The Lost Symbol, the lost night's sleep

I'm heading over to Alice Drive to poke around the outside of the Masonic Temple. Not really, but I'm really tempted after staying up until 2 a.m. last night to read Dan Brown's new thriller, "The Lost Symbol."
It's a good book, almost as good as "The Da Vinci Code." This time Brown takes on the Masons -- and even the Shriners, sort of, as well as almost all the world's religions, past and present and maybe future.
Robert Langdon, master symbologist and college professor, is called on by his friend Peter Solomon, a 33rd degree Mason and the most exalted ruler of Washington,D.C., Masons, to fill in for an ill lecturer. Of course, Langdon doesn't know what's really in store for him when he gets to D.C., and I don't want to spoil the story, so I'll just say there are murder, mayhem, advanced science, ancient and modern mysteries regarding man's relationship to the divine, a very diabolical villain and danger -- lots of danger.
Many of Washington's landmarks figure in the story, and I can imagine there will be "Lost Symbol" tours of D.C. to rival the "Da Vinci Code" guided tours that followed that book and film.
One of the best things about the book -- besides the riveting suspense -- is that Brown has thoroughly researched his facts on the Masons, religion and science. I have new respect for Isaac Newton. Learning so much when I'm feeling this deliciously guilty somehow makes me feel better.
It'll be interesting to see how the Catholic Church and Christians (as well as Mormons, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus and others) react to this book. Brown doesn't diss religion; in fact, he honors it in some ways, even though Langdon is clearly a non-believer.
For those people who complained because it took Brown five years to write his follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code," I have to say it's amazing he could have researched and collated his facts in that short period of time. It's well worth the wait.
Mystery lovers shouldn't miss this one.