Earlier this year we pointed out that DaVinci Code author Dan Brown’s newest book, The Lost Symbol, is set here in Washington, concerns itself with the mysteries of the Masons, and is due out in September. Now via The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog, we finally get a look at the cover of the book, which depicts “a shadowy skyline of the Capitol.”

Upon closer inspection, the image shows the Capitol dome’s windows being penetrated by the light of a sunset-fueled blood red sky — not quite an effect that’s possible in reality, but Brown’s work isn’t exactly known for its subtlety, now is it. If we’re judging this book by its cover (why not?), it appears it will portray a polluted Congress secretly controlled by the Masons, who are secretly controlled by some kind of code or “symbol,” which was more than likely also secretly “lost.” Hilarity, naturally, ensues.

So get ready to see every damn person on the Metro reading this thing come fall.