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Title/Author

Angels and Demons

Dan Brown

Average Review Rating Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)
Book Details

Publisher : Corgi

Published : 2003

Copyright : Dan Brown 2003

ISBN-10 : PB 0-552-15073-8
ISBN-13 : PB 978-0-552-15073-6

Publisher's Write-Up

When a world renowned scientist is found brutally murdered, a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. His conclusion: it is the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years - now reborn to continue their bitter vendetta against their sworn enemy, the Catholic church.

In Rome, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair - a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.

But, with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the plot, which leaves Langdon and Vetra reeling and at the mercy of a seemingly invincible enemy.

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Reader Reviews

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Review by Chrissi (201105) Rating (8/10)

Review by Chrissi
Book Source: Purchased
Rating 8/10
Most people when asked will present an opinion about this book in relation to The Da Vinci Code, maybe because they read this one (along with the other two) after reading The Da Vinci Code. This is a bit of a shame really, because this a good book in its own right and not just a prologue, but it has become a kind of a afterthought or to be correct, a forethought. I personally prefer this one, I don’t know why, maybe it is just a fraction faster and I like the rather less pretentious intellectual basis of it.

This one was the first outing for Robert Langdon, and sees him dragged out of bed by a disturbing image faxed to him from a Physics Research Establishment in Switzerland which starts him on a search for the seemingly defunct power-mad group of people known as the Illuminati. (You know the Illuminati, they were the bad guys that were horrible to Lara Croft in the first film).

His search leads him to Rome, where the city is in mourning for the Pope. There he discovers that the bishops most favoured to become the next Pontiff have disappeared. The Illuminati would appear responsible although the security is such that no-one could have removed them from the Vatican. Strangely enough, as if this is not a great enough problem, an explosive device is discovered, believed to be inside the City and it has a timer, counting down.

You know how sometimes there is a piece of information given that has a ‘this will be significant’ sign attached to it in large neon letters? Well, there is one of those in this book, and it is one of those facts which might save my life, should the need ever arise... it is not very interesting but involves falling bodies and drag – anything more and the significance becomes a tad obvious, I am sure that Dan Brown would enlighten you in a much more entertaining manner.

I have argued the point of this book with avid fans of The Da Vinci Code before, and I stand by my point that I prefer this book. I have said before that I read to be entertained, and this is certainly entertaining, much more so than Dan Brown’s other two non-Langdon books. He has a gift for an interesting premise and if you think you might be tempted by a Dan Brown, please chose this one, if nothing else, it might allow something else to occupy the number one slot on the bestsellers list for a week or two out of 2005!
Chrissi (20th November 2005)

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