Angels and Demons

After reading some of he reviews I was a bit leery of this book but I am so glad I got it. It was spell binding, tense, action packed and I could not turn it off. I was driving in circles just to hear more! Get this book, you?ll love it!

This was my first book by author Dan Brown and his character Robert Langdon, and I was very happy with it. In this prequel to The Da Vinci Code we are introduced to Mr Langdon, a symbologist, as he is called to CERN to help with the murder of one of their top scientists. He in turn is introduced to the scientist's daughter, Vittoria Vetra, who helps him with the investigation, which takes them to Rome and Vatican City. As can be assumed by this setting, the story has a lot to do with Christianity and it's secrets, and the information is presented very well. It also deals with the Illuminati, and therein lies the intrique.

The story is a 'page-turner' and keeps you riveted to the very end. While not necessary to read before The Da Vinci Code, it is a prequel, mainly in presenting an earlier 'adventure' of Langdon, an extremely likable main character.

Although this book is a prequel to The DaVinci Code, also written by Dan Brown, I actually read it afterwards. In the beginning I felt his style of writing was a bit rustier than the smoothness of The DaVinci Code. I also saw a different side of his main character which I didn't really appreciate at first. However, once I got into the book, I actually felt it was faster-paced and more suspenseful than The DaVinci Code.

The beginning takes you inside CERN and was a bit hard to listen to since they were describing several scientific processes. I had to re-listen a few times to deeply understand. But after the first several chapters the mystery unfolds and the book plays out like a favorite Robert Ludlum novel.

This is one I actually couldn't stop listening too! The story takes you into the depths of Rome and inside the Vatican, detailing several practices. The journey takes you inside the Vatican Library, into St. Peter's tomb, catacombs, castles, secret passageways, various churches and more.

I listened to the book twice before seeing the movie... roughly a year apart. About an hour into the movie I was looking at my watch thinking... OK, this has to happen, then this, then this before we get out of here.

The book is a clear 5-STARS; the movie is no more than 2-STARS. I'm sure if you haven't seen the movie, you'll like it. If you've read the book, however, you're going to hate the movie. GET THE BOOK - UNABRIDGED. Lastly, Richard Poe was great in reading this book; 5-STARS for him as well.

This was an excellent read when I first read it upon its initial release! I was happy when I stumbled upon Audible and found Dan Browns books; however I was saddened that Angels and Demons was only available in the ABRIDGED version. After listening to it I was very disappointed in all that was left out. I an now estatic at being able to listen to the UNABRIDGED version....can't wait!

The bad first. Dan Brown is a pretty bad writer. He overexplains, his characters are constantly amazed or some other cliche expression, many characters are so extreme they seem silly, and his hero seems very unlike a Harvard professor. Also, the constant commentary on the struggle between "religion" and "science" seems overblown.

But the story is non-stop action and intrigue, and he does a better job of working his "conspiracy theory" stuff into the action in this one than in "The Da Vinci Code." And the plot is strong. You will know right away who the bad guy is, and then you will change your mind a dozen times before the end. Brown has a knack for knowing what you are assuming and using that against you.

Overall, a thrilling book with a good, though overdone and not original, debate about religion and science, and several hairsbreadth and impossible escapes that will tax credulity. The writing is annoying, but the story survives anyway.

Not sure why some people think it's so gruesome. He mentions a detached body part or two, but he doesn't go into graphic detail about them. I've got a weak stomach, and wasn't bothered by anything.

Angels and Demons is really well worth your time. Its an excellent book, great plot, and the narrator is just fabulous. He manages to play the roles for so many people so well. Sometimes its hard to get into a story when you are listening rather than reading, but this one, you will love!

Like most people I only became aware of this story after having seen and read The Da Vinci code. This book is very suspenseful and the whodunnit/spoilers in this book beat those of the Da Vinci code. If you got used to his writing in the Da Vinci code, it is kind of annoying to go back to an earlier book where Brown uses a lot of cliche's regarding epiphones that Langdon has. It gets old having things' come to a stunning realization stronger than anything he had ever realized before." I think the cliche part is a little more noticeable because it is in audio form. Fantastic read though, 1000 times better than the movie.

Dan Brown writes an amazing story of the church history and the demons that haunt it. The reader of the book (Poe - I think) is about the best I've heard and really brings the book to life.

Dan Brown's Angels and Demons is an enjoyable, if frequently unbelievable story that simply goes on far too long. It is one of those rare cases where I wish I had taken the abridged version.

There are 137 Chapters in this book and I think it could have safely been ended somewhere around 123 and it would still have been too long. In addition to it's gross length, Angels and Demon's asked this listener to suspend belief far too often. There is actually one passage that refers to the heroine as having to "buy" one of Langdon's explanations for one of his conclusions and I can't help but feel that Brown was staring his readers in the face daring us to do the same.

However, for all that is bad in this book (it is, I suppose "bad trash" as Stephen King's mother might have said), I still found it to be worth a listen. This is the type of book that would fit perfectly into a new Audible Listener Rental program...

Richard Poe does an okay job reading this but it sounded like he frequently was reading with throat lozenges in his mouth. Also, Poe's accent at the beginning of the book for Maximillian Kohler is really hard to accept.

I hoped it was going to be better than The DaVinci Code but I can only give this one 3 stars. I recommend you try the abridgement.