Review of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: A Thrilling Story Tied with Mythology

I’ve always been a fan of Dan Brown since the first novel I read named “Deception Point”. After a bit of research, I found out about another famous novel written by him and it was “Angels and Demons”. This novel was published in 2000 and was listed as the following genres: Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Conspiracy Fiction. The book opens with the murder of a physicist working for CERN which is known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. The symbol branded on the victim’s chest is an ambigram representing the word “Illuminati”. It is an old secret church following religious extremism including many scientists and artists all over the world.

The story is not stopping with that, a glass tube filled with antimatter (a type of matter that has destructive power equal to a nuclear bomb) has been stolen in CERN and hidden somewhere in Vatican City during the selection of the new Pope. Robert Langdon (our protagonist), an expert on archaic religious symbolism was called to help to solve the problem from various clues and find the antimatter. And what follows up is a fast-paced thriller focused on Langdon’s attempts to discover the truth and know who pull the string within the Illuminati and how enormous their influences. The best part of the novel is when Langdon went in the Vatican secret library to search for the element symbols and drove his way across the Vatican City to find the hint and followed it to the biggest answer: what is the goal of “Illuminati” and saved the imprisoned Cardinals.

During this part, you will find the way Dan Brown mixed history elements and religious was very intriguing. Another issue I had with the novel was the way it was structured. There were no surprising twists. All the time Langdon just kept finding dead Cardinal to another and to be honest I know that it was going to be like this. I expected them to be late and I was right. The only twist I cannot have a beef with Brown is the end concerning Camerlengo. It was a very good twist but in my opinion, Dan Brown has waited too long. It should have wrapped up way earlier. I really enjoyed reading “Angels and Demons” and very satisfied with the way Mr Brown effortlessly giving information and not dragging it on. And one more thing I concern about was the last couple pages of the novel. “You’ve never been to bed with a yoga master, have you?”. It was really irritating to guess what will happen after that right? I’m very curious (just kidding). Overall this novel is really throughout and could give readers some serious goosebumps. I mean, who doesn’t love a story about myths? I would rate this novel about 3 out of 5. P/s: all the information about Catholic was advised by Ellie - a Cathotician lives in Ho Chi Minh.