My last post requires an addendum. I complained that Dan Brown foreshadowed so much, he practically five-shadowed; but I failed to provide any examples from the text to reinforce my assertion.

Allow me to fix that.

These are the context-less ends to several of Brown’s chapters that include an unnecessary bit of foreshadowing. All my examples come from the first 100 pages of The Lost Symbol.

These are best read with the Dies Irae playing in the background:

Soon you will lose everything you hold most dear.

Ten miles from the Capitol Building, a lone figure was eagerly preparing for Robert Langdon’s arrival.

And now, at last, his final pawn had entered the game.

It’s going to be a long day.

Something was very, very wrong.

The truth was that Katherine was doing science so advanced that it no longer even resembled science.

“You are here, Mr. Langon, because I want you to be here.”

Someone was screaming.

If Langdon had not yet grasped his role here tonight, soon he would.

-Jason Lea, JLea@News-Herald.com

Curious about the enormous jar of barbecue sauce to your right? You'll have to wait a few paragraphs for an explanation.

In the mean time, let's talk about a blockbuster that Tricia and I have spent the last few weeks ignoring.

In case you missed it, Dan Brown released The Lost Symbol.

It’s the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, which sold more copies than Thriller. (No, seriously, it did — 80 million units.) Consequently, it’s kind of a big deal.

Symbol is also Brown’s third book following the exploits of symbologist Robert Langdon. This time, Langdon must decode Masonic secrets or his mentor will die.

I’ll dismiss with the synopsis, and cut to the chase. Is it any good?

My answer: Sure, I guess.

Before you suggest I’m looking down my elitist proboscis at a perfectly good thriller, allow me to explain. I liked Da Vinci Code and loved Brown’s first Langdon novel, Angels and Demons.

I think he mixes interesting concepts into his texts. (Langdon incorporates noetic science, Constantino Brumidi and Masonic iconography into Symbol’s first few chapters.)

Tricia and I have compared James Patterson’s work to a cheeseburger. By comparison, Brown makes Angus burgers — slightly more substantial and made from better raw materials.

But Symbol indulges in some of Brown’s lesser habits. He over-foreshadows everything. Most of Brown’s short chapters end with some lousy portent of doom. Every piece of revealed minutiae causes characters to revel in the wonder of their realization.

This constant foreshadowing interrupts the rhythm of the story. Brown’s previous novels felt like short reads. Symbol did not.

Symbol isn’t Godfather III bad. (That is, to say, it isn’t a travesty.) It’s more like Rocky III. (A guilty pleasure that follows two legitimately good predecessors.)

Now for something completely different:

The people from Slate and Significant Objects are holding an interesting writing contest. Their question is this: Can a writer invest a random, worthless item with value by inventing a story about its significance?

To test their query, Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker purchased stuff from flea markets and garage sales. Then, they gave them to authors who wrote fictional stories about them. For example, check out Stewart O’Nan’s tale about a duck tray.

Now, the readers of Slate have a chance to participate as well. Authors can write a short story (less than 500 words) about this barbecue sauce jar. (It all makes sense now.) E-mail your entry to slatesignificantobjects@gmail.com by Friday at 5 p.m.

Glenn and Walker will purchase the winning story to be published in a Significant Objects collection.

-Jason Lea

P.S. For fun, Tricia's reaction to Angels and Demons.

Two thoughts, and I’ll be succinct.

Amazon has lowered the price of a Kindle to $299 the same day I blogged about its bloated price.

This can mean only one of two things:

1. I took too long to write about the subject, and it was no longer relevant.

2. My words single-handedly forced Amazon to drop the price.

Those who know me need not guess which conclusion I have drawn.

That’s right. I have the power. (My second wish: a sequel to The Dark Crystal.)

My second thought is in regards to Tricia’s belated post on “Angels and Demons.”

A lot of publishers’ media departments’ like to call their new book thrillers. It’s a wastebasket taxon. Any book that has a chase scene or a gun fired must be a thriller.

Too bad so few of them thrill.

That having been said, Dan Brown’s novels are legitimate thrillers. They have an intelligence and excitement you don’t get from, say, James Patterson. I’m looking forward to September 15 and The Lost Symbol (even if The Solomon Key is a much cooler name.)

Jason Lea, JLea@News-Herald.com

P.S. Dan Brown wrote a book called 187 Men to Avoid: A Survival Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman under the pseudonym Danielle Brown.

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I couldn't put down Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons." (ISBN 9787416578741).

I needed something to read on a long flight and it was the longest book in my price range at Walmart.

Turns out, planes these days have little TVs in the seatback and you can watch pretty much whatever you want. A slew of movies was far more distracting than a book on my recent overnight flight, so A&D remained in my carry-on.

As luck would have it on the return trip we had a midnight to 8 a.m. layover. (You can't even find food in an airport in that timeframe!) So while my kids slept sprawled out on the chairs and my husband tried to watch a movie on a portable DVD player, I whipped out "Angels & Demons."

About 6 a.m, I put it down.

I had been transported.

Perhaps because I love a good mystery.

Perhaps because the idea of an academic thrust into the world of intrigue is so appealing.

Perhaps because we were returning from Rome and had just stood on Castle St. Angelo and looked to Saint Peter's Basilica.

Much faster paced than Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," "A&D" whips the reader up into a frenzied race against time. Will the cardinals be saved? Will St. Peter's be destroyed? Will Langdon get the girl?

How fast can I turn the pages to find out?

Only remaining question is, will the movie be as entertaining?

- Tricia Ambrose