Solomon Key???

You'd have to be insane to do a spinoff of a book that doesn't even have a publication date yet - wouldn't you? Not if it's the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code," Dan Burstein says. Burstein, a publishing entrepreneur, has been on the road promoting "Secrets of the Widow's Son," which promises to prep readers for "Da Vinci" author Dan Brown's next venture into the world of secret societies, conspiracy theories, myths and alternative history.
All that's known about the still-unscheduled Brown book is that when it's finally published (perhaps in late 2006 or 2007), it will involve the Freemasons, will be set at least partly in Washington and will be called "The Solomon Key." That was enough for Burstein. And why not? He'd already made a killing with last year's "Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind the Da Vinci Code". Burstein says he got hooked on "Da Vinci" in June 2003, three months after Brown's religio-historical thriller was published. (Thirty-six million hardback copies are now in print worldwide, according to Brown's publisher, Doubleday.) Ah, but those books exist!
How can you do a guide to a book that isn't written ? Check a rumor that there was a code embedded in the dust jacket flaps of "The Da Vinci Code." Sure enough, some letters on the flaps were in a slightly bolder face and spelled out "Is there no hope for the widow's son?" Researching that phrase led to the history of the Mormon church and eventually to a predicted Washington/Freemason backdrop for Brown's next book. Brown later confirmed as much in a rare public appearance.
So if you're truly Brown-obsessed (or if you're just dying to read about the conjunction of Freemasonry, the Founding Fathers and the nation's capital), "Secrets of the Widow's Son," which Burstein commissioned reporter David Shugarts to write, is there for you.
He's far from the only one piggybacking on Dan Brown. By now there are a couple dozen books with such titles as "Da Vinci Decoded" and "The Da Vinci Hoax" that serve as guides to or refutations of Brown's megahit. And there's even another preview title - "The Guide to Dan Brown's 'The Solomon Key,' " by Greg Taylor -though it lags behind "Widow's Son" in Amazon sales rank. Burstein isn't losing sleep about competition. "People are so interested," he says.