a reader's response

I'm currently reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and I have to say, I'm less than inspired. Not that I expected the book to be amazing, but I'm more disappointed in it than I thought I'd be. I actually really enjoyed both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, not because Brown is an amazing writer, but because he knows how to tell an intriguing tale. Granted, being a good storyteller is half of what makes a great writer, but his formula for telling it is nothing new. While Angels & Demons was fresh and exciting, and The Da Vinci Code pushed the limits in terms of content, I feel that with The Lost Symbol, Brown has become a bit stagnant. I mean, the writing style and even the plot premise is virtually the same and offers nothing new or thought-provoking beyond the other two books. I feel like I'm reading the same book over again. His formula has been done and now it's just old. I've already figured out most of the novel's plot twists, and I'm only two thirds of the way through it. I'm also getting tired of him constantly ending a chapter with some big cliff-hanger or unknown piece of information only to jump to the next plot line in the following few chapters before revealing the "big secret". It's such obviously contrived suspense that I just find it annoying. Quite frankly, I'm looking forward to being done the book (and yes, I have to finish it, because I can't leave a book or a movie in the middle, no matter how bad it is). I don't think I need to read another one of Dan Brown's novels ever again. It's been done.

Similarly, this is the same reason I stopped reading Jodi Picoult. The first novel I read by her, My Sister's Keeper, was intriguing both style and plot-wise, but by the time I finished the third one, I was tired of both. All three novels followed the exact same formula - a highly controversial subject shown from multiple points of view to emphasize that a morally grey issue always has more than one side of the story. A great premise, but not when it's done over and over again. In my humble opinion, a good author is constantly finding NEW ways to tell a story and pushes the limits of his or her writing style, rather than relying on a formula that has worked in the past to bring in the big bucks. When a certain style or plot premise is successful, leave it at that. Don't try to repeat it, otherwise it becomes old and unoriginal and boring. I guess I'm just a purist and/or a literary snob. Or rather, would like to think I am. Whatever the case, these are two authors that have lost a reader because they can't or won't break out of a mold.