Just Another Bookworm

I am constantly amazed by the eclectic knowledge Dan Brown puts into his novels. Angels & Demons is his first novel starring famed Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon, and showcases Brown's extensive research into such subjects as architecture, European history, physics, geography, art history, secret societies, Catholocism, and symbology. The author uses a vast amount of facts and accuracy to educate the reader while spinning a fully-engaging story that is impossible to put down. I made the mistake of watching Hollywood's take on this novel first, and as seems to be the rule, it did not do justice to the unnerving suspense and vivid imagery Brown pumps into every last chapter. I only regret that it took me so long to finally read it!

This is the story of good versus evil, man versus the divine, and the centuries-long battle of science versus religion. When a renowned physicist and ordained priest is found murdered and branded with the symbol of a secret society lost to the pages of history, who is called in but Robert Langdon. The plot quickly thickens when it is revealed that the subject of Dr. Vetra's most recent research has also gone missing. Langdon and Vetra's daughter Vittoria are thrown into the most gripping twenty-four hours of their lives. Combing Vatican City, prying out its deeply hidden secrets, the protagonists race against the clock (literally) to find answers to an ever-growing list of questions- answers the reader could never guess.

There was no question that this book deserves the full five of five stars. Brown is a master of the thriller genre, creating smart, suspenseful novels with deep, three-dimensional characters and exotic locations. He definitely sets the bar for all suspense writers.