Robert Langdon has existed in the public sphere since 2000, when Angels & Demons was published. The Harvard symbologist exploded into the public consciousness with 2003's The DaVinci Code, which became a runaway bestseller and cultural phenomenon.
The latest Robert Langdon adventure penned by Dan Brown came out in September 2025. It's the sixth Langdon novel after Angels & Demons (2000), The DaVinci Code (2003), The Lost Symbol (2009), Inferno (2013) and Origin (2017).
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| Image via Indianapolis Public Library |
First of all, I've enjoyed the previous books in the series. They are page-turning commercial thrillers filled with intrigue, pseudo-history, and high-stakes adventure. As Langdon is a professor, he flexes his intellect more than his muscles, something I've always appreciated. He still manages to get into a fair amount of scrapes, however.
That said, The Secret of Secrets could've used an editorial scalpel. I read the eBook version, but it looks like the hardcover version is one of those "Books that Could Kill a Man." The library lists it at 675 pages, with an estimated word count in the 180,000 range. From a commercial fiction standpoint, that's basically the length of two novels.
It's one of those books that, when I read it, it felt like the percentage indicator on the Kindle app never changed no matter how many chapters I made it through. For me, it became quite a slog, and I think some characters could've been condensed/combined and some of the many, many subplots excised.
The plot involves Langdon's love interest, a scientist named Katherine Solomon, who has introduced a rather novel theory on life after death that some people would kill for. When she disappears, Langdon sets off on a twisty journey through Prague to find her. A wide-ranging conspiracy will put him up against a secretive group, a determined local cop, world governments, and a seemingly indestructible force of nature.
All the hallmarks of a Robert Langdon novel are here: secret societies, fake history that is just close enough to the real thing to feel plausible, a love interest, an absurdly dangerous assailant, a central conspiracy, historical locations, a Mickey Mouse watch, swimming, and a mysterious murder. Expect twists and turns that stretch credulity with each passing moment and long-winded exposition that overexplains certain plot points.
I can't say I loved this book. I can't say I hated this book. I just know, while reading it, I was doing some wicked head-editing that could've smoothed out the prose, eliminated narrative clutter, and trimmed out superfluous material. I am, however, not a New York Times-bestselling author, so take that for what it's worth.
