Dan Brown, author of Deception Point
and The Da Vinci Code is at it again with Angels and Demons. In this
book - you find yourself traveling around in a jet that travels
15,000 miles per hour around the globe. Talk about a cool ride, this
book seems to travel at that pace also.The book opens when
Harvard specialist in religious symbols, Robert Langdon, receives a
strange phone call asking about the
Illuminati. The Illuminati were a
group of Renaissance scientists, including Galileo and other famous
men, who met secretly in Rome to discuss new ideas in safety from
papal threat. During that time the church was against
science in
general and scientists were executed or prosecuted as enemies of the
church. However, the group was supposedly gone long ago. They were a
secret group, kind of Masonic in style, with secret symbols. The
symbols were ambigrams - words that look the same written upside down
or right side up. Langdon had made a study of the supposedly defunct
group and their symbols. But the phone call brought proof that the
group not only wasn''t gone, but heading towards a violent overthrow
of the church. A famous scientist, Dr. Vetra, is murdered
leaving behind a beautiful daughter to help discover the meaning
behind his death and the ambigram - Illuminati - that is tattoed on
his dead body. His daughter, Vittoria, reveals that they had both
been working on a secret project - anti-
matter. A sample of this
anti-matter is missing. It must be found within 6 hours or the
containment unit holding it will fail and the explosion could take
out an entire city. A city such as the Vatican City. It is also
discovered that with the death of the current Pope, all of the
Cardinals of the Catholic church will be closeted in the Vatican to
decide who the next Pope will be. This is where the anti-matter is
discovered to be. However, the location of the anti-matter cannot be
pin-pointed. Along with the fact that the head of the Vatican''s
security finds it hard to believe it exists at all and so is
resistant to helping to locate the anti-matter. He is more concerned
with the fact that the four men who are being considered for Pope are
missing. This complicates things a bit since the Cardinals who are
closeted in cannot leave until the new Pope is chosen. Never in the
history of the Catholic Church have the doors been opened before a
Pope is selected. So, you''ve got four missing men, missing
anti-matter, a scientific anti-religious group who are suppose to be
long gone and 6 hours. It is the job of Robert Langdon and Vittoria
to follow the path of illumination by solving age old clues left for
secret scientists long ago to discover who is behind all this and try
to save the lives of the Cardinals before it is too late. But if that
isn''t enough to keep them busy, there are also many people who want
them to fail and so are trying to kill them as they follow the path.
Along with those in the Vatican who don''t believe that any of this is
happening to begin with. Unbeatable odds? Maybe. you have to read to
find out.The pace in this book makes it impossible to put it
down. The suspects range from a demented scientist in a wheel chair,
the head of the Vatican guard, the last Pope''s right hand man and a
few others thrown in. What I really liked about this book is that I
didn''t figure it out. I like to be kept guessing and getting it
wrong. I like the unexpected and Dan Brown delivers it in aces. I
never had a clue where this book would go next. I also really enjoyed
the ambigrams - which he illustrates in the book. Also the debate of
science vs.
religion that goes on in the book is very interesting.
Some might find the debate a bit boring and some might even be
offended at some of the comments made on religion, but I would think
most would not. But as a side note - if you are offended by those who
question the Catholic religion - this book might not be for you as it
is aof the plot. The riddles that they must
solve in order to follow the path of the Illuminati takes you all
over Rome and is fascinating. Brown
adds enough detail about the art, the flavor and the setting to
really make me feel like I could see it in my head. But refrains from
going into long boring detail that would slow the book down. I found
it very fast paced and never felt that it was dragging. It could be
classed as a bit gory and some might not like the descriptions of the
violence. But having a pretty strong stomach, it didn''t really bother
me. At 592 pages, it can be a bit of a read for some but I
raced through it at a pretty fast pace as I found it hard to put
down. It is available in both hard cover and paper back. Having been
out since July of 2003 you can probably find it in your local library
or pick up a used copy pretty cheap.