Since the world-famous novelist Dan Brown is well known for blending
fact and fiction, readers are always on guard in trying to separate
reality from poetic license. For example, in his latest thriller The
Lost Symbol, one of his main characters is introduced as the Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution. And while a quick Google search will
assure readers that Mr. Solomon never held this post, if one was to dial
the phone number listed in the novel for him, they would be directed to
a hauntingly realistic voice-mail greeting that states: "Hello, you've
reached Peter Solomon…"