Angels & Demons

by Dan Brown

2001

Status

Checked out

Publication

Pocket Star Books (2001), Edition: Reissue, 572 pages

Description

An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol-seared into the chest of a murdered physicist-he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy-the Catholic Church. Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival. Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation. An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.… (more)

Media reviews

Romance, religion, science, murder, mysticism, architecture, action. Go!
1 more
Pitting scientific terrorists against the cardinals of Vatican City, this well-plotted if over-the-top thriller is crammed with Vatican intrigue and high-tech drama... Though its premises strain credulity, Brown's tale is laced with twists and shocks that keep the reader wired right up to the last
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revelation.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member keywestnan
I read this when The Da Vinci Code went huge to see what the fuss was about. Gotta say, i don't get it. This was one of the worst-written pieces of fiction I've read (and I really appreciate a well-crafted work of brain candy). I'll admit the plot finally got to me and I wound up turning the pages
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to find out what happened. But it was painful along the way. And what kind of moron thinks that British TV journalists are eligible for Pulitzers?
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LibraryThing member steveclark
I know that there are worse books than this - and written by the same author - but this is far and away the worst book I own. He doesn't follow the conventions of grammar, or syntax; not because he wants to be daring, but because he can't.
This book never rises to trite.
LibraryThing member jessilouwho22
Wow.

Before I begin my review, I want to preface it by saying a few things.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is a crappy writer who writes crappy books about crappy stories with crappy characters and crappy, unbelievable plots.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is one of the best at the
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"cheese factor" and roll their eyes at his stories.

I know a lot of people out there know more about European history, etc. etc. than I do, and therefore, I might not be the appropriate judge of this story.

And I'm also aware that this is not the next literary classic.

HOWEVER.

I loved this book.

Every time the action picked up in this book, I had a serious adrenaline rush. My heart raced, my eyes frantically read line after line, and my hands automatically went to my mouth. I was totally engrossed in the story Dan Brown told, even though I had already seen the movie. Watching the movie before the book is very uncharacteristic of me, but I'm glad that it happened that way in this case. Reading the book cleared up a lot of unanswered questions for me, and the book was different enough from the movie to keep me gasping out loud at plot twists. For me, I was hooked along for the ride, and even though some might find his twists unbelievable or even predictable, I was just in it for the story and found myself completely absorbed. I appreciated the facts (or "facts") throughout the story that were presented to the reader about the Illuminati, Vatican City, etc. and I loved the feeling of being on the inside of solving a puzzle while racing against time. I appreciated Robert Langdon's character, and I'm so glad they cast Tom Hanks to play his character because even when I read The DaVinci Code years ago, Tom Hanks is always how I pictured Robert Langdon. Pretty damn intelligent, resourceful, and witty. Dan Brown can be pretty witty, too, and I found myself chuckling from time to time. I even enjoyed the general mechanics of this book--I liked the short chapters that kept me coming back for more. They made it easy to fly through the pages. I would look down maybe after a half hour or so into reading and be 150 pages further in the book. The "dun-dun-dunnn" moments at the end of pretty much each chapter had me flipping, too, even though I could understand how some might find that worthy of an eye-roll or two. My favorite part of the book, besides the adrenaline rushes, was how he bounced from one point of view to another without leaving the reader feeling disoriented. Rather, it had the opposite effect for me, clarifying everything by being able to watch the story unfold from all angles.

After reading The DaVinci Code a few years ago, I was a little hesitant to pick this one up...would I love Dan Brown as much (or more)? Or was The DaVinci Code a one-time deal? Well, I'm here to say that I can officially consider myself a fan of Dan Brown, however crappy others might want to declare him.
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LibraryThing member audreya2
It is a shame that such a poorly written book has become a runaway best seller. Although at first the plot is fairly clever, Dan Brown's atrocious writing style keeps the reader from ever becoming engrossed in the book. Brown has absolutely no variation in his sentence structure. Every sentence is
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short and composed in the same rhythm so that reading the book is like reading an essay written by a third grader. In fact, Brown treats the reader as if he were a small child and had to be told every single thought going through a characters mind, from obvious emotions to completely irrelevant reminiscences. During one "climactic" scene, the main character, Robert Langdon, recalls a date he went on a few months prior. The date had no bearing on the rest of the book, and the tangent completely killed any suspense the scene carried with it.
******* SPOILER ALERT!!!!! ************
As stated earlier, the plot is fairly clever at the beginning, towards the end, however, it becomes more and more contrived until it is laughable. The twist at the end makes the whole adventure seem pointless, not to mention utterly improbable.
Though seemingly meticulously researched in terms of art and history, Brown makes such glaring mistakes that it is hard to trust any of the seeming "scholarship" in the book. Winston Churchill was not Catholic. Early Christians were buried facing the east not because of sun worship but because they were facing Jerusalem in anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ. And whether or not you believe in the Catholic Eucharist, it is absurd to claim that Christians got the idea of "eating your god" from the Aztecs. Referrences to the Eucharist and eating the Body and Blood of Christ exist in historical Christian documents - documents that existed long before the conquistadores encountered the Aztecs in the 1500's. Finally, in the climax of the book, it is revealed that before he was elected to the papacy the former Pope fathered a child through artificial insemination with a nun and because he was still celibate, he had, according to the College of Cardinals, "committed no sin." If Brown knew anything at all about Catholic doctrine, he would know how ridiculous this is. Catholics condemn artificial insemination and there is no way the College of Cardinals would find that acceptable behavior in a papal candidate. Again, this has nothing to do with personal belief - it is fact.
This book is utter drivel. Life is too short to waste on such inanity.
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LibraryThing member eheleneb3
A good, solid thriller. Read on the beach or at the pool, when you don't want to strain your brain. Probably best read before The Da Vinci Code, although I think this is actually a superior book to DVC. It's not so much that Brown's writing is anything remarkable (because it's not) but that he
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comes up with fascinating plots and takes the reader through so many interesting places. (The Vatican City, Roman museums, a Swiss science facility, etc.)You will want to hop on the first flight to Italy after you read this book, but you probably won't be running to the book store to buy more of Brown's books.
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LibraryThing member theokester
I approached Angels & Demons having already read DaVinci Code and enjoying it. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but suspected some sort of religious conspiracy plot coupled with treasure hunting puzzle solving to save the day. That's exactly what I found, but the result was much more stunning
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than I expected.

While critics argue that Dan Brown isn't destined to be categorized as classic literature in years to come, he presents us with a gripping, suspense filled story that kept me turning pages as fast as I could. The format was interesting in that he generally set up a small chapter for each of the major players in the plot such that in the span of 5 pages, you could have 3 or 4 chapters each spinning the plot on its head.

Aside from Robert & Vittoria, most of the characters felt fairly flat (until the last few chapters when the charmelengo (sp?) and Kholer gained some added depth). Still, each character had enough depth to keep the story progressing and make their actions believable. Some of the quirks & depth that Brown used to present backstories felt a little painted on at times as I turned through numerous sections of flashbacks, but they were still presented well and helped add variety and depth to the story.

What I liked most was the fast paced story with it's intriguing and well-researched treasure hunt. The frantic action felt more believable in this book than it did in DaVinci. The underlying terrorist plot (in Angels)felt like a more compelling impetus to action than the threat of arrest or an impending discovery (in DaVinci). Even so, I kept having the nagging feeling that somebody else in the past few hundred years would likely have stumbled upon the clues or people Langdon was following. I think it was that feeling that helped me swallow the ending a little more.

As to the ending (without spoiling it for anyone), I really liked the way it was played out. Brown did a great job of throwing red herrings in the path again and again to keep me guessing. Even through the last 50-100 pages, things were changing or being revealed so rapidly that I felt myself caught up in the same excitement that the characters were feeling. It was great.

My main complaint about the book was the length. Approaching 600 pages felt a bit steep for the "pulp fiction" novel I had been expecting. Even with all of the intrigue and depth of the conspiracy theories and historical background, there were times that I glanced at how many pages I had left and got a little disheartened and hoped it would wrap up sooner. At the same time, as I look back I can't think of any scenes or segments that I would rip out whole-heartedly and shrink the book size. Perhaps some of the flashbacks could have been shorter or excluded, but even without those, we'd probably only lose a hundred pages or so at max (and that feels like a very optimistic count). Truly every chapter helped build the suspense, mystery and excitement and kept me thoroughly engaged.

Overall, this was a VERY fun read and I enjoyed reading it much more than I did DaVinci Code. DaVinci felt rather slow in many spots, so much so that I felt like I was reading a history textbook a few times. Angels & Demons still included segments of historical narrative, but they were more compact and effective and didn't really detract from the pace and plot of the novel. I still enjoyed the ideas explored in DaVinci, but as a story, I found Angels & Demons a much more engaging read.

****
3.5 stars (out of 5)
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LibraryThing member siafl
Much like the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons was a page turner for me. It took me only two days to finish its 710 pages because the riddles and adventures were ever so gripping. The ambigrams were my favourite part of the book, as well as the many references to sites in Rome.

But as I read beyond
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the murders and the brandings, when I was still in preparation to call this one "much better than The Da Vinci Code", the "real" plot started to emerge, and it bothered me. To me it didn't make much sense, how everybody's not who they said they were, the deceptions, the reversals of roles... Never had I thought that someone could abuse cliff hangers like Brown did in the book. Nor had I ever thought that authors could twist and turn plots into something that would lose its audience. I honestly did not care for anything beginning at the 11th-hour Samaritan. And from there on were another 200 or so pages to go.

Many of the books I read and enjoyed I had bits of down time in the middle with them, and found that their endings got better and better. Brown's books tend to be very good at the beginning and very exciting in the middle, and crumbles towards the end.

Frankly the book needn't be this long.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
I tried this after The Da Vinci Code just to see if the problems with the latter were an anomaly.

Well, no.

All the faults of The Da Vinci Code, plus a plot that strains credulity to the point of breaking, laughable characters, and a tedious amount of speechifying about the conflict between
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religion and science.

No more Dan Brown for me.
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LibraryThing member KatharineClifton
Easy to read and fast-paced. An enjoyable mystery. What can I say, I'm a fan of Bernini, Rome, the Vatican, so I think I may have gotten more out of it than some. Requires a healthy suspension of disbelief. Some of the stunts, etc are, to put it mildly, unbelievable, but I was willing to disregard
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my doubt and just enjoy the story. For my taste it wasn't as good as the Da Vinci Code, but a solid effort worth reading if you enjoy the genre.
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LibraryThing member BridgetMarie
It took my fiancee two weeks to read this book. And he hasn't read anything all the way through since he was in the second grade. I highly enjoyed this one, much more than the Da Vinci Code. I felt like that one should have come first followed by this one. I mean I understand Jesus' bloodline
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trumps the Pope, but the action was still better. The action went all over the place and kept me guessing and even as horrified as I got over the course of the action, it was worth it.
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LibraryThing member nesum
First, the good. Brown's novel is a quick (despite being 700 pages) and interesting read, and it really does hold your attention. The action was good, and the suspense quite nice.

That being said, there's not much in this book worth considering after reading it. Brown's theories on Christianity are
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often so silly that they caused me to laugh out loud (such as Christianity stealing the idea of Communion from the Aztecs). The conspiracy in the book is so complex and complicated that I also had to laugh at some of the final revelations (pun very much intended). There's nothing here that passes the believeability test. It is only ranked as high as three stars with me because it is entertaining, at least.

Also, does it bother anyone else that ALL of Brown's characters speak like Americans? He throws in some Italian every once in a while, but other than that, there are absolutely no accents whatsoever, no idioms, and very few people who don't speak absolutely perfect English (despite the fact that most of the novel takes place in Italy).

There are so many better books with actual literary value that are just as exciting (if not more so). We don't need to stoop to such novels just for a thrill.
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LibraryThing member StoutHearted
This suspenseful thriller is Dan Brown's introduction to the Robert Langdon character, a brilliant Harvard symbologist who is the first one called whenever a conspiracy arises. In Angels and Demons, Langdon is called to Sweden by the director of CERN, an organization of the world's most brilliant
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scientists. One of their brightest has been killed and the supersecret, world-changing project he was working on, the creation of antimatter, was compromised when some of the highly-volatile stuff was stolen. The victim's adopted daughter/lab partner, Vittoria, and Langdon quickly set off to the Vatican, the target of the theif. This thief is no ordinary crackpot with a vendetta against the Catholic Church; he is representing the Illuminati, a semi-secret organization long thought extinct after centuries of butting heads with the Church over matters of science.

The tale is full of conspiracy, clues, and plot twists to engage the reader. Though my copy was close to 700 pages, I found the words flowed easily onward due to short chapters and easy language. Brown loves using the literary device of ending each chapter on a cliffhanger, which does wear thin after a while. Characters are marginally fleshed out, in the case of the sypathetic people, but the main villain, the Hassassin, is villainy on steroids. Brown better crafted the villain with a cause in The Da Vinci Code with Silas.

As for the story, it is meatier than The Da Vinci Code due to issues that are still debated today, such as the roles of religion and science in society. Brown manages to show the virtues and flaws of the champions of both and does not take sides. Instead, he proposes through the character of the first victim of the Illuminati, the priest who worked for CERN, that there can be a marriage between both, that science can reveal the essence of God, and that God can reveal the essence of science. It's a harmonious compromise.

Rushing across Rome to find clues, Langdon makes the city's landmarks appealing to visit. The setting now becomes a playland for conspiracy theorists, wanting to search for meaning in the gesture of each cherub carved in stone, or the purpose of the obelisks that dot the city. I can imagine this is a source for irritation for curators of these places, but it wouldn't surprise me if tourist visits increased because of it. Hovering between truth and fiction, Brown creates a world where we can bring imagination to life and make it more real to us. Purist historians will hate Brown, but everyone else can enjoy being transported into a world where everything has a double meaning.
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LibraryThing member sacrain
Is it bad that I remember liking this book better than the Davinci Code? Maybe it's because this one dealt with the whole Church thing a little more exclusively, or because I didn't feel so much pressure to like it as Davinci Code? Anyhoos, if you haven't read it yet, it's an OUTSTANDING summer
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read!
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LibraryThing member saprice
This is a great read, along with the Davinci Code. Brown does an amazing job of bringing in crucial historical facts amidst a plot of mystery and murder. I have read both books twice, and even the second time I wasn't able to put them down. I look forward to reading his next book in the Robert
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Langdon series.
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LibraryThing member mrpascua
I have not read the DaVinci Code nor have I seen the movies so I was concerned that I would not be able to follow the action in this book. No problem whatsoever, the book stood on its own with no prior background knowledge necessary. A good thriller that follows the story of Robert Langdon, an
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American art historian, who is called to assist in an investigation of the death of a physicist at CERN which leads him to discover a plot to blow up the Vatican with anti-matter. Lot's of science terms in this novel (which I like) and some Catholic background information (which I also like). The plot is gripping and keeps the readers interest, in fact I could not put the book down for long. The theme is typical good vs evil found in a detective thriller and the characters are believable, even the bizzare Illuminati. For the TL, the book would be a good addition for the high school LMC. In addition to including the book for reading for enjoyment, there are several high school curriculum areas are can be correlated to the novel. Good tie in for science classes and social science classes (discussions on the factual-ness of the science behind the story and the religious setting) Overall a good thriller. Now I want to read the DaVinci Code.
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LibraryThing member bdamokos
In my opinion all Dan Brown books have the *same* story which makes them fakes, but I wasn't aware of this until after I read this, so it was a bit enjoyable. I warn you not to start believing in the Illuminati after reading this, though.
LibraryThing member TurningThePages
A coworker let me borrow this after a discussion we had about 'The Da Vinci Code' (me saying I was interested in reading it, but was afraid it'd be too confusing).
At the beginning, I thought it would be a little too science based for me- it took a few times for me to read the introductory few
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chapters and get into it.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it- it wasn't JUST about science- I was pretty much glued to the book until I finished it- carried it everywhere.
I didn't see the twists coming, so I was constantly saying "Oh, wow!" at the ending.
The book was so descriptive that I felt like I was right there with the characters, seeing what they saw, feeling what they felt.
I have been recommending this book to people ever since I finished it.
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LibraryThing member truncoxx
There was much more of a plot in this book than in The Da Vinci Code. Therefore, even if you did not entirely enjoy The Da Vinci Code, I would still recommend this book. Unlike The Da Vinci Code, it is more focused on plot than facts and trivia. It has a very good mystery and suspense plot that
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keeps you guessing until the very end. I enjoyed reading it and although not all of the information is correct, some of it is interesting.
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LibraryThing member JessicaCapelle
Enjoyed the book for what it was- the equivalent of an action movie with good plot. Enjoyed it much more than the Da Vinci Code. I like that Dan Brown keeps the pace throughout the book- this type of "popcorn fiction" as I like to call it keeps me interested and reading. The parts explaining the
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Illuminati and history were interesting and appeared to be extensively researched. It's a fun book.
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LibraryThing member prodthedog
I definitely enjoyed this book for what it was. It has really cool ideas and plot twists, and there is the fast paced writing style that Brown is known for. There is more edge of your seat action in "DaVinci Code", but there is a more pressing urge to finish the book because the plot is so "time
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based".

I have heard the argument of this book leaving you feeling cheated by cheap cop-outs inplot twists, I think if you understand the "Hollywood system", you can easily avoid feeling cheated - this is because this book does (indeed) feel like a movie.

The albino assassin (villain) in "DaVinci Code" is more interesting in my opinion, than that of the 'hassassin' in this novel. Both books make great movies, and are good introductions to the Illuminati history, Templars, Bible conspiracies, or even religious history.

You'll like it.
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LibraryThing member zante
I read the Da Vinci code first and thought it impossible to enjoy another book by Dan Brown---how wrong was I !!! We have to remember that these books are works of fiction, but I have to admit that I am amongst the tens of thousands that love a "conspiracy theory" and I was therefore able to read
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and thoroughly enjoy this brilliant book.--if I could award ten stars, I would not hesitate. I have The Lost Symbol on pre-order and can't wait for it to drop through my letterbox. I know I won't be disappointed.
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LibraryThing member nEtVolution
A great tale with some truth woven in with the fiction. Provides some excellent background on the corruption and falsehood upon which the church has risen.
LibraryThing member maunder
A thriller which uses a wealth of information about the Vatican and its art treasures asthe backdrop to a suspense novel about a plot to influence the course of Christianity. The novel portrays an American art historian who is called upon to assist in an investigation of the death of a gifted
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physicist at CERN which leads to a plot to blow up the Vatican with anti-matter. While the anti-matter plot and the stereotyping of the dead physicist's daughter in a rather typical detective novel sexual role, are somewhat hard to take, the novel itself moves along fairly quickly and the art history and other information about the conduct of life and death in the Vatican city are fascinating. This may not be quite as interesting as the Da Vinci Code but it is a close second.
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LibraryThing member chibiju
The first, and in my opinion, best Langdon novel in Dan Brown's series. You are immediately swept into a world full of suspense, history and action. This book takes place mainly in Rome, Italy. Vatican and Christian history plays a big role. You learn much about religion and science as you are held
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captivated by the story.
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LibraryThing member Swampslogger
Book Review

Title : Angels and Demons

Author: Dan Brown

Everyone who read “The da Vinci Code” first now seems to be reading “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown. The latter came first though. Possibly if all those folks had read “Angels and Demons” first “the da Vinci Code” might not
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have been as popular. This is one very gruesome horror story.

“Angels and Demons” introduces Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor and symbologists. From the blurb “Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable”.

That is not literally true because Dan Brown, the author, has an excellent imagination and puts together a remarkably horrific and complex scenario. The whole episode takes place in a 24-hour period and is very fast-paced.

Descriptions of Rome, the Vatican, and the remarkable architecture, statuary, paintings and other features of the historically rich venue are lavish and warranted to be accurate. As in “The da Vinci Code” the legendary group called the Illuminati and the Freemasons are involved in a nefarious plot to bring discredit to the Catholic Church. The battle between science and religion is discussed interminably. The murdered physicist is a former Catholic priest who, in concert with his adopted daughter, has succeeded in creating antimatter as well as the ingenious means of accumulating and storing a significant amount of it.

The physicist/priest had hopes of utilizing his achievement to bridge the gap between science and religion by proving how the Big Bang was God’s work. Langdon brings to bear his extensive knowledge of art history and symbology in an attempt to thwart the sinister intent of the Illuminati .

Despite Langdon’s ability to figure out where the series of scheduled murders will occur he and the Vatican’s Swiss guard are never able to prevent them. Is there something we don’t know? Where the “unimaginable” occurs is in the final chapters when all is revealed!
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2000-05-12

Physical description

572 p.; 4.2 inches

ISBN

0671027360 / 9780671027360

Barcode

1601658
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