Inferno

Chapter 1

The memories materialized slowly . . . like bubbles surfacing from the darkness of a bottomless well.

A veiled woman.

Robert Langdon gazed at her across a river whose churning waters ran red with blood. On the far bank, the woman stood facing him, motionless, solemn, her face hidden by a shroud. In her hand she gripped a blue tainia cloth, which she now raised in honor of the sea of corpses at her feet. The smell of death hung everywhere.

Seek, the woman whispered. And ye shall find.

Langdon heard the words as if she had spoken them inside his head. Who are you? he called out, but his voice made no sound.

Time grows short, she whispered. Seek and find.

Langdon took a step toward the river, but he could see the waters were bloodred and too deep to traverse. When Langdon raised his eyes again to the veiled woman, the bodies at her feet had multiplied. There were hundreds of them now, maybe thousands, some still alive, writhing in agony, dying unthinkable deaths . . . consumed by fire, buried in feces, devouring one another. He could hear the mournful cries of human suffering echoing across the water.

The woman moved toward him, holding out her slender hands, as if beckoning for help.

Who are you?! Langdon again shouted.

In response, the woman reached up and slowly lifted the veil from her face. She was strikingly beautiful, and yet older than Langdon had imagined in her sixties perhaps, stately and strong, like a timeless statue. She had a sternly set jaw, deep soulful eyes, and long, silver-gray hair that cascaded over her shoulders in ringlets. An amulet of lapis lazuli hung around her neck a single snake coiled around a staff.

Langdon sensed he knew her . . . trusted her. But how? Why?

She pointed now to a writhing pair of legs, which protruded upside down from the earth, apparently belonging to some poor soul who had been buried headfirst to his waist. The man s pale thigh bore a single letter written in mud R.

R?

DAN BROWN is the author of numerous #1 international bestsellers, including The Da Vinci Code, Inferno, The Lost Symbol, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, and Digital Fortress.

A book-length scavenger hunt.... Jam-packed with tricks. The New York Times

Fast, clever, well-informed.... Dan Brown is the master of the intellectual cliffhanger. The Wall Street Journal

One hell of a good read.... As close as a book can come to a summertime cinematic blockbuster. USA Today
 
A diverting thriller. Entertainment Weekly

Brown isn t just a novelist; he s a crossover pop culture sensation.... Inferno is the kind of satisfying escapist read that summers were made for. The Boston Globe

Harrowing fun threaded with coded messages, art history, science, and imminent doom. Daily News (New York)

[Brown is] the planet s most dastardly thriller writer.... Inferno moves with...velocity, excitement, and fun. The Independent (UK)

An adventure ride through a literary text.... [A] sweeping spectacle. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A fast and furious race. The Plain Dealer

"A master of the breathless, puzzle-driven thriller. Richmond Times-Dispatch

What Brown does in a way that appeals to millions of people around the world is tell stories that remind us there s more to the world than meets the eye. The Huffington Post