Rating: 
Summary: A rough draft of The Da Vinci Code
Review: Having read and enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, I decided to investigate Dan Brown's previous works. My first choice was Angels and Demons and the similarities between both works are glaring, to put it mildly. Don't get me wrong, it's quite an enjoyable page turner (although at times I felt like throwing the book against the wall and screaming "ENOUGH!"), but the story stretches credibility to the breaking point. Like Da Vinci Code, Brown is very informative about Christianity and you do learn a great deal that you might not have known before - like the origins of that strange pyramid on the back of a dollar bill. Another plus is the very interesting plot twists at the end of the book that make reading it worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Be A ScreenWriter Software 7.0
Review: I liked this book better when it was called THE DA VINCI CODE.Brown writes for one reason and one reason only, and it affects his stories horribly. This narrative suffers similarly. Why?Because Brown devotes all his writing energies toward procuring that big movie deal. He screams it. So much so, he daringly compares his protagonist to Harrison Ford. (Wink wink, hint hint Hollywood. Look at me...I've written this book just for you. Call me!). But he falls short. His writing is extremely shallow and simplistic, and therefore more appropriate for TV. And not necessarily prime time standards. His is more relegated to one of those late night syndicated shows starring anonymous 20-something faces, filmed in Canada on the cheap; with lots of cliff hangars and chapter breaks to allow for bounteous commercials of weight loss products and perpetually-sharp carving knives. But hey, what do I know? His books are flying off the shelves. He's doing something right. Maybe it's a form of pulp fiction. Great. Or maybe a brain candy for those wishing to read a comic book - without the graphics. Fine too. But me, I'll just keep my eye on my local Fox affiliate and see if any of his stuff shows up somewhere between THE LOST WORLD and BEASTMASTER at 3 in the morning.
Rating: 
Summary: Moderately entertaining, but utter trash.
Review: This is not the sort of thing you read and keep proudly on your bookshelf, perhaps with the intention of going back to it again and again. Working in the vein of Umberto Eco's masterful (but flawed) "Foucault's Pendulum," Dan Brown spins a Ludlumesque thriller centered on a centuries-old secret society, the Illuminati, and their use of a brand-new science-fictional technology stolen from a European institute to attempt to destroy their nemesis, the Vatican. To say that the premise is a bit daft would be obvious; to note that the prose is barely literate would be superfluous (I doubt anyone is buying this expecting a brilliant command of the language). This is complete crap, and after a quick and frustrating scan of this book you can be sure that I now will _not_ be picking up Brown's latest in this series, "The Da Vinci Code," despite all the good press it's gotten. But even if you approach this book on its own abysmal level, you will find a lot wrong with it. The treatment of science, of scientists and of scientific institutes is perhaps a step above your average James Bond flick, but not a large one. And the philosophical argument underlying the science fiction here--the creation of matter as a way of rationally supporting the existence of God--is laughably poor (no halfway intelligent Christian or atheist would be challenged by the fictional breakthrough described here). To get some idea of where this novel is coming from, take the first few chapters, in which Harvard "symbologist" Robert Langdon is faxed a photo of a corpse with an oddly symmetrical brand burned into its chest (said brand, naturally, consists of the word "Illuminati," but in a form that reads the same when turned upside-down). We read that the symbol makes Langdon's heart pound, makes him feel as if he's been hit by a truck, makes him tremble, etc. For god's sake, why? It's just a symbol, and supposedly one he's never seen before, only heard of. Why does it not occur to him that _anyone_ could have fabricated a seal reading "Illuminati" in two directions? I mean, they made it up for this book, right? Brown is enough of a professional to move his narrative along brisquely, and to sprinkle each chapter with enough forewarnings of what is to come, and enough cliffhangers, to keep the average reader going. But it's all artifice over a hollow core--the characters are cardboard cutouts from a Ludlum novel; no one behaves in any fashion that might resemble a normal human being; and it is quite clear that while Brown researched enough to bluster his way through a superficial discussion, he really doesn't know anything about either science or religion. Only worth your time if this sort of dreck is what you really like to read.
Rating: 
Summary: I did not think it was going to get me...
Review: I started the book and could not get into it... put it down... read two other books - ran out of reading material and picked it back up. BOY AM I GLAD! I got hooked on the history and the play between science and religion and belief systems, all woven through a wonderful actionpacked edge of my chair story!
Rating: 
Summary: Non-Stop Thrills
Review: Angels & Demons is the kind of book that only succeeds for me if I find it difficult to put down while reading. From this standpoint, this is a great book. It reads easily, has an engaging story, and doesn't lack for thrills, action, mystery, plot twists, interesting settings, and a palatable (i.e. very slight) amount of romance. For those looking for a bit more depth, Brown has even provided a few thought-provoking comments on the state of Roman Catholicism. If I have any objection to the story it's that the ending is a bit much. It makes for thrilling reading, but I felt a bit overwhelmed after the fourth or fifth plot twist. Other readers' tolerance for wild endings will surely differ from mine.
Rating:
Summary: Not horror, but good.
Review: I grabbed this book on my quest to find a new terrifying horror novel to read. Amazon had this listed near the top of the list in the horror section, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I must admit this book wasn't scary to me at all (more of a suspense/thriller type) but it was a great book. Very entertaining. I have never read a Dan Brown novel before but now I'm looking forward to reading more of them. A pleasant surprise. Now back to my quest!!
Rating:
Summary: thought provoking
Review: I enjoyed the action in this story, although some things
were a bit far fetched. The ideas behind the story were
interesting and in my opinion - thought provoking.
The one thing that spoilt it - in a bad way - was the utterlly
terrible Italian used. Obviously quite some research went into
the story and it is a pity that more care wasn't taken to ensure
all the Italian used was coorect.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Escapism...and LOTS of It!
Review: Angels and Demons will not wow you with spectacular prose or fascinating multi-dimensional characters. It WILL provide a story that starts fast, gets faster, and offers enough plot twists to keep your head spinning from front cover to back. Dan Brown crafts a story that's by far clever enough to keep most of us guessing...and reading...all the way to the end. In a book that precedes (chronologically) the DaVinci code (which I've not yet read), we find Dr. Robert Langdon involved with a murder in which the victim, a European physicist, has been branded with the word "Illuminati." Langdon, an expert on iconology, is called in to consult. The ensuing plot unfolds over the course of a single day, and moves so fast, and is so compelling, that if you're like me you'll be tempted to read all 600 pages just that fast. If you are tempted, you'll appreciate that the writing is reasonably simple: predominantly unchallenging dialogue and readable descriptive prose. Although the plot becomes pretty intricate, Brown has done a good job of making sure that you don't have to go back and read sections multiple times to follow events, clues and such. This is no easy task, as the book is riddled with references to Rome, including structures, art and architecture, and history. Also well-explained are the baffling intricacies of Papal electoral politics and procedure. Brown has written a simple, old-fashioned thriller. You won't be disappointed with this novel. Just don't expect pulitzer material; instead enjoy the thrilling escapism. I'm guessing it won't last long.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting ... but extremely farfetched.
Review: Although this novel was good enough to arouse my interest and attention almost throughout, it was an extremely ridiculous and farfetched story. It's hard to believe that, in this day and age, an author would actually use Illuminati substance in a story in this manner, being as old and monotonous as the topic really is. The conspiracy theory involving worldly and national higher-ups throughout history, and the eye and pyramid on the dollar bill, is both aged and clichéd. You'd almost think that the book was written about forty years ago. And the anagrams, described as Illuminati genius for the way in which they were written, but portrayed simply within the pages of the novel, were just another of countless, lame items I had to overlook just to finish the book. Brown's theory of a deep-rooted, inexhaustible battle between science and religion (Catholicism) is, in my opinion, as exaggerated and ridiculous as the story itself. I like to think that Catholicism is a tad more intellectual in thought than the way in which it's portrayed in this book. He uses his exaggerated battle of religious stupidity as the main plot of the story. It's a good thing that many Godly people believe in miracles, too, as the ending is so riddled with nonsensical marvels that one would have to be a devout believer in earth shattering, multiple miracles to make any sense of the story at all. It goes on and on with twists and turns that the author appears to have thrown in to add a little depth to the story, most fairly predictable as well. Although the first half of the book was a rather quick read, I really had to force myself to get through the last fifty or sixty pages, as I thought it would never end. The story definitely had potential though. I think it would have been a great deal better if written with a bit more realism in mind. I like suspense and action just as much as anyone, but I don't like being reminded throughout that what I'm reading is so ridiculous that it has to be 'fiction', unless that fact is blatant, as in genres of profound science fiction and fantasy, or paranormal horror. I did give it three stars, though, for the reason I stated above; it was at least able to sustain my interest and attention for a while.
Rating:
Summary: Dissappointing....
Review: One of my friends told me Not To Bother with the Da Vinci Code, but the reviews here on Amazon gave me the hope that this might be something readable. It ain't. Or well, the plot gets better in the last quarter of the book, but the first three-quarters are hopelessly over-the-top, gee whiz about all the wrong things (CERN and a spaceplane? Get real. If this had been placed in a super-secret military complex I could possibly have suspended disbelief better) and overly laborious with explanations. You feel sorry for the poor plodding hero who has to regurgitate page after page about the Illuminati and he *still* has left out most of the more fascinating stuff that was, in fact, historically true about the Rosicrucians. (See Frances Yates.) Writing style: ugh. Flat, stale, and with cliches bouncing all over the road. I hope that Dan Brown aspires to better in the future and this is simply hack work to cover the bills while he works on learning how to actually write. The best part about this book is that if it got published, it gives me hope for getting mine out. The bar isn't set all that high.... If you want to read about the Illuminati, go read the books by Robert Anton Wilson and fry your brain--laughing.
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