Inferno introduces The Consortium, a secretive organisation pulling strings behind the scenes which the book claims is an amalgamation of real groups. Yet Brown sees the Masons as an entirely benign fraternity.

His best-selling novels illuminate the shadowy organisations that supposedly run the world. But Dan Brown was “honoured” to receive an invitation to join the Freemasons, the arcane fraternity whose tentacles are said to extend into the highest echelons ...

Gold Coast Freemasons Ray Daines, Norm Anderson and Neil Orr at the Southport Masonic Centre; the group is inviting the public to an Anzac Day service. Pic: Kit Wise. ONE of the world's most famous "secret societies" will invite the public to celebrate ...