Robert Langdon is somewhere he never thought he’d ever see – the Vatican archives rooms. He and Vittoria Vetra are in the race of their lives – quite literally. They have just a few hours to find the location of a weapon of mass destruction, created by Vittoria and hidden by the thief somewhere in the area. They have even less time to find the location of where that thief is planning to kill the next Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Will they make it in time?
Angels & Demons is the first book in Dan Brown’s series about the Illuminati and the church. First released in 2000, this book is full of references to technology, events, and people that feels like time travel now 23 years later. It is a mix of conspiracy theory, mystery, thriller, and a dose of cheesy romance thrown in. Brown’s wealth of research shows in both his references to historical aspects of the church and other groups, but also in the knowledge of Vatican resources, church procedure, and the Holy City’s geography.
I give Angels & Demons 4 out of 5 stars. I was surprised at how quickly Brown linked the two main characters romantically. While the physical connection did not happen until late in the book, this is not your typical slow burn and felt almost sophomoric in tone. I really walked away from this book saying I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to my friends, but it wasn’t a bad book. I can tell the work Brown put into this book and appreciate his attention to detail but could have done without the romance in this book.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed the movies made either for this book, or its sequel The da Vinci Code. If you follow church politics or the Masons, you may enjoy this as well. I would direct this book to more mature audiences over 16 given the inclusion of torture, mutilation, and death. I also think this book is intriguing for anyone interested in physics and the argument for and against science in the church.
I chose Angels & Demons for the Booklist Queen Reading Challenge prompt “a genre you don’t usually read”. I tend to avoid thrillers – I don’t get the pleasure in reading about horrific acts. It’s probably not a surprise that I tend to avoid horror films, too! However, this book wasn’t as bad as some thrillers I’ve tried. There were definitely moments I had to fight the urge to skip ahead, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this book!
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- Current print book: Command and Control, Marc Cameron
- Current audio book: Kinfolk, Sean Dietrich
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