Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Brilliant
Review: Angels and Demons is possibly the best book I have ever read. The codes, the chase, the resurection of an acient brotherhood made this book a thrilling page turner. The use of old and new concepts and ideas was simply amazing. The way Dan Brown showed urgency was outstanding. Better then the Da Vinci Code. A brilliant read.
Rating: 
Summary: This book killed my brain cells
Review: This book nearly leaves me speechless. I saw every major plot line coming, a least a hundred pages before they were revealed. This is because Brown can't seem to figure out how to foreshadow correctly. He gives away just about everything except for the very end of the book, which hits you like a train wreck. It is so ugly and twisted that you can't even believe that Brown actually beleves you would be absorbed by this.
For me, there was no suspension of disbelief at all. I was not drawn in. It was like I was watching a bad movie in the theatre that I want to walk out of but I couldn't because I kept hoping it would turn itself around become a better book. However, it didn't. It was just bad.
I understand that the book is fiction and that the errors in language and such are acceptable, but why not take the extra step as the author to research a little better and make sure everything is at least in the right ballpark.
Everyone should throw this book out and go buy a copy of The House of Leaves instead.
Rating: 
Summary: As of an Angel
Review: As of an angel, with glowing wings illuminated in flight, "Dan Brown's" pen once again graces the page with utmost elegance and brilliance in, "Angels and Demons." From the start, the book is a fast paced thriller with, like most of Brown's works, an outsider being pulled into a world of secret societies to do some unbelievable feat. The books settings are fantastically detailed and have information, which has been researched thoroughly by Brown. Unlike his other novels, the characters in this novel have rather vague descriptions and are left that way until about page two hundred or so. The plot, which thickens from page one is and entirely different matter. Robert Langdon, an occult specialist is sent to Rome to explore the meaning of the death of a world-renowned scientist, when he meats this mans daughter. Vitoria Vetra is a young scientist working with CERT, a science facility of amazing proportions. Together they plunge into the world of an ancient, and supposedly dead society, the Illuminati.
From this point on the book climbs to it's apex, and then just as the reader suspects the ending, Brown rips the floor out from under you with an extraordinary twist. Overall Brown's writing is superb! What the story lacks in character development it makes up for, ten-fold, in it's unique plot, and just plain fascinating information. The book is one of the most highly informative, and well-researched books that I have ever had the privilege of coming across. Brown's knowledge of Illuminati secrets, maps, and rituals did not in any way fail to astound me. This book is a must read for any one who has ever wondered about ancient societies, i.e. Masons, Illuminati, etc. I found it utterly fascinating from start to finish.
"Angels and Demons" is written with a series of story lines that all lead in separate paths, but then begin to intertwine near the climax of the book. The flowing writing style, and is with which the author writes is unparalleled by any one of his time. In this book Brown once again pushes the envelope with new ground breaking material that is comparable to his best seller, "The Da Vinci Code."
The book has shortcomings, although few, they came near the beginning of the book and were noticeable. I found the pace to be rushed, and the author could have exercised slightly more patience in opening the story. Brown gives beautiful detail, but leaves little room in his story to create any real relationships between any of the characters, excluding the obvious love, which Robert and Vitoria feel toward each other. The books greatest asset can also be viewed, as it's greatest fault. Brown spends the majority of his time explaining in enormous detail, the settings and the information, which he has attained about the ancient group, the Illuminati. Though the detail is fascinating, it becomes slightly tedious near the middle to later half of the book in which Robert and Vitoria are on the trail of an Illuminati operative.
Despite what I disliked with the book, I am sure that this book will one day be held in the same stature as works by the classic authors of great American literature. Brown has never failed to hold true to the incredible expectations he has set for his readers to enjoy. Reading this book was truly a pleasure and I would highly recommend it to any person who wants not just a book put a true piece of art.
Rating:
Summary: Like most people
Review: Like most people, I came to Dan Brown via THE DA VINCI CODE first. This book was my second read of his, and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more than DA VINCI, although both books have similar themes and even characters. But A&D is, in my opinion, a better written book. Of the three books I've recently purchased, (BIRTH OF VENUS, BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, A&D) this one is the best, moving along at a fast clip with great dialogue and characters. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a book that "moves."
Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: This is an amazing book with a fast and furious storyline. I could not put it down. I won't go into the many, many reasons why I loved it, but I would like to say to all those critics out there who have a problem with the "implausible" portions of the book: have you ever heard of a little thing called FICTION!!!??? If not, feel free to look it up in the dictionary. Relax guys, and try to just enjoy a novel for what it is:)
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the new Nelson DeMille
Review: Wonderful fiction, easy to read and fast moving.
Rating:
Summary: e-book not received, unalbe to read
Review: I thought I was buying a book! Amazon "sold" me an e-book that I have not received. It was shipped on March 12, 2004 and today is May 5, 2004. After looking to see "where my stuff is" I noted that it was a stupid e-book. Being very dyslixic I am unable to read it on the computer even if I chose to sit in front of the stupid thing all day--what a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Entertainment
Review: After reading DaVinci Code I rushed to Amazon.com to find other books by Dan Brown. This time I bought the e-book with Adobe Reader so I could have the book both at my laptop and as well in my Palmtop. Great reading, fast paced, instructive, deserves the title "braincandy". It is also interesting to search the Internet and find the real existence of the mentioned organizations. My best experience since "The Name of the Rose".
Rating: 
Summary: Good start bad finish
Review: I was having fun reading this book as it is well-written with plenty of little known facts concerning the Catholic church and plenty of action. the closing of the book did not work for me though. The ending was not consistent with the plot that Mr. Brown developed. It went from a great book - to one where I had to suspend belief to finish.
Rating:
Summary: A page-turner's page-turner
Review: For all the criticism that gets thrown Dan Brown's way, he sure knows how to write a page-turner! Brown has struck on a basic formula that he executes to near-perfection -- it has worked in the three Brown books I've read - Deception Point, Angels and Demons, and The Da Vinci Code. Start with a prologue that shows or implies a horrifying death. Introduce the hero/heroine as a smart, single, attractive committed professional, and drop him or her into a fish-out-of-water scenario for which he or she is perfectly trained. Introduce sinister characters, including one anonymous character who appears to be pulling all strings from behind the scenes as well as his henchman, a lethal killing machine. Toss in some technological marvels with compelling explanations and a plot to perform nefarious deeds on a grand scale, and you've got a hugely successful novel as you keep tossing your hero/heroine (and an attracive, conveniently single member of the opposite sex) from frying pan to fire. Brown's two Robert Langdon novels benefit from the unusual expertise of the hero - religious symbolism. Brown has an amazing ability to write clearly and convincingly about what must be daunting subject matter, and in Angels and Demons he gives a wonderfully compelling travelogue of Vatican City and its famed collection of art and architecture. Brown also introduces a powerful element of the spiritual in this book, as we are thrown into the medeival feud between church and science. For those who critique Brown's works as factually inaccurate, I advise a step or two back for some perspective. The man is writing novels to entertain and, to a much lesser extent, inform. I have friends who are really, really into sharks, and they claim to hate the movie, "Jaws" because a shark would never a million years do what Spielberg has that shark do. But they miss the point of the flick! Brown is essentially doing the same thing -- setting a thrilling tale amid an exotic setting. A few inaccuracies (or even more than a few) should not interfere with the exercise. Readers of thrillers will probably guess at the ending a few pages in advance . . . but that's because Brown compels you to guess. That's the heart of any good mystery or thriller -- the author essentially dares you to try and figure out what's going on, and then tries to jerk the rug out from under your expectations. In this, Brown does yeoman's work. Perhaps Brown is a victim of his own success; he has been savaged by many, many readers. Unfair, I say. This is one of the most entertaining books I've read in some time.
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