee. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch. They travel to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.
Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade an enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain’s Royal Palace. They uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch’s shocking discovery…and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.
My Review:
I freely admit that I find Dan Brown to be a mediocre writer at best, BUT I am willing to overlook that because he grabs my attention with some new ideas and I can’t put his books down until I see where he’s going. I just couldn’t get into this particular book as much as I usually do.
I noted at 22% on my Kindle that I didn’t think the actual plot was ever going to begin. Ironically, things started happening in the next chapter. Everything to that point was description and fairly useless exposition. I normally read pretty quickly but I dreaded the abyss of nowhere that this book was going and had to force myself to pick it up. I spent hours of my life trying to get through about 30 minutes of Robert’s. Holy moly.
Once it did get started we were back on solid Langdon ground. Conspiracies, unanswered questions, shadowy puppeteers…. You know the drill. But even this part didn’t feel quite up to my usual expectations.
And then there’s the ending. Let’s just say I had suspected it for about half the book.
And… I just talked myself down from a 3-star rating to 2 stars.
I’ll continue with the series but this one was a letdown.
Similar Books:
If you liked Origin, you might also like my reviews of
- Deception Point by Dan Brown
- The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
- The Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Purchase:
Buy Origin from Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, NC.
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
7 Comments
I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews on this one. Disappointing, I bet.
It really was.
I didn’t even realise Langdon was still solving stuff! I used to enjoy Dan Brown but yeah, they all kind of follow the same formula.
I just checked and it looks like I’m all caught up with Robert Langdon at book #5. I wonder if there will be more? They are definitely formulaic but sometimes that’s exactly what I’m looking for. This one obviously didn’t hold up very well though.
I’m not a huge Dan Brown fan, but there’s something to be said for knowing what you’re going to get from a book! My biggest issue with the books of his I’ve read is that the action didn’t have enough pauses so the pacing was off.
Once the action gets started, it really doesn’t stop, that’s for sure! I think that’s part of what keeps me reading them. I need to know what happens next! This book took FOREVER to get started though.
Oh ugh. It’s frustrating to me when an action book takes a long time to get to the actual action.