Book #12 of 2018:

Origin by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon #5)

I’m not going to belabor the usual Dan Brown tropes, because if you’ve read this far into his Robert Langdon series, you know what to expect. Someone gets murdered just before sharing a big secret, Langdon races around an old city trying to solve clues, and there’s a twist reveal near the end that’s probably not as surprising as the author thinks it will be. It’s a propulsive pageturner, even as you find yourself groaning at some of the obvious things that Brown and his character mouthpieces feel the need to dansplain. (The most egregious case here is probably the ridesharing service Uber, which is helpfully described for the reader nearly a decade after that company’s launch.)

This writing style is hokey and gimmicky with plot holes aplenty, but it still usually just about works through sheer earnestness alone. In this case, however, the storyline depends so heavily on Brown’s misconceptions about science and religion that it’s hard to just sit back and enjoy Langdon doing his thing. The idea that one scientist’s discovery could shatter the foundations of every faith in the world is ludicrous on its face, even before we finally get to see his somewhat mundane TED Talk at the story’s end. That’s a weakness that maybe wouldn’t sink a better novel, but for an airport thriller like this, it’s fatal.

★★☆☆☆

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