Book Review: Angels & Demons

Title: Angels & Demons
Author: Dan Brown
Publisher: Corgi Books
Pages: 620
ISBN: 9780552150736
Source: Personal Copy

 ‘Angels & Demons’ is the first book in the Robert Langdon series, by the bestselling author Dan Brown. The book, which can also be read as a standalone, is filled with the elements like 24 hour time frame, Christianity, Secret Society, Conspiracy, Ambigrams and Science.

About the Author

An American by Birth, Dan Brown has become a brand now. Brown’s novels are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour period, and feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into 52 languages, and as of 2012, sold over 200 million copies. Three of them have been adapted into films

In Short

The book ‘Angels & Demons’ opens with our protagonist, Robert Langdon- a historian and a symbolist, receiving a call from the director of CERN- a research organization. A fellow scientist at CERN, who was working on something very big, is found murdered with a symbol engraved on his chest.

Robert Langdon is thrilled, when he sees the symbol, which he recognizes to be the sign of Illuminati- a secret brotherhood, supposed to have vanished 400 years ago. On the other hand, the Vatican City receives a threat from a member of Illuminati, to blow up the city at midnight. A time bomb has already been planted in the City, while preparations are being made for electing a new Pope.

The two threads are seen joined by a thin trail and Robert leaves for Vatican City along with Vittoria Vetra, the daughter of the dead scientist. And then begins a quest that keeps us on the edges of our seat.

My Verdict

‘Angels & Demons is an unputdownable book.’ The review of this book can be as precise as this sentence. Or it can be as long & praising  as one can write. The story is fast paced as one may expect in a thriller. It takes a few pages for the real action to begin because the initial pages serve the purpose of an exposition.But once the real action begins & the countdown starts, we are all hooked up with the book.

We are enthralled by the keenness that Langdon exhibits while solving the puzzles. But I had even greater admiration for the author, who formed those puzzles & placed them in certain situations. From the 4 line rhyme, that is Langdon’s only clue, to the wonderful ambigrams, everything leaves us astonished.

These are the ambigrams associated with the book. These words can be read upside down too.

The author has a gripping style of writing. He writes about Science & Christianity, and uses several terms specific to these areas, but we never feel bored. However, a basic knowledge (which almost every reader has) of certain terms like matter, charges, ions, etc will be quite useful. But these do not hamper our enjoyment.

The author manages to hold our attention from the beginning till the ending. However, the final revelation made my heart skip a beat. I closed the book & sat quietly for 5 minutes after reading that particular sentence. Now I know why everyone insisted me on prioritizing this book.
There are quite a number of characters in this book, but they never get mixed up. Everything remains clear in our mind. It is only in last part of the book that we are given surprises, one after another. The book kept me immersed in it, for about 10 days after finishing it.

All in all, this book is a perfect blend of fact & fiction. I’ll soon place my order for the next book in this series. I would say just go out & read this book.

My Rating: ***** (5/5)

What are your thoughts on this book? Have you read this book? I would love to know what you think. Thanks.

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Available for purchase on Wordery, Book Depository and Amazon.in.

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*Source of Pictures: Google Images