Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)

Title: Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)

Author: Dan Brown

Published in: 2000

Date read: 3rd November 2009

Score: 5/5

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown is a fast-paced thriller that introduces symbologist Robert Langdon and explores the ancient conflict between science and religion.

The story begins with the shocking murder of Leonardo Vetra, a brilliant physicist working at CERN, who is found branded with an ancient symbol: the ambigrammatic word "Illuminati." Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology, is immediately called to CERN by Commander Olivetti, head of the Swiss Guard, to decipher the mysterious symbol and the circumstances of Vetra's death.

Langdon soon discovers that the murder is linked to the resurgence of the Illuminati, an ancient secret society once thought to be extinct, which has a historical animosity towards the Catholic Church. They have stolen a dangerous substance created by Vetra – antimatter, a highly volatile and destructive element – and hidden it somewhere within Vatican City. A chilling threat is issued: the antimatter bomb is set to detonate at midnight, coinciding with the papal conclave, where cardinals are gathered to elect a new Pope after the sudden death of the previous one.

Langdon teams up with Vittoria Vetra, the murdered physicist's adopted daughter and a scientist in her own right, to race against time. Their desperate search takes them through the hidden passages, ancient churches, and secret archives of Rome and the Vatican, following a "Path of Illumination" – a trail of cryptic clues left by the Illuminati – to locate the antimatter and stop the catastrophe. Along the way, they encounter the Camerlengo (the acting Pope), the Swiss Guard, and a ruthless assassin known as the Hassassin, who is eliminating cardinals involved in the conclave and branding them with Illuminati symbols.

As Langdon and Vittoria decode the symbols and navigate the intricate web of deception and history, they uncover a conspiracy far deeper and more insidious than they initially imagined, involving betrayal, revenge, and a shocking revelation about the true identity and motives of the mastermind behind the plot. The novel explores themes of faith versus science, the dangers of unchecked power, and the hidden histories of secret societies.

Comments:
An amazing book, I don't think that I had ever been gripped by a story like this whilst glued to my computer, constantly looking up information that is mentioned in the book. As well as this being a fantastic story, it is immensely well researched.

Books that we've read by Dan Brown (7):
Digital Fortress (1998), Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) (2000), Deception Point (2001), The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) (2003), The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) (2009), Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) (2013), Origin (Robert Langdon #5) (2017)