Brown's new Da Vinci Code book expected to break publishing records

London, Sept 12 (ANI): 'The Lost Symbol', the much-awaited sequel to Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code', is expected to break all book records as it hits UK stores next week.

More than 6.5 million copies have been printed of the sequel to the 2003 mega hit tome.

Along with the printed copies, an electronic version of the novel, which took Brown five years to write, will also be released on the same day.

"The Lost Symbol" features the star of the series Robert Langdon, the Harvard University professor, returning to solve another, as yet disclosed, mystery.

Extraordinary measures have been taken to keep the content's under wraps, with the only detail the publishers have disclosed is that it takes place over a 12-hour period in Washington.

The book will be released amid tight security. Guards have been posted at book warehouses across the globe, anyone who has come into contact with the book has had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Even the author has not done the usual pre-launch publicity tour, except for an interview with the popular Today programme in the US.

"We have closed circuit TVs that are monitoring the books at all times in a secure area that is also guarded," the Telegraph quoted Jacqueline Updike, spokeswoman of Random House, which will publish the book.

The cover of the book shows the Capitol in Washington and a wax seal containing a double-headed phoenix, the numeral 33, and the words "ordo ae chao," Latin for "order to chaos."

It supports rumours that Freemasons are at the heart of the story.

"This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey," Brown said in a message on his website.

"Weaving five years of research into the story's 12-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon's life clearly moves a lot faster than mine," he added. (ANI)