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Before 'Da Vinci Code,' Robert Langdon fought 'Angels
and Demons' -- and hooked readers
By Molly Hillyard
Angels and Demons
by Dan Brown
November 4, 2005 | When reading a good
book many people will use the phrase, "I just couldn't
put the book down," or "it kept me up all night." For
me, there were no exceptions when I read the book Angels
and Demons by Dan Brown. I enjoyed Brown's successful
book, The Da Vinci Code and I really wanted to
read this one. I was not disappointed.
After reading both books I found out they were fairly
similar in that there is a strong and intelligent main
character, Robert Langdon, a good-looking girl as a
love interest, a secret society, and a well-written
suspenseful story. Langdon, a professor at Harvard University,
is called to go to a Swiss research facility (CERN)
where a scientist had been violently murdered and left
on the floor naked with a burned symbol on his chest.
The symbol is from an ancient secret brotherhood called
the Illuminatim and Langdon, who is an expert in symbols,
is called in by the director of CERN to help solve the
murder.
They find out that the Illuminati have resurfaced
a battle that started long ago against the Catholic
Church. The battle between science and religion turns
to a war. The pope died and so the Catholic Church starts
their deliberation in selecting the new pope. On the
night of Conclave, the Illuminati announce they have
stolen antimatter from CERN and have planned to destroy
the Vatican and all of its occupants. The Illuminati
thought it was time to let people know science is more
powerful than the Church that over ran them years ago
and there was no better time than now because the whole
world was watching.
Langdon's job, along with his hot love interest, Vittoria
Vetra, is to find and disarm the bomb. To thicken the
plot the Illuminati let Vatican officials know that
they have kidnapped four bishops and planned to kill
them at four different places along the trail. Not only
do Langdon and Vetra try to locate the hidden deadly
time bomb, they now have to follow an ancient 400-year-old
trail that the Illuminati made. They made their way
through preserved crypts, unsafe catacombs, abandoned
cathedrals, and into the heart of a secret vault in
an attempt to save the bishops lives.
In Angels and Demons, Brown looks at the connection
between science and faith and that there really is a
place in this world for both. The journey through Rome
is an exciting page-turning thriller. I think it's a
good idea to read Angels and Demons before picking
up The Da Vinci Code and I would suggest leaving
some time in between novels so that you don't get too
much action all at once.
NW
MS |
