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Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons

List Price: $26.95
Your Price: $18.33
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Excellent Tour Guide to Rome
Review: With almost five hundred reviews written for this book, I doubt I have anything new to proffer, but repetition may serve well for here.

Angels & Demons is firstly a very quick read. At 570+ pages in paperback, I read it in two days. It was mostly for this reason that I started reading it in the first place. I did not intend to read it, but before I could register to stop reading, I was on page 50. What sucked me in were the facts; the trivia and the fiction based on reality. CERN, the Vatican, Rome, its history and art and architecture. All the facts of location and art and history are reported to be non-fiction. This was by far the most worthwhile part of the read. Learning the history of the Illuminati and the major disputes between renaissance science and the Catholic Church made slogging through the story worthwhile.

But it is the story that is the weakest part of Angels & Demons. Standard thriller stuff that is plot driven to the extreme and features next to no character development. The main character, Robert Langdon, has neither outstanding characteristics of behavior or charm with the exception of his skills in an archive room using a spatula. He's a walking, talking plot facilitator. Getting trapped, getting untrapped, and for being such a smart guy, he seems to know little about anything that is not art history. (I am neither scientist nor art historian yet I had heard of CERN and its particle accelerator.) The director of CERN is a mish-mash of generic creepy old-but-genius characteristics, who knows more about particle physics than nearly anybody else alive, but knows next to nothing about art or religious history. The female companion of Langdon is eye candy, which is disconcerting for a text-driven adventure. But how can a character be that engaging when she is genius as all the others, yet as an orphan at age nine did not know the meaning of "adoption", and whose most memorable description is that she is, "Lithe"?

The rest of the characters follow the same pattern of connect-the-dots plot fulfillers, with the exception of one: the Pope's Chamberlain. He was actually interesting and the novel actually attempts to make him multi-dimensional. Unfortunately the last fifty pages of the novel become an exercise in destroying the nifty web of history, conspiracy, and some character development that was built up in the first 500. (It did not help that I figured out a key plot revalation about 300 pages before it happened thanks to the author's way too obvious attempt to be clever.) If the story had ended fifty pages sooner, this review would have been four stars. Unfortunately it becomes too much. But I did get a nice tour of Rome and a punch-drunk history lesson to boot, so it's not all bad.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ DAVINCI CODE!!!!
Review: This book is exactly like the Davinci Code. Angels was written before Davinci so if you have not read Davinci it might be entertaining. I was only able to get 1/4 the way through the book before giving up due to the similarities. Davinci is great but steer clear of this if Davinci was read before. Gave 3 stars to be fair since I did not read all of the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Angles and Demons
Review: Well written book with lots of well researched information. If you like suspense steeped with historical fact this is the book for you. The interplay between science and religion is well done, although short of delving into any one subject too deeply (as it should for a work of fiction). Overall an interesting well written book with some excellent twists. I would highly recommend reading it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Really Great Book
Review: This is the second book from Dan Brown that I have read. I just finished this story and it completely shocked me. It went from being interesting to a roller coaster ride that thrust me through so many emotions, so many obstacles, and compelling puzzles.

Amazing - A religious conspiracy, a silent battle that rages between science and theology. Some say, it isn't for the weak of faith, which I find silly. If you are open minded and looking for one of those novels begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Another fun book is Brad Steiger's 'Werewolf.' I also really liked Brown's 'Deception Point. Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' and always read the Amazon reviews.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Religious Suspense- Too much Like DC
Review: This is a good book. Very well researched and well written. However, many of the characters are almost identical to those in the Da Vinci Code. The obvious example would be the similarities between Vittoria and Sophie. The ones that really dissapointed me were the almost exact similarities between Fache and Olivetti, Teabing and the Camerlengo, and even the lesser Vatican LT. with the French police LT! Just keep this in mind, he just used the same characters with different names. I hope he doesn't do the same for the sequal to Da Vinci Code.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing
Review: It was wonderful. Very thought provoking. If you like History, science, thrillers, and any book that makes you hang on to every word then here it is.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This book will keep you on the edge of your secret with its clever writing and gripping story. There are twists and turns until the very end. Highly recommended!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent mystery -- on par with The DaVinci Code
Review: Here again (or should I say, before, since the book was written earlier than "The Code") Dan Brown shows himself a master storyteller. Clearly, the themes of the book are less controversial: (1) particle physics; (2) anti-Catholic secret societies; (3) world conspiracy; however, the formula is similar.

The book however, has a greater degree of fiction, which perhaps is why it has not attracted the public attention as much as the "Code".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great read!
Review: Dan Brown has me hooked!! He would not be able to write books fast enough to keep me happy!
Angels and Demons is a terrific read. The historical information is fascinating. If you liked the DaVinci Code, you'll love Angels and Demons. It is not as predictable as the DaVinci Code and Dan has given more detail and thought to the plot and how he builds the story and its characters. I loved it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TOTALLY SATISFYING...7 STARS!!!!
Review: Once in a great while, a book comes along that will blow your mind. This book for me was one of them. Dan Brown's writing style is fantastic, his story and intrigue are so well laid out that it had me guessing till the very end.
The premise alone was interesting, to solve the riddle of the Illuminati, an ancient order founded to destroy the catholic Church. Our heroes must find a ticking time bomb somewhere under the Vatican, as well as four kidnapped Cardinals slated to be elected Pope before they are killed. I loved how at any given moment there was a mystery or a puzzle that needed to be solved; always building up the tension and making you want to read on to see what will happen next. THIS IS GOOD WRITING. (Unlike my writing, LOL.) I don't know how many times I can repeat it, it was great!!!. If you want to read a fast passed, edge of your seat thriller, with an Indiana Jones esc feel, then this is the novel for you. Don't Delay.


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