Angels & Demons
“Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own.”
Angels & Demons is my first Dan Brown book and will certainly not be the last.
The novel had me glued to my seat turning those pages furiously and playing the guessing game right until the end. You wouldn’t believe who the culprit will be. It is a little over-the-top but still. . . Set in the Vatican City, this is one intriguing thriller that is full of drama. Robert Langdon is a Harvard specialist on religious symbolism (those who have read The Da Vinci Code would be familiar with him). He is called in by a Swiss research lab when Dr. Leonardo Vetra, the scientist who discovered antimatter, is found murdered with the word “Illuminati” branded on his chest.
Langdon is skeptical when he first receives the call from the lab director, Maximilian Kohler. However, he is completely stunned after seeing the fax that shows the word “Illuminati.” What makes it even more intriguing is his telephone number is unlisted, so how do these people know where to find him? Next thing he’s onboard an aircraft traveling from Boston (USA) to Geneva (Switzerland) all in an hour.
Why is Dr. Vetra murdered? His death is connected to the substance that he—together with his beautiful daughter, Vittoria—had created. They had made a frightening discovery: a lethal amount of antimatter that is sealed in a vacuum flask. This highly volatile creation has been stolen and will explode in six hours unless its batteries are recharged. Langdon and Vittoria find themselves setting out for the Vatican City where the conclave to elect a new pope has just begun. At the same time, four principal papal candidates namely Cardinal Lamasse, Cardinal Guidera, Cardinal Ebner, and Cardinal Baggia are missing.
The assassin has a plan to kill them one by one. They are each to be branded with the other four Illuminati elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Unknown to the outside world, the frantic search for these important individuals begin. At the same time, the Swiss Guards are also searching throughout the Vatican City for the antimatter, failing which everything will turn to dust if the antimatter explodes when the time is up. In searching for the missing cardinals, Langdon with the help of Vittoria try to uncover the clues tied to the ancient Illuminati meeting sites and runes. The assassin has even marked Vittoria for his lustful pleasure and is bent on capturing her for his enjoyment after his mission is accomplished.
There are some interesting religious arguments in the story:
“. . . When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God’s hand?” Langdon took a long moment to consider it.
“Do you believe in God?” Vittoria was silent for a long time. “Science tells me that God must exist. My mind tells me that I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.”
There are so many twists and turns the book made me dizzy. It is indeed fast-paced. I will be reading Dan Brown’s other works including The Da Vinci Code that has gotten Christians worldwide discussing the book.
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Updated on 21 March 2020: Finished reading the book.
