Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and intelligent to the end
Review: I don't usually recommend books to others because I myself am very picky about what I ready. I don't care for conspiracy theories. This book is about a conspiracy theory (or is it?). The illuminati is a very interesting conspiracy story. How things are connected until the end is simply brilliant. And the ending! One can predict it but still enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Action/Suspense/Education On Ancient Societies
Review: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives a fax photo of a murdered man with the symbol of one of the oldest and most secretive societies of the ancient world branded on his chest. He is summoned to CERN headquarters in Switzerland to view the carnage firsthand.In Rome Italy, the pope has died and a conclave of the cardinals is being convened to select a new pontiff. The four most likely candidates suddenly disappear into the ancient underground catacombs beneath the Vatican, victims of a deranged but cunning captor. The Illuminati, a secret ancient arch foe of the "mother" church is not extinct as historians have presumed, but is alive and well (or so it seems) and wants revenge for atrocities committed against them hundreds of years ago in the dark ages. Interestingly enough some of the history cited in this novel is NOT fiction. You will get a bit of an education about secret ancient societies and some to the antics that went on between them and the Catholic church in the dark ages. But, don't quote all of the history as fact. There is a bit of embellishment added to make for interesting reading (it is fiction after all). The only part of the novel that my imagination had trouble with was the jet plane that flew 6,000 mph. Come on Dan, that is a bit much! The entire novel takes place in a 24 hour period as one continuous string of suspenseful events. This one will make you wake up in the morning with black circles under your eyes. Thanks, TRW
Rating:
Summary: a real page turner!
Review: another thrilling page turner by dan brown! i read the da vinci code before i read a&d, hence my first statement! i'm really looking forward to the next langdon adventure.
Rating: 
Summary: ...yawn...
Review: As a conspirologist, I was intrigued. Sadly, this was a by-the-numbers thriller. Nothing new. I'll stick with the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: What a stinker
Review: Beware. Makes Robert Ludlum look like art. If you liked Da Vinci Code (which I did), then stay away from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! What a great storyteller!
Review: I picked up this book after reading "The Da Vinci Code," my first experience with Dan Brown, and I have to say, this book is *much better* than "The Da Vinci Code." Both books are painstakingly researched and you learn a lot as you are entertained, but while Da Vinci Code only had one twist/reveal in its plot, "Angels and Demons" has several, making it a much more satisfying read. Langdon is again the star of the novel, an academic specializing in religious symbology. He is hustled out of bed early one morning to fly in a special jet to CERN in Switzerland, the R&D group responsible for the Internet and now, Anti-matter. Langdon is brought in as an expert consultant due to a bizarre brand sported by a murdered scientist. Just like in the Code, soon the murdered man's daughter and Langdon are unraveling clues and seeking justice, lives constantly in peril. Apparently, a long-dead conspiracy/cult known as The Illuminati has risen again in order to use anti-matter (the most powerful bomb ever created) to destroy the Catholic Church by blowing up the vatican. The vatican is at its most vulnerable as all the Cardinals have arrived to elect a new Pope. The entire vatican is held hostage as 4 kidnapped Cardinals are killed by the Illuminati in order to publicise their terrorism. Langdon tries to figure out ancient clues as to where the murders will take place to save the Cardinals, aided by the Pope's elite police force, while the rest of the police force search for the bomb. It's another fast read - can't put it down! The action takes place over a single day but you feel like you've lived an entire lifetime by the time you're done reading! The characters are all well done, action, art and the city of Rome described in wonderful sensory detail, the historical details, clues and ambigrams are fascinating. Underlying all of the marvelous entertainment are important questions about the morality of science (just because we can clone sheep, should we?), the varying paths to God, the unifying force uniting us all. Whether you're a skeptic, atheist, or true believer, you will appreciate the fine line Brown walks in his attempt to portray all arguments and find the common ground between the varying and diametrically opposed points of view. He succeeds in giving a very balanced argument overall without ever getting preachy or dogmatic or heretical. I especially like it when a highly-entertaining read is also a thoughtful one. It's tough to find a book that combines action, adventure, history and philosophy, and this one does it very well. The ending of the book completely satisfies - so much so that I felt emotionally exhausted by the denoument! Be sure to begin this book when you have a lot of time to devote to reading or you'll be going to work red-eyed from staying up all night long! :)
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Story
Review: This book is one of the best I have read in a long time. The imagination and originality that the author shows in this book is exceptional. The clarity in which he writes makes you think you are there.
The book is packed with information about the Vatican that not many people know about.
This is an exceptional read in fact it's a must read!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty awful
Review: I guess my expectations were too high given the other reviews of this book and the description of the plot. Maybe Mr. Brown's writing improved as he wrote more books, but I find this book unreadable. In particular, he doesn't make logical transitions from the end of one scene to the next. For example in an early scene, he leaves the hero with his skin crawling with apparently overwhelming horror at something he sees. When this scene is continued just a few pages later, it does not continue or explain the earlier reaction. I kept going between the two trying to figure out what happened. I decided I just couldn't continue with the book, it is just so badly written. I recommend Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum (which appears to have "inspired" this book) instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Earth, Wind, and Fire
Review: No, not the rock 'n roll group, but three of the four elementals of science - earth, wind (air), fire, and water. These play a major role in Dan Brown's novel of an ancient secret brotherhood, the Illuminati, and their quest to condemn and destroy Cathoicism as an organizational entity. Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbiologist who also appears in "The Da Vinci Code", finds proof that the Illuminati still exist, and have hijacked a cannister of anti-matter from the Conseil Europeen le Recherche Nucleaire (CERN) and hidden it somewhere beneath the Vatican on the eve of the election of a new pope. A physicist has been murdered and Langdon and the physicist's daughter, also a scientist at CERN, follow a 400 year old trail through Rome to prevent the incineration of the Catholic Church as we know it today. "Angels & Demons" pulls no punches and provides cover to cover action. Sure there are assassins, 15,000 mph jets, anti-matter, mad scientists, murdered cardinals, sealed crypts, abandoned cathedrals, and ambigram branding irons, but Brown has it all hang together. The ambigrams are of special note because they read the same, right side up or upside down, and this figures prominently in the story. And the entire story, all 600 pages or so, takes place in one day! Still, Brown hurls the reader along from one elemental to the next with breakneck speed and hardly a chance to catch one's breath. CERN really does exist, as does anti-matter, and Brown points out that CERN has recently succeeded in producing the first particles of anti-matter and it is now the most powerful energy source known to man. So, there is a lot of cerebral exercising in the book, be it physics, biology, church history, or papal conclaves. While I, personally, found the ending somewhat predictable, Brown poses a larger question. Will this substance, like atomic energy, be used to save the world or condemn it? And this little piece of brain candy, as someone called it, gives us a glimpse of What if. Good job Mr. Brown.
Rating:
Summary: A Miracle
Review: That this novel is so popular makes you believe in God. Miracles can happen. For this is simply a very bad book. The language is flat, the characters are caricatures, and the physics simplistic. Copernicus was not executed. The story of Galileo is more complex than Brown allows. The Catholic Church embraces evolutionary theory and does not require the teaching of creationism. And their are legitimate moral concerns about scientific research and developments.
Maybe there is a superb plot twist at the end. But I can't put myself through the torture of reading such bad writing and so much misinformation to find out.
Check out something like The Seville Connection for an intelligent mystery involving the Vatican. The difference is as between light and darkness.
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