Angels and Demons

Rating:
Summary: You had me at hello. You lost me at goodbye.
Review: I'm not giving this book one star because it has NO redeemable qualities. In fact, for 3/4 of the book I was totally won over and could not wait to whip the credit card out to purchase the Da Vinci Code. I'm glad I waited until I had completed the book though.

My profound disappointment in the ending is what drives me to one star. Unfair probably, but I could not believe that a plot that had me hook, line and sinker could totally unravel at the end. It seems that many books, movies, tv shows today try and "get" you with the surprise twist ending. This generation is too savvy for that now. All one needs to do to figure out "whodunit" is look for the most unlikey character, besides the hero, and there is your bad guy. Angels & Demons does the same thing. Worse, as brilliant as some of the writing, plot and characterization is in the first 3/4s, it's almost like reading a totally different book in the end. How many "Luke I am your father" moments can I have in one lifetime? The ending is too spastic, too contrived and too superficial for a book that prided itself on making you read between the lines at first.

Finally, this book is a cliched mess. Now maybe real life Harvard professors of religion iconography are also J.Crew models, but would it be too much to ask for Langdon to be less than handsome. . .maybe even a little socially awkward. We already have Indiana Jones, and he did it way better than this. Sorry Mr. Brown, you write one heck of a premise, it's your endings that need a lot of work.

Rating:
Summary: "Her cell phone had no dial tone..."
Review: Of course her cell phone had no dial tone--no cell phone does. His protagonist's claim that early Christians got the Eucharist from Aztec culture is just as preposterous--Christians and the Eucharist were around long before Europeans discovered Aztec culture. These are just a couple of examples of Dan Brown's lazy story telling. I'm with Stephen King on this one. The Da Vinci Code wasn't a good book and neither is this one. It's too bad a hack has gotten ahold of an otherwise fascinating genre.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, about 3 1/2 stars
Review: Fun book, but not nearly as interesting as Da Vinci Code.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Screenplay for a possible Hollywood flick
Review: Dan Brown definitely has the ability to grab and hold an attention. I read this book from cover to cover, almost continuously. I like the pace of the whole story, and looking back, it is unbelievable that what has been described is essentially over a 24 hour time frame. I never was that interested in conspiracy theories, but this is one book which definitely captured my imagination. I of course also admired the ambigrams of the four elements and the Name of Illuminati.. and the very clever ambigram of the title: "Angels and Demons".

Rating:
Summary: What a page-turner; Read this before The DaVinci Code
Review: Excellent book. Thanks to a friend's recommendation, I read this book first before The Da Vinci Code, and I recommend you do the same. The plot, and the detail art & religious history are the high points. The only negative is the "formulaic writing" other reviewers have mentioned. Once you've read one of Dan Brown's books, the plots of the others feel very familiar.

Rating:
Summary: I DON'T BUY IT
Review: I was so happy reading this book. It is well-written with plenty of little known Catholic facts and non-stop action. The last part of the book was where I started having trouble. The ending was not consistent with the characterization that Dan Brown had developed. It went from a wonderful book - the best I've read in a long time - to one where the reader had to suspend belief to finish. Dan, work harder on the ending and I'll buy everything you write. Right now I'm afraid to read any more of your books for fear the ending will sag.

Rating:
Summary: Another Dan Brown Breathless Adventure
Review: Dan Brown, author of the humongously successful "Da Vinci Code," scores well with this story written before his international best seller

Incredibly, the entire 500+ pages of action occurs over a six-hour period. As in "Da Vinci," the action takes place in and around the Catholic Church -- literally. The bulk of the book involves Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and his attractive Italian co-sleuth Vittoria Vetra racing between the Pope's office, the Vatican's secret archives, hidden Middle Age passageways, the crypt holding St. Peter's remains and various churches in Rome in an attempt beat a midnight calamity that threatens to destroy the Catholic Church at its very foundations.

The nutshell: CERN, the world's most formidable collection of physicists, has produced and contained anti-matter, that theoretical substance present at the Big Bang. Despite elaborate security, a vial of the anti-matter has been stolen by a resurgent Illuminati -- that cryptic group dating from the Middle Ages that purported to represent and defend scientific inquiry against the forces of a Church desperate to stamp out anything even remotely calling into question Rome's vision of the earth, man and their divine creation.

After waiting four centuries, the Illuminati have a chance to extract their revenge upon the Catholic Church. The vial of anti-matter will escape containment when a battery mechanism allowing its suspension turns off at midnight on the day bereaved cardinals are gathered to select a new pope. Anti-matter, when coming into contact with any matter (even air, or the sides of a container) produces an explosion so great that a pea-sized drop of the stuff could wipe out a mile square area. And, the vial has been hidden someplace in the recesses of Vatican City.

Langdon appears because his specialty -- symbology -- makes him the foremost expert in possible clues to the Illuminati plot and the hiding place of the vial. The beautiful Vetra appears because she was teamed with her father in the production of anti-matter at CERN -- her father being a catholic priest/physicist who was attempting to prove the existence of Genesis with his work (he adopted her when she was an orphan).

Breathless describes this novel. The entire story, except for Langdon's educational lectures on the Illuminati, various aspects of Vatican lore, and Middle Age Italian artists and architecture, takes place between the time most allow for dinner to follow lunch. The action never stops -- it is ceaseless.

It is also very entertaining. Anyone attracted to history, secret societies, church politics past and present and a whiff of physics as backdrop to a ripping good yarn will appreciate this book.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I read this book after I had finished the Da Vinci code. I am a true critic and I have almost never given a rating above Four Stars. This one got my vote! From the very first page you are drawn in to the wonderfully written and amazingly accurate story. Not to mention how much research Dan Brown must have put into this master-peice. In my opinion this book is just as good or even better than the Da Vinci code. And though the huge amount of suspence ends at the climax of the story, the entire book is truly enjoyable. Possibly one of the best books I have ever read!

Rating:
Summary: An Absolutely Addictive Thrill
Review: I just finished this novel and it completely shocked me. It went from being a time consumer to a rollercoaster ride that thrust me through so many emotions, so many obstacles, and compelling puzzles.
A church conspiracy, a silent battle that has raged between science and theology...it was amazing. It isn't for the weak of faith because if you are easily influenced this novel could sway your opinion of either science or church. If you are open minded and looking for one of those novels begging for it's pages to be turned...look no further.

Rating:
Summary: trash to the trash
Review: Interesting premise but poorly written. You can see the formula writing especially after the DaVinci Code. Don't understand what all the raves are about.