Angels & Demons

Angels & Demons
Dan Brown

This is the first time I have read Dan Brown’s work. I know it has been quite some time since the ‘Da Vinci Code’ and  ‘Angels & Demons’ were proclaimed as best sellers even having movie adaptations under the same titles but I never had enough curiosity to bother about it. I was actually looking at my shelf and saw the book still untouched and decided that maybe it is about time I try it out.

Robert Langdon was awaken by a call from a stranger. According to the caller his services was badly needed and with it, sent a gruesome photo, a body branded with the Illuminati symbol. Robert is a world-reknowned symbologist with researches and studies concentrating on the late Illuminati and the church. He thought the group was already vanquished but looking at the photo, it seems that he was wrong.

He then travels to Geneva and meets Max Kohler who shows him the body and both discover that a valuable item has been stolen from the lab. A sample of antimatter which the victim and his daughter, Vittoria Vetra, has been working on. A small sample which can ruin a city in a second. Together with Vittoria, Langdon searches for the killer and tries to find out where the antimatter is hidden before time runs out through clues about the whereabouts of the Illuminati lair hidden within the confines of Rome.

1. I am a fan of historical art and as much as I loved the fact that it was included in a well crafted story, some facts were erroneous. I know this is a work of fiction but if you are going to include real items in a story, might as well give the true and exact meaning/symbolism/description about it. Same goes with giving information/historical facts about places, groups and people. That is, if you want a novel with effective historical significance. Just saying.

2. I love mystery novels and figuring out who is behind the killings and whatnots is something I look forward to solving. Although my guess was right, it was a pleasure to learn why the person was pushed to doing these nasty things.

3. The pace of the story was enough to make you go on and on. It was intriguing and kept you on the edge. Each chapter ended ina cliffhanger and makes you think twice about putting the book down and finishing the mext chapter.

4. Robert Langdon as a leading character was a bit bland. He is brilliant in a way because he knows how to spot hidden clues and figure things out in a jiffy but putting him in the middle of the action, he gets overpowered. Well, maybe you can never have it all.

5. All in all, I think the novel was okay. If you set aside the errors about history and focus on the fact that this is a work of fiction and nothing more, it deserves the recognition it gets.