The mega-selling author’s newest novel is now scheduled to come out sometime in 2007, more than a year later than originally expected, The Book Standard, an online industry publication, reported Friday. "My books are time-consuming to research and complicated to construct," Brown said in an e-mail sent to The Book Standard by publisher Doubleday. "I am taking the time necessary to ensure that this new book is every bit as entertaining as 'The Da Vinci Code."'

The forthcoming book is said to revolve around Robert Langdon, Brown’s hero in The Da Vinci Code, and the Masons, a secretive fraternal organization. Brown has said its tentative title is The Solomon Key. The Da Vinci Code, with 6 million paperback copies in print, has already sold more than 40 million copies worldwide in hardcover and continues to sell well three years after publication.