WHAT'S HIS SECRET?

As the much-mocked juggernaut Dan Brown prepares to release his latest Robert Langdon thriller, Nick Duerden explores 'The Da Vince Code' author's mind-boggling appeal

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There cannot be many writers for whom the announcement of a new novel makes headline news around the world, but such is the widespread appeal of Dan Brown. Back in February, the American author of The Da Vinci Code, the 2003 conspiracy thriller that went on to sell 80 million copies and kickstart a globally successful literary and cinematic franchise, revealed that The Secret of Secrets, the sixth instalment of the adventures of Robert Langdon, would be published in September.

"The world's most celebrated thriller writer returns with his most stunning novel yet," proclaimed Brown's website, promising "a propulsive, twisty, thought-provoking masterpiece that will entertain readers as only Dan Brown can do".

Pre-orders began pouring in, with bookshops already preparing shelf space for what is sure to be an instant bestseller. In the world of literature, the very fact of a book receiving so much publicity is an unambiguously good thing, not least in a climate in which, we are repeatedly told, people are reading fewer and fewer books. Even those most resistant to fiction will make an exception for Brown's deep dives into religious iconography, secretive societies, and a protagonist who spends 500 pages running from one fetching international locale to the next invariably with an attractive woman in tow.

Brown, now 61, had been a sometime songwriter and full-time school teacher when he turned to writing novels in the late 1990s. He wrote two airport thrillers (Digital Fortress in 1998, and Deception Point in 2001) that failed to set the world alight, but in between them, in 2000, published Angels & Demons. The book was a mystery thriller revolving around Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor who finds himself embroiled in a high-profile murder when a physicist is killed; the only clue is the word "illuminati" branded on his chest. Langdon, an expert on symbology, is brought in to investigate.