The Lost Symbol, formerly known under the working title as The Solomon Key, is an upcoming novel by American writer Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol will be the third book to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, after 2000's Angels & Demons and 2003's The Da Vinci Code.
The book's story will take place in Washington, D.C. and focus on Freemasonry[6] and The Lost Symbol, a reference to a ciphered pictogram in an important talisman, the Hebrew Key of Solomon. The book has been in development for several years; originally expected in 2006, the projected publication date has been pushed back multiple times.[1] The book will be published on 15 September 2009 with an initial print run between 5 to 6.5 million copies, which will be the largest first printing in publisher Random House's history, and there is no date yet scheduled for the release of the electronic version. The book has been on pre-order lists for a few months and is being heavily ordered both in the U.S. and Canada. Brown's US publisher Sonny Mehta described it as "a brilliant and compelling thriller" which is "well worth the wait".