"Dan Brown" you may either 'Love' this name or 'Hate' this name, but you can't deny the fact that he is one of the most skilled thriller writers on the planet...
Being born and raised in Exeter,New Hampshire as the eldest of three children. Dan Brown grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy. In my opinion it's Dan Brown's father Richard G Brown who made the Dan Brown the wizard we know today. Richard G Brown was a teacher of Mathematics and because of that Dan Brown's childhood was filled with Symbols, codes, Anagrams and cross word puzzles.
Young Dan Brown received 'Treasure hunts' on his birthdays by his father instead of birthday presents simply turning up on the table. And this thrill of deciphering codes, symbols and Anagrams which finally leads to the gift inspired Dan Brown to use the very same techniques and treasure hunts in his stories. Thanks to his father, because as a result what we got is one of the most solid, thrilling stories on earth.
But its the sidney sheldon's novel "The Doomsday Conspiracy" he read on a vacation in Tahiti in 1993 inspired him to become a writer of thrillers. His first book "Digital Fortress" a techno-thriller which deals with government surveillance of electronically stored information on the private lives of citizens, and the possible civil liberties and ethical implications using such technology got released in 1998
Dan Brown's most interesting character The Harvard University prof "Robert Langdon" the world renowned symbologist made his first appearance in the Mystery - Thriller "Angels and Demons". But it's "The Da vinci code" His fourth novel,now credited with being one of the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold worldwide as of 2009 made Dan Brown an undeniable name in the world of fascinating writers.
Controversial but also irresistible to the senses "The Da vinci code" showed the world that a writer can skillfully write in the grey area between the fact and fiction.
"Robert Langdon" continued his journey in "The Lost symbol" in which he sets out to find the Masonic secrets and "Inferno" which deals with one of the most serious problems the world face today "Over population" Dan Brown took this issue so seriously that he ended up creating a dark villian who creates a poison to reduce the population of the world. But by that time the name "Robert Langdon" became a larger than life name which thrills millions and millions of fans all around the world.
The thing that amazed me in his books is that he claims the places, Buildings, Ambigrams and the societies referred in his books are real. In that sense each Dan Brown book is a history lesson. It allows us to learn about cultures, Rituals, secret societies, Various issues in the world etc and Dan Brown also love to create villians who do the wrong things for the right reasons so that in the end it's upto us to decide whether he is truly a villian or a hero.
In my experience each book of Dan Brown is a journey into the world of symbols, codes, Ambigrams,Anagrams and a lot of smart puzzles. By the time you decodes it with "Robert Langdon" you will be more than satisfied.
I'm eagerly waiting here for the next book of Dan Brown and who knows maybe Dan Brown is sitting somewhere right now thinking where to send "Robert Langdon" next... ;)
