Angels & Demons

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Summary: Science Vs. Religion...Fascinating Tale
Review: After reading the "DaVinci Code", I was curious to read another work by Dan Brown. "Angels & Demons" was even faster paced with more action and more suspense.

Robert Langdon, Harvard Iconologist, will experience the most harrowing 24 hours of his entire life. He will discover HSCTs-High Speed Civil Transports (Boston to Geneva in just 64 minutes), visit the famous CERN in Switzerland, find proof of the secret society the Illuminati, discover antimatter, and unearth a plot to destroy the Vatican.

Maximilian Kohler, director general of the CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) contacts Robert Langdon immediately following the murder of CERN physicist Leonardo Vetra. What makes this murder so mysterious is the ambigram burned into the chest of Vetra. It is a symbol for the ancient Galilean brotherhood known as the Illuminati. Kohler needs Langdon's input on the situation.

It seems that Vetra along with his physicist daughter Vittoria made a scientific discovery-antimatter- the most dangerous energy source known in the world. Now Vetra was dead and the antimatter canister was missing. The Illuminati which has promoted the interest of science versus blind religious faith has carried it to Rome and to the center of its ancient rival the Vatican.

On the eve of a papal conclave four cardinals are suddenly missing. They have been kidnapped to become sacrifices to the Church of the Illumination (the Illuminati lair). One cardinal will be killed each hour starting at 8 pm until Midnight when the antimatter will explode somewhere beneath Vatican City. Each cardinal will be branded with an ambigram at one of the four markers in Rome leading to the Illuminati lair.

Langdon and Vittoria Vetra begin a frantic search against the clock for clues leading to the markers among the vast amount of Roman churches to find the four cardinals before its too late and locate the antimatter before it incinerates Vatican City.

Brown incorporates many historical facts along with fiction to make a very interesting and entertaining story. I found myself interested in the workings of the Vatican, art history especially Bernini, Galileo's work and the concept of the ambigram.

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Summary: It's DaVincilicious!
Review: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened in the middle of the night and confronted with evidence of something he hadn't thought possible: the Illuminati, the world's oldest satanic cult, though long thought a defunct organization, is apparently thriving and responsible for the horrific mutilation and murder of a brilliant physicist. Arrived at the victim's workplace, a secretive nuclear research facility in Switzerland, Langdon discovers that the Illuminati have more in store for the world than the assassination of a single scientist. The group has its hands on the world's most destructive material, stolen from the dead man's lab, and is intent on destroying the Catholic Church by violent means.

Angels & Demons is the precursor to Dan Brown's much ballyhooed The DaVinci Code, which also features Langdon in the Indiana Jones-ish role of studly-smart professor-hero. The book is similar to The DaVinci Code, too, in its style and content--a romantic flirtation in the midst of crisis; secret religious history unveiled; complicated information rendered highly digestible by Mr. Brown's skillful hand; short, explosive chapters that make the book very hard to put down. A great story, well-written.

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Summary: Fast paced cheap thrills
Review: If you're looking to learn Italian or Latin, or hoping to learn history or science, look somewhere else (Mr. Christian, stick to West and Wallace, leave the cheap thrills to us mere mortals ... mercy). However, if you don't take yourself so seriously and you like your cheap thrills topped with fast-paced action, silly special effects, 007-type fantasy, this is an excellent read. It goes down easy, like a hamburger and fries, without the indigestion. OK, it ain't James Joyce, but if you liked the DaVinci Code, you'll like this one. It reads like a two-hour action-adventure spy flick. Very little snob appeal here, lots of pleasure though.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Read
Review: Not the best book ever written, but a good time passer. I was very disappointed in The DaVinci Code (hate when I figure everything out before the characters do), but, knowing little about Rome, that wasn't a problem here. A strange, but interesting ending. It's not great theology, but entertaining all the same.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping & Entertaining
Review: I listened to this CD and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very similar structure to Da Vinci Code, but a better story. This is one for the relaxed individual, not for the uptight, who will surely find real-world inaccuracies.

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Summary: One of the best recreational reads I've had of late...
Review: I finished Angels And Demons by Dan Brown the other night. This book rocks as a recreational read! This is by the same author as The DaVinci Code, and it looks like it was a previous work that was re-released after the success of Code.

Symbologist Robert Langdon gets an early morning call from a person in Switzerland claiming to have a dead body with an Illuminati brand on his chest. The caller turns out to be the head of CERN, and he's concerned about the Illuminati cult that everyone thought was dead. Langdon ends up in Switzerland to lend his expertise in the symbol, and from there is rushed to the Vatican when a massive explosive anti-matter device is stolen from CERN and is set to blow up the ancient seat of the Catholic church. A dead pope, kidnapped cardinals turning up branded and dead, an ancient secret society that everyone thought was extinct, and a countdown to finding and stopping the explosion. On top of that, the plot starts twisting at breakneck speed in the last 100 pages.

This is a book I could have easily plowed straight through and been perfectly happy in doing so. The pace of the story never slowed down, and the turns at the end weren't quite what I expected them to be. I wasn't highly thrilled with The DaVinci Code, as it went off in some theological directions I didn't care much for. And I also felt it was the author espousing his beliefs in novel form and pounding the reader over the head about them repeatedly. This book is more a crime/conspiracy novel set in the Vatican, but not so heavy on alternative theology.

Definitely one of the better recreational reads of late...

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Summary: Fast read
Review: It is easy to read. However, with all the publicity I expected more. This book did not really touch me. Interesting to learn facts, but dry. Good summer read thriller.

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Summary: Couldn't put it down! "Angels & Demons" ROCKS!
Review: What a book! I stayed glued to it every chance I got for a little over a weekend. I'm truly glad that I read "The DaVinci Code" before "Angels & Demons". If it would have been the opposite I think "The DaVinci Code" may have let me down. This one had almost everything I look for in a book. Suspense, Little facts you've never known, Mystery, Thrills, Religion vs. Occult, and moments when you realized that your mouth was hanging open in awe over the shock of what just transpired. (Just a hint... FIRE! Trust me. You'll see.) I really feel that I can't say enough. Just give it a shot. Odds are you won't be disappointed.

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Summary: Sounds Familiar?
Review: This book is a pretty good read, but if you have already read "Tha Da'Vinci Code" you may not want to bother. This book has the same main character, and the plot is basically the same. In fact, the book sharesthe same frantic pace as in the Da'Vinci Code. I would ratherread Da'Vinci twice, ratherthan spend the money on Angls and Demons.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it!
Review: I purchased this book as a download for my Palm PDA. Never reading any of Dan Brown's books before, I must say I really enjoyed reading his tale. Being a believer in Christ, I wasn't offended (unlike some other readers/reviewers). I took it as a book about human beliefs and the age-old feeling that "my beliefs are better than yours - your wrong, I'm right!" type attitude. Very interesting. I enjoyed the plot twists, especially towards the end when you find out a key piece about the Camerlengo - my mouth dropped when it was revealed about his relationship with the Pope. I didn't see that coming!

Remember folks, this is fiction - don't take everything as fact. It might actually inspire you to examine your own beliefs and do some research on history yourself.

Overall, a really fun, page-turning book that I couldn't put down. I'd recommend it. I look forward to reading Dan Brown's newest book, The Da Vinci Code.