Angels & Demons

Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: One of the most absolutely fabulous books I have ever read. It kept me trapped during a trip to South Africa. I was always looking for an opportunity to read it. Every free moment had to be used - while in the train, the bus, the plane, in my hotel room, the park. I couldn't stop until I had completed it. This book is a real page-turner.

Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, THE IDIOT

Rating:
Summary: A poor follow-up.
Review: I started to read Dan Brown's book but could never finish it. He has a nack for performing all these feats in a matter of two or three hours that would take the ordinary person several months to accomplish...he's amazing for his lack of timeliness. I also think, and I came to the conclusion with this book after reading the DaVinci Code that he is anti-Catholic. I'm not sure what's eating him but something must have happened to him in the past. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, in fact I've got a copy that I could give away if anyone would take it. I won't read anymore of his books nor will I recommend them to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: The Prequel as Good as the Sequel
Review: Angels & Demons, the prequel to The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's recent best selling novel, is another exciting thriller by this author, combining adventure, travel, history and science fiction. Brown creates an atmosphere of mystery, in which the reader has no idea what will happen next. His use of unthinkable objects like the super high-speed jet and the canister of deadly antimatter force coupled with the fast pace of the story holds the reader's interest.

The novel is about Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist, being asked to help out on a case involving the death of a physicist, Leonardo Vetra. His body has been branded with Illuminati ambigram. The Illuminati are an anti-Catholic group who believes in the creation of the world scientifically. Also, Vetra's recent creation, antimatter, is missing. This substance can annihilate anything it touches within a certain radius depending on how much of the substance there is. It is known to be somewhere inside the Vatican, all this on the night of Papal elections. The antimatter will detonate within 24 hours of being removed and based on a Vatican camera, they can watch it tick down. At the same time they search for this, Langdon has to find 4 kidnapped Cardinals while following the ancient trail of the Illuminati. He is led to their secret lair and uncovers the truth about the Illuminati, its current leader and the groups famous, Illuminati diamond.

When I started this book I couldn't put it down. The overall plot catches your attention and makes you want more and more. The chapters are relatively short so it seems like you fly through it by chapter. I was also compelled to research more about the components of the book, such as the Illuminati or anitmatter. The topics will intrigue you and will make you wonder whether they are real or not. Brown uses these things as well as real European sites to make you become apart of the action. You can imagine the scenery the scene is occurring in and you picture yourself standing next to Langdon.

Brown also writes about a topic not widely discussed, the creation of the earth. The battle between science and religion as the creator is widely known yet not a popular topic. Brown courageously writes about this and it shows the reader, in the end, that there will always be arguments between the two sides for as long as we exist.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes excellent thrillers. You will love this book before or after reading The Da Vinci Code. This novel is one for all readers.



Rating:
Summary: New Light Shed On An Ancient Conflict
Review: Dan Brown has successfully created a book that has a good, fast paced story and a theme that can apply to just about anyone who reads this book. Brown identifies the conflict between religion and science, reveals the pros and cons for both sides, and ultimately proves that science cannot exist without religion and vice versa because they balance each other out. Brown also creates a compelling mystery/thriller novel that seamlessly blends fact with fiction with characters that are both intriguing and real. A must read for those looking for a good story with a deeper meaning.

Rating:
Summary: Can't Put It Down
Review: Neither my husband nor I could put this book down. If you aren't motivated to read momentarily, this book is the perfect cure. Having been educated in Europe many years ago, we found ourselves double checking some of the book's descriptions and references to historical landmarks, etc. as Dan Brown's descriptions are equisite. (Remember this book is classified as "fiction" by its author.) It's meant to be an interesting read and accomplishes that goal very well. We strongly recommend reading Angels and Demons first and then The Da Vinci Code.

Rating:
Summary: Must Read
Review: Angels and Demons introduces the character of Robert Langdon, professor of religious iconology and art history at Harvard University. As the novel begins, he's awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from Maximilian Kohler, the director of CERN, the world's largest scientific research facility in Geneva, Switzerland. One of their top physicists had been murdered, with his chest branded with the word "Illuminati." Since Langdon is an expert on the ancient secret society known as the Illuminati, he's asked to help solve the murder.
The murder victim is Leonardo Vetra. Not only is he one of the world's leading physicists, he's a Catholic priest. He's a priest who has adopted a daughter, Vittoria, who is also a scientist at CERN. Vetra and his daughter were using the world's largest particle accelerator to create antimatter which has mysteriously disappeared and will explode in 24 hours.The canister is quickly found on a security camera in Vatican City, with its clock counting down the time until the batteries run out and the canister explodes. The security camera, however, is nowhere to be found, leaving the canister's whereabouts a mystery too. Langdon and Vittoria Petra are quickly sent off to Rome and Vatican City, to help find the canister and return it to CERN before it explodes at midnight.
Not only does the canister threaten to destroy Vatican City, but with the recent death of the Pope, the cardinals of the Catholic Church are all within the city for the conclave to choose the new pope. They are all about to be locked within the Sistine Chapel where, according to church law, they must remain until a new pope is chosen. They are awaiting the preferiti, the four cardinals from four different European countries who are the preferred candidates to become the new pope. While Langdon and Vittoria are trying to convince the captain of the Swiss Guard and the camerlengo, the Pope's chamberlain who leads the church until the new pope is named, that the antimatter bomb is real, a phone call is received from a man who claims to be from the Illuminati. He has the four cardinals, which he will murder one by one, and then allow the bomb to destroy Vatican City, which houses not only the church hierarchy, but also its possessions and wealth. He has no demands; his only wish is the destruction of the Catholic Church in retribution for the church's treatment of scientists and the Illuminati over the centuries.
In Angels and Demons Dan Brown told a masterful story that takes you to the underground corridors of a Swiss laboratory to the darkest churches of the Vatican. You will be unable to put the book down until the last page of the book. Dan tells a story full of mystery, revenge, betrayal, and courage.


Rating:
Summary: The little things he gets so wrong really bug me!
Review: This is my third Dan Brown book. I read Da Vinci Code when everyone else was reading it, then Digital Fortress, now Angels and Demons. I enjoy Brown's plot and like his characters (1-dimensional as some people might think they are). Each book has some deeply geekly aspect that very few people have any chance of questioning. I'm not an art historian so I can take a lot of Da Vinci Code at face value and not wince. I'm not a cryptographer so Digital Fortress's esoteric technology is fine. But in Digital Fortress, Brown calls a computer that must be a workstation a "terminal" and in Angels and Demons he refers to a cell phone having dial tone. Now I happen to think that dial tone would be a great way for cell phones to indicate that they have service but in my experience, none do that. Didn't anyone edit these books? Geez.

Rating:
Summary: Faith Redefined
Review: This book was my first experience reading anything written by Dan Brown and I must say it was excellent. The main character, Robert Langdon, is drawn into this adventure because his expertise as a religious syboligist is needed by the Vatican to confirm a symbol. And not just any symbol. This symbol is said to have been left by the infamous Illuminati, long thought to have been no more. From beginning to end this book is action packed and keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing what will happen next. If you have never read Dan Brown I would highly recommend this be your first book of his you read.