Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets (2025) is the sixth installment in the Robert Langdon series, and comes after an eight-year hiatus since Origin.
In many respects, it’s quintessential Brown: a globe-trotting thriller mixing art, history, mysticism, and science, set against richly drawn architecture and shadowy conspiracies.
The book re-introduces Langdon alongside Katherine Solomon, a noetic scientist whose upcoming theory about consciousness sets the stage for the collision of ideas.
The narrative begins in Prague, a city whose mysticism, ancient legends, and labyrinthine history Brown uses to full effect. Katherine is about to deliver a lecture that promises startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness — discoveries that threaten long-held beliefs. But chaos erupts: a brutal murder, Katherine’s disappearance, her manuscript vanishes, and Langdon is suddenly caught up in a conspiracy that spans Prague, London, and New York.
Brown weaves together mythical components — ancient lore such as the golem legend — with cutting edge, or at least speculative, science (noetic science; theories about consciousness beyond neural activity).
There are many puzzles, codes, info-dumps, and historical anecdotes. For fans of Brown, this is comforting familiar territory.
The atmospheric setting is one of the novel’s biggest attractions. Brown clearly relishes describing Prague’s gothic architecture, its mystical overtones, and its history. This lends the plot a weight and texture that elevates it above a pure action thriller.
The pacing is energetic; there are plenty of cliffhangers, near misses, and high stakes — Brown knows how to keep the reader turning pages. For those who enjoy his blend of speculative philosophy and thriller tropes, there is much to like. And despite some flaws, the novel delivers a kind of fun: ridiculous in places, perhaps overstuffed in others, but consistently entertaining.
However, the novel is not without its drawbacks. One common complaint is the prose — some readers find it clunky, over-descriptive, sometimes cliché. Dialogue can feel forced, and certain plot developments stretch credulity.
Also, the sheer volume of the factual stuff sometimes overwhelms. Brown’s habit of info-dumping slows the narrative in portions, even if he tries to counterbalance with action. Some character motivations feel less well developed than the external plot machinations.
Finally, for long-time readers, there is a sense of déjà vu: many of the themes — secret societies suppressing revolutionary ideas, ancient myths turned toward modern science, Langdon with clues in historic sites — are familiar from earlier books in the series. It’s ambitious in scale but less so in novelty.
The Secret of Secrets will likely please fans of Dan Brown and of the Langdon series. It delivers exactly what one expects: myth, mystery, conspiracy, big scientific claims, exotic locales, and a race against time. It is uneven — but in a way that many readers of this genre accept and even enjoy. If you're looking for deep character study or philosophical subtlety, it might disappoint; if you want a fast-paced, idea-laden ride, it succeeds. Enjoy.