Book info

• Title Angels & Demons
• Author Dan Brown
• Year 2000
• Genre Mystery

CERN Institute, Switzerland: a world-renowned scientist is found brutally murdered with a mysterious symbol seared onto his chest. The Vatican, Rome: the College of Cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Somewhere beneath them, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. A breath-taking race against time: Harvard professor Robert Langdon must decipher a labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols if he is to defeat those responsible - the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years, reborn to continue their deadly vendetta against their most hated enemy: the Catholic Church.

Thoughts

Robert Langdon is a symbologist/history professor at an American university, but he is dragged from his bed halfway across the world to a puzzle in Rome. The Vatican is under threat, and Langdon has to join forces with a feisty Italian scientist to follow the clues and fix the problem.

Langdon isn’t your regular action hero or pin-up, and it’s slightly disappointing that he is teamed up with another pretty but smart stereotype. Dan Brown wastes no time in setting up the connection between them, and their relationship simmers throughout their adventures.

A cross between a whodunnit, and a page-turning adventure story, there are plenty of twists and turns to make this an unputdownable, if conventional, book. The characters are strong, intelligent and independent, but some of their speeches about technology and ancient rituals can come across as patronising. Overall, I liked it though.

Rating: 4 / 5