Rating: 
Summary: A true barnburner!
Review: Next to Britt Gillette's "Conquest of Paradise", this is the best book I've read in a long time. I'm a first time Dan Brown reader but I'm hooked! I stayed up all night and didn't quit until I finished, blurry eyed and sleepy. I found myself believing every word and had to stop and remember that it's just fiction! I was amazed at the inside information about the Vatican (especially the library), and I finally got out a map and books from my trip to Rome to see if I could find all the churches. Anti-matter, illuminati, choosing a pope - all of it was fascinating. When I finished, I had to laugh thinking about the fact they never ate, slept or made comfort stops and neither could I. The ending was a total surprise! Anyone who enjoys non-stop action and information shouldn't miss this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Bleat - unmitigated bleat
Review: The book starts out bad and then proceeds to worse. Every bad thriller idea extant is packed into this book . Brief example, if you cannot spot the "Evil Genius" the instant he appears, you should turn in your U.N.C.L.E. communicator. And, of course, the "Hashassin" from Syria must be part of the "centuries -old" plot. I could go on, but I feel ill. The story is full of supposedly intelligent people acting painfully stupid, and being shocked by the obvious. I could not finish the book, it was that bad. The author and publisher should be arraigned for arboricide. Please, if you wish to read an intelligent thriller, read Alan Furst, Len Deighton, Arturo Perez-Reverte, or John LeCarre, do not waste your money on this.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibily bad
Review: I hardly know where to begin. The character development is on a level with the old Doc Savage series, ie if you can't find a stereotype, the character won't be found in this book.
The plotting is clever, but I kept being offended by mistakes which could have been easily avoided and were totally unessential to the plot.
To give a few examples, the author claims that the Hassisins were named after hashish, when actually hashish is named after the Hashishins of Persia. The Hashishins were not enemies of the Vatican, they were totally involved in politics in Persia.
At one point, the hero is amazed to hear that the female lead, despite being a physicist, is a practitioner of yoga, an ancient Buddhist practice. First of all, yoga is originally Hindu, not Buddhist, and it has been highly popular for quite a while in Europe and the US.
I finally gave up on the book when the protagonist described the pyramid on the Great Seal as being designed by Henry Wallace, with the collusion of Franklin Roosevelt. Why not the truth, it was designed by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. They were all Masons, and the story would not have been harmed at all. This is just sloppy writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced & full of twists, but sophomoric & derivative
Review: I imagine that Dan Brown learned to write by reading mystery thrillers by Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, and the like. His writing is extremely derivative of these authors, and he shamelessly borrows the worst cliches from these books. Like books by the above-mentioned authors, Angels & Demons is fast-paced and full of plot twists. (In fact, just when you think it's over, Dan Browns throws you another curve ball. Then another. Kind of fun, but kind of contrived, as if he wanted to prove to everyone that he can write plot twists.) If the cliches don't make you cringe too much, you'll find
A&D to be a quick, easy, fun and sometimes thought-provoking read. But make no mistake, this is a formulaic page-turner, nothing more.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended
Review: Although I found this novel to be an exciting and fast-paced adventure mystery, I didn't think it was as good as Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." Maybe Dan Brown just got better the second time around or maybe I should have read "Angels & Demons" first. I didn't find "Angels & Demons" to be quite as believable as "The Da Vinci Code." Robert Langdon is definitely a well thought out character and very likeable. The ins and outs of his adventure held my interest. I didn't want to not finish this book. However, I could not put The Da Vinci Code down, whereas this one took me a little longer to finish. Dan Brown definitely puts a lot of time and reserach into his books and I look forward to his next mystery!
Rating:
Summary: "Dum" but fun: a book to hate and love
Review: This is a book to both hate and love, despise and enjoy, for it is quite literally sophomoric: wise in the themes that it tackles but moronic in the way in which it handles them. The major weaknesses of the book are its poorly-developed and one-dimensional characters, its host of plot implausibilities, and its legion of factual mistakes in geography, history, theology, ecclesiology, art, and foreign languages (to name but a few areas). My favorite goof in the book comes on page 122 (of the paperback edition), where the author mistakingly uses the Latin word "Dum" (which means "while") for "Deum" ("God"). I normally would regard this as a mere typo missed by a careless editor (if there even was an editor); but in light of the many other mistakes in Latin and Italian in the book, my suspicion is that the author just didn't know any better. Such amateurish errors are more than matched by the book's many factual errors, which make the claims of some that there is much substantial knowledge that can be gleaned from this "well-researched" book both astonishing and sad. The worst ongoing weakness of the book, however, is its utter implausibility. Introduced early on is a plane that travels (for no apparent reason) at an incredible Mach 15, which is the approximate speed that the characters would have to move to accomplish all that they do in the allotted eleven hours (counting from the protagonist's landing in Geneva). For example, Professor Langdon does in mere minutes by means of incredibly lucky finds and great intuitive leaps (and in what must be the world's most complicated and idiosyncratic library) research that would take any other professional scholar weeks, months, or years to accomplish. This is the same brilliant academic who earlier, together with the crack minds of the Swiss Guard, was unable to figure out that their own crucial, stolen wireless camera (and the destructive device on which it was focused) could be located simply and quickly by isolating its transmitting frequency, which they had to know, and triangulating on its signal. Later in the novel, this mental giant also thinks it is a good idea to sneak up on a ruthless, professional assassin whose feet are firmly planted on terra firma by climbing waist-deep into a nearby fountain, pointing a gun at him, and saying "Don't move." Still later, having (of course) narrowly escaped being drowned in that incident, this brilliant Harvard professor tries virtually the same approach, only this time, fortunately, without the water . . . but, unfortunately, without the gun either. As another example, I challenge the reader to try to imagine all of the events described as happening between 11:39 p.m. and midnight, or even the ground supposedly covered in the process: from the steps of the basilica, to its subterranean bowels (with a pause to kneel and pray), back to the surface, to a helicopter and an altitude of 2 to 3 miles. Absurd -- except, perhaps, at Mach 15! But the novel really "jumps the shark," as they say, in the last sixty pages or so, where an ill-founded and ridiculous plot twist occurs that is an insult to any intelligent reader. Why the author feels the need to jerk his audience around in this way and just there is beyond me. He has already demanded a willful suspension of disbelief of enormous (some would say biblical) proportions. For all of its multitudious flaws, however, I hate to admit that enjoyed reading this stupid book. I think a part of the fun was in trying to anticipate the next "Dum" mistake or new demand on the reader's already strained credulity the author would make. Would I recommend the book? To a person with time on their hands who would like an easy, mindless, action-packed romp, sure. For a more mature reader interested in well-researched and slick Catholic ecclesial-theological intrigue, however, I would recommend dusting off an old Morris West or Irving Wallace novel. If this book is any indication, Dan Brown can't (so to speak) hold a candle to the likes of them. To those who declare that this book is the best they have read, either ever or in a long time, I would say: "De gustibus non disputandum." That means "There's no accounting for taste," though Brown, I suspect, would translate it: "It's no use arguing about the wind." Mercy.
Rating:
Summary: A true barnburner!
Review: Next to Britt Gillette's "Conquest of Paradise", this is the best book I've read in a long time. I'm a first time Dan Brown reader but I'm hooked! I stayed up all night and didn't quit until I finished, blurry eyed and sleepy. I found myself believing every word and had to stop and remember that it's just fiction! I was amazed at the inside information about the Vatican (especially the library), and I finally got out a map and books from my trip to Rome to see if I could find all the churches. Anti-matter, illuminati, choosing a pope - all of it was fascinating. When I finished, I had to laugh thinking about the fact they never ate, slept or made comfort stops and neither could I. The ending was a total surprise! Anyone who enjoys non-stop action and information shouldn't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Unlike the Top Reviewer, I believe this book was great. WHO CARES that the latin was wrong. If you want to read something where everything is perfect the way you want it write your own book! The plot twists are definately neccesary, and make the book possible. As for the Mach 15 plane, BROADEN YOUR MIND. What is the point of a Sci Fi Adventure book if something in it is not possible! What do you want, something like this? "The plane ride took 11 hours, and the connecting flight came in late. By the time he had talked to Kohler and flew to Spain, the pope and the whole of Vatican City had been demolished." The first review is fairly pointless, and only makes sence for Latin Proffesors who double in editing. A very fun book, and an interesting ending
Rating:
Summary: Great adventure full of action and suspence
Review: Great read.Loved every minute.Stunning facts and shovking conclusion's make this a great novel.
Rating:
Summary: It's better after two hundred pages...
Review: I began reading this book because it came highly recommended by my students. It seemed like an interesting idea, although the premis reminded me of Indiana Jones - college professor becoming imbroiled in religious (or irreligious) reliquery. At first, I was bored with the endless descriptions of Vittoria, her straining muscles, soft lips, and her shorts/legs. However, after two hundred pages, the action made up for the flat characters (every one is completely convinced of their righteousness) and they did have some interesting things to say about the clash of science and religion thanks to very creative experiences. This book is supposed to be in real time - everything happens in about one day, so it does give the reader plenty of action with tons of close calls and an over hanging threat to the very heart of Catholicism. While the majority of the novel is pretty predictable - right down to what the Illuminati Diamond might really be, the book does have vivid and interesting descriptions of Vatican City and the surrounding area; and it is a guilty pleasure to contemplate a secret society infiltrating the Vatican. So, if you choose to read this book, stay staunch, it does get better - even though it moves to a predictable end.
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