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Angels & Demons

(Robert Langdon #1)

Dan Brown (Goodreads Author)

3.92 · Rating details · 2,922,122 ratings · 31,074 reviews

World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization -- the Illuminati. In a desperate race to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, Pocket Books Premium Edition (US/CAN), 736 pages

Published April 1st 2006 by Pocket Books (first published May 2000)

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Aug 03, 2008 Jessika rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, mystery, fiction, favorites, library

Wow.

Before I begin my review, I want to preface it by saying a few things.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is a crappy writer who writes crappy books about crappy stories with crappy characters and crappy, unbelievable plots.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is one of the best at the "cheese factor" and roll their eyes at his stories.

I know a lot of people out there know more about European history, etc. etc. than I do, and therefore, I might not be the appropriate judge of this s Wow.

Before I begin my review, I want to preface it by saying a few things.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is a crappy writer who writes crappy books about crappy stories with crappy characters and crappy, unbelievable plots.

I know a lot of people think Dan Brown is one of the best at the "cheese factor" and roll their eyes at his stories.

I know a lot of people out there know more about European history, etc. etc. than I do, and therefore, I might not be the appropriate judge of this story.

And I'm also aware that this is not the next literary classic.

HOWEVER.

I loved this book.

Every time the action picked up in this book, I had a serious adrenaline rush. My heart raced, my eyes frantically read line after line, and my hands automatically went to my mouth. I was totally engrossed in the story Dan Brown told, even though I had already seen the movie. Watching the movie before the book is very uncharacteristic of me, but I'm glad that it happened that way in this case. Reading the book cleared up a lot of unanswered questions for me, and the book was different enough from the movie to keep me gasping out loud at plot twists. For me, I was hooked along for the ride, and even though some might find his twists unbelievable or even predictable, I was just in it for the story and found myself completely absorbed. I appreciated the facts (or "facts") throughout the story that were presented to the reader about the Illuminati, Vatican City, etc. and I loved the feeling of being on the inside of solving a puzzle while racing against time. I appreciated Robert Langdon's character, and I'm so glad they cast Tom Hanks to play his character because even when I read The DaVinci Code years ago, Tom Hanks is always how I pictured Robert Langdon. Pretty damn intelligent, resourceful, and witty. Dan Brown can be pretty witty, too, and I found myself chuckling from time to time. I even enjoyed the general mechanics of this book--I liked the short chapters that kept me coming back for more. They made it easy to fly through the pages. I would look down maybe after a half hour or so into reading and be 150 pages further in the book. The "dun-dun-dunnn" moments at the end of pretty much each chapter had me flipping, too, even though I could understand how some might find that worthy of an eye-roll or two. My favorite part of the book, besides the adrenaline rushes, was how he bounced from one point of view to another without leaving the reader feeling disoriented. Rather, it had the opposite effect for me, clarifying everything by being able to watch the story unfold from all angles.

After reading The DaVinci Code a few years ago, I was a little hesitant to pick this one up...would I love Dan Brown as much (or more)? Or was The DaVinci Code a one-time deal? Well, I'm here to say that I can officially consider myself a fan of Dan Brown, however crappy others might want to declare him. ...more

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Aug 01, 2013 Jayson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: author-american, genre-mystery, read-in-2010, subject-religion, 500-599-pp, genre-thriller

(B-) 70% | Satisfactory
Notes: The apotheosis of laugh out loud, so-bad-it's-good writing, it's at first enthralling but descends into garish absurdity. ...more

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Jun 03, 2008 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 21th-century, mystery, novels

Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon #1), Dan Brown

Angels & Demons is a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown. The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon, who recurs as the protagonist of Brown's subsequent novels.

Angels & Demons shares many stylistic literary elements with its sequels, such as conspiracies of secret societies, a single-day time frame, and the Catholic Church.

CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers one of the facility's top physicists ...more

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Oct 26, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, thriller

Dan Brown - image from Alwasat.ly

This is the first novel in which the character Robert Langdon appears (The DaVinci Code being the most famous) The well-known symbologist is called in by the director of CERN when a renowned scientist is found murdered. The scientist had created anti-matter, in an attempt to demonstrate that divine creation of the universe was scientifically explainable. The scientist has, of course, a brilliant and beautiful daughter. The tale has much payload regarding the Illu ...more

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May 19, 2009 Fabian rated it it was amazing

& I was left... STUNNED! Just, just, stunned. Incredibly, this one is the one to top when it comes to adventure & history and pace & ingenuity.

I've recently noticed how much history is revered (rightfully) by the modern authors. This is a different type of historical immersion. This is about bringing it to the forefront... something in the past is incredibly relevant, vital, to the present.

Everyone but me had read this, & after Da Vinci Code--that bitch of an overrated heathen--I thought Brown ...more

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Aug 14, 2007 Brian rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: no one

I read this after the drivel that is called "Da Vinci Code." I decided to give the author another chance, and take on something that maybe wasn't so formulaic.

No dice. I am convinced that Dan Brown does absolutely no research into the subjects he writes about. Or if he does, he decides it is not "titilating enough for him" so he makes it up. I mean why even include actual real things in his books if he chooses to ignore any facts about them. Opus Dei? I doubt he could spell it. Catholic Church? ...more

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Jan 07, 2022 Tharindu Dissanayake rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Listen carefully. I'm about to change your life."

Not really 😅

I've been receiving a ton of recommendations to read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code for a few years now, and after finding out it was actually the second book in a series, I've thought of starting things properly with the first book, bringing me to Angels and Demons. I'm a little new to thriller books in general, making Angels and Demons a refreshing experience to begin that journey, especially compared to intricate world building I'm "Listen carefully. I'm about to change your life."

Not really 😅

I've been receiving a ton of recommendations to read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code for a few years now, and after finding out it was actually the second book in a series, I've thought of starting things properly with the first book, bringing me to Angels and Demons. I'm a little new to thriller books in general, making Angels and Demons a refreshing experience to begin that journey, especially compared to intricate world building I'm used to with fantasy books.

"Information is only as valuable as its source."

I think it's safe to say that there is no lack of drama, suspense, and twists throughout the book, making the reading experience somewhat addictive. The narrative is super fast paced, most content spread over a matter of hours, resulting in an further enhancement of aforementioned qualities. Brown clearly and easily exceeded most reader's expectations when it comes to the protaganist in my opinion, Robert Langdon, a realistic character which is ideal for a story like this in my opinion. I'm glad he didn't go for an overpowered lead character, instead opting for maintaining a good balance with Langdon's abilities and shortcomings. Rest of the cast isn't that far behind either, with numerous twisters around every corner making them re-appear in different light throughout the story. As for the plot itself, bringing different threads together was well executed, but it wasn't the best I've seen, since there were some loopholes here and there if one was to look closely. But overall, I'm quite happy with the plot and the set of characters here.

"Our minds sometimes see what our hearts wish were true."

Another (hopefully good) thing that most readers are going to notice is how the author had gone to extreme lengths in describing intricate architecture in and around Vatican City. It felt like a detaild virtual tour, and was a nice surprise for me. What did NOT come as pleasant is the frequent use of Italian phrasing, but I think I might be in the minority here.

"Thge most dangerous enemy is that which no one fears."

However with all that, I didn't feel like the book is beyond 3.5-stars, and the rounding up to 4 is mostly due to this being one of my first books from the genre. I'm quite certain a second read through could actually bring it down to 3-stars. Had I being an atheist, things would've been somewhat different (still not 5-stars though), as I could see most of the stuff here being appealing to atheism. But it doesn't mean that others could easily enjoy the book, for, I believe Brown's walking a fine line even with everything going here, especially using the underlying system of belief of the protagonist himself to keep the atheism in check.

"Pride and precedent cannot overshadow reason." ...more

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Mar 31, 2020 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it really liked it

Shelves: brown-dan

How did secret societies, associations, cults, and shadow cabinets influence human history and how evolved the first few stone age groups of chief, medicine man, dealer, and strongest soldier until today and will develop in the future?

It´s not just the realm of religion that has had its fake news problem since the first primitive cults and sects tens of thousands of years or even longer ago, it´s each field of human activity that was, can, and will be influenced by the dark forces in the backg How did secret societies, associations, cults, and shadow cabinets influence human history and how evolved the first few stone age groups of chief, medicine man, dealer, and strongest soldier until today and will develop in the future?

It´s not just the realm of religion that has had its fake news problem since the first primitive cults and sects tens of thousands of years or even longer ago, it´s each field of human activity that was, can, and will be influenced by the dark forces in the background, the puppetmasters influencing the fate of both tribes of thousands or states of billions.

I can´t say much about the epic, endless science vs faith battle, because I am biased as heck and it would go against the obligation of a responsible reviewer to add too much subjective.. Go science, show who is the boss, yes, keep using that chokehold,…

A subjective interpretation: I am reading nonfiction for soon over 20 years and must say that much that has been deemed impossible, wrong, or lies, became true and influenced the lives of everyone in massive ways. In light of the fact that there is said that the lucky ones of us are living in so called enlightened democracies, one could reverse engineer history and guess how much of, well, everything could be wrong, lies, and pure fiction. That it´s the opposite, that many of the weirdo theories about the present and future are the truth and much of what is written in history books are lies.

I don´t understand the Brown bashing of some people, many authors don´t really care much about the rules of writing or create average quality of consistency, logic, dialogues, and stuff and don´t get criticized for it. It might be possible that it´s more the inconvenient topics Browns is using that are activating the bite reflexes and reactionary mental programs. The fast paced writing style with many different settings, fine infodumps, cliffhangers, and everything similar to a well written Hollywood blockbuster is nothing people are ranting about as long as it´s not controversial.

It´s possible that the new editions of the book have been edited and corrected ( I don´t know), as there are some errors regarding the possibility of the involved physics and technology and wrong descriptions. But as I know publishing houses, they probably still haven´t invested the money to fix the bugs, even in a multi million selling world bestseller.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspir... ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Sean Barrs rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2-star-reads, mystery-crime-and-thrillers

Dan Brown writes trash, but sometimes trash can have a certain allure. Sometimes trash sucks you in as you feel forced to reach the bottom of the rubbish pile and see what secrets it may be hiding.

And that’s the strongest aspect of his writing, the pull. Say what you want about the crazily outlandish plot that’s built upon a nest of poor research and flat characters. Say what you want about the anti-Catholic undertones and the semi-racist portrayal of the antagonist, there’s no denying the inte ...more

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Apr 24, 2007 Rosey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Religion always was, is, has been, and always will be a very sensitive subject for me. However this book was a "battle" of religion and science. The storyline was engaging. I have to admit that the beginning was a bit slow, but as the book progressed, the pace really picked up to a point I pruned myself out in the bathtub finishing it. There was a page I found to be very thought-provoking.

"Religion is like language or dress. We gravitate toward the practices with which we were raised. In the end ...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Russell rated it it was ok

This was Brown's book before the infamous "The Da Vinci Code." In many ways, this book was like a rough draft for "The Da Vinci Code", same character Langdon, same other characters, same basic start, same concepts, same bad research passed off as fact, same trick of having nearly every chapter end in cliffhanger, the same in so many ways.
Sadly, I think he did a better job the first time around.

I recommend you have a computer handy so you look up what Brown is talking about, and that way you can This was Brown's book before the infamous "The Da Vinci Code." In many ways, this book was like a rough draft for "The Da Vinci Code", same character Langdon, same other characters, same basic start, same concepts, same bad research passed off as fact, same trick of having nearly every chapter end in cliffhanger, the same in so many ways.
Sadly, I think he did a better job the first time around.

I recommend you have a computer handy so you look up what Brown is talking about, and that way you can have a better idea of what it really looks like. Added bonus too, you can have a laugh over how Brown had to forced it into his world to make the plot somewhat cohesive.
Look, if you want to write fiction, do so but please own up to it being fiction! Trying to pass off the Ecstasy of St. Theresa as being so pornographic in nature that the Vatican had it exiled to a small church, is, well, wrong as wrong as gets.
Brown throws out a number of stunningly stupid statements, like asserting that since Christianity is syncretic, God-eating (the Holy Communion) was taken from the Aztecs. How, Brown never explains, since the practice was established by Christ himself during the Last Supper around 33 A.D. and the Aztecs didn't show up until 1248 A.D. I figure Brown left it open so he could write some sort of time travel book, involving a long lost secret that the Aztecs built their pyramids as sort of a dry run, traveled back in time and were actually behind the pyramids in Egypt. And, of course, were the sect that created the Christ-myth due to a poorly thought out plot.

Thanks to the internet, you too can have fun poking holes in the book. See, for example, CERN's site on the book. And if that doesn't do it for you, here's a good site looking into all the errors.

A sample from the last site:

"While walking around the CERN campus, Langdon notices a marble column incorrectly labeled Ionic. Langdon points the mistake out to Kohler: "That column isn't Ionic. Ionic columns are uniform in width. That one's tapered. It's a Doric -- the Greek counterpart." (26) The problem is that Ionic columns are themselves Greek. The three orders of classical columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, are all Greek in origin, so it's impossible for the Doric order to the be the Greek counterpart of the Ionic. It's also much easier to distinguish the Doric from the Ionic based on their capitals; Doric columns have plain capitals, while Ionic columns are topped by volutes or scrolls."

That irked me when I read that passage, because not only is a poor joke, it doesn't make sense!

Let's ignore the bad, the erroneous, and the ugly, and you have decent little thriller zipping around Rome looking at art. Of course, it has to zip along, slow down long enough to think about it, and a host of questions start to swarm up. Like how Langdon has a whole theory on who the bad guy is and how Langdon was involved in these rather preposterous circumstances. Of course, the premise is wrong, so that that whole house of cards fall down. Not bad in of itself, but then Brown doesn't ever provide any reason Langdon was involved after that.

Of course, you aren't supposed to notice while reading it, and preferably not afterwards, either. Doing so reveals how badly Brown writes. He can't provide a single decent reason why his hero is there, aside from a vague "Because" and a shrug.

I'm envious of Brown, he can't write well, has plot holes big enough to drive the Popemobile through, bad research and "facts" that aren't, and yet still is entertaining, popular and, most galling perhaps, published.
Caveat lector. ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 James rated it really liked it

Shelves: 3-multi-book-series, 1-fiction

Review
4+ out of 5 stars to Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, the first book in his "Robert Langdon" thriller series. When I saw the movie trailer for The Da Vinci Code, I was hooked and immediately bought the book so I could read it first. When I got home, I realized it was not the first in the series...

I refused to read it... and then I went to the store and got the first one, Angels & Demons, so I could read them in order. And while it's not really necessary, I always follow the order ( ...more

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Aug 12, 2013 Dan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: homework-from-the-ladies, 2013

When a physicist/priest is murdered, the word Illuminati branded into his chest, and a quarter-gram of antimatter stolen, it's up to renowned symbologist Robert Langdon to find the goods and the murderer. But can he stop someone from using the antimatter as a weapon, even with hot physicist Vittoria Vetra in tow?

After all the hype, I managed to dodge this bullet for over a decade but when my girlfriend caught me in a vulnerable moment between books, I knew the time had come.

Overall, it was a fu When a physicist/priest is murdered, the word Illuminati branded into his chest, and a quarter-gram of antimatter stolen, it's up to renowned symbologist Robert Langdon to find the goods and the murderer. But can he stop someone from using the antimatter as a weapon, even with hot physicist Vittoria Vetra in tow?

After all the hype, I managed to dodge this bullet for over a decade but when my girlfriend caught me in a vulnerable moment between books, I knew the time had come.

Overall, it was a fun read. It reminded me of a high tech Indiana Jones a lot of the time. However, at the end of the day, it was pretty much a by the numbers thriller, complete with forced sexual tension.

Like I said, it's pretty Indiana Jones-ish, except instead of an archaeologist who has crazy globe-trotting adventures, Langdon is a symbologist who has crazy globe-trotting adventures.

As much as I want to hate on this book, it's a page turner; Short chapters, nearly all of them ending on a cliffhanger. However, even for a thriller of this type, the plot seems a little overly complicated. A centuries old secret society is going to use some stolen antimatter to blow up the Vatican? Wouldn't it be easier to get a surplus nuke from the former Soviet Union?

The writing is so cheesy and over-dramatic I can't help but be amused. It's really pulpy but not in the good Raymond Chandler way. More like an early Doc Savage. Seriously, Langdon could have said "I'll be super-amalgamated" and it wouldn't have felt that out of place. It almost feels like Brown was trying to do a Black Dynamite-style commentary/spoof on conspiracy thrillers.

One thing I didn't enjoy is that the book suffers from "I did a bit of research so I'm going to cram it all in the dialogue" syndrome. There are infodumps galore and lots of redundant information, mostly about symbology. I'm not going to touch on the things that weren't researched and are erroneous since most movies have equally shitty fact checking.

I guess I'll rate it 3 stars. It's not well written or to any degree believable but it's a fun and exciting read, like a pack of Skittles for your brain. Not good but definitely entertaining. Not only that, Dan Brown's milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Any book that gets so many non-readers reading gets a little slack from me.
...more

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Mar 30, 2008 Danielle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who love a mystery

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown was one of the best page-turners I have ever read. From the very beginning I couldn’t put it down. I did not know where Dan Brown would take the story next. Following the main character Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist on his first great adventure was breathtaking. I wanted to learn more, to know the secrets of the Illuminati and the only way to do it was to let the story naturally unfold as I read. I can usually guess what is going to happen in thrillers, but ...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Wendi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, italy

So I honestly want to give the book three stars. What I enjoy about Brown is how he can write almost 600 pages of a book and I get almost to the end and realize that it has taken place all in the space of one day. As a writer, I would love to be able to do that. The weaving of religious and scientific themes into an adventure set in European locales is also right up my alley.

What I don't like... and why I am forced to drop down to two stars (just a few examples):

That same time stretching often So I honestly want to give the book three stars. What I enjoy about Brown is how he can write almost 600 pages of a book and I get almost to the end and realize that it has taken place all in the space of one day. As a writer, I would love to be able to do that. The weaving of religious and scientific themes into an adventure set in European locales is also right up my alley.

What I don't like... and why I am forced to drop down to two stars (just a few examples):

That same time stretching often results in a parceling of time that is terribly irritating - most of the book actually isn't just in less than one day but in about four to five hours. Unfortunately, in one part of the book, given twenty minutes, the protagonists can, say, drink tea and eat scones, talk at length about their theories about what's happening, run from one location to another, save someone, and research an important historical fact. But during another twenty minutes, they don't seem to have enough time to, say, run the length of a block and enter a building. It must be difficult as an author to keep track of this sort of incongruity but this is Brown's special trick and it's irritating that he can't follow his own rules. It needs to be either one way or the other but not both.

Every few chapters, he seems to feel the need to reintroduce his main protagonist by first and last name, "Robert Langdon stood in front of the church..."; like we haven't met this character yet for every single paragraph for the last 126 chapters (and no, I'm not exaggerating on the numbers of chapters).

This really, really frustrating thing where the protagonist, Langdon, is this brainy professor that can supposedly figure out these relatively obscure, secret messages hidden by other brainy men hundreds of years ago in order to save the world... and yet he can't figure out the REALLY obvious things right in front of his face. I was listening to this on audiobook and I SWEAR, I kept expecting a three year old child to pipe up from somewhere in the back of the crowd, saying, "Oh, come on, mister! You can't see that? Seriously? Aren't you supposed to be the hero? Even I can see that!!

And, finally, lines like, "The silence that followed might as well have been thunder." Um, what... honestly, what? Is this Brown's version of "A thunderous silence followed..."?

It's really rather frustrating because I honestly think that in many ways Brown is rather talented; in some of his plotting, the details, the ideas he pulls together. I just wish that in other ways - the writing, some characterization, he could catch up with his other abilities.

After reading The Da Vinci Code, I was going to read both this and Digital Fortress but I do believe I will stop here... wishing I could tip it over to the three stars. ...more

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Nov 14, 2018 Ujjawal Sureka rated it really liked it

Shelves: paperback

Series: Robert Langdon #1
Genre: Mystery, Detective fiction, Thriller
Publication Year: 2000

First in the Robert Langhdon series, this book introduces you to Robert Langdon, a historian turned detective... The storyline is a complete thriller from the beginning to the end, many unexpected twists keeps us on the edge of our seats..! Loved the characters, the story and the depth given to situations.

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Dec 26, 2016 Mario rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-the-best, reread, completed-series, own, own-read, favorites

Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.

The first time I read Angels and Demons was 4 years ago, and it completely blew me away. This was my fourth time reading it, and it still is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm sure it will always remain on that position.

In this review, I won't go into the plot, since I think that everyone has either read it, seen the movie, or just heard of what it's about. I will st ...more

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Feb 19, 2008 Hertzan Chimera rated it did not like it

Angels and Demons is one of the most insidiously-constructed page turners I’ve ever read and unlike other such efforts (Richard Laymon’s IN THE DARK) I actually raced to the end of it rather than throwing the thing half-finished against the wardrobe in rage. Think of Hercules Poirrot. Think of Inspector Morse. Think of Agatha Christie. Once you strip all the character and soul from these genre writers you have Dan Brown. They all have in common the one writer trick, etirwer (the backwards rewrit Angels and Demons is one of the most insidiously-constructed page turners I’ve ever read and unlike other such efforts (Richard Laymon’s IN THE DARK) I actually raced to the end of it rather than throwing the thing half-finished against the wardrobe in rage. Think of Hercules Poirrot. Think of Inspector Morse. Think of Agatha Christie. Once you strip all the character and soul from these genre writers you have Dan Brown. They all have in common the one writer trick, etirwer (the backwards rewrite). I don’t mean check a book for spelling and grammar. I mean write a basic plot line. Then go back. Adding in detail that will drive the narrative relentlessly towards what you sketched. Stuffing the book with glimpses of false trails and dead ends to keep the reader in the dark, so to speak. Confounding the reader in a way that will make him feel insignificant and meaningless.

This, for me, is the worst of all genre writing tricks.

Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon in his tweed and nuclear physicist Vittaria Vetra in her Lara Croft gear go in search of the thieves who killed Vittaria’s dad and stole the anti-matter from CERN and find themselves in what appears to be a travelogue of the more obscure bits of Vatican City. It reads just like that, a Treasure Hunt type of book. The reader is dragged along with teasing glimpses of THE TRUTH behind the religion and the war with science that has waged through the ages. But it could have all taken place in a virtual world like the internet or a library with mischievous librarians swapping cards around so old ladies can no longer find their Mills and Boons.

Any good book should involve, include, confront or enrage the reader – this book cored out the reader’s personality so that by the end you didn’t care if there were 30 more pages yet to go as the final threads of the convoluted narrative finally unravelled.

This book (maybe all Dan Brown books) should come with a mental health warning: At no point in the reading of this book was the reader in danger of thinking.

An ultimately vacuous exercise in Franchise Management D.B. even sneaked in an early reference to the following Professor Langdon mystery The DaVinci Code. Enough already! ...more

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Nov 21, 2013 Luffy rated it really liked it

Shelves: chunkster, page-turner, pretty-good, popular

This is an excerpt from my review of Inferno, which I read before Angels and Demons - With this glowing rating for Inferno, I seal my place among the cheap thrill seeking, easy going, instant gratification demanding readers. I welcome that the other Robert Langdon books follow the same tired schema.

Now then, it felt to me that most of the book was not living to this sugary craving of pulp literature. This brought me back to earth, when I was once airborne. However the book picked up for a fiery ...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

I actually prefered Angels and Demons over The DaVinci Code.

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Apr 17, 2015 Atlas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

That was one of the best novels I`ve ever read
Here is one of the most few fact I believe in...
There`s a very tiny thin hair between every thing and it`s opposite...good & evil...dark & light...matter & antimatter..
Now...dose the scinetist have the right to creat whatever the hell he wanna creat just because he found out that he really CAN creat it?...YES...but how many leiutis that have been created along the way since the very beginning of the human history and was used the our own destruction? ...more

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Jun 23, 2007 Rachael rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Someone stuck on a desert island who has no other option

In the first, I don't know, 30 pages or so a character is "overwhelmed" by the smell of frozen urine. Frozen things don't smell, let alone overwhelmingly. Shortly thereafter an expert in religion (or whatever he is, I've tried to block it out) is shocked to see a study containing both scientific and religious items. I should have put the book down then, but then I would have missed unbelievable characters, hackneyed descriptions and spitting in the face of the laws of physics and physiology. Use ...more

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Nov 13, 2017 Suzzie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was an interesting read that makes you ask yourself so many questions. I am not one to comment on religion or anything so no worries, there will be no rants! I have not seen the movie based on this book yet but seen it is free on demand so will probably check it out tonight or tomorrow. I will continue the series, but I believe I have read a couple of these books already awhile back but now want to read in order.

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Aug 10, 2012 Gerasimos Reads rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own

When The Da Vinci Code phenomenon happened, I read most of Brown's novels and I enjoyed all of them. But for some reason I didn't read this one, his first one with his famous hero Robert Langdon. And now I really wonder why... because I loved it!

Dan Brown combines action with mystery, historical and science elements in an outstanding way and he creates an action thriller that you just cannot put down.

One of the greatest aspects of his books are the historical elements. There are times that it f When The Da Vinci Code phenomenon happened, I read most of Brown's novels and I enjoyed all of them. But for some reason I didn't read this one, his first one with his famous hero Robert Langdon. And now I really wonder why... because I loved it!

Dan Brown combines action with mystery, historical and science elements in an outstanding way and he creates an action thriller that you just cannot put down.

One of the greatest aspects of his books are the historical elements. There are times that it feels like you're watching a documentary, but an exciting one at that! Sometimes it feels like all those information are too much, it even feels like Dan Brown wants to impress the reader with his knowledge, but after you are done with the book you will still find yourself wanting to learn more about them.

Another great element that really is one of the reasons that I like his books so much is the setting. Brown always uses a gorgeous place as the background of his story. Τhis time the setting is Rome, one of my favorite cities in the world. The descriptions of the city and the places are breathtaking. Mesmerizing. You feel like you are there. And what I also like is that he uses places in Rome that most tourists don't know about. He presents a hidden side of the city. Places that when you read the book you will want to visit.

The whole story takes place in 12 hours and this really is a great idea that Brown fully takes advantage of. You can feel the pressure of the time. I found myself many times throughout the book wanting to scream at the characters to hurry up! This energy that radiates from the pages is what made me read this book in two days. You feel like you are there with the characters, you want to solve the mystery.

What I don't like sometimes about Brown's books is that he rushes the ending too much without giving a full explanation to all of my questions (Dear "The Lost Symbol", I am talking about you). But this is not the case with this book. The ending is as amazing as the rest of the story. There are three huge twists at the last fifty pages that really took me by surprise! After that three twists everything is positioned into place perfectly.

You rarely find such enjoyable, action-packed thrillers and this is why his books are so popular! They are nothing more than what a popcorn-blockbuster is for the cinema but we all need a book like that sometimes! ...more

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Feb 02, 2015 Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, audiobook, from-words-to-screen

I remember the first time I watched "The Da Vinci Code" and how much it scared me. I seriously hated it but after 2006 things changed for me. What I found interesting before changed. I become kind of obsessed with cults, religions, believes, signs and many other things. So I watched the movie on TV and I loved it, and now I'm a fan and can't wait for the other movies to come.

I bought "Angels and Demons" and I'm moving quickly in it. The information are interesting but not all are correct regardi ...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Shayantani rated it liked it · review of another edition

We have a term called ‘paisa vasool’ in Hindi. It means ‘worth the money’ and is generally used in reference to films. A mainstream Bollywood film is termed paisa vasool and is commercially successful only when it constitutes the following factors:

1) A hero who can do anything and everything under the sun. He can achieve impossible feats and always survives bizarre accidents.

2) A heroine comes across as smart independent women in beginning but turns into a cardboard cutout by the end. Just anoth ...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Patrick rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Gech.

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Aug 06, 2018 Saadia B. || CritiConscience rated it liked it

One thing I really liked about this book was the captivating narrative which revolves around architecture, symbolism, mixture of science with religion, history of Christianity and Vatican City.

However having read Da Vinci Code, I found this book a bit drag. Unnecessary plot twists and lengthy storyline made me think why did I even start this book.

Robert Langdon had an immense grip on history of arts and architecture which made me want to visit Vatican City and the whole of Italy. Other than th ...more

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Nov 29, 2007 Megan rated it did not like it

I enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" as a trashy good time, but then read this one and just couldn't stop rolling my eyes. Not only was it silly and formulaic, it made the silly formula underlying "The Da Vinci Code" all too clear. Really? Another middle-aged yet strangely attractive/brilliant male protagonist -- oh wait, the same one from the other book? Another grisly murder of an old dude kicking things off? Another hot foreign chick, related to the dead dude, helping solve the mystery? Another secr ...more

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Mar 25, 2015 emma rated it it was ok

Shelves: unpopular-opinion, owned, reviewed, nope, non-ya, 2-stars

sure, it's no da vinci code, which is in turn no paragon of great literature...

and okay, the only thing i remember about it distinctly is the corny and endless insertion of descriptions of robert langdon's dashing good looks...

and yes, apparently it took me almost 3 months to finish it...

but...

actually i forget where i was going with this. i don't think i actually have anything nice to say.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago ...more

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About Dan Brown

Dan Brown

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Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best selling novels of all time as well as the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown’s novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print.

In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIM ...more