Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Synopsis:
Angels and Demons once again brings Professor Robert Langdon to the scene, this time he has to stop Vatican City being destroyed. Robert Langdon is called by CERN, a physics institute in Geneva. There he meets Maximillian Kohler, who shows him the dead body of a scientist who worked there, brutally murdered. One of his eyes gauged out and his chest branded by one word, ILLUMINATI, an ancient organization that was supposed to be a part of history now.
The word itself was written an as an anagram, which read the same when upside down. Langdon is told that the scientist and his daughter had managed to create anti matter, a highly useful and dangerous substance, composed of particles whose charges are opposite to that of the particles that make up normal matter. It releases energy with 100% efficiency and explodes if it comes in contact with any matter. The daughter realizes that an amount of anti matter has been stolen form her fathers lab, and then they find out that it is somewhere in Vatican City. The anti matter, kept in vacuum inside a canister has 12 hours before the canister’s batteries run out and it explodes, taking Vatican City to kingdom come. And it conveniently has to be the day the Pope gets elected, and the four most likely candidates have been kidnapped and are being killed. Quite a handful for the Professor. But he has to do the job as usual, and that leads you into the main part.
My View: The novel has the stereotype Dan Brown style, the professor, an unmarried girl who will wind up in bed with him, a dangerous killer chasing them around, and a secret organization. That leads to the story being somewhat predictable as a whole, but the twists inside are too shocking and can’t be predicted. As usual there are plenty of facts that you didn’t know. The novel is extremely well paced, with excellent descriptions and vivid details. Highly recommended.