Book Review: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  This series had been recommended to me by many of my friends and family. I am happy to say that finally I have been introduced to Robert Langdon. And this is one series that I plan to devour visually. The first book swept me up in a grand adventure riddled with mystery and suspense. What can I say, but I am amazed that I have not picked this up sooner than I did.
 

   Angels and Demons is the first novel in the Robert Langdon series of adventure novels written by Dan Brown. The edition that I read was published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In it we are introduced to Harvard Professor Robert Langdon. A somewhat famous symbologist, whose work on researching the Illuminati had in the past drawn him into the limelight of academia. Comfortable at his position as a Harvard professor, Langdon leads a quiet life lately. That quiet is shattered at 5am when Maximillian Kohler, head of the CERN group of scientists, informs Robert that he requests his presence in order to help with an investigation of a murder. A fellow scientist named Leonardo Vetra has been murdered. On the dead man's chest is branded the name Illuminati. 

  Soon Langdon is en route to Geneva, Switzerland to meet with Kohler at his research facility. There he is given more information on the murder, meeting Vetra's daughter, Vittoria. She tells the men that she and her father were experimenting on the creation of antimatter in the scientist's lab. And upon inspection of the lab the trio find that a large sample of the dangerous experiment has been stolen from CERN. As the story unfolds it appears that the Vatican may have been infiltrated by the Illuminati. To what means, Kohler is uncertain. Robert and Vittoria head to Vatican city to meet with the recently deceased Pope's camerlengo, Carlo Ventresca. The young chamberlain is dealing with the disappearance of four Cardinals. This is added to a threat even greater: a live feed from somewhere in Vatican City shows the canister of antimatter counting down the hours until its containment unit shuts down. Once the canister's battery runs out of power, the antimatter will explode. The destruction will be catastrophic. Can Robert and Vittoria find the missing holy men and antimatter canister before Vatican City becomes a crater in the Earth?

  Angels and Demons elaborates on a tale alluded to in the Davinci Code. It is a crazy tale of espionage and adventure that takes situations we have seen many times in novels, but does it better. Brown's richly researched narrative is filled with real locations. I loved how interactive this novel was, as I researched the places mentioned in Angels and Demons. Brown's characters were excellently portrayed, and gave me the sense that they could have been real people. The story was fast-paced and filled with suspects. Dan Brown's ability to trick the reader in thinking they knew what was going on was devilish. Even when I believed that I had figured out who was behind the entire terrorist plot, I was proven wrong. And the twist at the end was so incredible I shouted out. 

  I read this book in part with the narration of actor, Richard Poe. His smooth voice and grasp of accents drove this book along quickly, accentuating the adventure. A narrator of hundreds of audio works, his skill has earned him accolades many times. I was delighted by his take on Robert Langdon, making me feel that it was Langdon that was sitting down to tell me a story from his life. Excellent work!

  Angels and Demons is the definition of an adventure novel. It is filled with daring escapes, evil villains, and a rich tapestry on which the story is presented. I loved this novel and will hold it up as five stars. If you love grand adventure and great mystery, Angels and Demons is perfect for you.           

Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

   Also please follow me on my social media platforms, and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and the Book Depository. I am also looking for contributions to open my business. Please visit my GoFundMe page if you wish to help me out.
 
  Because there is always time to read,
   Xepherus3 



At Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Xepherus3

 At eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/xepherusstudios

At Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XepherusStudios

At Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11975160-xepherus3

 At GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/XepherusStudios

At RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/xepherus3

At Twitter: https://twitter.com/XepherusStudios

My Amazon Wish List: https://amzn.com/w/3J58FXCH0Y44F


All written content and top logo (c) Copyright 2018 by Thomas Bahr II
Book Cover is (c) Copyright by the publisher