Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon)

I learned so much about how the Catholic Church works and about conclave!! And, it was fun to read!!! I also got an amazing art history lesson along with some Illuminati history. But still, the story was so great it was a true adventure!! Loved it!!!

Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon is called to Vatican City when a murder and branding occurred at the CERN laboratory and a canister of antimatter has been stolen from there. Along with him is Vittoria Vetra, the daughter of the slain physicist to help him through his investigation. Some events occurring are tied to the Church of Illumination and a mysterious killer known as the Hassassin, and the duo discover that a more sinister plan that involve the antimatter. “A&D” is certainly a mysterious and turn-filled story that never slows down. One thing for sure is that it has a very intellectual feel in its tone, given how it centers on science and religion. Langdon and Vetra’s teamwork and chemistry is what made it worth reading while I did get a bit lost when it dives deep into facts while the story can get a bit exhausting and predictable. It’s still a fine read that has interesting topics in its mystery that are a bit more fascinating than its story. <b>B+ (83%/Very Good)</b>

As with the other books of his I have read, it is factually accurate in it's details of locations and science, and truly riveting from the getgo with few "slow" parts. If there were ever must reads, this would be way up my list!!

I had been very impressed by DIGITAL FORTESS, Dan Brown's first novel, and found his treatment of a complex subject matter both knowledgeable and compelling. I had then missed the publication of ANGELS AND DEMONS, but felt that he had overplayed his hand in his third novel DECEPTION POINT, which started with an interesting premise but wandered into unnecessary complexity and violence and ultimately complete implausibilty. With the publication of THE DA VINCI CODE, upon learning that Robert Langdon is the central character in both DA VINCI and ANGELS, I decided to first read ANGELS in order to keep the stories in sequence. This is a mesmerizing page turner as long as you accept the author's central technological premises concerning scientific achievements in the near future. Robert Langdon, a professor of iconography and religious symbology at Harvard, is awakened by a telephone call from Maximilian Kohler, head of a prestigious European scientific institute. One of Kohler's fellow scientists has been murdered and an ancient symbol burned into his chest. Langdon feels compelled to investigate, and soon finds himself in the midst of a plot involving not only the death of Leonardo Vetra, a priest who is the world's leading antimatter researcher, but of the revival of a centuries old vendetta by a secret society, The Illuminati, against the Catholic Church. Langdon is forced by circumstances and the nature of the threat to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, Leonardo's adopted daughter, in an attempt to uncover the Illumunati's secret and halt not only several additional murders which have been threatened but the destruction of The Vatican itself. Incredibly, the entire story takes place within a time span of just over twelve hours, which adds to the compelling nature of the action. The book is typical Dan Brown, meticulously researched (despite the complaints of a few reviewers about some details), with lots of interesting information about a variety of subjects related to religion, the Vatican, art, science and morality. It is a well constructed story, with several plot twists and enough misdirection to make it extremely difficult to anticipate the conclusion. (I doubt that the outcome was as expected by those critical reviewers who didn't finish the book after identifying their choice for the "obvious villian". I also did not feel that the story was at all anti- Catholic, in fact the author met with the Pope and was helped by the Vatican during his research efforts.) While there are several gruesome scenes, they are integral to the context of the story and the violence is usually minimized and only briefly described. The real bonus of reading this story is the wonderfully well articulated discussion of the tension between science and religious faith, which forms the heart of the story. The last section of the book has a particularly insightful monologue in this regard, but the subject infuses the whole discussion woven into the plot concerning the historical conflict between the Illuminati and the Church. For instance, early in the book Vittoria challenges Langdon's evasion concerning his apparent lack of a belief in God with the observation "I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference." In addition, the book is almost worth reading just for the ambigrams (words or phrases which read the same right side up or upside down) which Dan Brown had created. These are truly works of art and their design is incredibly clever and beautiful. Finally, if you are familiar with Philips Exeter Academy, the author's alma mater, you will also have the fun of recognizing the source of the names of several of the characters referenced in the book.

The ending to have so many endings and keeps going. Never what I thought. Loved it. I could not stop wanting to read it.

"Angels & Demons" is a very good suspense thriller set primarily in The Vatican City. The novel is the second novel by Dan Brown, the first being "Digital Fortress". This is the first of the "Robert Langdon" series. It is a medium length, fast paced novel that is written in modern conversational English and is mostly an easy read. The chapters are mostly short and the novel can be read in intervals during work breaks, etc., without losing the flow of the story. I liked it very much. Although somewhat similar in format to "Digital Fortress" this novel marks a distinct improvement and the story line is completely independent of "Digital Fortress". There is little or no gratuitous vulgar language in this novel, another distinct improvement over "Digital Fortress". "Angels & Demons" is dedicated specifically to Dan Brown's mother and I cannot help but wonder if this elevated the author's lexicon to a level more consistent with good literature. The first novel was dedicated to both of his parents. The novel is primarily set in Vatican City and is a mystery thriller. The story requires detective work of a more academic nature than the average violent street felony. Although I am a retired detective and I read a good bit, I would not have been able to work though this case on my own, in the time allotted in the novel, without Robert Langdon's expertise. I really enjoyed the academic aspect of this novel and this was my favorite part of the novel. I did parallel reading and learned a good deal. This novel features yet another semi omniscient uber villain who cannot resist spewing background information to his victims. Personally I last encountered this in "The Lincoln Letter", another academic mystery novel. I never encountered villains of this nature in my professional career and I have concluded that this is a literary device to shorten and simplify the story. I preferred this novel over "The Lincoln Letter". In summary, I really enjoyed this novel. It is a distinct improvement over the author's first novel. The two stories stand alone and a reader can skip the first novel without missing anything in this second novel. Although very academic it is still a relatively easy read and I prefer it to other mystery novels by contemporary American male authors such as James Patterson and Dean Koontz. I mean no disrespect to them, I just liked this novel better. Thank You...

The copy I received was damaged and there were water stains on the cover. Slightly disappointed with the copy I received.

Libro arrivato velocemente ed in ottime condizioni. “Angeli e Demoni” di Dan Brown è un thriller mozzafiato che cattura fin dalle prime pagine. Lo stile di scrittura per me che spesso trovo difficoltà a farmelo piacere in molti autori è scorrevole e coinvolgente, con un mix perfetto di mistero, storia, arte e scienza. I colpi di scena sono ben costruiti e mantengono alta la tensione fino all’ultima pagina. Un ottimo punto di partenza per chi vuole scoprire le avventure del professor Robert Langdon. Consigliassimo agli amanti dei romanzi ricchi di enigmi e adrenalina! Inoltre consigliato per chi vuole iniziare a leggere in lingua inglese.

The first book of this great series. Full of suspense, thriller and mystery. The vatican is on fire!

I absolutely love Dan Brown so I can never leave a bad review. Best books ever and this one is, of course, fantastic. Highly recommended.

The scene that a hero and a heroine running around Rome reminds me of Audrey's 'Roman Holiday'. However, this fiction is not so peaceful, instead, filled with much fear and trepidation. The story's progress is similar to that of 'Da Vinci Code' whose author is also Dan Brown, but it definitely thrills and surprises you much, much more, especially in the shocking ending... The backbone of this story is 'Which is righteous, science or religion?' I was impressed especially with the late Pope's chamberlain's speech that underlines the virtue of religion, because it was spoken in modern terms and unadorned and has much power that makes any atheists feel the existence of God. This fiction is beautifully decorated with countless factual Roman architecture. I strongly recommend the special illustrated edition that has 150 exquisite photos or drawings of them.