Langdon's Literary Leaps

A reader looking for more twisty thrillers starring Robert Langdon will love these picks, including "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. See the full list to find your next favorite page-turner!

🎯

Safe Bets

— Right up your alley
1
Angels & Demons

by Dan Brown

Since you want the best of Langdon, this is the essential next read. It's actually the first book in the series and many fans argue it's even faster and more thrilling than The Da Vinci Code. You get the Vatican, the Illuminati, and a frantic race against an antimatter bomb — it's pure, uncut Dan Brown with the stakes at their highest.

ThrillerMystery
2
The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

This novel delivers the classic Langdon formula but centers it entirely in Washington, D.C., diving deep into the secrets of the Freemasons. If you loved the way The Da Vinci Code wove puzzles through real-world art and architecture, you'll love seeing Langdon apply his skills to the monuments and secret passages of the US capital.

ThrillerMystery
3
Inferno

by Dan Brown

This installment gives the Langdon chase a fresh twist: he starts the book with amnesia. You get to solve the mystery right alongside him as he deciphers clues hidden in Dante's epic poem to stop a global plague. It's a frantic tour through Florence and Venice that feels both familiar and refreshingly tense.

ThrillerMystery

Curve Balls

— Pleasant surprises, we promise
1
Foucault's Pendulum

by Umberto Eco

You've read the blockbuster; now read the book that's basically its philosophical, wickedly smart grandfather. Three editors invent a conspiracy theory involving the Knights Templar for fun, only to discover that dark forces believe their fiction is real. It has all the history and secret societies you love, but it's a more complex, literary puzzle box that will make you rethink the whole genre.

Literary FictionHistorical Mystery
2
The Rule of Four

by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

Imagine The Da Vinci Code, but confined to the grounds of Princeton University. This book follows four students racing to solve the secrets of a mysterious, real-life Renaissance text. It captures the same thrill of the academic hunt and code-breaking, but in a more grounded, character-focused story that's less about a global conspiracy and more about personal obsession.

MysteryThriller
3
Map of Bones

by James Rollins

If you want the historical puzzles of Dan Brown but with the action dialed up to blockbuster levels, meet the Sigma Force series. This book kicks off with a massacre at a cathedral and launches a team of scientist-adventurers on a quest for the bones of the Magi. It's faster, more action-packed, and a perfect example of where the genre went after Brown.

Action-AdventureThriller

The Conversation

I want to read the best work of Dan Brown. It needs to feature Robert Langdon as the protagonist.
Great pick — Dan Brown wrote 5 Langdon novels, so let me land you on the one you'll love most. Which of these have you already read?
The Da Vinci Code

Want picks tailored to YOUR taste?

Shelf Sage asks a few questions and finds books you'll actually love.

Chat with Shelf Sage