Rating: 
Summary: Engaging from page 1!
Review: A friend recommended this book to me and I am now likely to take ANY recommendations she makes in the future! I found this book completing engaging from the first page through to the last. Dan Brown's incorporation of science, religion, conspiracy and intrigue is fascinating. Having done some research myself, I believe that many of his examples are indeed fact. You will learn while reading this book without realizing it.
Also, I sent the author an email about how much I enjoyed his writing and he actually answered it within 24 hours.
I can't wait to read the sequel!!
Rating: 
Summary: A page turner
Review: A very easy read. Some rather interesting and fun facts(?) in the novel that definitely make you want to take a trip to Rome to verify its assertions.
Rating:
Summary: Fiction and Fact
Review: Wow! A superior page-turner here set in historically rich locations. Everything about this book turned out to be fascinating. Be sure to read the book first before going to the website for additional interesting info. I look forward to my next Dan Brown book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in the past few months! Brown's book is really intelligent and very well written. If you like conspiracy's stories combined with history and real facts, you should read this one!
Rating:
Summary: Super, Apocalyptic Thriller...
Review: ANGELS & DEMONS hurtles the reader into an apocalyptic battle between the Catholic Church and legendary arch-enemy,the cult of satanic adepts, known as ILLUMINATI. Beginning with the feral murder of a brilliant priest-now-physicist who has discovered ANTI-MATTER, the plot explodes into gruesome crescendos of assassinations presaging annihilation of Christianity incarnated in the Roman Catholic Papacy. Vatican City is targeted with an anti-matter implosion bomb the night Papal Conclave is convened to elect a successor to a Pope who--it's implied a la Pope John Paul I--has been poisoned by an Illuminati mole working deep within the Church's hierarchial elite.To this brew, Brown adds a sub plot concerning unscrupulous machinations of the Post-Modern electronic Media: "The MEDIA is the RIGHT ARM of ANARCHY(p. 229)" declares the Islamic assassin recruited by Illuminati to vengeance (garnering World Wide attention if not approbation) against The Church by savage ritual sacrifice of prime candidates for the Papacy on Prime-Time TV. This satire might be ironically illuminating if the murders were not calculatedly sadistic. DAN BROWN cuts no slack as his demonic killer slaughters leaders of the Priesthood;then brands them with ambigrams of anti-Christ. The hunt for the anti-matter bomb; the unveiling of an anti-Christian secret society's esoteric path of initiation and quest for world domination; along with a "James Bond" adventure...providing expert tour of historical/architectural wonders of Rome...renders THUNDERBALL into a "volley ball" match compared with this major danger opus. SPECTRE is minor league bad guys against Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS(4 & 1/2 stars)...
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fabulous
Review: This is the best book that I've read to date! And in reading several of reviews of this book by many other readers I have to firmly agree with the masses, this book is a non-stop thrill ride from start to finish. I was absolutely thrilled with the fact that this incredible story is taking place in the time-line of 24 hours. In making the story travel at such a frantic pace it keeps you glued to the edge of your seat in anticipation of each and every page. I am a very big fan of the FOX series "24" (the story of a government agent's frantic search for his kidnapped family, while trying to save the life of a political candidate slated for assasination - played out in real time of just 24 hours), but I actually think reading at this pace is much more exciting and feverish.The story is well told and it will keep you guessing to the very end, and speaking of the ending - WOW!! What a ride!I was just a little familiar with the group known as the Illuminati, but not like this. Originally I chose to buy this book strickly because of browsing a few pages and seeing the word "Illuminati". I must explain that for the past few years I have been engrossed in the Vampire genre style of books and several of them hint at the inclusion of a group known as the Illuminati, in the world of vampires. So I was very intersted, thinking I had found another wonderful vampire read - but to my great surprise this story went in a completely different direction, and I'm thankful everyday since this chance purchase, that through my casual glance at the book stand at my local grocery store, I've now been turned on to a wonderful author who's writing and story telling capabilities rival any 2 hours at the movies. I look foward to reading his other two books. He is truly gifted.I would highly recommend this book to anyone has become the least bit complacent with their usual reads - because this book is anything but usual!! Some great additional"Iluminati"(vampire) reads include, I, Vampire by Michael Romkey and Dark Lost by Mick Farren.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastically Eclectic Thriller
Review: Having read the utterly TRASHY blurb on the back of this book, I was in some sort of doubt as to the crediblility of the book itself. Fortunately I took a chance on it and it has been one of the most entertaining reads of my year. It is an unnerving thriller combining such themes as an ancient Italian brotherhood, anti-matter theory and the science and religion debate. It offers both interesing perspectives on these, and stands alone as a story well, with a fantastic twist which isn't the one that seems obvious to be coming. My one quibble with the book is the author's insistence on using Italian words where it is obvious what there translation is, so the readers can translate. It is annoying and he tries to write in explanations like 'Langdon knew from his small knowledge of Italian that this meant a bad situation'. It is annoying and transparent, and highlights the fact that much of the dialogue ought to be actually in Italian. Otherwise, brilliant. 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun... until the preposterous ending
Review: Aaarrgh. Would that Dan Brown could hire the Hassassin--the villian/henchman in A&D-- to pay a courtesy call to his editor. Oy. Hundreds of pages of entertaining and informative fiction that spins out of control with an ending that is simply ridiculous. What a shame. Suffice it to say that Mr. Brown spends an inordinate amount of (largely successful) effort cobbling together a truly wonderful nemesis-- the Illuminati-- and then burns his creation to the ground with an ending that refuses to leave well enough alone. And how stupid. The Illuminati could have, and frankly should have, been a recurring shadow-character in scores of subsequent Dan Brown novels. Even if we never heard from either of A&D's heros again, and even if the Illuminati never again were the featured villian in a subsequent novel, they could have been such a useful wild-card. Imagine, for example, a scientist-protagonist in a future work running completely out of options. The kind of situation where novelists tend to rely on silly, nick-of-time coiincidences that strain suspension of disbelief and annoy readers. Enter the Illuminati as set up in A&D. They know everything, they're unimaginably powerful, they're hidden in plain sight and they've infiltrated everything and everybody. If this well-crafted (and exhaustively researched) shadow-character is your agent of serendipity, well.. habitual Dan Brown readers would totally have bought the plot contrivance and non-habitual Dan Brown readers would have had their interest piqued in A&D. From a marketing perspective, all I can do is shake my head. But with specific reference to A&D, unfortunately Mr. Brown's triple-lindy plot twist after the climax effectively cripples this novel and dooms it to thriller mediocrity. Anyway, do yourself a favor-- skip the last 50 pages and pretend Mr. Brown had an editor with a clue.
Rating:
Summary: What a roller-coaster ride!!!!!
Review: I love the "suspension of disbelief" books ONLY if they are well researched and based in some sort of reality. Angels & Demons is just that kind of book - WOW!!! Hats off to Dan Brown for what seems like an incredible amount of research and time and planning, cause he's created an amazing non-stop thrill ride!
I loved reading about all the secrets of the Vatican and how people like Galileo and Bernini played a part in the famous Illuminati!! I now wish I had access to the Vatican libraries and secret vaults!!
Lots of twists and turns, great action scenes and credible main characters made this book a joy to read. Once I started I couldn't put it down. Granted, some of the things that happen to our main character (drownings, non-parachute jumpings, buried alive, etc..) stretched the credibility line a bit, but it was all part of the fun and I loved it. I look forward to spending many more long nights with Mr. Brown and his well researched novels - THANKS!!!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book
Review: I don't read many books, but when one of my volleyball teammates had me read the first page of this book I was hooked instantly. I read more than half of the book on the drive home from our tournament and purchased it online (...) as soon as I arrived home. As soon as it came in the mail I couldn't put it down. Brown does an excellent job of intertwining science and religion, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, wanting to learn more. Simply a great book.
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