Inferno

A Novel

By: Dan Brown

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER • Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings.

“One hell of a good read.... As close as a book can come to a summertime cinematic blockbuster.” —USA Today

“A diverting thriller.” —Entertainment Weekly

With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee.

Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri's The Inferno.

Dan Brown has raised the bar yet again, combining classical Italian art, history, and literature with cutting-edge science in this captivating thriller.

©2013 Dan Brown (P)2013 Random House Audio

Best of the series

This one bet them all out...close to the Lost Symbol but just a little bit more. This one left me wanting another in the series.

Great story with great details.

It describes in great detail amazing historical places while the action takes place. I love the fact that I had to take the entire book to understand the full plot. Very clear narrative.

More art and architectural history than plot

What did you love best about Inferno?

I admired the amount of detail in descriptions of locations. How much research did the author do in advance?

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My strongest reaction was a wish that I had previously visited the locations so that I could picture them in my mind as they were described. Still, I enjoyed the verbal descriptions.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book on the whole but somehow the ending let me down. It was a long build up to a pretty tame ending.

Inferno was burning up my headphones!

I'm a Dan Brown fan. I read most everything he writes. This was my first listen to one of his books and although I loved Paul Michael's ability to effortlessly switch from one voice to another, I missed actually reading this book. That being said, I found this an interesting and intriguing story with a thought provoking issue. What IF there was a virus that could do what was created (without giving anything away here).? Overall, if you enjoy all of the Robert Langdon novels, this one is another great read. Thank you Mr. Brown!!

One thrilling story.

Thank you Paul for narrating the book. You definitely know how to do your job. I am a fan of your work.

Just enough Dan Brown just enough different

Any additional comments?

Dan Brown does shake things up a little bit. Just a little bit. He is still going to have a "shocker", but I don't know, it was kind of not as shocking as his other Robert Langdon books? Like, I was able to figure out the major twist a two or three chapters before the big reveal. But I also felt like he had changed up his formula just a little. I did get some surprises - couldn't guess everything. I find it really amusing that Langdon always has to have a super-intelligent female companion, although to Brown's credit, each of these companions have been very different from each other and in the last two books their roles have also been different. I personally don't care so much about the thriller aspects. Found myself not paying attention during the car chases and stuff, but then listening alertly during the art history parts. Not that I'm an art history buff or anything. But Brown takes us into the Islamic world for a bit, which was refreshing. And he dives, interestingly enough, into genetics in this book. And as far as I could tell, it was legit enough for the context of the book. Anyways, while the performance wasn't brilliant, i liked that the reader did a bunch of different accents and it really helped keeping characters straight.

An Unsatisfying Ending

Some books just seem predestined to let you down. So it is with Inferno. Dan Brown is a great author, and the premise of this book is a very good one. I thought the book was well-written and the voicing by the reader was exceptional. It kept this book going at a heart-pounding pace... until....well until the plot was revealed toward the end of the book.

Ordinarily the story in a Dan Brown book is a 5. This one rates a 3 because it left me going "what the hell were you thinking?" Only an author with prior published books can get by with a resolution like this one. It would be rejected (or the publisher would demand a fix to the ending) if the author were not well known and the book could not be sold on the name alone.

If you elect to get this book, read the Wikipedia entry for Dante (as in, Dante's Inferno) before you listen to the book. It will provide some background you will find helpful.

another interesting Dan Brown

When I first read "The Da Vinci Code", I never anticipated that the Robert Langdon character would become a series. But, here it is with this the 4th installment. All have had some similarities; a chase lasting only a day or so, historical intrigue wrapped into a current day mystery, and this one fit right into that mode. Set mostly in Florence, Italy the story embraces a foundation built on Dante's "Divine Comedy", the Inferno, and molds a modern day story looking at population growth and some of its more dire predictions. I believe I enjoyed the historical context the most. It told of the Medicis family of Florence which was one of the wealthiest families in all of Europe for 300 years. The family produced 4 popes and discovered, nurtured and sponsored a famous artist named Michelangelo. The cathedrals, museums and palaces they built still stand today and were a backdrop to the story. My goal with every book is to be entertained and this book did that for me.

Been to 90% of the locations mentioned🖒🖒

Since I have been to 90% of the locations mentioned in this book it was like reliving every vacation I've taken over the years. This book was not only accurate with every description of the locations , it it was also very entertaining and captivating to read. It's a Dan Brown book... Enough said!!!

Great voices

I loved the different voices Paul Michael used for the different characters. It made me feel like a little kid getting read to by my parents- in a good way.

The story was captivating, provocative, and enthralling. At some points the story seemed to move a little slowly as it carefully went over the details of every location or its history. However, this review seemed to aide the story as a necessary evil to understand and engage with the story. Also, it makes me feel cultured to read about them. All in all a great book!