Rating: 
Summary: Wake up into adventure!
Review: This is the first book I have had the pleasure of reading from Mr. Dan Brown. I plan to make it the first of many. The factual details he throws in could've turned the book into a dreary textbook in the hands of some authors. But in the hands of Mr. Brown, all the tantalizing information serves to not only entrance the reader, but to pull one so deeply into the story that many times I felt I was by the side of the characters experiencing each event as it occurred and as intent as they to find answer upon answer which unraveled the intricate web Mr. Brown wove with amazing alacrity.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than "The Da Vinci Code"
Review: Great fast paced page turner that will keep you reading until the suprising end.
If you liked "The Da Vinci Code," you will love "Angels and Demons!"
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting idea, poor execution.
Review: This is the only book I've read by Dan Brown and it did not live up to the hype. The characters are predictable and one-dimensional. At times the "bad guy" seems like something out of a Scooby Doo episode. Sure the plot had a big twist, but it was quite a character stretch to get it achieved.I looked forward to reading this much-hyped series that had sparked religious controversy and promised unearthed secrets of the sordid histories of art, the Church, and science. However, the simplistic, uninteresting writing ruined the experience for me. The historic facts were intriguing--and they were all that kept me "into" this book. If what you prefer are more literary novels, don't waste your time on this. If you have less of a critical eye for literature and like an action-movie/thriller-mystery type of book, and if the writing style and character development are not important to you, then you'll probably enjoy this book. Many people I know enjoy the series... though I can't for the life of me figure out why.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't Let Me Down
Review: This is the 2nd Dan Brown novel I have read, the first being his acclaimed DaVinci Code. After reading the DaVinci I was hesitant to embark on this novel because I enjoyed his first one so much I couldn't see how he could possibly match the excellence of the DaVinci code with this earlier novel. I finished the book in less than three days and was relieved that Brown didn't let me down. Just the educational portions of this novel alone would make it an excellent read, the trouble and efforts that Brown goes through to make sure his facts are accurate are amazing. But on top of the facts is a suspenceful, believable, and page turning story that makes the read quick and quite enjoyable!
Rating:
Summary: How could you not read such captivating words??
Review: Dan Brown only became extremely popular with the fast-paced book, The Da Vinci Code. After reading it, I couldn't help myself to find his other completed novels. He is a master in storytelling, keeps his readers satisfied and wanting more, and an extremely patient man to have researched the information included in his novels. Angels and Demons takes its readers to the Vatican. Robert Langdon, the college professor of symbology, stars alongside Vittoria, a beautiful CERN employee. Throughout their journey the two are engulfed in antimatter problems, lost holy men, and cryptic messages that will leave you unable to put your book down. This book left me looking for more. The man is a genius! You don't have to be looking for a book about religion to like this. Religion or not, you will finish this book being smarter than when you started.
Rating:
Summary: ILLUMINATING !
Review: I have taken the time to type out an excerpt from this amazing book. I hope the author-Dan Brown doesn't mind as I am mearly trying to show people how "deep" this story really is. "Science may have alleviated the miseries of disease and drudgery and provided an array of gadgetry for our entertainment and convenience, but it has left us in a world without wonder. Our sunsets have been reduced to wavelengths and frequencies. The complexities of the universe have been shredded into mathematical equations. Even our self-worth as human beings has been destroyed. Science proclaims that Planet Earth and its inhabitants are a meaningless speck in the grand scheme. A cosmic 'accident'. Even the technology that promises to unite us, divids us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture, and betrayal. Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history? Does science hold ANYTHING sacred? Science looks for answers by probing our unborn fetuses. Science even presumes to rearrange our own DNA. It shatters GOD's world into smaller and smaller pieces in quest of meaning... and all it finds is more questions.
The ancient war between science and religion is over. Science has won. But not fairly. Not by providing answers, but by so radically reorienting our society that the truths we once saw as signposts now seem inapplicable. Religion cannot keep up. Scientific growth is exponential. It feeds on itself like a virus. Every new breakthrough opens doors for new breakthroughs. Mankind took thousands of years to progress from the wheel to the car. Yet only decades from the car into space. Now we measure progress in weeks. We are spinning out of control. The rift between us grows deeper and deeper, and as religion is left behind, people find themselves in a spiritual VOID. We cry out for meaning. There is a growing trend of people who profess to believe in UFO's, engage in chanelling, spirit contact, and out-of-body experiences- all these eccentric ideas have a scientific veneer, but they are unashamedly irrational. They are the desperate cry of the modern soul, lonely and tormented, crippled by its own enlightenment and its inability to accept meaning in anything removed from technology.
Science, the 'illuminati' say, will save us. Science, I say, has destroyed us. Since the days of Galileo, the church has tried to slow the relentless march of science, sometimes with misguided means, but always with benevolent intention. Even so, the temptations are too great for man to resist. I warn you, look around yourselves. The promises of science have not been kept. Promises of efficiency and simplicity have bred nothing but pollution and chaos. We are a fractured and frantic species... moving down a path of desruction.
To science, I say this. The church is tired. We are exhausted from trying to be your signposts. Our resources are drying up from our campain to be the voice of balance as you plow blindly on in your quest for smaller chips and larger profits. You even murder unborn children in the name of research that will save lives. But it is the church that points out the fallacy of this reasoning. And all the while, you proclaim that the church is ignorant. But who is MORE ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power?
Show me proof that there is a God, you say. I say use your telescopes to look to the heavens, and tell me how there could not be a God. Do you not see God in your science? Have we become so spiritually bankrupt that we would rather believe in mathematical impossibility than in a power greather than us?
Whether or not you believe in God, you must admit that when people abandon their trust in a greather power, they abandon their sense of accountability. Faith, all Faiths are adomitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable... With faith we are accountable to ourselves, to each other, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because MAN is flawed. Simply put, we people of faith belong to a brotherhood of imperfect simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world rapidly spinning out of control."
~ From Angels & Demons
Rating: 
Summary: A Plot-Twisting Page Turner
Review: This was my first Dan Brown experience and I have to say I was not disappointed. Angels & Demons is next to impossible to put down. With his research and history of Rome and Vatican City as an added plus - I would definately receommend this to any other readers. The main character in the book, Robert Langdon is brought to life by Brown and is the epic hero of old throughout his adventures. The plot is thick with murder, occult, chases, secrecy, and mysteries all unfolding rapidly page after page. Just when you think the mystery is solved and everything wraps up the end mounts to yet another shocking twist. If you've read this far I can promise you won't be sorry for buying this treasure. I look forward to The DaVinci Code....
Rating: 
Summary: The same "M.O>"
Review: I read the Da Vinci code first, and completely devoured it in two days, so I figured I'd rewind and read Dan Brown's earlier work. Although I thoroughly enjoy his style of writing, the premise/plot is curiously similar to the Da Vinci Code. It is a good book, worthy of reading, but give yourself ample time between these two books so it doesn't feel like you're reading a prequel and sequel.
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Summary: BROWN'S BEST: BETTER THAN DAVINCI CODE
Review: This has to be Dan Brown's best novel to date. I've read THE DAVINCI CODE and DECEPTION POINT. A&D takes the prize. What a book! Have you ever read anything that blends murder mystery, symbology, Catholicism, science, a secret society, and that Vatican? Of course not. This book is a first. Even if Brown made this up and made errors in his descriptions of the inner workings of the papal process, this is still a masterful book blending a secret society of science called the Illuminati with the intrigue of Catholicism at the highest level. A very interesting description of the process by which the Pope is elected. I found the background workings of the popes office to be enlightening and entertaining. This is Robert Langdon's first adventure, even before the DC. All the characters are vividly described. Though some have criticized this book as anti-Catholic, I was left with a great respect and appreciation of the religion. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for an above-average read. My only criticism is that some of the murders are graphically described. Not for the weak of stomach.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disapponted. I do want my money back!
Review: This book is very disappointing. Almost all the quotations in Italian are misspelled and sometimes written in a very poor dialect. Even the names of the most important locations inside the Vatican are ridiculously misspelled. It seems like the author did not spend much time in checking names and quotations. I found this offensive! The author is not aware of the fact the Swiss Guards are only one of the two 'armies' of the Vatican. He is also not aware of the titles of the hierarchy of the 'Curia Romana'. And I have only read 130 pages... I'll keep you posted. Mr. Brown, how is it possible to contact you?
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