Angels and Demons

By: Dan Brown

Narrated by: Richard Poe

Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An unthinkable target...

World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization - the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth...the long-forgotten Illuminati lair.

©2003 Dan Brown (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic Reviews

"A reading experience you will never forget. Dan Brown has created another frantic-paced thriller that rivals the best works of Clancy and Cussler." (Book Browser Reviews)
"Brown's tale is laced with twists and shocks that keep the reader wired right up to the last revelation" (Publishers Weekly)

Not history, not theology, just great fiction

Like most people (or so I suspect), I listened to this book after The Da Vinci Code, even though it was written earlier and takes place earlier. I can't understand why this earlier effort didn't win Brown the acclaim he deserves as a great mystery/thriller author. As with The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church is involved, and as with The Da Vinci Code, not all of the Vatican officials behave in a way that reflects glory and honor upon the Church and her Lord. But that's life, not just for the Church but for any large body of imperfect human beings.

The plot in this work is a bit less esoteric than in The Da Vinci Code, but in my view that strengthens the book as a work of literature, because the themes (science and religion, faith and knowledge, and perhaps most importantly, truth versus the avoidance of scandal) aren't upstaged by the brain-teasers.

I would like to warn off two classes of potential readers/listeners. First, if you are the sort of person who cannot distinguish between fictional background and historical fact, please don't buy this book. The world will be better off with fewer people making spiritual decisions (like whether to be a Catholic) based on plot lines in a piece of fiction. If you really think the sins of long-dead cardinals are relevant to your religious affiliation today, then at least learn about those sins from reliable works of history rather than a whodunnit.

Second, if you are the sort of person who can't bear to imagine, even hypothetically, that the Communion of Saints includes some very great sinners, and you're offended by any portrayal of a sin by a man of the cloth, please don't buy this book. Christians who place themselves in the latter category should probably spend more time reading the New Testament and paying attention to how unimpressively the Twelve acquitted themselves when God walked among them.

26 of 28 people found this review helpful

Definitely better than DaVinci

I was glad that this book was over, so I could catch a breath. It is absolutely non-stop action and it drags you along. I was afraid that like "DaVinci Code", it was going to let me down in the end, but he surprised me. The premise is a little bit shaky, but it doesn't go way beyond the realm of believability. The strength of the book is the author's solid research. I've been to Rome and I've been to many of the sites where the action takes place. He was dead on!A terrific "read"

55 of 61 people found this review helpful

Crackers with that Cheese??

Story line was okay, but really could have done with less cheese ball lines between leading male and female characters. I loved the Da Vinci Code and was really looking forward to Angels and Demons, but have to say I was disappointed.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Angels and Demons

The Story was inventive and well plotted, however, the abridgement left out too many of the details from the original book.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Reminder to the gullible - THIS IS FICTION

Quite a good book. I liked the Da Vinci Code and enjoyed this one as well. If you liked the Da Vinci Code then you will definitely like this one - though this one has a much better ending.

Just please do keep in mind that these books are fiction, even though they mention real places and organizations - but they are not based on fact.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Beyond absurd...

I finished Angels & Demons some days ago and am still wondering how on Earth it made the best seller list. I suppose the appeal is the "exotic" setting of Italy and and all the "inside information" on Catholicism. It's so thin, it's hard to know where to begin. There's an RC priest who's been working -- with his daughter (no explanation) -- for a private institution run by a Goldfinger-type (why are they always bald men in wheelchairs?). The priest ends up dead at the very beginning, the daughter spends the entire book in a pair of shorts, even on a trip to the Vatican. Another priest has fathered a child with a nun by means of In Vitro fertilization, thus celebrating God's miracle of life without breaking their vows. Right. The broader plot generally makes some sense up until the end. But then? I've listened to the ending three times and it pulls the rug out from under the whole book. The story smacks of "Man From U.N.C.L.E." or "The Avengers". My advice is don't bother.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Angels and Demons

Good Book if not 'a little bit over the top' at times. Can say I have enjoyed listening to it. The reader was excellent to.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Unpolished and a bit disappointing

After reading the popular DaVinci Code I was excited to see the another Robert Langdon thriller by Dan Brown. This book is a precursor to the DaVinci and does explain some of the references in the book. But this book shows that Mr. Browns writing skills have improved over time. The writing, action, plot and dialog in this book are juvenile compared to his most recent best seller. I found myself rolling my eyes at holes in the plot and canyon sized leaps of reason. Parts of the books climatic scene reminded me of far-fetched parts the movie ?Batman and Robin?. Don?t get me wrong, the book was a good listen, but it is not a ?must get?.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not as good as DaVinci Code

I listened to the DaVinci Code first, and wanted to hear more. I felt like I was listening to the same story all over again and was very disappointed. I will stick to non-fiction titles to learn more about the religious controversies.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great by Da Vinci Code better

Although almost the exact same formula as Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons is still a great book and I did not feel like I was reading the same book twice. The only thing I did not like was the voice acting for the main character (Robert Langdon). The narrator's voice for him made him sound like he was always out of breath or perhaps constipated. Very annoying at first, but I eventually got over it.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A great listen

thoroughly enjoyed the book and had to listen to it as quickly as I could. Housework had to wait!

fantastic

Ive read this book now its nice to have it read it me fantastic will recommend anytime the quality is great the narater is brilliant

Enjoyable Romp through Rome

I wish I had gotten the Unabridged version as this was far too short and I finished it before I finished the decorating!
I have not read the novel from which this audio book came, but I have to say the story leapt into my head very well indeed. The narrator had a good grasp on the story and I felt that Robert Langdons confusion came over well.
A good quick taster into the novel, enjoyable if you dont wish to get too deep into it. I do wish the presentation had chapter breaks as I never knew where to pause!

Like a box of chocolates

What Stephen Fry might describe as a 'book written to be made into a film'. This book, like its predecessor, has intrigue, suspense, and entertainment. However, what masquerades as fact is little more than extravagent hypothesis with little or no academic justification. Even accepting the laymen argument that 'it's just a bit of fun' - though many are in fact naive enough to believe (look at tourist footfall increases for sites referenced in either book), the fact remains that it is poorly written. I am shocked that someone with such a fertile imagination should have such an amazing inability to use adjectives. Should the author continue to write pseudo-scientific nonsense I would suggest to him that he should peruse the works of literary greats such as Hemingway once his plotline is established; perhaps then he will be able to paint a picture in the reader's mind, instead of relying on Mr. Hanks to do so.

2 of 5 people found this review helpful