Outdoes THE DA VINCI CODE hands down!

Harvard symbologist and religious historian, Robert Langdon, is intrigued and somewhat puzzled to find himself peremptorily summoned to CERN, the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, world's foremost research establishment in ultra high energy particle physics, to assist with a secret internal investigation of the murder of one of their staff. Leonardo Vetra - a brilliant senior physicist, a still-practicing Roman Catholic priest, and the discoverer of a method of creating and safely containing anti-matter - has been found brutally murdered with the word "Illuminati" branded on his chest.

The near light-speed, explosive pace at which Brown would have us believe the plot of ANGELS AND DEMONS could unroll requires what, for some, will be an insurmountable suspension of credibility. But, if you can find your way over that niggling barrier, you're in for some non-stop, rollicking entertainment.

Langdon and Vittoria Vetra, the victim's beautiful daughter and similarly gifted physicist, follow the clues into the heart of the Vatican, host of an enclave of the world's cardinals convened to elect the replacement of the recently deceased pope where they must confront the current incarnation of The Illuminati, a centuries old secret brotherhood of scientists dating from the time of Galileo and the Italian Renaissance. The Illuminati carries out a high profile symbolic execution of the preferiti, the four cardinals most expected to win the papal election, and plans to use a small sample of Vetra's anti-matter to reduce Vatican City to a pile of rubble as a final close to the interminable battle between cutting edge science and Roman Catholic dogma.

Reading ANGELS AND DEMONS, I find it impossible to criticize Brown's character building skills as an author because, frankly, he didn't even try. ANGELS AND DEMONS is plot, plot and yet more plot! But my money says it succeeds wildly and is a novel that is not only spectacularly entertaining but should avoid the visceral polarization of its readership that The Da Vinci Code managed to produce. I might go even further. Despite reading from the point of view of a non-practicing and disenchanted Roman Catholic, educated and believing profoundly in the value of scientific research and technology, I would nevertheless suggest that ANGELS AND DEMONS presents a credible, balanced FICTIONAL story of a climactic confrontation between these two long-time arch-enemies. Ah, heck ... if anything, the scientists come out on the cruddy end of the stick and look more the bad guy than the church! That's OK - that provides a rather nice foil to the outlook one gets from a reading of THE DA VINCI CODE!

Enjoy! Five stars and unconditionally recommended as a first-rate enjoyable thriller!

Paul Weiss

I should have read this before The Da Vinci Code, not because the two novels need to be read in any particular order (the plots are literally interchangeable; see order in which the movie versions were released for evidence), but because Angels and Demons is usually regarded as the better story. Unfortunately, by the time I read it I was already familiar with Dan Brown's "HISTORY! CONSPIRACIES! SMART CHICKS! MORE HISTORY! ORGANIZED RELIGION! DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNNN!" style of plot organization, and the thrill was a little cheapened.

My mouth never went as dry before as much as it did while reading this book. Masterpiece

Is the movie adaptation worse than Percy Jackson or is it the other way around?

En un mundo donde la ciencia cada vez consigue mas respuestas a las interrogantes "divinas", el poder de la iglesia es cada vez menor. Sin embargo, cuando un grupo antagonista de la iglesia, que se creía extinto, reaparece para crear caos en el Vaticano la noche que comienza el cónclave, llaman a un famoso profesor de Harvard en simbología cristiana para que los ayude a encontrar el sentido a las amenazas. Pero cuando se comienzan a cumplir las amenazas, podrá Robert descubrir quien es el que esta detrás de todo esto? Como podrán detener la amenaza?

Este es una de esas series que estuvieron de moda hace muchos años, y que todo el mundo había leído, pero que yo había dejado de lado hasta ahora. Y después de leerla, entendí porque fue una sensación en su momento. Es una lectura rápida, llena de acción, emoción, pero con mucha lógica. También es fácil de leer y explica mucho de las teorías de conspiración sobre la iglesia y el gobierno del Vaticano.
Me gusto su prota, un hombre inteligente, que no es ningún héroe, pero que intenta hacer lo correcto. La prota femenina tuvo sus momentos, pero al final no resulto tan poderosa como esperaba.
Sin embargo, es una buena lectura, y pienso continuarla, sobre todo porque el próximo libro de la serie es el mas famoso de este autor y quiero ver si realmente es tan "impactante" como todos me decían.
En fin, si les gustan las teorías de conspiración, escritas en forma de novela de acción rápida y con un gran misterio, esta serie es ideal.