Chapter 17 Summary and Analysis - The Secret of Secrets
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Jonas Faukman walks alone through the cold streets of New York City, carrying the manuscript of Katherine Solomon's book in his backpack. He is heading to a 24-hour FedEx office to mail a backup copy, still troubled by the targeted hack of only Katherine's file in the PRH database. As he approaches Seventh Avenue, he notices a black van idling at the curb. The driver exits, checks a clipboard, and walks away, seeming harmless. Faukman continues past the van. Moments later, the driver turns back, and while Faukman offers a helpful direction, he is struck from behind, a bag thrown over his head, and thrown into the van. The vehicle speeds off.
Meanwhile, back at Random House Tower, IT specialist Alex Conan has been calling all of Faukman's numbers without success. He considers the possibility that Faukman went to a nearby whiskey bar. Alex realizes he needs to speak with Katherine Solomon directly to learn more about her manuscript, despite company protocol requiring all author communication to go through the editor. Concerned that the hack may put Katherine in personal danger, Alex finds her cell number and calls her. The call goes to voicemail. He leaves a message. He then recalls that Katherine is traveling with Robert Langdon, another PRH author, and tries Langdon's number, which also goes straight to voicemail. Alex hangs up, feeling isolated and without allies in a growing crisis.
Key Events
- Jonas Faukman walks alone through a cold, deserted Fifty-Second Street toward a FedEx office.
- He passes an idling black van; the driver exits and walks away, then returns.
- Faukman is ambushed from behind, blindfolded, and thrown into the van, which speeds away.
- At PRH, Alex Conan fails to reach Faukman by phone and speculates he might be at a nearby whiskey bar.
- Alex decides to break protocol and call Katherine Solomon directly but reaches her voicemail.
- He also tries Robert Langdon's number, which also goes straight to voicemail.
- Alex ends the chapter feeling very alone, unable to contact anyone involved.
Character Development
- Jonas Faukman: Previously portrayed as a pragmatic, slightly neurotic editor, he now becomes a victim of a violent kidnapping. His brief moment of helpfulness (offering directions) underscores his ordinary, unsuspecting nature, making the attack more shocking.
- Alex Conan: The IT specialist moves from confusion to decisive action. He defies corporate protocol to call Katherine directly, showing he prioritizes the author's safety over rules. His mounting frustration and the final feeling of isolation reveal his vulnerability when technical expertise fails to solve a human crisis.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Vulnerability of Knowledge: The physical manuscript (the backpack) and the database are both targets. Faukman's kidnapping shows that information is vulnerable not only digitally but also in its physical form.
- Isolation in Crisis: Alex repeatedly fails to reach anyone—Faukman, Katherine, Langdon—each disconnected phone call reinforces his solitude and the loss of institutional support.
- The Mask of the Ordinary: The van driver's initial casual behavior (whistling, carrying a clipboard) suggests an ordinary worker, masking the threat. This motif of deception appears throughout the chapter, where normal settings hide danger.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter escalates the conflict from a digital breach to a physical abduction, raising the stakes dramatically. It establishes that the threat is not merely to Katherine Solomon's book but to the people connected to it. Alex's unsuccessful attempts to contact Langdon and Solomon foreshadow their own entanglement in the unfolding mystery. The kidnapping also removes the one person who could have provided immediate guidance, forcing the narrative to rely on other characters—namely Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon—to become active participants.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Alex Conan decide to break PRH protocol by calling Katherine Solomon directly?
Answer: Alex believes Katherine has a right to know that someone targeted her manuscript. He also suspects she might be in personal danger, and he urgently needs information about the book to help identify the hackers. Protocol no longer seems as important as resolving the crisis.
2. What does the kidnapping of Jonas Faukman suggest about the nature of the threat?
Answer: The kidnapping indicates that the threat is not limited to digital intrusion but involves physical violence and organization. The ambush was planned (the van, the staged driver, the second attacker) and suggests that someone wants to obtain or suppress the manuscript by any means necessary, possibly tying into a larger conspiracy.
3. How does the chapter build suspense through unanswered communications?
Answer: Every attempted call by Alex fails: Faukman's phones are off, Katherine's goes to voicemail, Langdon's line doesn't even ring. These failures create a sense of increasing urgency and helplessness, leaving the reader wondering who else might be in danger and whether anyone will answer before it is too late.